Inspiration

Oh my gosh this fairytale wedding is SO pretty. I simply adore the delicate palette of white, blush and grey filling Pennsylvania Castle in Dorset. The coastal views are absolutely stunning, as are the grounds and interior, making this one AMAZING place to say I do. Angelina looks an absolute vision in her fitted, sweetheart neckline, Sottero & Midgley Zinnia gown, with her gorgeous girlies by her side in sweet pastel pink multiway dresses. But, the ombre cake and bouquets & blooms have honestly had me gasping with delight they are so immense. Get those pinning fingers ready folks, you're gonna need 'em!

The Dress

Angelina the Bride: In my mind I wanted my shoulders covered (I don’t wear anything sleeveless so didn’t think I would on my wedding day) and a huge princess skirt. Turns out this didn’t suit me at all and I chose something opposite! When it came to shopping around it wasn’t just finding a dress I liked, it was also liking the shop. I found my lovely Sottero & Midgley dress at Miss Bush. They were honest, I felt comfortable and of course the shop is lovely! I loved my dress’ detailed beads, crystals and all round sparkle. In the morning we had make up by Claire Bowring, she was so calm and made us feel relaxed – we loved her makeup trial so were actually looking forward to our wedding day makeup. Jeni Worsfold did our hair which stayed put all day and night. We were so happy with all of our suppliers – everything fell into place really well!

The Groomsmen

Richard found his Thom Sweeney suit from Mr Porter – he had actually started shopping around for his suit before I looked at dresses! We bought the groomsmen their suits from Marks and Spencer with my sister in law’s discount.

The Venue

We were looking for an exclusive venue which we could have (and stay over with guests) for the whole bank holiday weekend. We also wanted the ceremony & reception in one place. Once we saw Penn Castle we both fell in love with it and the views. We were so lucky to have lovely sunny weather – it was just the most perfect weekend for us!

Colour Scheme & Décor

The venue is already beautiful so didn’t need much dressing at all - after a year of pinning things on Pinterest boards we decided that the pinks, whites & grey were our favourites. We were looking for pink favours and chose mini percy pigs (with an alternative for veggie guests of course). We were engaged for 2 years before the wedding, so we had time to bargain hunt or collect things or we liked like giant confetti balloons from Bubblegum Balloons, a drop heart guest book made by Shed Furniture and buying left over Shropshire Petals Confetti off ebay.

Flowers

The centrepieces and beautiful bouquets were created by a local florist Fiona Penny. I was quite nervous not seeing everything beforehand but all the flowers were perfect. We had also bought extra roses & peonies from Triangle Nurseries to decorate the bridal suite and around the castle. We actually forgot our bouquets before the ceremony and I only remembered as soon as the music started playing, our lovely wedding co-ordinator Jo threw her shoes off and legged it upstairs to the bridal suite & collected them for us!

The Ceremony

The ceremony was our favourite part of the wedding although also the part that went so quickly and feels like a blur so we’re really looking forward to seeing the video. I just remember feeling so excited, nervous & happy all at the same time. We took 5 minutes after the ceremony to escape to the study and have a drink with just the both of us – I would really recommend this. It was the only time spent together as everyone wants to speak with you throughout the day (understandable, but needing the toilet and 10 guests chatting to you on the way = struggle, especially in a fitted dress)

Entertainment

We booked Alani String Quartet for our ceremony which was lovely and felt so romantic. During our wedding breakfast Rob Austen sang and played the guitar – he had all the girls swooning over him! In the evening we had A-List Band getting everyone dancing.

Food & Drink

Our pink ombre cake was created by Lisa Notley and we loved it, there were 4 different flavours; lemon, chocolate, apple & cider, Prosecco & strawberry. We didn’t get to try all the flavours as everyone got there before us, so would ask your caterers to keep you a slice of each! Our canapes & meal were created by Nomad. For starters we had pate, roast pork with crackling on garlic mash for mains and dessert was a sugar pavlova with summer fruits. It was all beautifully presented! The meal was followed by coffee, wedding cake & cocktail hour. We had Lychee Martinis, my favourite. Richard and his best man shipped all the wine back from Calais and we had an open bar for the whole night, surprisingly though we still have quite a lot of drink left.

Photographer

We love romantic style photos and had come across Camilla via a uni mate’s wedding photos on Facebook. As soon as we spoke with Camilla we knew that she was the one! She made us feel so comfortable and we also loved our engagement photoshoot. On the day she was great with our guests – a couple of people asked if she was our friend.

Videographer

The videographer was the last booking we made for the wedding as we weren’t sure about budgets. However the day flew by so quickly and we’re so glad we booked Harry’s Wedding Films. We ended up booking two videographers but we barely noticed them throughout the day – it was only from our guest’s photos we saw that they were actually there! Now we’re looking forward to opening a bottle of our wedding champagne & watching the day again.
Lorna Shaw

Written by Lorna Shaw

Dress Designer: Sottero & Midgley - Zinnia | Bridal Boutique: Miss Bush | Bridal Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Headpiece: Jenny Packham | Wedding Ring: Tiffany & Co. | Jewellery: Macy's New York | Makeup : Claire Bowring | Hair Stylist: Jeni Worsfold | Venue: The Pennsylvania Castle | Florist: Fiona Penny | Decor/ Styling / Caterer: Nomad | Cake: Lisa Notley Cake Design | Stationery: Eaton Stationery | Entertainment: Alani String Quartet | Rob Austen | A List Band | Videographer: Harrys Wedding Films | Bridesmaid Dresses: The Daintyard Etsy | Grooms Suit: Thom Sweeney at Mr Porter | Groomsmen suits: Marks and Spencers | Giant Balloons: Bubblegum Balloons | Confetti: Shropshire Petals | Wholesale Flowers: Triangle Nurseries

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