From watching The Wedding Planner to heading up our Wedding Team!

10th July 2022

Watching movies such as 27 Dresses

As well as Jennifer Lopez’s blockbuster The Wedding Planner gave Debbie Armstrong the desire to plan and deliver weddings. That said, it wasn’t until Debbie decided to change career that the opportunity to fulfil her dream arose and join the award-winning Ellingham Hall team.

Whilst having an informal chat with Debbie our General Manager, David, recognised her warm and friendly personality, it was clear to him that Debbie was ambitious and passionate – all attributes that David knew would be essential in becoming a successful wedding and events planner. Little did he know that later that year the stars would align, and Ellingham Hall would be looking to recruit a new wedding and events co-ordinator, which Debbie later became the successful applicant of. Having no hands-on experience in the world of weddings it was Debbie’s sparkling personality, kindness and transferable skills from previous employment that made her stand out.

During Debbie’s first year with Ellingham Hall, she really earned her stripes by planning and part delivering the extensive backlog of weddings that were sadly not able to take place during the pandemic. Under tremendous pressure Debbie had to plan multiple weddings side by side, all the while making each couple feel special. It was Debbie’s calm approach and excellent customer service skills that gained her a promotion, awarding her the title of Head of Weddings and Events.

With Debbie’s new role and Ellingham Hall winning the title of ‘Events team of the year’, awarded at the regional final of The Wedding Industry Awards, we thought we’d catch up with Debbie and see how she’s enjoying being the real-life Mary Fiore, planning and delivering bespoke weddings at our exclusive Northumberland Wedding Venue.

What did you do before joining Ellingham Hall?

I am a trained nurse but was working in retail when I was chatting to my neighbour, David, who is General Manager, about a career change. When I asked him what he did, I told him it was a dream of mine to plan weddings as I’d been inspired by movies, like The Wedding Planner. It isn’t quite the same as what you see on screen, of course. It is a real privilege to help couples plan and deliver their dream wedding.

Any standout moments?

Well, there was one time when a florist forgot the confetti and suddenly realised before the ceremony. We pulled out all the stops and managed to contact our admin assistant, Wendy, who had some. It arrived about three minutes before the couple left the Ceremony Room. The bride was so grateful because it was important to her. It was a lovely photograph. One bride was in the process of getting ready, and when I popped into the suite to check everything was OK, she jumped up and gave me a huge hug because she was so thrilled with everything!

What have you learned so far?

It’s nice to make people feel good and make them happy. It maybe just my job, but it’s important because their wedding memory will be with them forever. It’s more than just a job, and it’s why I even take work home because I want every couple to know that every detail is as important to us as it is to them.

“What stands you out from the rest is how pleasant and accommodating your staff are. What a team! Literally a flawless couple of days. I recommended you to Rosie and will be sure to continue recommending you to other family and friends. I would also add that the food was spectacular. The evening buffet is always lovely but the wedding breakfast was amazing. Thanks again for making her day so special” – Rob Marshall, Brother of the Bride

Rosie & Jiaxing Ma, 8th August 2023
“Thank you all so much for everything you did to help with our Annual Forum and Celebration Concert on Thursday. As usual, I was a bag of nerves for much of the day, but the calm efficiency of Connor and his team helped to get me through. I will definitely recommend Ellingham Hall as a corporate venue. Surprisingly, a lot of the attendees were unaware of the Hall and what you’re able to offer. The fact that we could move from one room to another and have two very different events at the same venue was a big draw for us. “

Catherine Gray, Funding and Communications Officer – Northumberland AONB Partnership
“The venue exceeded our expectations. Not only did it offer uniqueness, but exclusivity was a key factor in booking. The main Hall offered lots of space for us to work and we found the delegate rates very competitive. The venue comes highly recommended. “

Lisa Davidson, HR Director – Connect Health
“Wow we don’t even know where to start, as you can imagine we have been in such a bubble ever since our big day. Our wedding day was everything we wished for and more. You guys are just amazing and we can’t thank you all enough, from our first day coming to view to the planning process to our big day, everything just ran so smoothly, you guys have been an absolute credit. Yous have helped us in so many ways. Yous have listened to everything we asked. And our day was beautiful because of that. Not only did we have the most amazing day, our guests did too, we have had so many comments back saying “it’s the best wedding I’ve ever been to” “that is how you do a wedding” “the staff were all amazing” “this venue is stunning” it’s just incredible, very overwhelming but we’ll be forever grateful for that. Big big thank you to you and David for being with us on the morning of our wedding making sure everything is running smoothly. Big big thank you to Alicia for all her help and support. And to every other Ellingham staff member present on our big day, thank you because without all of you guys we wouldn’t have had any of that! I wish we could just do it all again, it was perfect! Forever grateful.”

Stephanie & David Armstrong, 2nd September 2023
“The Hall has such a lovely feeling and having our meeting at the same time as the corporate launch last year, gave a very different feel to what we usually have at other local networking events. The Chamber needs local venues that make the North East stand out, and Ellingham Hall is a venue that is a hidden gem.”

CLARE MCCABE, RELATIONSHIP MANAGER NORTH EAST CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
“To everyone at Ellingham hall. A massive thank you to you all for such an amazing day! From arriving on Wednesday Debbie and Charlotte looked after us right up to the moment we left. The day was absolutely perfect and was planned to perfection by the Ellingham team, our friends and family have commented on how lovely all of the staff were and could not of done more.

The food was amazing from the sharing boards the night before to the fish and chips we were eating cold at 1am! The venue has so much character and we fell in love with from the second we walked up the driveway on that very first visit.

Thank you all so much again for one of the best days of our lives, we want to relive it all over again!”

Amanda Murphy & Christopher Fairley 24th November 2022

From watching The Wedding Planner to heading up our Wedding Team!

Watching movies such as 27 Dresses

What did you do before joining Ellingham Hall?

Any standout moments?

What have you learned so far?

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