A wedding so alarmingly beautiful that it would make The Duchess of Cambridge dream about a do-over? You bet, and it’s all thanks to the talented vendor team on hand (we’re looking at you Katie Julia, Wedding Film Studio, Jessie Thomson Weddings & Events, and Kylee Yee). From the traditional church ceremony to the rose gold details, we’ve got it all waiting for you to fall in love with in The Vault
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From Jessie Thomson Weddings & Events…This beautiful church ceremony and marquee garden wedding is absolutely perfect for the modern luxury bride – set in the grounds of their private home in England, we mixed crisp white organic florals with soft grey silk linen, subtle blush details and contemporary furnishings to create a traditional yet elegant and timeless celebration. Not only did this two day affair visually look amazing, it was also an incredible experience for their guests; from Jo Malone scent throughout, a special powder room for the ladies complete with beautiful dressing tables, an oyster shucker at the outdoor drinks reception as a gift to the father of the bride, live drums and sax accompanying the late night DJ, and a bloody mary bar at the post-wedding brunch. Each element was considered to please all of the senses, and truly reflected the effortless personal style of the gorgeous bride and delightful groom.
From the bride…. Growing up, and when I allowed myself to dream about it, I always thought I knew exactly how I wanted my wedding to be – a traditional English wedding in a church with a marquee reception. For me, that was the dream. Yet, after I had said “yes” I had to explore every option – getting married with just close family and friends around us on a sandy beach in Barbados, a country house hotel in the Cotswolds…we even looked at licensing our own garden! There are so many options and there is so much pressure to make this the very best day of your lives (after your children’s birthdays of course!) that you can get totally caught up in a wedding frenzy. That was me. The girl that had had a box of magazine clippings full of ideas for saying I do in her bedside drawer since the beginning of time, didn’t know what to do! During our engagement we moved in to our “forever home” and it was only when visiting the house one day we realised it was the perfect place for our wedding day. There is a beautiful church in our village which is walking distance from the house and imagining it there was just like thinking of the wedding I had always dreamed of growing up.
Once the decision was made to get married at home I knew exactly what I wanted to do and how I wanted it to look. My husband let me take the lead with all the styling and detail, his big thing was the food and wine so I left him to work with our chosen catering company “Horseradish” and I have to say, they did a great job!
I am naturally a very organized person (I have to be, its my job!) but I knew from the start that I wanted to have the help of a wedding planner for the lead up to the big day and the day itself. This was definitely one of the best decisions I made. I had insta-stalked a few people after our engagement but I knew that Jessie was the right one for us. Her style was flawless and I knew we would be on the same page from the start. Jessie took all the stress out of the day itself and was always there to bounce my ideas off and bring me back down to earth when they got out of control (importing the perfect chairs from china?!) My second priority was the stationery, you only get to make one first impression and I wanted it to set the tone of the day. Thanks again goes to Instagram for introducing me to the beyond talented Gemma Milly, just check out her page and you’ll see what I mean! She managed to bring together every element of my wildest stationary dreams and make them reality – printing rose gold foil on wood veneer, our own monogrammed wax stamp and beautiful water colour illustrations. It was well worth the disagreement I had with my husband over how much budget I had portioned to it!!
I was really lucky in that I had the same feeling about Katie our photographer too and felt like I had hit the jackpot when I realised they had worked together before and I saw what they had created. To me, these were the most important parts of the day – the styling and the photographs and after I had these two booked I had peace of mind. It was then that I could concentrate on my dress! I went down to London to Browns Bride and Vera Wang (so much fun!) but as beautiful as they all were I didn’t want to walk down the isle in something that was “Off the Peg”. It also didn’t sit well with me to pay so much money for something that isn’t unique. A good friend of mine had had her dress made for her wedding and she passed on the details to me. As soon as I met Claire I knew it was the route that I wanted to go down. It was great to be able to make tweaks and changed all the way through (which I certainly did – sorry Claire!!) and feel like I had played a part in designing the dress. Claire also made my sisters bridesmaid dress which again made the process so much easier as I wanted my bridesmaids and flower girls to be in white and who knew there were so many different shades!! With Claire making the two dresses it was easy to get the perfect match.
The flower girl choices were easy for me. I fell in love with Nelly Stella “Alice” dress as soon as I saw it. With its layers and layers of soft white tulle it was the perfect dress for my little angels!
I’d say I spent most of my time leading up to the wedding on the little details. I sat on my iPad night after night researching and looking for ideas. I kept a Pinterest board and followed lots of lovely wedding related blogs. I think it’s so important to do this so you can be sure that you include everything you want to on the day and put your personal touch on it.
I firmly believe that the week leading up to the wedding day is almost as wonderful as the day itself. You float around in a world of excitement and anticipation, watching everything fall in to place and seeing all your hard work come together. The moment the marquee guys arrived I was transported in to my own little bubble, it was such a happy time. My advice to my friends and future brides to be is to really enjoy this week, it’s too late for panic so let it be and take as much time off work as possible!
We had planned to have a dinner after our rehearsal the night before the wedding and that really was the start of the celebrations. All our family and wedding party came together and it was so special to have that time with them before the craziness of the day itself.
Although I had had my bridezilla moments in the final weeks before, I felt totally calm on the morning of our wedding. I woke up early to the most beautiful clear skies and made breakfast for my flower girls and bridesmaids. I then took time to be with our daughter because I knew it would be difficult later in the day. She was only 20 months at the time and was a little confused by what was going on!
It was beyond exciting seeing all the suppliers arriving and setting up and during my hair and make up I couldn’t help but keep popping outside to check on progress! The morning flew by and before I knew it the rest of the bridal party had arrived and I was putting my dress on. It was at this point that the nerves kicked in as I realised due to minor hiccups and changing of plans I was running a fashionable 15 minutes late! Bride tip – be ready half an hour before you think you should be…and then add on another 15 minutes! There is never enough time!
Although only half a miles journey, traveling to the church with my Dad was one of the most special moments of the day. He was cool and calm and I felt so lucky to have him there by my side. As we walked down the tree lined path to the church he took my arm, told me I looked beautiful and we followed the flower girls, my daughter and my sister down the isle. The picture of smiling faces of our friends and family all under one roof was so special. I was so happy I couldn’t stop grinning! When I reached the end and saw my husband I was overwhelmed with emotion. The first hymn began and I couldn’t hold in my happy tears! Thankfully the forward thinking best man handed me a handkerchief as I tried to pull myself together!
Photography: Katie Julia | Cinematography: Wedding Film Studio | Event Planning + Design: Jessie Thomson Weddings & Events | Floral Design: Westwood Design | Cake: Cressida Bell | Stationery: Gemma Milly | Catering: Horseradish Hospitality | Makeup: Naomi Joy | Hair: Soul Hair | Venue: At Home | Adult Bridesmaid: Claire Mischevani Couture | Adult Bridesmaid Hair Clip: John Richard | Bride Dress: Claire Mischevani Couture | Bride Headband: jennifer behr | Bride Jewelry: Boodles | Bride Shoes: Dune | Bridesmaid Bracelets: Astley Clarke | Flowergirl Dresses: Nellystella | Lighting + Audio: Lightech | Photography - Assistance: Kylee Yee | Reception Music + DJ: ALR Music | Stationery (Table Plan): Imogen Owen | Tent Rentals: Tent And Garden
