Greenery is certainly the buzz word of 2017 so far, not only is it the Pantone colour of the year, but it’s just oozes style and sophistication. I mean what’s not to love about oodles of foliage and green tones?
Louise and Mark were married on the 17th September 2016 at their village church followed by a tipi reception on the family farm. Fresh whites complimented the greenery throughout, with the bridesmaids in white frocks, cream flowers nestled in the wild florals and simple décor in the tipi. Their tip on working out the top three priorities when wedding planning is bang on. Louise and Mark’s were free booze, amazing food and a live band. With a focus on the experience rather than the details. This is one day you’ll wish you’d been a guest at.
Let’s talk about the inspired attire choices. Louise wore a breathtakingly beautiful lace embellished Jesus Peiro gown and veil. Meanwhile Mark chose a tweed jacket, green tie and chinos for a relaxed look. Didn’t they look wonderful?
Huge thanks this afternoon goes to Victoria Somerset-How Photography for providing the divine images.
THE PROPOSAL | Oh dear, do I have to say…. We were in Sri Lanka, which sounds very romantic but on the first day I found the ring in a sock in Mark’s backpack and had a total meltdown… saying that I didn’t want to get married!! We then carried on with our holiday pretending it hadn’t happened, in the meantime the guilt set in for me as I realised what a cow I had been!! It got to the second to last day and the ring still hadn’t been pulled back out so I thought it was off! We went out for a meal and Mark got really bad food poisoning and was up all night. It was about 6am and I went and sat on the balcony to read my book and get away from the loo (!), he crawled out onto the balcony and did it there and then. It is possibly the most unromantic story of all time, but made good telling in the speeches!
THE VISION | No vision other than for it to be a very fun and relaxed day.
THE PLANNING PROCESS | I found the whole planning process fine, and I really enjoyed the creative side of it. One year is plenty of time to organise a wedding and once you have booked the big stuff, the rest is fun. The only parts that were stressful were the whole not inviting children thing, agreeing how many guests our parents could have (!) and also because it was on my parents farm there were lots of boring logistics which you wouldn’t normally have to think about at a venue like toilets, generators, electricity, fridges, plug sockets etc!!
THE VENUE | The village church and then my mum and dad’s farm for the reception.
THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | Bespoke Jesus Peiro.
FINDING THE DRESS | I tried lots of dresses on and nothing seemed quite right. I wanted to feel relaxed but still special, which I was struggling to find.
Alexandra Anne is a little boutique in a converted barn near to where my parents live. Ali was amazing and I knew I would find my dress there. We narrowed it down to two and then I worked out I wanted a hybrid! So Ali suggested we ask one of the designers to make it with the various bits I wanted. It was scary because it was really just in my head and I had no idea how it was going to look in reality so having to commit to it was a gamble, but it was just perfect and I loved it.
GROOM’S ATTIRE | Tweed waistcoat and jacket from Walker Slater with chinos.
THE READINGS & MUSIC | I walked down the aisle to Arrival of the Queen of Sheeba because it’s much more jolly! We wanted upbeat, positive music and readings so we chose; Two are better than one – Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Look to this Day – by Kalidasa, Give me joy in my heart, Love divine, I vow to thee my country.
BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | They chose their own dresses, I just requested them to wear white – they all looked amazing and everyone commented on it.
THE FLOWERS | Lots of greenery with some white flowers, all grown locally and seasonally.
THE CAKE | Victoria sponge ‘naked cake’ made by my mum – she was putting it together on the morning of the wedding!
YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Victoria! A very talented friend who knew exactly what we wanted… nothing forced and no fake posing! She captured the moments and colours so so well. Everyone has commented on how beautiful our pics are!
THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | The décor was all very simple. Lots of greenery and candles and that was about it. The tipis look amazing without much extra fuss!
Mark and I made a load of liqueurs and then de-cantered them into little bottles for the favours, we had big magnums of red wine for the tables too, which looked cool, we had a north vs south quiz (I am a northerner and Mark is a southerner!) and lots of cheese!
THE HONEYMOON | Africa – we started on an island in the middle of the zambezi river where we had the ultimate wind down and technology detox, lots of wild animals and no electricity! We then went on safari and ended up in South Africa in the winelands and Cape Town before flying home.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS | Getting ready with the girls in the morning. Walking through the village from home to church with my bridesmaids and dad, with all the locals waving and clapping! I was really nervous about the church as it has so many memories for me but I absolutely loved every second, seeing all our friends and family and locals, and having a good sing song soon got rid of the nerves!
Drinking lots of fizz at the reception with the sun shining then partying the night away and having an impromptu first (last) dance to Honky Tonk Woman with us being thrown about on our cousins shoulders!
ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Our advice would be to have about 3 real top priorities that you don’t want to compromise on, ours were free booze, amazing food and a live band. Everything else try not to worry about or over think, no one else will notice what flowers are in the church or what’s on the tables.. Our other top tip is relax and enjoy it! The two days before I did feel quite stressed trying to set everything up but as soon as I woke up on the morning, I made a pact with myself to enjoy all our hard work and not worry about a thing.. just let it slide, relax and party!!
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |
Photography | Victoria Somerset-How Photography
Dress and veil | Alexandra Anne
Flowers | Frances and Rose
Tipis | Peak Tipis
Stationery | A Little Bird Press
Catering | Heart of the Peak Catering
Cheese | The Courtyard Dairy
Groom and best men outfits | Walker Slater
So magical and a really special countryside setting.
Thanks so very much to Louise and Mark for sharing their wedding story here with us xo Lou