Afternoon, well, we have another beautiful country wedding! Absolutely loving the choice of bridesmaids colours and the grooms suit (which he bought 2 weeks before!) sets it off perfectly. Suzie spent two days decorating the venue (including the flower arch!), the love and attention to detail is beautiful and definitely worth all of the late nights. Also make sure you read what the wedding breakfast menu was, something totally different and sounds delicious.
Jessica Reeve Photography
All of the hair was done by a friend and we all loved it.
The make up was done by another very talented friend Kate Bell (katebellmakeup.co.uk) and it was sensational. I felt so amazing on the day and it didn’t budge. I didn’t want to take it all off !
Sottero and Midgley design, Meredith - It took me quite a long time to find the right dress and we didn’t have long as we planned the wedding for 8 months time and a lot of shops needed at least 6 months to order. I tried on so many dresses that made me look like comedy characters, I looked ridiculous in quite a few designs but had lots of fun listening to the bridal shop staff trying to tell me I look beautiful. I didn’t ! I eventually found my dress and I loved the lace design and low cut v back. I actually felt amzing in it and knew this one was the one.
My very talented friend made me a bespoke vintage belt which really worked with the dress .
Shoes- Rachel Simpson – Mimosa Ivory. Its true, they are gorgeous and totally comfortable all day long. The money spent is worth every penny.
Bride’s hair accessories/veil - I went for a very simple veil which had to come off after the ceremony as the wind was blowing it everywhere but I loved wearing it for the short time I had it on.
My original plan to wear a borrowed Jenny Packham headpiece changed when I tried it on with the dress and it just didn’t work. I loved it but it looked wrong so had to go. In the end I went for small bits Gypsophillia and some cream flowers on the day and it was perfect.
We designed everything ourselves and had it all printed at a local printers.
Ben got his suit from Next and didn’t buy it till 2 weeks before ! He is very chilled and knew exactly what he wanted.
He bought burgundy shoes to go with the suit and a the deep pink ties looked great with the blue.
I literally loved the whole day and had the most fun I’ve ever had but walking down the aisle to Aretha Franklin’s ’You’re All I Need to get by’ was a magical experience surrounded by everyone I love and seeing ben waiting for me at the end of the aisle.
A close second was the surprise song for ben when all of my friends serenaded him with ‘You’re just too good to be true’, his favourite song.
The Letchworth Centre for Healthy Living. In partnership with Rebecca at Enchanted Garden Events. Rebecca was absolutely wonderful and suggested lots of our suppliers as well as overseeing our day with such warmth and professionalism.
We had outdoor ceremony and then a marquee reception in their beautiful gardens. We chose this venue as we always wanted an ‘outdoor’ wedding and I had dreams of my sunny walk down the aisle. Luckily it was sunny although it rained very hard either side of our day. The garden is beautiful, surrounded by an orchard and woodlands that guests can walk in.
For us it was perfect as we could do everything our own way ; decor, food and styling all came down to us which meant we could be really creative and fun.
Jess was more than we could have ever hoped for in a photographer. She was so amazing on the run up to the wedding and went above and beyond on the day itself, even staying later to make the most of the night time vibe. Her photographs have captured the essence of our day perfectly and have given us so much pleasure in remembering all the little details.
We had a loose vintage/country theme but we knew we wanted it to have a fun and chilled feel to the day. I wanted lots of vintage details but the emphasis was on having lots of fun homemade touches.
I customised lampshades to hang above the top table, we had pastel coloured pom poms, home made lace covered jars and we spent 2 days decorating the marquee and tables with our family and friends. Our flower arch took a whole day to erect, 2 people to make it and it just lasted until the end of the ceremony then collapsed as we walked back up the aisle !
We had hay bales outside, hanging festoons for when it got dark and our own sweet table and home made photobooth with ridiculous costumes.
There were fairylights everywhere so at night the whole site twinkled.
My bouquet was made by Nadine at Spinney Cottage Flowers and I just loved it so much. So did the bees ! The rest of the flowers I bought in bulk at Savin Wholesalers and we all helped to create the centrepieces. My sister actually made the bridesmaid bouquets which were simple but beautiful.
Half of the dresses were Jenny Packham and half were from bhs. All of my bridesmaid’s are very different in style and personality (and one was 7 months pregnant) and I wanted them to all feel happy with what they were wearing so the dresses reflected that. They all looked so beautiful and it was so special having my best friends share the whole day with me. Getting ready was so chilled and fun. They wore their own shoes.
Lot’s of cava and fruit cocktails to start.
We are both foodies and wanted to have something really tasty and different.
We bought in our canapes from Marks and Spencer and the guests enjoyed ( I didn’t get any !) mini pork pies, tandoori prawns and other little tasty bites.
Our chef was Harry from Peru Sabor and he cooked us the most delicious Peruvian street food. The starter was Prawn and Salmon Causa, main course was beef and chicken skewers on a quinoa salad with griddeled potatoes. It got so many compliments and everybody loved it.
For dessert we had Italian Ice creams from the fabulous retro Ice Ice baby Ice Cream Van.
In the evening we hired Ruffwood Pizza Company and enjoyed wood fired pizzas throughout the evening. It was so good !
My amazing Aunty Marion made our cake which was fabulous. 4 tiers- Fruit, chocolate, madeira, chocolate. She also decorated it with lace and detailed piping. It was delicious. We were very lucky.
I have a background in the theatre and have many actors, singers and performers as friends so I had many talented people to sing over the course of the day. A ukelele, lots of amazing performers and a surprise song for ben in the speeches where everyone joined in filled the day.
Howard Neil Discotheques took over for our evening music and a lot of dancing ensued.
Enjoy it all. I honestly had the best day of my life and all of the hard work in the lead up was completely worth it. We had 8 months to plan and it was absolutely enough time to make, create and pull it all off. It can be stressful but remember why you’re doing it all. Have fun !
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