Meghan Markle Would Approve of this Gorgeous Cliveden House Wedding

Megan Kemp
November 8, 2018
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

Long distance is tough (am I right?!), but when fate steps in and two people who are separated by thousands of miles meet in a bar in NYC, what would you do? Daryl, a NYC resident, and James, a London resident, embarked on a whirlwind of a love story. When the time came, decided to get married at THE luxurious Cliveden House, where beloved Meghan Markle stayed the night before her wedding. Fit for royalty, their wedding was a sea of gilded decor in an idyllic English countryside setting as photographed by Zosia Zacharia Photography and the black tie formal vibes are to die for! Daryl rocked a stunning Oscar de la Renta gown. Don’t miss a second of their highlight film created by HD Moments — from a father’s loving tears to James and Daryl’s swoon-worthy vows…

From the bride, Daryl… After dating in New York city for what felt like countless years, James walked into a bar and you know, the rest is history. However, our love story was a little less simple. James was English, running his business and living just outside of London, while I lived on the Upper West Side. My large, close knit family all lived nearby in the New Jersey area. I couldn’t see how our relationship would work. But after a spending hours sharing our stories over a breakfast date, I called my mom and told her something felt different… with James.

James and I both have old souls. He called for a month and we spoke on the phone for three hours every day sharing stories and falling in love through the telephone lines. A few months later he was back in New York and we were officially together. James met my family and meshed with them effortlessly. I flew over to London every chance I got, spending time with his closest friends and his family as well.

After a year we made a decision that I would move to London. And later that year James whisked me off on a surprise trip to Paris where he proposed through teary eyes at Versailles. We celebrated our engagement back in the UK having both of our parents meet for the first time over High Tea at Cliveden House. We fell in love with the intimate grandness of the estate and felt at home amongst the tapestries, the intricate details, and rich fabrics. It was a unanimous decision that this was where our wedding was supposed to be.

James and I are quite classic, and I always knew I wanted my wedding to be a blend of romantic, regal and timelessness. Lydia Kenny, the incredible wedding planner at Cliveden House, and I worked tirelessly to create that vision.

Now, hear their spoken love… the eloquence, the passion, the emotion, as HD Moments captured and is sharing today.

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From Zosia Zacharia Photography… If there were ever 2 people made for each then it is Daryl and James. Daryl is from the US and James is from England, their paths crossed after a chance meeting in a bar in NY. After a whirlwind and at times long distance romance, Daryl moved to England to be with James.

They married on 30th June 2018 at Saint Mary & All Saints church with over 100 guests, many of whom had travelled from around the world to help the happy couple celebrate. Their wedding truly embodied the meaning of destination wedding with 4 days of events and celebrations at the historic Cliveden (the British estate where Meghan Markle stayed the night before the royal wedding, just 10 days earlier).

Daryl, the bride, wore a timeless Oscar de la Renta gown and paired it with beautiful Jimmy Choo lace shoes. Her bridesmaids wore coordinated neutral beaded gowns. Post ceremony, they transported their guests to Cliveden in old-fashioned red London buses and held their cocktail reception on the terrace over-looking the grand gardens of Cliveden. As one of the hottest summers on record in England, it felt more like Italy than London. They had two cakes: a traditional wedding cake with 25,000 iced dots! And the groom’s cigar cake. Their guests danced ’til the wee hours of the morning to live music!

More from the Bride… I found that it was essential to fall in love with the work of my vendors (photographer, videographer, floral designer) as well as connect with them on a personal level, which eased all of my thoughts on the days leading up to our wedding. Another thing that was very important to me was that my bridesmaids felt incredible in their gowns. I have never been keen on traditional bridesmaids dresses, so instead, I individually picked colorless beaded gowns for each of my friends that matched their personal style and budget.

The whole wedding weekend ended up being a four day celebration of dinners in town with our guests who flew in early, an enchanting Rehearsal Dinner with candlelight, dusk and surprise opera singers that our guests would have never expected. And to top it all off, the most perfect unsuspectingly sunny and warm wedding day in the English countryside with 150 of our most intimate friends and family. My husband and I took in every moment and had more fun than we could have ever imagined. It was the most magical weekend filled with more love, light and champagne than we could have dreamed of.