Araminta & Martyn

This is such a gorgeous way to celebrate your marriage - Araminta & Martyn held an intimate candlelit dinner for their closest friends and family following their church ceremony and it just looks so sophisticated, but full of warmth and love at the same time. The table was brimming with red blooms, metallic votives and ivory candles, which truly came into their own as dusk fell, creating such a magical place in which to dine. We're also swooning over Araminta's Catherine Deane gown - the tulle!! It's heavenly! And that bespoke polka dot veil too - such a lovely Bridal look. And wait until you see the floral arch that decorates the church...there are so many gorgeous things in this wedding, let's take a look...

The Bride

Araminta The Bride: I was very relaxed about planning the wedding, I knew everything would naturally fall into place and the key was to be decisive and trust my choices. The day after Martyn proposed on Holiday in Tenerife I bought a few wedding magazines on my iPad and got an inspiration folder set up. I saved snippets of things I loved and I found myself looking at lots of quite simple gowns. I found Catherine Deane bridal dresses and fell in love with her designs. I chose the ‘Ruth’ gown and had it shipped to my parents’ house. My dress was delicate silk tulle gown with low-v back, simple yet classic. My mother found a local dressmaker to come to the house to make all the alterations, I had three fittings to make sure it was a perfect fit. I also had Pearl make me a bespoke veil as I couldn’t find exactly what I envisioned. It was made from tiny polka dot tulle fastened on with a light blue bow.

The Ceremony

We had a traditional Catholic ceremony in my parent’s church. I had grown up going to this church in Nympsfield so it was important to me and my parents to have the wedding here. My Father, the Grooms Mother and Granddad all gave readings during the service, it was a lovely way to incorporate them into the day. It was a lovely service and very emotional – I struggled to keep the tears in when I saw everyone’s faces as I walked down the aisle to the organist playing Pachelbel’s canon in D.

The Venue

It was a dream come true that we were able to have our wedding venue at Calcot Manor. It's a truly beautiful place and close to my heart as I grew up nearby in the Cotswold village of Uley. As busy Londoners, Martyn and I loved escaping back to my parents’ house for weekends away and it was a natural choice. Calcot has a beautiful selection of rooms, so each guest stayed on site with us. The day before we were busy with preparations but managed to escape to the famous spa for some well needed relaxing treatments and pampering. Finishing the day with an informal family dinner hosted by the groom’s parents at the onsite cosy The Gumstool Inn for delicious pub meal.

The Food

As we had an intimate weddings it allowed us to really spoil our guests. When it came to the menu we decided to have the guests choose what they wanted out of three starters and three mains. Calcot Manor were wonderful in memorising the seating plan and what each of our guests had pre chosen. So each guest seamlessly received their personal selection. The food choices were:

Green Pea and Ham Hock Soup Fresh English Goats Cheese Mousse with Beetroot, Hazelnut and Pear Seafood Cocktail with Toasted Brown Bread, a Honey Mustard Dressing and Apple Fennel Salad ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with Green Beans and Dauphinoise Potatoes Roasted Corn-fed Chicken Breast with Fondant Potato, Mushrooms and Bacon Grilled Beef Sirloin with Seared Foie Gras, Boulangere Potatoes and a Red Wine Sauce ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Wedding Cake ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ A Selection of Cheese and Biscuits

We knew exactly what we wanted for our wedding cake, it had to be red velvet - my favourite! We chose a local bakery who had supplied weddings at Calcot previously. We decided on a two tier cake covered in fondant with ivory flat ruffles (an effect I had seen and loved on Pinterest and wedding magazines) with two sugar paste peony flowers.

The Photography

We spotted Nicola and Glen at Calcot Manor when we were booking the venue. There was a wedding that day they were photographing. When I came across some of the pictures from the weddings on Calcots facebook page and after looking at their website I knew I wanted them to photograph our special day. We spoke on the phone and arranged to meet for coffee at the venue. We had a lovely long chat and hours passed talking though everything and the plan for the day. They were excellent for the entire process, they were so calming on the day and we felt like they helped keep everyone organised. We went to their studio in their home in Cheltenham to view the pictures for the first time, my husband and I couldn’t have been more thrilled with the outcome, they managed to capture the day so perfectly. Our wedding album is one the most beautiful thing we own, the quality in the handmade album is the perfect way to house our favourite photographs. Especially my favourite the double page shot of us in the grounds of Calcot Manor.

Advice & Final Thoughts

We never wanted the wedding day to become bigger than the marriage itself. It is easy to get carried away but my advice to brides to be is to stay calm and collected and to enjoy the process. I wanted my wedding to be a true reflective of Martyn and I. As we are both in creative business’ I loved spending the time together designing and making the stationery and I have always loved flower arranging so it was a natural choice for me to do most of the flowers myself. It was cost effective and allowed me to do exactly what I wanted, I have always been artistic so relished visiting the flower market, hand picking out flowers. I was really proud of what we created. Our day for perfect for us, surrounded by our closest friends and family. We keep our wedding album out on display to remind us to keep looking at it and we love reminiscing about the day and will keep doing for many years to come!