Click here to see the entire gallery of images!

From Eliza Claire Photography: Marie emailed me back in August last year with the email subject “Please say you’ll photograph our wedding!” and I was instantly intrigued! She didn’t have a date set, and wanted to ensure I was available first, so I instantly loved her.

Marie is an interior designer, Marie Nichols who works for house and home magazines, and Simon is a graphic designer so I always knew that this would be a pretty wedding! They got married in Simon’s mum’s back garden – she’s lucky to live in private parkland of an old manor house on the edge of the river Orwell, in Suffolk, England. It’s somewhere that they love and is such a beautiful setting. They wanted to do everything themselves so it was far easier to do it in the back garden and have everything on hand – they also wanted their 6 month old puppy, Dudley, at the reception.

Marie said “We wanted a wedding that reflected us and that most importantly was fun! A vintage style village fete seemed perfect with ice cream, petanque, sack racing, picnic blankets and fish and chips! We knew we couldn’t rely on the British weather (although we needn’t have worried) so we decked out the inside of the marquee like a garden party – fake turf, bunting, faux flowers and real flowers in vintage trophies.” I was left speechless on the morning of their wedding with just how hard they’d worked and how amazing it all looked!

Wedding Photography: Eliza Claire Photography / Wedding Cinematography: Friend of the Bride & Groom / Floral & Event Design: The Bride + Mother of the Bride / Event Planning: DIY / Ceremony Location: St Martin’s Church, Nacton / Reception Location: Private Residence / Wedding Invitations: DIY / Bridesmaid Dresses: Custom / Wedding Cake: The Little Cake Parlour / Catering: Fish and Chip Catering / Transportation: 1966 Austin Healy Sprite + VW Camper via Vanilla Splits / Wallpaper: Louise Body via The Shop at Number 57 / Place Mats: The Groom / Chairs, China, Trophies, Pendant Lights, Hampers & Vintage Suitcases: Vintage Hire at The Shop at Number 57 / Bride’s Shoes: Kurt Geiger / Wedding Gown: Enzoani

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Post tags: Backyard Wedding, Church Ceremony, Colorful, Country Elegance, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Eliza Claire Photography, Enzoni, Fish and Chip Catering, Kurt Geiger, Outdoor Wedding, Suffolk, Tented Reception, The Little Cake Parlour, The Shop at Number 57, UK, Vanilla Splits, vintag
Post categories: Vintage Chic

{click here to see the full wedding}

Rose & Brendan’s garden party wedding at the Larmer Tree Gardens in Dorset really was a pretty special affair. This is how Rose described her theme for the wedding: ‘I’ve tried to keep all the stationery formal in style as I really like formality, but like the contradiction that it is a garden party event. I’m a sucker for tradition but I love tiny personal details. For the day I wanted to create a real inside outside feel – like a vintage 1940s tea dance that has come through time and ended up in a garden –  so everything’s a little distressed from the elements but still beautiful.’

Rose and the bridesmaids got ready at the gorgeous Launceston Farm, which really set the mood for the day from the start. Rose’s dress and veil were from Pronovias Bond Street and this is what she says about finding the perfect gown: ‘I searched for ages because I really wanted a Spanish style dress but couldn’t find anything that didn’t look like I was drowning in fabric! It was really hard to track down the dress I chose and I had to order it before I’d even seen it in real life, but it worked our perfectly and was totally “the one”. I LOVED the fabric of the dress with its tiny flocked dots all over the tulle, mixed with the cotton lace. And I loved the gros grain bows. My amazing friend and colleague Lisa Roberts did all the alterations (It was meant to have a halter neck and we changed some of the detailing on the bust). She did an exceptional job and I’d recommend her to anyone.’

‘My shoes were Louboutin and my bag was last minute buy from Monsoon Bridal.’

‘I got the Bridesmaids Dresses came from Topshop as I really wanted something that looked quite cute, with a hint of vintage, and in a daywear fabric! We made little net underskirts to go under them to puff out the skirts so they looked a little fuller. I made the Bridesmaids hair ornaments with fabrics I bought online from The Trimming Company and bought the bridesmaids shoes from New Look.’

‘Brendan’s suit was from Topman and  the groomsmen just wore their own black suits to match. Brendan’s shirt was a River Island buy, as were his excellent very long shoes (which had beautiful roses carved into the leather soles which was a nice hidden detail). The bow ties were from Tie Rack.’

One thing that made this wedding feel very special was that the whole wedding party was just 14 people in total (Brendan lost his best man as he had to be onboard his Navy ship the same day as the wedding as the queen was visiting). It really felt exceptional to be a part of such an intimate party, and it made for a beautifully relaxed day – the often normal ‘stresses’ of a wedding day seemed far away. I still can’t get over how beautiful all the carefully selected details looked. Here’s what Rose told me about them: ‘I collected a lot of mercury glass as it looks like formal interior decorative items that have been left outside – silver glass that has been worn away with sun and rain. They came from places such as Niki Jones, Cox & Cox, Graham & Green, and from antique shops.’

‘The candelabras were from eBay and all our cut glass vases, candle sticks, bowls and ornaments were all vintage/charity shop finds. There are some fantastic charity shops in Devon and Cornwall where you can find the best things for a bargain. Woodside is probably the all time best where most of the things came from.’

