Inspiration

Kat and Greg's wedding is effortless simplicity at its very best. For a start Kat's Charlie Brear wedding frock is the epitome of chic with its no fuss design and elegant lines, letting her colour pop bouquet and natural beauty do all the talking. I am in love with the sartorial genius in this wedding. Together with her five sisters (talk about squad goals!) who accompanied her in beautiful mismatched white lacy frocks down the aisle, she sets the scene for an understated but nonetheless gorgeous wedding day to her beau Greg at Sparkford Hall in Somerset. I'll let Kat tell you more about the underground cellar club and the alpacas and miniature ponies roaming the grounds. Sounds immense doesn't it! All the gloriousness was captured by Marshal Gray Photography.

The Bride's Fashion

Kat The Bride: Like any bride I agonized online endlessly over what dress I thought I wanted and was pretty much convinced I would wear something with lots of lace and detailing….not that I ever wear anything remotely like that in real life! Time was limited as my mum lives in the South of France and was over for one weekend only so I booked three boutiques in London and did them all in one day. Luckily the first boutique I went to and one of the first dresses I tried on was a simple white slip from Charlie Brear. As my mum and best mates said at the time, it was one of the only things I’ve ever tried on that I haven’t tugged at and scowled at. Far from it in fact, I felt sexy but classy and most of all comfortable and myself! We bought it to life with the most beautiful long antique lace veil (that I wanted to wear forever) and I wore some simple nude pumps from Kurt Geiger which I have worn loads since! My best mate Emma and my sister Kira are both super talented fashion, TV and film make-up artists. Emma did mine and my mum's hair and make-up and my sister Kira handled the bridesmaids (herself and the rest of my 5 sisters).

The Groom's Fashion

Greg wears a suit well and he likes a Reiss suit and that’s the first place we went for him and one of his ushers Luke. He knew he wanted a lighter navy suit as it was the height of summer in August, he managed to get everything in Reiss including his light blue tie, brown brogues and pocket square in one trip in under an hour; that might be because he hates shopping but he pulled it off and looked amazing so there you go!

The Venue

When we were looking for a venue all we knew was that we wanted a house we could move into for the whole weekend, make it feel like home and throw a big party and that’s what we got with the glorious Sparkford Hall in Somerset. It’s a pretty new venue in the most picturesque corner of Somerset and was just perfect. We rented the place and were able to do whatever we wanted with it. The venue slept over 30 so we could have all our close friends and family staying from Friday – Monday and could really bed in. It’s big selling point for us was the underground cellar club which we opened after 11 as a surprise for our guests and had all our friends spinning the decks till the early hours. The venue runs all sorts of events including detox weekends and has very relaxed boho vibe with alpacas and miniature ponies roaming the grounds, which made for some very funny moments over the course of the weekend!

Colour Scheme

There was no real colour scheme for the wedding I just knew I wanted a relaxed home grown, colourful summer party! The venue being so quirky didn’t need much doing to at all but we did have a marquee on the side of the house provided by the outstanding LPM Bohemia. I chose them because in my opinion they are the best at what they do and also were able to provide some unique wall hangings to our traditional canvas marquee, which on the day everyone said were so beautiful and bought the whole things to life. Rupert our main contact was wonderful from beginning to end and was even able to supply some bell tents for overspill guests who didn’t have accommodation booked in time. I read Rock My Wedding religiously whilst planning the wedding and it was where I found the amazing David Toscano and his Cin Cin prosecco van and knew we had to have him there on the day. It was such a cool touch coming back from the church service to the house to see David’s vintage van out on the lawn dishing out endless prossecco and amazing Italian anti-pasti to all the guests. For a few quirky touches we used a local hire company called Prop Factory who have a never ending warehouse of fabulous furniture and all sorts of funny bits and bobs that tied everything together.

Flowers

My florist was the first supplier I found and I built everything else around her amazing style, she is the beyond talented Juliet Glaves from Thoughtful Flowers. I found a piece on her in Vogue no less and thought I would email her to see if a) she was available and b) if I could afford such incredible talent. The answer to both thank the lord was yes! Juliet grows all her own blooms on her flower farm home in Hampshire and that really sums her up. I told her I wanted a joyful and colorful seasonal displays and that’s just what I got. From my sisters' multi-coloured head-pieces to the flower globe she made at the bottom of the stairs in the house, it was all flawless.

Wedding Party Fashion

I am the eldest of six girls and all of us are very different. I knew I wanted the girls to wear white and gave them a brief that the dresses should be lace to compliment the lace in my veil and mid-length, they sourced them all themselves from Zara, ASOS and Free People. We finished them off with red lipstick, fishtail braids and beautiful headdresses and bouquets each in a different colour. The boys all wore dark blue suits from Reiss, Massimo Dutti and Suit Supply which they all chose themselves and we had them along with our dads' handmade ties and pocket squares each made in a different blue Liberty print, fantastic gifts for them to keep as well.

Ceremony

The ceremony took place at St Andrews Church in Corton Denham just down the road from the house. We had readings from my sister Elle, my best friend Rosie and Greg's Dad, Phil (who memorized his poem). The stand out moments were 1) walking into the church and having to pinch myself at finally marrying the boy I’ve loved since I met him on the Year 9 Woodlands trip at school and 2) surprising said boy with a rendition sung by the whole congregation and played on the guitar by my dear friend Sam of “Dreams” by Gabrielle; he was in tears of embarrassment and pure joy as he’s famous for having this as a guilty pleasure!

Entertainment

Evening entertainment was bought by the Parkas; a brilliant brit pop tribute band who had everyone on the floor within seconds and then in the dungeon for the late night sessions was our dear friends and DJ’s Max Bloom, Nick Rowland and Kenny Speers playing a lot of GARAGE anthems.

Food

Our wonderful second family - the Sherry’s - happen to have the best catering company in the world at their own wedding venue and home Barton House in Oxfordshire, and their son (the best man Tom) designed the whole menu which was served family style on platters on the table. Our wedding cake was made by my Grandma Liz with a killer topper of Greg and I and our little dog with a big personality Brian, made by our dear Jess Brass a super talented sculptor from Sussex.

Photographer & Videographer

When people say the day goes past in a flash and you only remember snippets they are not joking, that is exactly correct. With that in mind I wanted a photographer that caught it all, the laughter, the crying, the love and that’s what we got with Gary. Neither Greg nor I particularly love having our photo taken and are both massive piss takers so Gary was a perfect fit really as he made us comfortable and was pleasure to be around! He caught all the love on the day, nothing was staged everything was organic and when we look back at the pictures it transports us there. He’s the best! Videographer wise we very nearly didn’t have one, and then Gary recommended Paolo an ex student of his from one his many workshops, who travelled all the way from Italy to capture the day and made the best video that so complimented Gary’s style. Half the time you didn’t know he was there but when you did he was just so sweet, I would recommend them both to anyone who wants a real and true representation of their special day and a pair who will capture the moments you don’t see.

Transport

A Morris Minor for me and Greg and a Red VW for the bridesmaids from independent owners that I found via Premier Carriages.
Lauren Gautier-Ollerenshaw

Written by Lauren Gautier-Ollerenshaw

Bridal Gown: Payton by Charlie Brear | Venue: Sparkford Hall | Marquee: LPM Bohemia | Groom: Reiss | Band: The Parkas | Videographer: Paolo Ceritano | Catering: Barton House | Decor & Props: Prop Factory | Prosecco Van: Cin Cin | Florist: Juliet Glaves | Groomsmen: Suit Supply

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