Hailey & Kurt Whittingham,

Wedding Reception, La Mare Estate

"Incredible business- Events at The Workshop In August 2023, myself and my now husband got engaged and were planning to get married in October 2026. My mum was so excited for us and she was very invested in planning my wedding and she was so excited to see me get married. Unfortunately, my mum was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer at the end of September this year. Needless to say, myself and my family were devastated. One of the first thoughts when I heard the news was 'She's going to miss my wedding', and I couldn't bare the thought of her missing it as she was so excited when helping me plan it. We then made the decision to move the wedding forward as soon as possible. I then had a wedding to organise in under 2 months while trying to cope with the fact that my mum wasn't going to be in my life anymore. One of my friends put me in touch with Sharon and Mike, who very kindly met me for coffee to talk through the vision for the wedding and allowed me to share my story so they could get a full insight into what needed to be done. My first impression was that they are truly wonderful people, the compassion and empathy they showed me restored my faith in humanity despite my mind being in a very dark place at the time. When I cried, they cried with me and gave me total reassurance that it was going to be the best wedding ever. They organised so much for us, from flowers and cake to decorations and DJ'ing. I gave them my vision and they asked me whether I wanted to be involved in the process, to which I very politely said 'no'. After meeting with them only once I felt that I could trust them completely to make the day special. They worked with the venue to bring mine and my mum's dream to life, and co-ordinated with me when necessary. They checked in frequently and all of their messages included 'How are you? How is your mum doing?' The genuine care and support from them warmed my heart every time I heard from them, and discussing the wedding was never a stressful chore, they radiated compassion and were brilliant throughout the whole process. My mum sadly passed away the day before my wedding from an infection. My heart was truly broken and I couldn't imagine a worse time to get married. Sharon called me as she was due to drop off my flowers, and I told her the news. I could see the pain in her face, that she truly was quite upset following my mum's death despite never meeting her. I made the decision to carry on with the wedding, as it is what my mum would have wanted. I made the choice to get married and have a blast while doing so, despite my mum not being there. It was a beautiful day, and I felt that my mum was there to see it. We got married and I could feel my mum in the room with me, I managed to feel joy on my wedding day. They thought of every little detail and executed each vision perfectly. The decorations were left as a surprise, as I walked into the reception venue I was overwhelmed with emotion as it was exactly what me and my mum would have wanted, it was so perfect. I can't express how amazed I was at how accurately they brought our vision to life, my mum would have loved it. They organised a last-minute blessing for us at my request, filmed the wedding ceremony, took photos, organised a photo booth, organised a cake and flowers in no time at all, they even offered to transport our dog to and from the venue for photos, and I was completely right to leave our special day in their capable hands. Nothing was too much for them, they worked with me while I was visiting my mum in the hospital, showed patience and initiative and such compassion for us. I couldn't recommend them enough, nor can I fully express my gratitude for how brilliantly they managed to spark joy to my family and in such a dark chapter of our lives."