Oh my you’re in for a treat this morning, our couple are so effortlessly stylish and chic, as is their outdoor ceremony and bright flower filled reception with copper accents.
I simply adore Bride Victoria’s Parisian Rime Arodaky gown with lace inserts and she looks absolutely stunning. She stays true to herself and completes her look with a messy top knot, rose gold Topshop sandals and the perfect red lip. Groom Richard looks equally dapper in a three piece Navy suit and bow tie.
There are some truly fabulous portraits of Victoria & Richard casually sat on deck chairs at the famous Larmer Tree Gardens bandstand with their shades on that pretty much sums up how ridiculously cool this couple and their whole affair are.
With Conga dances lead by the Bride, a homemade profiterole tower wedding cake made by the Mother of the Groom, and a breathtaking pink peony bouquet, you’re going to need your Pinterest fingers at the ready…
Bridal Outfit
Victoria The Bride: Getting married was always something I wanted to do, but not something I’d thought much about, and I had no idea what kind of dress I wanted, or what would suit me. I knew I wanted to look “like me” on the day and that I wanted something relaxed, unique, and flattering. I visited quite a few bridal boutiques and to be honest didn’t find a lot that I liked, it wasn’t until a French friend of mine sent me a link to some Rime Arodaky dresses online that I booked an appointment at The Mews Bridal and the experience was totally refreshing; a private appointment, a friendly team and an edited selection of only 3 designers which meant I wasn’t overwhelmed by hundreds of options, and some very cool wedding dresses that totally fit my brief. In order to feel like myself and to keep the look relaxed I opted to wear my hair up in a messy bun (as I do most days) and to do my own make up. I just added some flowers on a clip under my bun, a simple ivory wedding veil bought online and my own rose gold jewellery.
Grooms Attire
Richard’s always very well dressed and has a clear idea of what he likes so for our wedding he had a bespoke suit made at Suit Supply. A three piece suite with a traditional double breasted waistcoat, but a more modern two button jacket and turned up trousers in a vivid blue with a bow tie and pocket square in a warm copper colour.
The Venue
Richard and I both grew up in Dorset so we knew we wanted a venue in this area. Larmer Tree Gardens was the first venue we visited, and although we saw several other venues around Dorset & Wiltshire nowhere else came close. Although it was gamble picking a venue which is centred around an amazing garden, it was a gamble that paid off given the beautiful weather on the day. We had a civil ceremony in the Roman Temple, followed by drinks reception & lawn games by the beautiful Singing Theatre. After the wedding breakfast and speeches in the Pavillion we moved outside to enjoy ‘dusk in a deckchair’ with personalised cocktails at the Lower Indian room before dancing in the Jubilee hall. The best thing about Larmer Tree (after the beautiful gardens) is Gail the wedding co-ordinator. On first meeting Gail we instantly liked her, and knew that our day would be in a very safe pair of hands, leaving us to totally relax and enjoy the day. She also made the planning process very simple, giving us honest feedback on what would and wouldn’t work, helping us with supplier recommendations and sharing ideas from other weddings at Larmer Tree.
Colour Scheme/Décor
The gardens themselves didn’t need any decoration, but we wanted to bring a little of the outside into the pavilion by hanging eucalyptus, populus and salal garlands around the room. I wanted lots of colour, so opted for a mix of bright coloured flowers along the tables in the pavilion, and similarly bright paper lanterns hung from the ceiling in the jubilee hall where we had the band and dancing in the evening. My love of rose gold was extended to the table numbers, place cards and vases (which were clear glass Ikea vases part covered with Copper spray-paint).
Florist
Gail at Larmer Tree recommended Bright Blooms as she had worked with them lots of times before. Kyla at Bright Blooms helped me to design a bright, blousy and romantic look for my bouquet, which consisted of beautiful coral and hot pink peonies, peach cup roses with mint, olive and populus foliage. Kyla also created the beautiful, simple button holes and supplied the table flowers, but I arranged the flowers into the vases with help from an army of friends the day before the wedding.
Wedding Party Fashion
As we didn’t want too formal a wedding the groomsmen wore their own suits, but we bought them matching ties, socks and pocket squares to match Richards tie. I didn’t have bridesmaids, a group of about 18 of us had hired a Manor house close to the venue for the wedding weekend so my closest friends were there to get ready with me on the morning of the wedding but I didn’t want to put my friends in matching dresses and I was happy for it just to be me and my dad walking down the aisle.
Ceremony
We had a civil ceremony and wanted to keep it short and sweet opting for one reading only. We had a string quartet next to the roman temple who played for our ceremony and reception a mix of classical and contemporary music including Beach Boys “God only knows” whilst we signed the register and The Verve’s “Bittersweet symphony” as we walked down the aisle at the end of the service. To be honest I think we were both quite relieved once the ceremony was over, and we could relax and enjoy the party with our friends and family.
Entertainment
String quartet as above. Followed by Victoriana acoustic set on the beautiful Singing Theatre which made it feel like a mini-festival, Victoriana then performed a couple of electric sets in the evening. They were a great band getting almost all of our guests up on the dancefloor with their mix of contemporary songs played in a ‘Mumford & Sons’ vintage/folk style. Later in the evening two of our friends DJ-ed for us which made for the perfect personalised playlist.
Food
We opted for a two course dinner (having served a considerable amount of canapés earlier in the day at the reception). Dessert was profiteroles (made by the caterers), to match the fantastic profiterole cake that Richard’s Mum had made (she is an expert at making profiteroles). To soak up some of the alcohol and fuel all of the dancing we also had an evening service of pizza which was very well received by our guests! Table favours were mini bottles of dessert wine, Vin Santo (a sweet wine from Italy to reflect my Italian heritage) and Madeira (to reflect Richards Portuguese heritage).
Photographer
To help us decide on the venue we researched photos of other weddings at Larmer Tree, and more often than not the photos that we loved were all taken by Lisa Dawn Photography. Lisa and Scott are a husband and wife team, meaning the added bonus of two photographers on the day, and having lots of experience of photographing weddings at Larmer Tree they knew all of the best spots to take photos and we knew we’d be happy with the results.
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