Dawn & Maria-Eleni's wedding

Our wedding will be held on Saturday 11th September 2021 at The Manor at Bickley (full address details are in the FAQ section below).

Please arrive at midday for a 1pm ceremony.

Please fill in this form if you haven’t already, so that we know your dietary requirements.

Ο γάμος μας θα γίνει το Σάββατο 11 Σεπτεμβρίου 2021 στο ξενοδοχείο The Manor at Bickley. Σας παρακαλούμε να προσέλθετε και να είστε έτοιμοι στις 12μμ, καθώς η τελετή θα αρχίσει στη 1μμ.

Επίσης θα θέλαμε να ξέρουμε τις διατροφικές σας ανάγκες / προτιμήσεις / αλλεργίες για να προετοιμαστούμε ανάλογα για το γλέντι του γάμου μας. Παρακαλούμε συμπληρώστε αυτή τη φόρμα.

If you’d like to stay nearby on the Friday and/or Saturday, there are options!

The venue (The Manor at Bickley)

The venue hotel itself has limited capacity so we are reserving rooms in the hotel for the wedding party, family and international travellers. Please don’t call the hotel to book a room unless we have been in touch with you directly.

ΝΒ. If you’re arriving on Saturday morning and staying in the hotel on Saturday night, please allow plenty of time to check in to be ready by midday.

Nearby accommodation

For those who want to stay nearby, there are several nearby venues which look lovely, including the Glendevon Hotel which has several rooms listed on Airbnb. For those of you comfortable with Airbnb, please click this link for a search of the nearby area, there are many results a walk or short cab ride away from the venue.

Other places to stay include:

• Bull’s Head, Chislehurst
• Crown Inn, Chislehurst

The travel section!

The venue is near several train stations, including Bickley and Chislehurst.

There are several local taxi firms in the area, but all the usual pan-London taxi services are available too.

Όσον αφορά τις μετακινήσεις, υπάρχουν δυο κοντινοί σταθμοί τρένων, το Bickley και το Chislehurst. Επίσης διάφορες εταιρείες ταξί είναι διαθέσιμες.

We hope you are all looking forward to a Pride rainbow-themed celebration! The dress code is pretty loose, but we hope you can each find one of the colours from the Pride rainbow to complement your outfit: red, orange, yellow, green, blue or purple. You do not need to find a rainbow-coloured outfit (although you are most welcome to do so, should you desire).

If you’re interested in the history of the Pride flag, please click here.

Το “θέμα” του γάμου μας είναι “Ουράνιο Τόξο!”. Το dress code δεν είναι αυστηρό, αλλά σας προτρέπουμε να έρθετε ντυμένοι σε ένα από τα χρώματα του ουράνιου τόξου: κόκκινο, πορτοκαλί, κίτρινο, πράσινο, μπλε ή μωβ. Ή και όλα τα χρώματα αν προτιμάτε!

We are living in interesting times. Consequently, we will be taking steps to try to ensure that the wedding is safe and virus-free. Here’s some important information about COVID-19, please read carefully and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Before the wedding

• We’d like you all to take a lateral flow test before arriving if possible.
• If you develop symptoms before the wedding, please take a test immediately as per government guidelines.
• If you develop COVID and are unable to attend the wedding, please let us know, we will completely understand.

During the wedding

• The venue will ensure that adequate hand-washing facilities, along with hand sanitiser, are available.
• Masks must be worn during the ceremony. We will be providing masks (rainbow masks!) but bring your own regardless.
• No masks are necessary at any other time, but please feel free to wear one.
• Social distancing is not mandatory during the ceremony or at any other time.
• Please be considerate of those around you, and the fact that their personal boundaries might be different to yours.
• Please take a consent-based approach to hugs and other forms of close personal contact.

And for those of you looking for extra detail:

• We will have around 100 people attending.
• The ceremony will be in a separate building on-site.
• The meal and related activities (speeches, cake etc) will be in a marquee, 10 people to a table, with its sides on or off depending on weather (but hopefully off!). The seated capacity of the marquee (with round tables) is 130 so it shouldn’t feel too cramped.
• If the weather is nice, much of the day will be spent outside.
• If the weather sucks, the marquee (and later, the bar, see below) will be where everything happens.
• Regardless of whether the sides are on or off, there will probably be some sort of “door” always open in the marquee, for ventilation purposes and for easy access in/out of the space.
• The evening music (DJs) will be in the downstairs/basement bar of the hotel. This is also where the bar itself is located, so guests who want booze (over and above what is supplied by us for the meal) will need to visit the bar
• We are not using any of the “suites” of the hotel; the only people in the main part of the hotel (except for the bar) will be people who are staying the night (i.e. family/wedding party), although other guests are welcome to wander round any part of the hotel that isn’t a bedroom.

Θα λάβουμε διάφορα μέτρα για να διασφαλίσουμε την υγεία των καλεσμένων την ημέρα του γάμου μας. Το ξενοδοχείο θα οργανώσει σημεία για πλύσιμο χεριών και (αν μπορείτε) θα σας παρακαλούσαμε να σκεφτείτε να κάνετε τεστ για τον ιό πριν να παρευρεθείτε.

Ελπίζουμε ότι μέχρι τη μέρα του γάμου μας δεν θα υπάρχουν άλλοι περιορισμοί λόγω της πανδημίας και δεν θα χρειαστεί να λάβουμε άλλα μέτρα. Παρόλα αυτά θα σας κρατήσουμε ενήμερους αν κάτι αλλάξει.

What’s the address of the venue?

The Manor Thornet Wood Road Bickley BR1 2LW

For more information, see the website.

Are children allowed/invited?

Unfortunately we can only accommodate children if they are babes in arms.

What time does everything start?

12pm; the ceremony is at 1pm.

What form will the day take?

We’re still figuring it out, but the order of ceremonies is roughly as follows:

1. Arrive at 12pm
2. Ceremony at 1pm
3. Photos, drinks and canapés on the lawn/marquee
4. Dinner / wedding breakfast / whatever the kids are calling it these days, it’s a three course meal
5. Speeches
6. Cutting the “cake”
7. First dance
8. Everyone else dance
9. Evening buffet meal (8-9pm-ish)
10. Finish around midnight

Have you registered for gifts? Are you accepting presents?

We’ve been living together for several years so we have everything we need to make a home life; as such, we haven’t made a traditional wedding list.

However, in six years of dating we’ve never been on a proper holiday. If you’d like to give us a present, then we’d gratefully accept donations towards a honeymoon fund.

Bank details are as follows:

• Name: Dawn James
• Sort code: 04-00-04
• Account number: 27145992

Or if sending from abroad:

• Account holder: Dawn Catrin James
• SWIFT/BIC: TRWIGB2L
• IBAN: GB47 TRWI 2314 7070 9524 30
• Address: TransferWise, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JJ, United Kingdom

Please add your name in the reference so we can say thank you!

NB. This is entirely voluntary, please only give if you can afford to and would like to.