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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