We’re hopping the pond with this next little gem. Photographed by the always fabulous Marianne Taylor, this wedding literally defines the word pretty. Pretty, pretty dress. Pretty flowers (well gorgeous actually). The prettiest bride I’ve ever seen and a style that is BEYOND pretty. Way beyond. Oh and don’t even get me started on the bridesmaids. I always get a little excited to see what Marianne is going to send our way next but this one…well, it just might take the cake! There are so many details that we couldn’t show…click here for more!
{click here to see the full wedding}
Rose & Brendan’s garden party wedding at the Larmer Tree Gardens in Dorset really was a pretty special affair. This is how Rose described her theme for the wedding: ‘I’ve tried to keep all the stationery formal in style as I really like formality, but like the contradiction that it is a garden party event. I’m a sucker for tradition but I love tiny personal details. For the day I wanted to create a real inside outside feel – like a vintage 1940s tea dance that has come through time and ended up in a garden – so everything’s a little distressed from the elements but still beautiful.’
Rose and the bridesmaids got ready at the gorgeous Launceston Farm, which really set the mood for the day from the start. Rose’s dress and veil were from Pronovias Bond Street and this is what she says about finding the perfect gown: ‘I searched for ages because I really wanted a Spanish style dress but couldn’t find anything that didn’t look like I was drowning in fabric! It was really hard to track down the dress I chose and I had to order it before I’d even seen it in real life, but it worked our perfectly and was totally “the one”. I LOVED the fabric of the dress with its tiny flocked dots all over the tulle, mixed with the cotton lace. And I loved the gros grain bows. My amazing friend and colleague Lisa Roberts did all the alterations (It was meant to have a halter neck and we changed some of the detailing on the bust). She did an exceptional job and I’d recommend her to anyone.’
‘My shoes were Louboutin and my bag was last minute buy from Monsoon Bridal.’
‘I got the Bridesmaids Dresses came from Topshop as I really wanted something that looked quite cute, with a hint of vintage, and in a daywear fabric! We made little net underskirts to go under them to puff out the skirts so they looked a little fuller. I made the Bridesmaids hair ornaments with fabrics I bought online from The Trimming Company and bought the bridesmaids shoes from New Look.’
‘Brendan’s suit was from Topman and the groomsmen just wore their own black suits to match. Brendan’s shirt was a River Island buy, as were his excellent very long shoes (which had beautiful roses carved into the leather soles which was a nice hidden detail). The bow ties were from Tie Rack.’
One thing that made this wedding feel very special was that the whole wedding party was just 14 people in total (Brendan lost his best man as he had to be onboard his Navy ship the same day as the wedding as the queen was visiting). It really felt exceptional to be a part of such an intimate party, and it made for a beautifully relaxed day – the often normal ‘stresses’ of a wedding day seemed far away. I still can’t get over how beautiful all the carefully selected details looked. Here’s what Rose told me about them: ‘I collected a lot of mercury glass as it looks like formal interior decorative items that have been left outside – silver glass that has been worn away with sun and rain. They came from places such as Niki Jones, Cox & Cox, Graham & Green, and from antique shops.’
‘The candelabras were from eBay and all our cut glass vases, candle sticks, bowls and ornaments were all vintage/charity shop finds. There are some fantastic charity shops in Devon and Cornwall where you can find the best things for a bargain. Woodside is probably the all time best where most of the things came from.’
‘I used all country garden based flowers that were in season, very unstructured – no “floristry” as such, just flowers in pots and vases. I ordered all our flowers through our local market Petals Florists and we made our bouquets and buttonholes ourselves the night before the wedding. My mum did all the vases at the venue for us in the morning before the wedding.’
Photography: Marianne Taylor Photography / Flowers: Petals Florist (DIY though!) / Getting ready: Launceston Farm / Ceremony & reception location: Larmer Tree Gardens / Invitations: Rose Phillips (the bride) / Shoes: Louboutin/ Dress: Pronovias / Groom’s suit: Topman / Bridesmaid’s dresses: Topshop