The Bride
Rachel The Bride: With so much choice, the dress hunt was initially a bit tricky, but I was adamant from the beginning that I didn’t want anything too traditional or typically ‘bridal’. Instead, I wanted to find something chic and contemporary, and quickly found that the fitted
Pronovias styles were most flattering for me. Having tried on a number, I put on the Pronovias Agua, which I’d spotted online, and instantly knew it was ‘the one’. It's simplicity made it feel classy, yet the intricate detailing on the shoulders, a low back and huge train helped really give it the wow-factor too.
After struggling to find the right veil to match, we ordered the plain cathedral length Isabella veil from
Britten, and my Mum very kindly spent many hours hand-stitching on a selection of small beads and pearls, that complemented the detailing on my dress. It was the perfect balance, and I absolutely loved having something so unique and personal.
Having always set my heart on owning a pair of
Jimmy Choo’s from a young age, I treated myself to the Tori heels as our wedding day seemed the perfect excuse. I loved that the embellished attachment could be added for the day to make them feel more special for our wedding but could easily be removed for other occasions in the future.
The Groom
Wearing a suit every day to work, Luke really wanted to have something special for our wedding and went to
Edit Suits in London to get a tailored suit. We happened to find suits in the same cloth in
Suit Supply, so the groomsmen were able to get matching suits, without the tailored price tag. We really struggled to find ties and pocket squares in the right colour but eventually stumbled upon
Swagger & Swoon, where we found a lovely nude colour that complemented the bridesmaids dresses perfectly. Luke topped off his outfit with some beautiful cufflinks from
Tateossian.
The Bridesmaids
Luke and I knew very quickly that we didn’t want matching bridesmaid dresses – firstly, there is no other occasion in life where anybody ever wants to go to an event wearing the same dress as someone else, and secondly, it’s so hard to find something that suits everyone! In the end, we picked a colour palette (a sort of blush/nude) and myself and the girls ordered a whole load of dresses online, making a day of it trying them all on and seeing what worked. The girls fairly quickly found their favourites, and they all happened to be similar enough in style to clearly show they were bridesmaids, but different enough that they all suited them individually.
The Ceremony
As much as we tried to steer away from a lot of the stereotypical traditions on our big day, we felt that, for us, getting married in a church was the ‘right’ thing to do. We got married in the beautiful church in the tiny village Rachel grew up in. Not only did this mean our ceremony was highly personal to us both, but it was also so lovely to have a number of family friends from the village come to celebrate with us outside the church after the ceremony! We had both worried about being nervous or emotional, but there was just so much warmth and love and everyone went above and beyond to make sure we had the most perfect day – we literally couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces the whole time! Our readings were Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Apache Wedding Blessing and 1 Corinthians. Walking out to a huge shower of confetti, the sun shining down and wedding bells ringing was just such an amazing moment.
The Venue
Despite first visiting on a rainy January day, we instantly fell in love with the beautiful
South Farm. The fact that we were blessed with perfect September sunshine on our big day only made it even more beautiful, and our guests were able to fully enjoy all of the stunning grounds, soaking up the garden games, deckchairs and ice cream stand. We are big foodies and this was a big part of us choosing South Farm. Many of the ingredients are grown onsite, and the food was absolutely incredible, from the canapes through to the delicious wedding breakfast. From our initial visit through to the day itself, all of the South Farm staff went out of their way to ensure we had the most stress-free day and we cannot thank them enough for all their help.
The Entertainment
This was a priority for us – aside from good food and good wine, what we really wanted was a good party! During the welcome drinks, we had live Spanish guitar, which was the perfect accompaniment for such a warm, sunny day. During the wedding breakfast we had live piano, before moving on to the beautiful adjacent barn for the evening party. We found it tricky at first to find a band as many were too cheesy, but we found the Hot Shots and couldn’t have been happier! They were great and had everyone on the dancefloor all night – including Rachel’s 96 year old grandma!