Aww, Holly and Matthew, your wedding gave me all the feels. Aren’t they just the cutest couple?
Holly and Matthew got hitched on Saturday 18th June 2016 at Grittenham Barn in Sussex. Their peaches and mint wedding was just beautiful, with so many stylish and hand made touches. I really adore the peaches used in the décor and the lovely flags made by bride Holly, it made for such a unique detail. Then there were those huge coral peonies throughout which really packed a punch, they must have smelt amazing. I really love the pretty paper goods here today and the bridesmaids in mismatched blush dresses.
Holly chose a lace frock and dreamy veil combo, while Matthew opted for a custom made blue suit and turquoise tie. I have to say the whole bridal party looked just exquisite.
Sarah Legge Photography, many thanks for providing these simply gorgeous images. Enjoy folks.
THE PROPOSAL | Matt surprised me with a long weekend in Italy in May 2015. He had rented a tiny little house in the hills of Tuscany- our own little retreat, and on our second night there, as we looked out across our un-spoilt views of the sun setting over the valleys around us, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Cue lots of crying and shrieking – I was so shocked but so so happy!!
THE VISION | We both knew we wanted quite a relaxed and informal day and a civil ceremony rather than get married in a church, but other than that, we didn’t really have a strong vision to start with. All I knew is I wanted lots of fairy lights, lots of flowers and lots of fun!
THE PLANNING PROCESS | Planning the wedding was so much fun! We both agreed we wanted to get married close to where both our families lived, in Hampshire and West Sussex so the first port of call was to find a venue. Once that was booked it lead on to booking all the other important stuff (caterers, band, florist etc) and once they were booked we then had about 10 months just to think about the fun stuff – colour themes, decorations and personalisation. I’m super organised and Matt’s as cool as a cucumber so between us we managed to pull off what we hope, was a great day for our family and friends.
THE VENUE | As we were having a civil ceremony, we wanted a venue that would suit the whole day, so our guest could just arrive, relax and enjoy the day without worrying about getting around. As soon as we visited Grittenham Barn, we knew it was perfect. I grew up on a farm and it had that same, rustic feel to it. Plus the donkeys and pigs won Matt over instantly. What we also loved about the venue is that they only do one wedding each weekend, meaning we had the whole day before to set up – something that was really important to us so we could be involved in the whole process. It really was the perfect venue and we loved seeing our guests enjoying themselves so much.
THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | I got my dress from The Wedding Dress Shop in Wimbledon Park (my something new). My veil I borrowed from one of my girlfriends (my something borrowed), my shoes I got from ASOS and then added embellishment I bought from John Lewis and I keep my jewellery simple – just pearl earrings given to me by my Grandma (my something old). My mum gave me a pale-blue garter (my something blue) plus a silver penny (which she sewed into my dress) from 1956 – the year my grandparents were married.
FINDING THE DRESS | I had no idea of what style of dress I wanted to go for, so the first dress shop we went to was really just a bit of fun trying all sorts on! It felt very surreal to be in a long white dress and I didn’t find anything I loved on the first outing. The next time I went to different shop – the one I ended up buying from, I had a bit more of an idea what I liked and the girls there were so helpful in helping me choose what I wanted. It was weird choosing one and then waiting 5 months until I saw it again – I did start to worry I wouldn’t like it any more but when I went for my first fitting, I was chuffed.
GROOM’S ATTIRE | Being 6 foot 5 and VERY slim, Matt was never going to be able to buy off the peg. So he decided to push the boat out and get a tailored made suit from Suit Supply. He got to choose everything down to the lining, buttons and stitching colour and looked amazing on the day. As a wedding gift on the day, I bought him a gold pocket watch which he loved and it went wonderfully with the suit.
THE READINGS & MUSIC | I walked down the aisle to ‘You’re so cool’ by Hans Zimmer from my favourite film, True Romance. During the signing of the register we played ‘Lava’ by Kuana Torres Kahele and Napua Greig from the Pixar short of the same name, and Nina Simone’s ‘My Baby just cares for me’. We walked back down the aisle to ‘You’re all I need to get by’ By Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. For the readings we chose ‘I’ll be there for you’ by Louise Cudden and ‘Wedding Song’ by Bob Dylan. My sister and Matt’s Step-Dad read them for us.
BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | I’m very lucky to have lots of really fantastic girl friends, so when it came to choosing bridesmaids, I knew I’d have to had a squad. Yes it may be unusual to have so many (lots of people couldn’t hide their shock when I said I was having 7!) but I couldn’t have imagined getting ready and sharing my day without any of them! They are all my best friends and have been there for during various (or all) stages of my life and my relationship with Matt. When it came to their dresses, I really wanted to them to feel comfortable and happy and didn’t want to make them all wear the same (there was no way I could have pleased 7 ladies with 1 dress!) Originally I really liked the idea of the bridesmaids wearing white, but Matt vito-ed this idea so instead I choose nudes, peaches and corals (the theme for the wedding) They all came from ASOS and and although I didn’t see them all together until the day, they all worked amazingly together and the girls looked amazing!
THE FLOWERS | Ah the flowers. What can I say, Angel is a genius. They really did make the wedding and tied the whole thing together. I really wanted to have big, blousy peonies, sweet peas and coral roses and Angel delivered exactly these. I guess I was lucky that we were getting married in Summer so that these were all available, but honestly, when the arrived on the morning of the wedding, they took my breath away. She also created a huge flower bomb which hung in the barn over the tables, which had so many compliments and everyone was amazed by it! It had such a great impact on the room, it was one of my favourite things at the wedding.
THE CAKE | Lovely Jen of Spongeworks made our 3 tiered, naked wedding cake which comprised of 2 layers of Victoria sponge cake and a bottom layer of lemon cake. She also made us 150 chocolate brownies, blondies and flapjacks for our ‘dessert table’. They were all DELICIOUS and we had soooo many compliments, especially for the white chocolate blondies. When we met her at our tasting, she was so friendly and lovely, and once we tasted her baking, we knew she would help to make our wedding day perfect. Anyone looking for a naked wedding cake or any kind of delicious baked goods – look her up!
YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Our wonderful photographer was the uber talented Sarah Legge. She was recommended on our venue’s website and when we looked her up, discovered she lived 5 minutes down the road from us in London! So she kindly invited us round for a cup of tea and we discussed what we were looking for. Sarah takes the most beautiful photos and captures the most amazing light, so we knew we’d love to have her take ours. We cant recommend enough how important it is to have a photographer you’re comfortable with, and Sarah was fabulous!
THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | I chose a colour scheme of peaches, nudes, mint greens and gold and was really chuffed with the overall look. We had our stationery designed by Lola’s Paperie, who listened to all my ideas, colour schemes and tweaking and created beautiful invites, menu cards, order of service cards, table numbers and a table plan. We made origami paper birds for all the place settings, as Matt had made me a Senbuzuru (1000 paper birds) for my birthday a few years ago, so it was a special touch that meant a lot to us. I collected vintage glass bottles which my Mum filled with flowers for one of the mantel pieces, my dad made us 3 easels and blackboards which my sister and I then painted and made into signs for the wedding, we attached ribbons to the back of the chairs outside, and I displayed peaches with mini ‘lifes a peach’ flags that I made myself too. The actual decorations we kept fairly simple as the barn was so beautiful on its own and the flowers really added the colour and drama. We did hang paper fans from the back wall and had a few paper honeycomb balls in the fireplace and above it, but I didn’t want to go too mad.
THE HONEYMOON | We were extremely lucky that our wonderful family and friends contributed towards our honeymoon fund and so 2 days after the wedding we flew to Antigua for 10 days. It was an idyllic trip and gave us the chance to reflect on what a happy day we had with all the people most important to us.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS | We both loved the ceremony and were so excited to become husband and wife. I don’t think either of us were nervous, just really happy! The speeches were amazing and luckily one of guests recorded Matt’s speech so we were able to re-play it back and relive the memories. We also loved seeing all our guests enjoy the venue and outside space – we had a lovely sunset which really made the barn look amazing.
ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Take a moment away together and really let it sink in that’s its your wedding day; Make sure you do see each other and don’t spent the whole day apart and RELAX! If things go wrong (which they won’t) they won’t be the bits that you remember and your guests will probably have no idea it happened/didn’t happen.
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |
Photography | Sarah Legge Photography
Venue | Grittenham Barn
Flowers | Angel Skillman at Angel Like Flowers
Catering | Red
Cakes | Jen Wheller at Spongeworks
Band | Academy Allstars
Evening food | The Pizza Oven
Stationery | Lola’s Paperie
Wedding Dress | The Wedding Dress Shop
Grooms suit | Suit Supply
How very special.
Thanks so much to Holly and Matthew for sharing their splendid nuptials here on WWW xo Lou
