Jason and Saskia | Tewinbury Farm

Officiating at any wedding is an absolute joy and privilege but officiating at the wedding of one of your own children certainly adds another layer of emotion!

On Wednesday 3rd April this year (2024), that is just what I did… I was the celebrant at the wedding of my eldest child, Jason, and his beautiful partner, Saskia. Their wedding took place at the stunning venue of Tewinbury Farm in Hertfordshire.

A little background on Jason and Saskia…

They had been together for five years before their wedding day, meeting while they both worked together at Newham Leisure Centre. Jason had just started as the Assistant General Manager, and Saskia was one of the Duty Managers in his team. He was impressed by her work ethic despite her being the first manager ever to bring him an issue on a weekend, calling him for advice!

After a while, Jason plucked up the courage to ask Saskia out and they had dinner at Five Guys at the O2. They had an enjoyable evening out and Saskia went on to impress Jason further with knowing all the words to ‘All I Do is Win’ by DJ Khaled. I have to be honest, I had to Google that one and, after listening to it, must say that I’m impressed too!

The Ceremony

Saskia and Jason’s chosen venue of Tewinbury Farm was perfect for their day. The barn setting for the ceremony was beautifully decorated and had a very relaxed vibe, which is just what they’d hoped for. Saskia’s dad, younger sister and her partner did an amazing job of creating just the right ambience to get the day underway.

Jason was supported by his three groomsmen throughout the day; his son, his brother and his best friend, and they all looked very dapper standing together waiting nervously for the ceremony to begin.

Before Saskia made an appearance, the rest of her wedding party set the scene, with her three sisters and niece and Jason’s sister looking gorgeous wearing bottle green dresses. They were accompanied by Saskia’s mum and two younger nieces who looked very cute indeed! Saskia looked absolutely stunning as she walked down the aisle with her dad to Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect’. Jason’s face when he saw his bride for the first time spoke a thousand words.

The ceremony shared their love story perfectly and spoke of their hopes and dreams for the future, what they love most about each other (and maybe one or two bits that they don’t!). Their kitten, Ramsey, got a well-deserved mention too.

Jason and Saskia wrote their own vows, which stirred up quite a bit of emotion when Saskia came to read hers, they exchanged rings which were presented by Jason’s son, Ryan, and sealed their beautiful partnership with a kiss before walking back up the aisle together to ‘I’m Yours’ by Jason Mraz accompanied by lots of whooping and cheering from their very happy guests.

The Rest of The Day

The first thing that happened once the ceremony was over was the obligatory confetti shot, which was perfectly organised by the wonderful photographer, Helen. The shot was also perfectly photobombed by Jason’s Nana!

The amazing staff at Tewinbury Farm perfected an incredible turnaround, getting the barn ready for the next part of the day, whilst Helen continued with snapping away to capture those perfect moments and the younger guests enjoyed the games that had been set up outside.

Inside, the tables were beautifully and subtly decorated with pieces made by family members and a fabulous BBQ spread was offered for the wedding breakfast which was most definitely enjoyed by all!

A lovely touch that was included once everyone had eaten was a game of Mr and Mrs (thankfully the pair agreed on MOST answers!) organised by groomsman Mark, and a quiz which required audience participation which was run by groomsman Kyle.

Saskia and Jason kickstarted the evening by presenting their brownie wedding cake made by Saskia’s mum and with their first dance to ‘Baby I Love Your Way’ by Big Mountain, and the dance floor was barely empty from that moment on.

Jason and Saskia’s wedding day was beautiful from start to finish. Not only am I thrilled as a celebrant as to how well their ceremony went, I’m so unbelievably proud as a mama that my son has grown into the incredible man that he is and that he has chosen somebody as beautiful, inside and out, as Saskia to share the rest of his life with.