Morning! A bride never fails to look utterly glorious in lace and Helen is no exception. Though I am loving Lewis’s bright bow tie, sourced from America from the same shop the cast of Suits wear. Hows that for super stylish? I love the pink and coral colour palette, thrown in some rustic, vintage charm and you have a rather beautiful day.
Dress – Ronald Joyce: Brionne (from The Wedding Warehouse in Ascot). I looked for dressed on pinterest before trying any on, and knew I wanted a fitted lace dress, but I didn’t expect to want sleeves at all – let alone full length sleeves! They ended up being my favourite part of the dress.
Shoes – Kurt Geiger. (they’re on sale for £39!!) My husband is very tall which meant I could get away with really high heels! I wanted some fun shoes as traditional wedding shoes were a bit too formal for our day. I chose the glittery gold Kurt Geiger sandals as my engagement and wedding rings are rose gold.
Bride’s hair accessories/veil: Flowers from Ashley Blooms, veil from The Wedding Warehouse. I liked having flowers in my hair as it left some accessories there when I eventually took my veil off. My veil had lace detailing on the edge which matched my dress.
Claire Nicole, Twyford
Suit and shoes from ASOS, shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt, bow tie and pocket square from The Tie Bar (im- ported from America). My husband LOVES the American TV show suits and the actors on the show wear ties from The Tie Bar. That’s how we found the coral bow ties and pocket squares.
We bought the same suits for the groomsmen but added the suit jacket for Lewis to differentiate him as the groom.
Theme: Rustic details with a vintage twist with a coral and pink palette.
I’m quite creative and really enjoyed making most of the decorations myself.
Table decorations: Hessian table runners, wood slices, jam jars wrapped in twine, parcel tag place names (tied around napkins with twine), photo props in jam jars as wedding favours
Table plan: Rustic wooden white-washed table plan, parcel tag table lists, bird pegs hanging tags on line (I cut out bird silhouettes from the same patterned paper I used for the mobile and stuck them on pegs to hang the parcel tags on the line. I made additional pegs so it looked like birds were sit- ting on the line)
Cake table: Homemade cake stand (flowerpot wrapped in twine with floral plate glued on top) – cake stands were quite expensive and I couldn’t find one that looked rustic enough, so I had the idea to make one myself. Hessian ‘just married’ cake bunting, clay mice cake toppers homemade bird and heart mobile (I drew a silhouette of a bird as a tem- plate and folded patterned craft paper in a concertina for the wings, the hearts were cut out of the same brown Kraft card and patterned paper)
Guest book table: Vintage suitcase with ‘cards’ bunting for wedding cards and gifts, ce- ramic birds and love sign, hanging polaroid pictures of Lewis and I.
Cheese cake with additional cheddar base from West Country Cheese. Lewis and I aren’t big fans of cake (shocking I know!) we have more of a savoury tooth so our wedding coordinator suggested having a cheese cake instead. It worked really well as we served the cheese with crackers and chutney as the vegetarian option for our evening food. It went down so well there was none left.
The Great Food Company – We really liked the idea of guests sharing food on their tables rather than a formal sit-down meal. It was a good way to break the ice for guests that were sat with people they didn’t know, and created a good atmosphere in the evening as people got to know each other earlier in the day.
Lewis’s Dad brewed beers especially for the wedding which was a really lovely touch. Lewis loves real ales, and it was even more special that his Dad made them for our day.
Canapes – Goats cheese bruschetta, mini yorkshire puddings with beef and horseradish cream, smoked salmon, caper and lemon tartlets
Reception drinks – Ales and beers home-brewed by Lewis’s Dad (he also built a transportable bar on wheels so everyone could serve themselves – Ben took some pictures – and one of our guests designed the labels as a surprise for Lewis, based on his favourite songs)
Pimms with vintage straws
Raspberry and mint lemonade with vintage straws
Starter – Italian sharing platter (meats, breads cheese, olives)
Main – Sharing BBQ on platters. Chicken with parsely and pine nuts, wild boar sausages, lamb kebabs, salad, potato salad and roasted vegetable couscous
Desert – Tart au Citron with creme fraiche, limoncello syrup
Dresses from ASOS, shoes and accessories are bridesmaids own (I wanted to give them the option to accessorise themselves as the dresses were so vibrant. I liked that they weren’t all quite matching)
I was worried about the dresses being too non-traditional as they were so brightly patterned – however the girls looked amazing and got loads of complements on the day. It was nice to go for something more fashionable – the dresses fitted perfectly with our theme so I was pleased I broke tradition in the end.
The ceremony – I was so nervous waiting outside ready to walk down the aisle and wanted to cry as soon as I heard the ceremony music (we chose Jack Johnson – Angel and the lyrics always make me well up because my husband said it makes him think of me). But as soon as I started walking down the aisle and saw Lewis I was so happy, all the nervousness went away and it was so amazing to be sharing such a special moment together and saying our vows in front of everyone we love.
Benjamin Stuart Photography – We loved Ben’s natural, documentary-style photography. It was so lovely looking at the photos after the wedding because it perfectly captured our day and showed everything exactly as we remembered it.
Ashley Blooms, Caversham, Berkshire – I spent all year before the wedding collecting jam jars for the flowers and spent hours wrapping them in twine! It was worth it – I was really pleased with how the centrepieces came together. I let the florist know my favourite flowers were roses, peonies and hydrangeas and gave them free reign to choose the rest of the flowers (as long as they were pink, coral or white). I didn’t want the arrangements to be formal so asked them to choose a range of different flowers.
Ufton Court, Ufton Nervet, Berkshire – We chose the venue because we loved the barn and the grounds – it was so beautiful for both the ceremony and reception. We also liked that the whole day could be in one place. Our families are from Birmingham and Portsmouth so it meant that our guests didn’t have to travel again once they arrived. We wanted a relaxed feel to the day and the venue was perfect for this.
- If budgeting is important (which it was for us) create a spreadsheet to keep track of costs. We updated it with everything – even the smallest things like decorations/craft materials. It’s surprising how quickly things rack up!
- Look for decorations on ebay – you can find the same things on ebay for a more reasonable price than in the shops (I even saved money on the patterned craft paper for my homemade mobile)
- Make some decorations yourself if you can / ask friends to help – everyone loved the homemade touches 🙂
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Try not to stress – I was so worried about everything coming to- gether, but on the day everyone wants the best for you and makes sure that it all runs smoothly
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