Alex & Ben

Sarah Jane Ethan is one of my favourite photographers because she always captures her couples having fun. And I don't just mean smiling, I mean having great big belly laughs together. It's a wedding day! It's supposed to be joyous! Alex and Ben certainly look like they are having the time of their lives :) As well as beautiful, happy people the decor in this wedding is rather lovely too. Embracing Woodhill Hall's woodland setting, it's rustic, pretty and makes the outdoors in. Bride Alex has done a great job with the styling and DIY projects. The purple accents everywhere are simply stunning and using lots of different tones keeps it really contemporary, rather than matchy matchy. Oh and her Riki Dalal high-necked gown? SWOON.

The Bride

Alex the Bride: I wanted something completely unique which none of my guests would expect me to wear and I certainly got that from Si Bridal. Agnes and Louise were so helpful and completely succeeded in finding the dress for me! I didn’t want any typical wedding shoes so I went for blue Vivienne Westwood, as I figured I can wear them again!


The Groom

Ben the Groom: I knew I always wanted a blue suit, that was until I saw the check Ted Baker suit at Slaters, I’ve never been good at making my mind up. The bow tie was from the same range and really finished the look off along with the brown brogues from Charles Clinkards. The personalised cufflinks and socks were Alex’s idea and helped make everyone’s look that touch more special (as all of the groomsmen & fathers had their own sets) the pocket watch was an additional gift on the day from my parents, and really set the emotions flowing for the day when they presented me with it.


The Venue


We chose Woodhill Hall because it was like no other venue we’d seen. The atmosphere was completely relaxed and we were made to feel so at home from the moment we got there. We loved the idea of having a “wedding weekend” rather than just the one day as it allowed us to really spend time with all of our guests.

The Decor

Colour scheme was purple which we felt matched the time of year yet still added a lot of colour to our day. Our decor was all built around Woodhill, woodland, rustic and chic! One of my favourite parts was the salvaged palette which was painted and decorated by me! (the bride). The woodland displays in The Orangery at Woodhill was also a favourite and was decorated by my friends and family.

The Flowers

Lorna from The Design Studio gave me so much inspiration! The bouquets were individually designed around each dress, each bridesmaid bouquet had a main flower which reflected the shade of purple of their dress and the brides bouquet was a combination of each purple shade along with whites and frosty greens to match the season. The centre pieces on the tables were a combination of small posies of flowers matching the bouquets, a selection of tea light holders and fairy lights, a framed photo of the bride and groom and a handmade moss covered table number, made by the bride! the favours were small kilner jars with sweets, also made and labelled up by the bride.

The Wedding Party

I had 4 bridesmaids, each of whom had a different style and colour dress, to compliment the girls body types. The 3 groomsmen wore different suits to the groom as we of course wanted him to stand out the most!

The Ceremony

We had two reading’s in the wedding, read by the mother of the bride and step-father of the bride. We found both of these on Pinterest!


The Entertainment

We found North Road at the very first wedding show we attended, they played during the ceremony and there was not one dry eye in the house! Such a fantastic band and we will continue to go and see them play!

The Cake


Our fantastic cake was made by the mother of the groom, the three tiers were different flavours, carrot cake, chocolate cake and orange and lemon cake. We had so many compliments on it and it really brought a personal touch to our day. Woodhill allowed us to have two menus for our guests to choose from so we tailored it to Bride’s menu and Groom’s menu, again adding a personal touch to the day.


The Photography & Videography

Sarah-Jane Ethan was everything we could have asked for and more! We had a pre-wedding shoot with her and from that point we were so excited as we knew the wedding day photos were going to be even more special, and we weren’t wrong! I would recommend her to anyone, she fits in really well with guests yet you hardly notice her! She’s amazing, I can’t say anymore than that!
 
We didn’t have a videographer however we used GOPros to capture our day, we didn’t feel the need for a videographer as with the GOPro footage we can edit the footage exactly as we wish.

Final Thoughts

I got so many compliments and comments on all of the DIY touches added such as the invitations, favours, seating plan, table numbers and bridal party gifts. It really made me feel like the day was truly ours. All of our guests said it was like no wedding they had ever been to before, which is a huge compliment when you know how much time and effort went in to making it completely our own. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who stayed with us at Woodhill for contributing to our wedding, we love you all!