CLODAGH McKENNA Love on the menu as the chef weds the Hon. Harry Herbert at Highclere
MARRIES THE HON. HARRY HERBERT AT HIGHCLERE JOINED BY FAMILY AND FRIENDS
When celebrity chef and TV presenter Clodagh McKenna married the Hon. Harry Herbert, there were so many wonderful ingredients to their special day that made it both memorable and meaningful. “I’ll never forget walking down the aisle and seeing Harry waiting for me at the altar, surrounded by family and friends,” Clodagh tells hello!, as she shares some of the magical moments of their wedding on 14 August at St Michael and All Angels church in Highclere, Hampshire. “My friend Imelda May was singing as I entered and the church was filled with flowers.”
Wearing a beautiful lace wedding gown by Alice Temperley – “She is one of my favourite designers so I knew from the beginning it would be from her” – Clodagh, 46, exchanged vows with Harry, 62, the founder and chief executive of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing.
Harry’s father Henry was Lord Porchester, the 7th Earl of Carnarvon, who was known as “Porchie” and was the bloodstock adviser and racing manager to the Queen, who is also the groom’s godmother. The family home is Highclere Castle, better known as the fictional Downton Abbey.
‘Alice Temperley is one of my favourite designers so I knew from the beginning it would be from her’
A TASTE OF IRELAND
Irish-born Clodagh’s heritage also featured at the wedding, with guests drinking Guinness and enjoying traditional music.
“It was important for both of us to have Irish moments throughout the whole day,” says the bride, who is a resident chef on ITV’s This Morning. “Guinness was enjoyed along with the most incredible Carlingford oysters that arrived fresh from Ireland the day before.”
Of the ceremony, Clodagh says: “My darling brother, Jim, gave me away and I walked up the aisle to
She Moved Through the Fair sung by Imelda. We also had an amazing choir called Sansara, who Imelda sang the first verse of Amazing Grace with. And she sang her hit
Don’t Let Me Stand on My Own with Niall McNamee, which was breathtakingly beautiful.
“My great friend Richard E Grant read I Love You, by Rory Croft, and Harry’s daughter Chloe read from Corinthians.”
Her bouquet, from Katie
‘I’ll never forget walking up the aisle and seeing Harry waiting for me’
Smyth of floral design studio Worm, had a special connection to the couple: “It was made using all the flowers in our garden – fizzy white cosmos, scabiosa, daisies, chamomile, hydrangea paniculata, dahlias, blackberries, broad beans, wild grasses, lisianthus and one giant dried dandelion.”
STARRING ROLES
After exchanging vows, the newlyweds – who first met when they were seated next to each another at a boardroom lunch at Fortnum & Mason in 2017 – walked back down the aisle to Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, before posing for photos with their dogs Nolly and Alfie. “We love our doggies,” Clodagh says. “They were always going to be part of the day.”
Guests included Harry’s three children Chloe, Francesca and William, his brother George, 8th Earl of Carnarvon, with his wife Fiona, as well as his sister Carolyn and her husband John Warren, who is the Queen’s current racing manager, and their son Jake with his wife Zoe, whose five-year-old twins Zalie and India were the flower girls.
Also enjoying the day were Clodagh’s two sisters, her brother and their children, along with 150 of the bride and groom’s extended family and friends, including the Duke and Duchess of Richmond, Andrew Lloyd Webber and his wife Madeleine, former Chancellor George Osborne and his fiancée Thea Rogers, TV presenter Laura Whitmore and jeweller Theo Fennell.
There were many messages of congratulations from the bride’s TV friends. “They’ve all been so lovely,” she says. “We’re a big loving family on This Morning.”
There was also a starring role for another of the family’s VIP four-legged friends. “My sisterin-law Carolyn organised for her gorgeous Irish horse Duffers to take us back to our
‘My great friend Richard E Grant read I Love You by Rory Croft’
home, Broadspear, from the church,” says the bride, adding: “It was surreal as it was suddenly just us and our bridesmaids in the idyllic surroundings of the park. It was unforgettable.”
READY FOR A FEAST
Back at the newlyweds’ home, nestled on the grounds of Highclere Park, the wedding guests enjoyed drinks and canapes in the 18th- century walled garden before dinner in the adjacent woodlands. Clodagh was always going to be hands- on when it came to creating the wedding menu and decorating the tables, sourcing bespoke linen that has become a bestseller on her online store. “We had sharing plates to bring the family style of eating, which I love, to the day,” she says. “Fresh burrata with grilled peaches, our own figs with Broadspear honey and English ricotta, Dublin Bay prawns with dill aioli and, of course, my rosemary Clodagh bread, which I baked the day before.
“Then we had sea bass from Dorset, potatoes and vegetables from our garden and dessert was our favourite lemon cheesecake with a glass of limoncello. We rounded everything off with Gubbeen cheese made by the Ferguson family in West Cork.”
The couple are now enjoying “two weeks of sun and fun” before Clodagh starts work on Clodagh’s Ireland, which will be shown on This Morning at the end of September.
“Then I’m on the road around the UK launching my new cookbook In Minutes, which is released on 28 October,” she adds. “And Harry is off to the horse sales in Newmarket to buy yearlings, so we both have a very busy autumn ahead.”
‘It was suddenly just us and our bridesmaids in the idyllic surroundings of the park. It was unforgettable’