Back in May I got a phone call from a groom-to-be in Germany wanting some help planning his wedding for August. This was new on several fronts, it was surprising in a good way to get an enquiry from a groom and I'd never worked with a couple getting married in the UK but living abroad. Factor in a scarily short amount of time and I knew planning this wedding was going to be a challenge! Which it was, but in a brilliant way. The couple, Nina and Patrick were pretty much a wedding planner's dream - they were up for being creative and were realistic about what their budget could afford.
My favourite part of planning their wedding was the styling. When I first met N&P (as they came to be known) they told me they wanted a classic English country garden wedding with some vintage touches. I had lots of perfect props for them to use, in fact all (except for the awesome vintage lampshades) the props you see in the photos came from me!
The venue was Bramble Park, Nina's aunt's huge old house that used to be a B&B. We put a marquee up in the garden that comfortably held the 50 guests and was pretty useful during the short sharp bursts of rain that occurred sporadically.
The photos were shot by the insanely fabulous
Lisa Devlin Photography. I think she captured the essence of the wedding perfectly. I've already expressed my love for Lisa on my blog, I adore her style.
The gorgeous blooms came from
Pollen Nation. Alison was amazing and got me loads of extra flowers. As the style was 'shabby chic' me and my awesome little helper flexed our creative muscles to become florists and put flowers in random mismatched bottles. The hydrangeas were favourites all round I think.
Style and design wise we had a little help from
Grace and Tailor. Louisa sourced me some gorgeous cream lace as table runners and of course the lampshades which were a good feature for photos and looked really cute hung up in the marquee.
And the best part of the whole experience for me? Definitely being told afterwards by the couple that it was exactly the day they wanted and had totally exceeded their expectations. That made me feel good!
They stopped off for some shots in a glorious poppy field.
The classic 'ring' shot.
An old shed in the grounds of the venue...
Taken inside the house itself. Which incidentally was beyond incredible.
It was good to have a marquee which windows that opened up when the weather was good. And of course could be shut again just as easily.
This is a vintage clock I bought from across the pond on Etsy.
You got to love black tea cups. These were actually the cheapest I have, I got a whole set for £5 at a car boot sale. Bargain eh?
Love love love this shot...
For the main meal, a BBQ we set each place with mismatched vintage napkins. There was no formal seating plan, although there was a top table and guests just helped themselves to food and sat where they liked. I think this added to the intimate relaxed atmosphere.
The guy in the blue is the groom's dad, he was in a band called
Fat Mattress back in the day. Check
this out, it's pretty cool!
The cat, that got under my feet
all day.
All in all a pretty perfect DIY, wedding at home. ♥
