Inspiration

I love this pair and their slightly eccentric, but oh-so British wedding day. Classic cars, elegant fashion and dapper gentlemen make this Goodwood wedding completely timeless through and through. With Jess and Tom's Austin 7 Ulster car almost stealing the show, it's a wedding that's full of fun and surprises. Outfit changes for both the bride and groom, plus a giant caterpillar cake make this wedding one of the most original I've seen for a long time. Clearly a wonderful time was had by all - the music and dancing looks like such fun. This pair found their photographers, Green Antlers, here on RMW, which we always love to read. Let's enjoy the images shall we?

The Photography

Jess & Tom: We found Green Antlers on RMW, in a top 10 weddings of the year feature. We absolutely loved the feel and colour used, and also the natural style of the photos. We Facetimed them and got on like on fire they are just the nicest couple. On the day we didn’t feel like they were our photographers but rather extra guests. They were super helpful and really mucked in. Diana even helped me into my wedding dress since the hair and make up lady had turned up late, everyone else had left for the church! If we could get married again we would not hesitate to choose them all over again. I really cannot recommend them enough. They were really helpful with words of wisdom about timings and making sure we had enough time to capture the moments we wanted. We had so much fun with them and it’s so evident how comfortable and at eases we were from the photos. The photos from the day totally blew us away.

The Flowers

Abigail of Albert And Arthur is the most incredible and strong woman. She is utterly fabulous in every way. She grew most of the flowers for us with the help of one of her old brides. Rumbustious was the term that describes the flowers! She was so tuned into what we wanted and the flowers were just more than we could have ever envisioned or hoped for. She also included David Austin ‘Alnwick Roses’ into the bouquet since the bride’s family lives just outside of Alnwick in Northumberland. We just couldn’t recommend her highly enough!

Goodwood Wedding

Tom myself and our two sausage dogs are members and have had so many lovely weekends away at Goodwood, it’s our home from home. The staff were utterly brilliant they couldn’t have done more to help us in the preparations and on the day. They were discreet and friendly, and ultimately made us feel like guests in our own home. The team were so open to what we wanted included things that have never been done before at Goodwoood or were just plain mad. Such as the giant caterpillar cake and putting our Austin 7 Ulster inside the hall.

The Food

The food was delicious we had tastings to make sure we absolutely happy with the execution. Also they made the pudding we specially requested (lemon and rosemary baked Alaska) went down an absolute storm. Guests had the choice of 3 starters and 3 mains which meant that everyone actually got to eat what they would like at the wedding. We originally didn’t want a cake but after maternal intervention we were persuaded cake was needed. We went for his and hers cakes. The brides cake was a macaroon tower. The grooms cake was a giant colin the caterpillar cake (20 joined together) and renamed Melvin the Millipede by the amazing chef at Goodwood.

Austin 7 Ulster Wedding Car

We used our own cars, a VW Camper Van (called Bill) and an Austin 7 Ulster (called Algenon. Bill - was bought new by my grandpa and passed down through the family, it has many happy memories associated from family holidays. Algenon (Algie) - we bought him within two weeks of meeting. Tom is car mad and it meant such a lot to drive away in Algenon who is very much part of the family. We were all slightly nervous that the car may not start or the dress wasn’t going to fit in...

The Day

The whole day was incredible. The bridesmaids surprised Jess with gifts on the day of something old, new and blue as the bracelet was borrowed. The groomsmen and assorted others all met for Bloody Marys at the pub just down the road (Royal Oak). All the readings were surprises, we asked our friends to choose something special to us and them. Seeing the church and the Kennels decorated for the first time was amazing, with the abundance of flowers spilling over. The church was incredibly friendly. Rev David Jarratt was incredibly welcoming and thanks also to Elizabeth who did all the organising behind the scenes in the church.

Advice

Find a photographer, florist and venue that you love and can easily identify with and get on with. It made the wedding so much fun to plan and made us feel like we were surrounded by friends on the day. We honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more our faces were aching the next day from smiling and laughing.
Fern Godfrey

Written by Fern Godfrey

Bride: Jesus Peiro | Boutique: Ellie Sanderson | Evening Gown : Temperley London | Boutique: Black Swan Bridal | Rings: Original's Jewellery | Flowers: Albert & Arthur | Venue: Goodwood | Bridesmaids: Coast | Groom : Oliver Brown | Stationery: Papier | Entertainment: Brass Band | The Richmond Trio

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