146 I IWD Feature I Real Wedding Nicola Gilmour Paul Henson

Nicola Gilmour Paul Henson

At Castle Leslie Estate

“Our friends and family are still talking about our incredible Castle Leslie Estate wedding and how it was a truly

special experience that will never be forgotten”

&Nicola Gilmour &Nicola Gilmour 146 I IWD Feature I Real Wedding

When I look back to how Paul and I

met it’s hard not to have a sense

that events conspired to bring

us together - to put us in the same space at

exactly the time that we were ready to meet

and be together. We met in Hong Kong as we

were both working at Next albeit on different

teams and on separate work trips. A night or

two into the trip, we attended a dinner and Paul

and I were placed next to each other. As cliché

as it sounds there was a real electricity between

us and I knew there and then that this could be

the start of something incredibly special. Fast

forward nine years later we were engaged and

getting married.

Both Paul and I had lived together in his

hometown of Leicester, but being an Irish girl

and Paul having Irish roots, there was never

any doubt that we would marry ‘back home’. I’ll

be honest, Castle Leslie Estate was where I’d

always dreamed of getting married, and on our

fi rst visit, we were both just staggered by how

charming and beautiful the house and grounds

were, and that teamed with the warmth and

effi ciency of the Castle’s staff made it the

easiest wedding decision we made.

My dress, where to start. I’m sure most brides

will admit their dress is one of the fi rst things

they focus on after the engagement, well,

it certainly was the case for me. I had more

Pinterest boards than I could count with every

shape and size of dress you could imagine. I

choose an incredible hand embellished lace

gown by Berta Bridal which for me was love

at fi rst sight. I am so grateful to Claire at The

Wedding Club in Birmingham for making every

part of the experience so fabulous.

My two beautiful sisters and two of my best

friends were bridesmaids and wore stunning

Jim Helm lace trimmed dresses that are said

to have been based on Pippa Middleton’s dress

at her sister’s wedding. As we had a Winter

wedding, the girls wore little feather cover

ups. We also had two totally gorgeous fl ower

girls, Isla and Lucia who are just three and

wore little tutus, fl uffy cardis, gold glitter shoes

and tiny feather wings - they looked absolutely

beautiful.

Paul was quite relaxed about fi nding his suit

and so with barely a month to go, we set off

to London to Selfridges where he found a

beautiful navy Dries Van Noten suit. We had

already bought our Dads’, best man and ushers’

suits from Next.

There was a real electricity between us and I knew there and then that this could be the start of something

incredibly special

Real Wedding I IWD Feature I 147

I’m a natural planner and self-professed

perfectionist so gladly assumed the role of

Wedding planner. I’d say it was smooth sailing,

drama and stress free but maybe Paul and my

family would say differently. We spent the week

prior to the wedding at Mum and Dad’s putting

the fi nishing touches to table decorations,

having the craic with visitors and drinking

gallons of tea. Mum and Dad were on hand

to help with whatever was needed and were

generally amazing, happy, proud parents. It

was so lovely being at home with the wedding

buzz building.

Many of our family and friends arrived to the

Castle on the Thursday and so after a lovely

family meal in the Lodge we all had a big pre-

wedding party which was such a lovely way to

begin the celebrations. On the morning of the

wedding I woke up around 5am and opened

the shutters to a beautiful crisp late November

morning and looked out across the lake,

imagining the incredible day that lay ahead

wondering if Paul was awake yet.

The girls and I had a fantastic morning getting

ready in the Blue Room, drinking champagne

and at around 1.30pm we made our way to

Saint Salvator’s Church in the Castle grounds

for the wedding ceremony and an hour later

we emerged as Mr & Mrs Henson. Since our

family and friends had travelled a long distance

to the venue, it was ideal to be able to have

the ceremony and reception all on the Estate,

it also meant we didn’t waste any of our day

travelling. Following the ceremony, we made

our way down to the lake and boat house for

photographs which was a nice chance to be

alone and refl ect for a moment. Meanwhile

drinks and canapés were served to our guests

back at the house and the celebrations were

well and truly underway. We had decided on a

guest list of around 150 and therefore chose to

have the reception in the Pavilion - a stunning

room overlooking the lake. It was so lovely

having exclusive use of the main house for the

day which looked incredible with roaring fi res

and Christmas trees in each room.

Following the speeches a delicious dinner was

served and we were delighted to have had Sir

Jack come in to congratulate us. The partition

was later drawn back to reveal a dance fl oor

with twinkly lights, photo booth, cake table,

band and DJs. Perfect for our fi rst dance, as

we danced to All of me by John Legend under

a mass of pretty drapes and twinkly lights in

the beautiful Castle Leslie Pavilion. Honestly,

the day was perfect from start to fi nish, ending

rather late in the Long Bar with friends and a

Polaroid camera capturing the end of THE BEST

DAY EVER.

We had a fantastic mini-moon following the

wedding where we stayed at Le Manoir aux

Quat’Saisons in the Cotswolds and we are

planning a honeymoon for later in the summer

to the Amalfi coast.

Our friends and family are still talking about our

incredible Castle Leslie Estate wedding and how

it was a truly special experience that will never

be forgotten. Our special thanks to Deneise for

making us feel like nothing was ever too much

trouble and to John for always being in the right

place at the right time, a constant source of

calm, for always being one step ahead, and for

doing all he could to ensure we had a day we

could only have wished for.

Castle Leslie Estate will forever have a special

place in our hearts, be somewhere we return

to and continue to be packed with beautiful

memories for countless other couples.

148 I IWD Feature I Real Wedding