‘I used all country garden based flowers that were in season, very unstructured – no “floristry” as such, just flowers in pots and vases. I ordered all our flowers through our local market Petals Florists and we made our bouquets and buttonholes ourselves the night before the wedding. My mum did all the vases at the venue for us in the morning before the wedding.’

Photography: Marianne Taylor Photography / Flowers: Petals Florist (DIY though!) / Getting ready: Launceston Farm / Ceremony & reception location: Larmer Tree Gardens / Invitations: Rose Phillips (the bride) / Shoes: Louboutin/ Dress: Pronovias / Groom’s suit: Topman / Bridesmaid’s dresses: Topshop

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Post tags: Christian Louboutin, Dorset, England, Larmer Tree Gardens, Launceston Farm, London, Marianne Taylor, Pronovias, Rose Phillips, Topman, Topshop, UK
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

{click here to see all the images in the gallery}

Nicola and Chris got married on a Spring March day in the middle of Richmond Park, London.  Their day was made up of lots of DIY touches, from the birdcage veil and corsage on the dress that were made by Nicola’s bridesmaid, to the amazing selection of retro toys laid out for guests to play with at the reception (Chris is a toy designer).  For their guest book, they chose a vintage typewriter with blank sheets of paper for guests to type little messages.  After the ceremony, we whisked away in the Rolls Royce to capture some gorgeous portraits around the park.  Nicola changed into red wellington boots for the slightly muddy walk to some beautifully stark trees.  Then, just as we were about to head back to the reception, a beautiful rainbow appeared overhead.  Needless to say, we made good use of it and captured some fantastic shots.  It just goes to show that rain and sun can be a winning combination.

Vendor credits: Photography: Jodie Chapman / Venue: Pembroke Lodge / Dress: Chandrika Thomas / Groom’s suit: Paul Smith / Florals: Dawn Jennings / Hair & make-up: Lou Morgan

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Post tags: Anemones, Color Palette Red, England, Jodie Chapman, UK
Post categories: Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Real Weddings, Vintage Chic, Wedding Flowers

The wedding was held at Hylands Hall in Essex, UK. The ridiculously lovely bride wore a Stuart Parvin gown (The Way We Were) and shoes by Emmy, along with a necklace by Stephanie Browne that just might be the most amazing accessory EVER. The bridesmaids wore bespokie gowns by Naomi Neoh. It’s funny…even though the style behind this wedding is utterly luxurious and traditional, there are little touches of personality, of real style…sprinkled throughout the entire affair. LOVE that.

A little bit of background from the fabulous photographer, Polly…

Liz is an interior designer and drew together her contacts and skills to create a stunning, glamorous wedding with a timeless elegance. This wedding has quite a vintage feel – a kind of 40′s or 50′s glamour to it. Check out the gorgeous individual favours of vintage brooches for each female guest, whilst Jim, the Groom’s reflected his musical background in the mini The Who badges as favours for the men. The ushers were all presented with vintage The Who signed LP’s as a gift from the Groom and he later got up and joined in with the band.

Thank you so very much to Polly Alexandre for sending this beautiful affair our way. Make sure to check out Polly’s blog for even more eye candy. Oh and a huge thank you to the lovely bride and groom for giving us a little window of inspiration into your day. We are obviously in love.

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Post tags: Ballroom, Essex, Hylands Hall, London, Naomi Neoh, Polly Alexandre, Stuart Parvin, UK
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

Simple, but sophisticated centerpieces set on classic white linens in an undeniably beautiful space…it really doesn’t get much better than that. Simple, simple elegance. It’s probably my favorite style of wedding.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: British, Chelsea, Chelsea Park Gardens, London, Marianne Taylor, St Andrew's Church, The Garden Museum, UK
Post categories: Casual Elegance

I mean, seriously! How gorgeous is this. A pretty little garden party with some serious edge. I love when guests can add another dimension to an already stunning party. They can truly bring a wedding to life!

More from the reception on the way!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: British, Chelsea, Chelsea Park Gardens, Garden, London, Marianne Taylor, St Andrew's Church, The Garden Museum, UK
Post categories: Casual Elegance

From Marianne Taylor, the amazing photographer behind the affair…The ceremony of Claire & Hywel’s wedding took place in St Andrew’s Church in Chelsea, London. It was conducted both in English and in Hywel’s native Welsh, and really was one of the most touching ceremonies I’ve had the pleasure to attend. After the ceremony the bride and groom, followed by all the guests, piled into two old Routemaster buses, that drove everyone to the reception at The Garden Museum. I adored this unusual venue, with pretty flowers and colours everywhere!

We have so many more gorgeous pictures on the way, just stay tuned!

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Post tags: British, Chelsea, Chelsea Park Gardens, Garden, London, Marianne Taylor, St Andrew's Church, The Garden Museum, UK
Post categories: Casual Elegance

Here are some words from Marianne…the couple, Claire & Hywel, were the sweetest people I’ve ever worked with, and everything about their wedding day was full love and pretty things.

So much more to come! It just gets prettier and prettier!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: British, Chelsea, Chelsea Park Gardens, London, Marianne Taylor, St Andrew's Church, The Garden Museum, UK
Post categories: Casual Elegance