Every so often a W-day is submitted where the bride is the "other me" – i.e very similar tastes/choices to my own. Lorna is one such bride – all Amanda Wakeley-clad Delphinium-loving inch of her.
Only she went and found the shoes and went for the outdoorsy ceremony that I had my heart set on only to chicken out last minute. But I cannot possibly be too green-eyed amongst so much love, laughter and pretty. Lorna and Roger's laid back garden affair is full of a gazillion stealable details all captured beautifully by Daria Nova.
Oh and Lorna's nephew gave her away – isn't that just the cutest thing you ever saw?! and um…there are some table centres made out of trees from Johnny Depp's back yard. And a "Portrait photo-booth" – one of the coolest DIY entertain-your-guests inventions I've seen in a while.
Something Old Something New
My 'accessories' style on the day was very simple – I used some vintage glass hair pins which I had first worn at my sister's wedding 10 years prior. My gold earrings and cuff were both from small designers I found on the internet – both were a bit different but I could see myself wearing them again – which I have!
The Perfect Fit
My dress was by Amanda Wakeley. Loved the very classic lines (hate strapless dresses and big skirts!) – loved the box pleat silk skirt – I had the train removed from the original design to make it more practical for an outside wedding and to make it more contemporary / modern.
Loved that it was modern and classic at the same time – and ultimately it just suited me and my figure!
Chic And Natural
For the garden celebration I wanted something classic and pared back, so went for soft brown hued eyes, and soft nudes and pinks on the my cheeks and lips.
Again with my hair, I wanted something classic – so my hairdresser and I went for a low side bun twist – which looked very natural, but chic all at the same time!
Blue For The Boys
As we had a very laid back wedding we didn't have any 'formal groomsmen or bridesmaids' so our best man just wore a classic suit which he already owned while we my nephew who gave me away, chose together an outfit both he and I liked – we ended up with a classic navy pinstripe suit from M&S, an untucked white shirt and some black hi top converse trainers… all of which he loved wearing and has worn again.. and again!!
Roger, had a tailor made suit made from Cad & the Dandy on Saville Row – it was a beautiful dusky dark navy wool, which fitted him perfectly – making him look very dapper and trim!! Plus a fitted pale blue cotton shirt and graphite silk tie both from Reiss. He wore is old faithful Oliver Sweeney black formal shoes which just finished the look perfectly.
Garden Party Chic
My sister designed the invites, menu cards and seating plan – which were made to be humorous, fun and to tell the story or Rog and I in a lighthearted way – they went down well with everyone.
We had large white paper lanterns hanging from locally sourced willow branches to mark out the areas in the garden for the service, drinks reception – and our 'portrait booth' – these were really cheap and very effective – we also had stripe deck chairs and picnic rugs for our guests to sit on for the wedding celebration in the garden – to stick with the 'garden party chic' theme!
Sky-scraping
My shoes had 5 Inch heels (Roger is a lot taller than me without heels! – and I love heels!)
Found and fell in love with the Chloe heels before I found my dress – the heels had a black suede block heel (needed for a garden wedding), nude toe strap and a vintage style diamante ankle strap.
Love at first site when I saw them on Net a Porter – BUT when I went to buy them – my size had sold out everywhere – managed to get the Chloe store to fly over the only pair they had left in Paris (1 size smaller than I needed but felt it was worth the risk) It was a little bit of a Cinderella moment when I went into see if they fitted – fortunately they fitted perfectly and the sales assistant almost cried he was so happy for me!! (well that and the fact he was probably on commission!)
D.I.Y Blooms
My wonderful Mum and her fabulous friends did all my flowers – and I couldn't have been happier – my bouquet was a simple bunch of pale blue delphiniums tied with a burnt orange wide ribbon. The button holes and corsages where made from blue thistle, cream roses and eucalyptus.
The flowers used for the service, and to decorate the marquee – were tall stems of the pale blue delphiniums with cream stocks… We also had cream/white hydrangea heads in blue glass jam jars and vintage terracotta pots with Indian mint and Thyme in on all the trestle tables.
Original And Creative
To be honest my sister and I worked tirelessly on all the details for the overall theme of the day – we planned the day in 3 months – so it was all about original DIY ideas!
I had a rough outline – based on a Victor & Rolf dress – I wanted the colours to be pale blue and burnt orange plus white highlights – but without it looking contrived… my flowers provided the blue – with burnt orange ribbons on the bouquet and the white ceramic jugs.
I knew exactly what I wanted for the tables – relaxed but chic – so I made hessian table runners, my brother in law's friend who is a tree surgeon provided the wood slices from Johnny Depp's garden (very random!), I found the vintage terracotta pots on ebay and the vintage blue glass jars came from Ohio.. again via ebay!
Via RMW
I actually found Daria Nova through the Rock My Wedding website – loved her 'alternative' style and the curve she applied to the images – and her reportage style of capturing the day.
Better Together
My dad and sister sang in the wedding celebration – I asked them both to sing as my whole family are musical, with my dad being a professional singer (in his day) and my sister has a stunning voice – my dad sang a beautiful Italian love song and then performed a duet with my sister which they wrote about Rog and I – they were both amazing, and made me feel very proud on the day! We also had a fab Jazz band, called The Bernard Wight Sextet for the post wedding celebration champagne – they were perfect and friends of my dad who organised them as our wedding gift.
Our first dance was by 'Better Together' by Jack Johnson – think the title says it all – Rog and I only met each other as we both hit 30 – being both very independent people – think when we met, it just clicked and we realised we really are better together – even though we are as independent as ever!!
The Queen Of Cake
My little sister made the cake, she is an amazing cook but she excelled herself with this achievement – it was stunning and tasted even better! – I wanted something fitting to the summer garden wedding – nothing formal – so I requested a Victoria sponge with summer fruits – the rest I left up to her – and I didn't see it until the day! She is the queen of cupcakes so these were a personal addition by her – but they really added to the overall effect and were a big hit with our guests!
Get Involved
I loved finding and working on all of the little bits that personalised our day – from humorous invites and menu cards to the portrait booth and the willow lanterns, to the vintage blue jam jars – this made it our wedding and not like anyone else's I had seen before or been to… I wanted our day to be personal to us and the day was just as we had hoped – very Rog and Lorn – and all our guests commented on this!
My only advice would be stay true to yourself and do what you want – don't be side-tracked by what you 'should do' or what others think. I personally loved getting my family involved in as much as we did – yes it was stressful at times – but it was all worth it in the end !
Brides Gown – Amanda Wakeley
Brides Shoes – Chloe at Net A Porter
Grooms Suit – Cad and The Dandy
Blooms – D.I.Y
Entertainment – Bernard Wight Sextet
Photography – Daria Nova
Sometimes it takes the simplest of decor to make everything look so incredibly chic, you know?
So then, who's going to organise a portrait photo-booth?!
Big Amanda Wakeley Love
Charlotte xxx
