April & Sebastian
Photography by M&J Photography
Location
April the Bride: I was open minded when it came to finding a dress and the team at Miss Bush were fantastic at helping me to narrow down options until I found the right dress and accessories. I quickly decided that the silhouette of the dress was very important to me and also the detailing. I decided on Pierce from Maggie Sottero as I felt it suited my figure, had subtle elegance and lovely details such scalloped V-neck and low back. I also felt I could move around in the dress, it wasn't too heavy and it was also important that it suited our wedding venue, traditional but with a bit of a twist. I choose to splash out on the shoes and went for Ivette sandals from Jimmy Choo, the heel height was perfect and they didn't distract from the dress.
The Grooms Attire
Sebastian wore a suit he already owned from Richard James and finished it off with a new shirt from Emmett and beautiful silk tie from Drakes.
The Venue
We decided that we would get married at the beautiful St John’s Church in Notting Hill and then looked at a variety of options for a reception venue in London. Chiswick House and Gardens ticked all the boxes; it was a stunning setting and had capacity to accommodate all our guests (100). We fell in love with the English heritage style, specifically the Conservatory that opens onto the Italian Gardens and decided to host our reception drinks there. The Burlington marquee was the perfect blank canvas for us decorate and to host the dinner and dancing. Chiswick House & Gardens is the best of both worlds, a London location that could easily be in the middle of a country estate!
Colour Scheme/Décor
Our wedding décor reflected our personal style. We wanted it to be elegant and refined, with attention paid to the small details. The colour theme was based around different shades of greys and whites with natural textures and tones. Pinterest was a great place to gather inspiration and ideas for the décor, we then shared images with different suppliers to discuss and develop ideas for our wedding – Pinterest did become a bit of an addiction (!). We added tassel bunting from PomPom Studio to the marquee and hired LOVE lights to surround the dance floor.
Florist
The All for Love team went above and beyond to create truly memorable displays for our wedding. The flowers reflected our overall colour scheme, and All For Love created relaxed, stylish displays that added to the natural beauty of our venues, from the out-of-this-world floral arch to the delicate and stylish centerpieces that incorporated silver and mirrored vases and candle sticks. Guests are still commenting on how breathtaking the displays at the church and CH&G were. Flowers used included a mixture of White Peonies, Snowflake Spray Roses, White Hydrangea, White Gypsophila, White Avalanche Roses as well as complimenting foliage such as Soft Eucalyptus, Seasonal English Foliage and Silver SenecioI.
The Wedding Party Fashion
I choose the multiway dress from the Debut collection at Debenhams for my bridesmaids – a much more budget friendly option than other brands. The colour grey fitted our colour scheme perfectly. While they all wore the dress in the same style for the ceremony they each changed the straps to a different look for the evening. The bridesmaid look was natural and effortless, from the simple and beautiful White Gypsophila bouquets to the elegant hair styling by Joon Miller. Sebastian’s groomsmen wore their own navy suits with matching grey silk ties from Drakes. The look was smart, stylish, and contemporary wedding look.
Entertainment
For the drinks reception at Chiswick House and Gardens we organized for The Hares to play an acoustic session and then perform as a five-piece band in the evening for dancing. They set the mood perfectly and were fantastic at playing a selection of songs to get people on the dance floor until the very end of the night.
Food
We are thrilled to have chosen the Food Show Ltd to cater our wedding. They organized all food and drinks for our wedding and were also fantastic in helping to liaise with our suppliers and ensured all the details and decorations we wanted were executed perfectly. Immediately after the ceremony, our guests travelled to Chiswick House & Gardens on an old London bus organized through ThisBus.com. We had arranged for everyone to have a bag of Propercorn popcorn and a bottle of water – this went down so well with everyone, kept hunger at bay before they got to the reception! Once everyone arrived at the reception they enjoyed champagne and canapés in the gardens and conservatory. Dinner was a three-course meal, in the Burlington Marquee. – Millefeuille of mozzarella an open melon – Slow port-braised short rib Aberdeen Beef - Strawberry and Champagne Trifle. The cake was from Marks & Spencer’s wedding cake range, and was delicious, three layers including fruitcake, sponge and chocolate. We then made the cake our own style, our florist decorated with rose buds and we added a stylish cake topper with ‘Mr. & Mrs. Abigail’ We then had a cheese table with cheese, chutneys and biscuits from Paxton and Whitefield, which kept everyone energized throughout the evening. We also had two cocktails for the evening drinks, a rum punch and gin and mint cocktail
Photographer
We instantly fell in love with M&J Photography and their beautiful portfolio of wedding photography. Neither of us was keen on posed, traditional photos so were thrilled to find photographers that could produce more of a contemporary style of wedding photography! Jonny & Morgane captured so many natural, authentic and beautiful details from our wedding. They were an absolute pleasure to work with and have around us on the day. Their professionalism meant many of our guests have commented on how unobtrusive they were but still managed not to miss capturing a single moment of the day! We will treasure our wedding photos and can relive every moment with the stunning images they took for us.
Useful websites and apps
We used the Top Table Planner website and app to create our table layout, it was really easy to use and created a layout that we could easily adapt and share with our caterer As well as creating hard copy invites with details sheets we also set up a wedding website through TheKnot, it was easy to set up and update and provide our guests with all the information they needed for the day
The Night Before
The night before the wedding, we hosted a dinner at a local pizza restaurant in Notting Hill, we invited our close family, bridesmaids and ushers and a few close friends. It was such a great way to start the celebrations off! Sebastian had left a gift for me to open the night before our wedding. He knew I wanted something special to wear whilst I got ready the morning of the wedding and had gone and bought some personalised Desmond & Dempsey pyjamas with my new initial’s (AA) monogramed on them!
Advice
Being organised is key, delegating small tasks to family and friends is great way not to get overwhelmed. Staying on top of the budget was also key to keeping on track with plans. We were so pleased when our day came we could just sit back and enjoy it as we had run through all the details with our ushers, bridesmaids and key family members ahead of the wedding. Everyone knew what the schedule was for the day and we had already assigned jobs such as handing out confetti at the church, calling suppliers etc. before the actual day.
