Inspiration

We are well and truly being spoilt with all these summer weddings on the blog recently, and this outdoor celebration at Scampston Hall, North Yorkshire is just heavenly. The picturesque ceremony on the Palladian Bridge is literally something out of a fairytale. To continue with the classic country vibe Bianca & Sam had a traditional pole marquee for their wedding breakfast, decorated with lush greenery, moss and vines. Their adorable little pup can also be seen sporting his own custom made laurel collar. SO CUTE. And taking of custom made, armed with a clear vision of what she wanted her bridal gown to look like, Bride Bianca had a bespoke gown made for her by Jane Elmer Couture that is so dreamy and Bianca looks SO beautiful in. With spontaneous games of cricket on the lawn, a live band and pizza for supper, I know I say this all the time, but I really do wish I could have been there.

The Dress

Bianca The Bride: I visited no less than 15 bridal shops in York and London, I was very open to trying different styles but slowly began to create a check list of what I was looking for. When I realised I couldn’t find the one dress with everything I wanted, I decided to go bespoke and found Jane Elmer. It is a very unique experience having your dress built in front of you and having Jane as my couturier, I wasn't nervous at all about the outcome, she got to know me really well. I went for classic lace over the palest blush silk and my train got longer as the fittings went on.

Accessories

It’s not me to go for a traditional bridal shoe and I wanted a shoe that I would wear again. So after a glass of champagne I headed to the Valentino store on Sloane Street and purchased the very sexy Rockstuds! I kept accessories very simple and meaningful, my diamond stud earrings a gift from Sam, a diamond flower ring from my late grandma and a gold watch from my late Nanna. I originally decided against having a veil but once you try one on and then realise this is the only time you will ever get to wear one... mind changed.

Groom

Sam wanted a quality, British mod style fitted suit, something very classic and opted for Ben Sherman, where he also got his shirt and paisley tie. His shoes were a birthday present from me from Russell & Bromley. We asked the Dads and groomsmen to wear their own choice of navy suit as we preferred to have them all in their own style and not looking so uniform but tied them all in with the same tie and pocket square.

The Wedding Party

It was so important for me to let my bridesmaids choose what they would feel great in on the day but the ones we chose, I actually found and they didn’t get to try them on until the dresses arrived. We had a fun weekend of trying dresses in London and decided on the colour when we saw how great the silver grey looked on them.

Venue

We created a very specific checklist and Scampston Hall ticked them all, we wanted an outdoor ceremony, marquee reception, dog friendly and to chose every single supplier ourselves without any penalties. Even in the baron month of February it looked so beautiful and we knew straight away. I fell in love with the traditional ropes, wooden poles and canvas of Will's Marquees and booked it without Sam having seen it but I was totally swept away with the epicness and luckily so was he on the day. These guys take such pride in their marquees and are so well maintained that every part of it looks brand new, working with Chris and Lynsey too - I couldn't recommend them highly enough.

Colour scheme/decor

English meets Tuscan with a bohemian vibe, we wanted everything to be kept simple and rustic with lots of green foliage and elegant white flowers. We prefer a mismatched look, so had no colour scheme and even threw in a Moroccan inspired lounge area for good measure. We had Fentiman’s and milk bottles hanging in the trees, filled with flowers grown in my Mother in Law’s garden and lemon trees, hydrangeas and lavender in French apple crates at the marquee entrance.

Florist

Our florist was Kymm of Queens Florists, she was an absolute dream to work with, constantly guided me and understood my vision from the beginning. My brief was to bring the outdoors in with a rustic, elegant Tuscan feel with lot's of foliage and mini olive trees on the tables. I wanted to use the pink hydrangeas from my Grandma’s garden and they looked so beautiful on the arch and bridge. For the bouquets I wanted them to be wild with lot’s of foliage again. My bouquet was the most stunning I had seen, the Yves Piaget roses and olive branches complete with olives tied with grey silk, brought a tear to my eyes. Sam didn’t want a traditional buttonhole so we came up with the idea of herb rings, I think they looked great. I really wanted to wear a floral headpiece but was very worried that it would look too festival but Kymm got it exactly right for me.

Ceremony

We got married on the stunning setting of the Palladian Bridge with our guests sat by the lake looking on. Walking down the aisle is such a surreal experience and I got jelly legs but once I saw everyone, well it’s one of my favourite moments I wish I could do all over again. It was important to us to make our ceremony personal and relaxed so we wrote our own vows and I walked down the aisle to Wonderwall by Ryan Adams and we exited to You got the love by Florence and the Machine, which set the party vibe for the rest of the day.

Entertainment

Music played all day outside and created a great party atmosphere. In the evening we had a band called The Goosehorns who were just fantastic and although we had little doubt with our friends that the dance floor would be empty, they had all ages up dancing.

Food

We had tried Friends for Dinner at a friend’s wedding and we were blown away by the food so they seemed the obvious choice. We wanted the food to be sociable and relaxed so went for an antipasti board with all the trimmings and for mains we went for a BBQ with bowls of salads, desert was a trio of Lemon Tart, Salted Caramel Brownie and Summer Pudding. For the evening we surprised our guests with fresh wood fired pizzas from Pizza Loco, it's fair to say the food went down a storm with our guests. We went for a semi naked cake decorated in the simplest way, olive leaves and waxflower, I loved it. We went for Banoffee on the top tier, Raspberry & White Chocolate in the middle and Lemon & Blueberry on the bottom. Naked cakes can be prone to drying out quickly so semi naked is a good way to keep the sponge moist but a good cake maker will have this under control.

Stationery

My youngest brother, Sam and I created the seating plan just 2 days before the wedding, I wanted to do something original and was actually inspired by a styled shoot I once saw on RMW, my mum came up with the great idea of using an old gate. I had the job of hand stamping every name on to luggage tags for the plan and the tables! My mum made confetti by drying out multi coloured rose petals for 18 months, that we tied up in little glassine bags.

Photographer

Photography was very important to us both, to be able to capture our day in the most beautiful way possible and we knew instantly when we met Sam, she is so talented and a lovely person to engage with. Her work had everything we were looking for - romantic, timeless, drenched in light and she works with film which captures colour in a way that digital can't. Needless to say we are delighted with her work.

Advice

Make sure you click with your suppliers, it makes the planning process such a pleasure and those that I clicked with the most, were the ones that impressed me the most on the day.
Lorna Shaw

Written by Lorna Shaw

Bespoke Wedding Dress: Elmer Couture | Bridal Shoes: Valentino Rockstuds | Bridesmaid Dresses: Vera Wang at David's Bridal | Venue: Scampston Hall | Florist: Queens Flowers | Marquee: Wills Marquees | Caterer: Friends 4 Dinner | Pizza Loco | Cake: Jervaulx Abbey Tea Rooms | Entertainment: Yorkshire Entertainment - Goosehorns | Groom Suit: Ben Sherman | Grooms Shoes: Russell & Bromley

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