Natasha & Simon

This entire wedding was shot on film by Katharine Peachey which just adds to the timeless elegance of this classic English wedding. All taking place at the incredibly beautiful and quaint historic town Arundel, with views and shop windows you can get lost in, and SO much curb appeal sister blog Rock My Style would be inspired. The groomsmen wear traditional mornings suits and the bride wears a stunning Kobus Dippenaar gown from Morgan Davies, finished with a perfect bouquet of white roses. I never tire of this sartorial look. Simply stunning inspiration and love from this gorgeous couple.

The Dress

Natasha The Bride: My dress was designed by Kobus Dippenaar, although I added a few design elements of my own. The girls at Morgan Davies and one of my best friends, Lucia, helped me to create the design. I had a bad start to finding the right dress as I’ve got very high hips and a lot of the dresses I tried at first just did not suit my body shape. I nearly settled on a princess dress, but I was convinced to try one last shop, Morgan Davies in Angel and that’s where I found it. It was very different to all the other dresses I had seen and I felt really comfortable in it. Love at first sight! I found my hair accessories at Olivier Laudus’ beautiful shop. I liked the delicate design of the hair accessories, bracelet and earrings I chose for the day. I chose my shoes from Pink as they gave me more height and because they had a hidden platform, which made them a little more comfortable hoorah! I was lucky enough to be referred to Mariam Jensen for my make-up and Bethany Alden for my hair. They are both so lovely, professional and top of their field. My make-up and hair (and my bridesmaids) looked fresh all day and they helped to keep me calm and relaxed during the prep. I have recommended them to a few friends already.

The Grooms Attire

The boys kept it simple and opted for suit hire at Moss Bros. There were so many of them that hiring was the best option.

The Venue

We wanted everything to be as easy as possible for our guests and so after deciding that we wanted to have our wedding in Arundel and deciding on our Church, St Nicholas Church, next to the Castle, we found the Norfolk Hotel. It is within 5 minutes walking distance from the Church. Result! There are a number of different wedding venues near and in Arundel but the Norfolk was our favourite due to its quirky charm and beautiful old ballroom where we held the wedding breakfast and dancing. We also really liked all the staff we met, particularly Rob Bayley and Abbie Erauw. They really helped to make it a perfect day and worked tirelessly. They are total legends!

Colour Scheme/Decor

We wanted to keep it really simple as Arundel itself is so beautiful and the Norfolk’s ballroom is already decorated nicely. Penny from Tigerlily weddings was amazing at helping us decide on our wedding design and colour scheme and she came up with lots of gorgeous ideas which we used on the day, including the picture frame theme. Penny is a super star!

Florist

Ellen Ford from The Enchanted Florist is amazing. She worked tirelessly to pull off our floral arrangements which were all over the hotel. We almost took over the hotel on the day and we had roses everywhere! Abbie, Rob and Penny also helped to make sure everything looked perfect and they all have such an eye for detail. I remember walking in to the ballroom after our ceremony and everything looked so magical. They had transformed the hotel overnight!

The Wedding Party Fashion

I decided on TwoBirds for the bridesmaids dresses, as they have colours and dresses to suit every woman and my bridesmaids and I loved the rosewater colour. Jo and Katie looked amazing! We were going to have a flower girl, but she came down with chicken pox just before the wedding.

Ceremony

Our priest had retired by the time of our wedding, but he kindly asked for permission from the local Bishop to be able to perform our ceremony which was wonderful. We had got to know him over the course of a year when we decided to marry in Arundel and were thrilled when he confirmed that he was able to do the ceremony. He grew up in Australia as I did and he is lovely man. Simon and I will never forget the wedding ceremony – It was very special and very intense, and nothing can prepare you for it.

Entertainment

We were very lucky to have a grand piano at the Norfolk in the ballroom where the reception was held. The Church pianist and organist, Sarah Plumley, kindly agreed to play for our guests during the wedding breakfast. When the dancing began we had a DJ, Tim Barker, and an amazing band, Atlantic Soul Orchestra. Basically their entire playlist was perfect. Our guests danced all night and even some on the tables!

Food

We are very lucky to know Simon’s cousin, Debbie Goulding, who kindly made our wedding cake as her gift to us. It was really beautiful and so yummy!! She is an absolute star. The Norfolk hotel have a fabulous head chef and he helped us design a menu we were really happy with and within our budget. We started with grilled haloumi on a bed of rocket and greens; for mains we had roast chicken breast with mixed vegetables/curly kale and for dessert we had a trio of desserts; chocolate mousse, strawberry cheesecake and my favourite, lemon meringue. Canapés we had mini Yorkshire puddings, some vegetarian options and a salmon canapé.

Photographer

Our photographer was the delightful Katharine Peachey. She is super lovely and an amazing photographer. She captured so much of the day and special moments. We and our family and friends are really thrilled with the photos!

Videographer

Our videographer was David Sterley of Artistic Motion. He is a genius and put together the most beautiful wedding video for us. We love it so much!! Every special moment is captured and he added our favourite music at all the right times. It is wonderful to have the day saved in this way.

Advice

Simon and I completely underestimated how much work and thought goes into every detail of a wedding. Although there is a lot to get done, it’s important not to lose sight of what the day is really all about BUT it helps to know a good wedding planner and suppliers. I think we were very lucky as everyone we worked with are amazing and love what they do. We would highly recommend all of them!