Bespoke Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress For A Weekend Wedding At Pynes House Devon

It's always a treat to blog a wedding from Pynes House, it's an incredible place with stunning grounds, set at the top of a valley surrounded by countryside. You really couldn't ask for more from a wedding venue. This Pynes House wedding is extra special, because I was actually there and can confirm it was every bit as beautiful as it looks. The flowers were stunning, Jesse looked utterly gorgeous in her bespoke Suzanne Neville gown and the food from Pickle Shack was just top notch. But then with Katrina Otter at the helm of planning the wedding, I expected nothing less. Look out for the dark green stationery from Bureau Design, so elegant and I think we'll be seeing lots of this natural shade for stationery this year. The beautiful photographs come from Soph and John at John Barwood Photography - two lovely human beings who will blend into your wedding day like guests and take a fabulous set of images to boot. Make sure you read all about Jesse and Ed's separate trips to Rome...completely heartwarming, this pair are clearly meant to be!

Flower Filled Weekend Wedding At Pynes House Devon

Jessica & Edward : Edward and I met at the right place at the right time, in modern terms, that means Tinder! Our first date was at a local pub in London and we immediately knew that this was it. A few months later we both travelled to Rome on pre-planned trips with friends. Although we missed each other by 6 hours, we both made a wish in the Trevi Fountain that one day we would marry each other. Neither of us told each other about our wish and this only came to light on our wedding day during the speeches! Post proposal we immediately started to make plans for our quintessentially English weekend wedding. As we’re based in Dallas, Texas we knew we needed an expert pair of hands on the ground – someone that could guide us through the planning process, who we could trust with such big decisions and someone that would take away the stress of planning a wedding, especially from overseas. And that’s where Kat (Katrina Otter Weddings) stepped in. We had so much fun working alongside Kat and we trusted her advice, vision and guidance implicitly – so much so that we booked our wedding venue without even visiting it! It’s hard not to fall in love with Pynes House. Elegant, luxurious, welcoming, charming, flexible, romantic and steeped in history with onsite accommodation. It has the perfect spaces to host our friends and family and we knew that it was the one from the pictures alone! Pynes House really doesn’t need much to make it look beautiful. Ed and I are both old souls and like to keep things simple yet tasteful. Since this was the first and probably last time our families would all be together (mine our based in the US, Ed’s in the UK) we wanted the entire day to be relaxed and flow effortlessly. From the flowers to the food to the music...we wanted everything to have a calm yet romantic feel. With the venue chosen, Kat helped us pull together an absolute dream team of suppliers.

The Team Of Wedding Suppliers

Pickle Shack (a young and ambitious catering team with a strong commitment to local and seasonal sourcing) worked with us to create the most delicious of personalised menus. For the canapes we gave a nod to our Scottish, English and American guests followed by a sharing board starter, roasted beef sirloin main and cheesecake dessert with fresh summer berries. In the evening our guests feasted on bacon sandwiches made with freshly baked bread and wild apple ketchup – our dining experience was mouth-wateringly sensational from start to finish. Whilst we’re on the subject of food, Edible Essence, what can I say! Her cakes are utterly divine and a work of art. Ed is particularly fond of his cake and Jen from Edible Essence didn’t disappoint. Our guests (and especially Ed) were in luxury cake heaven. The main styling element for our wedding centred around The Flower Sessions and their fine art approach. Laura and Matt are true artists and on the day their flowers completely exceeded our wildest dreams. From the choice of colour palette to the stags’ crowns, statement mantlepiece designs to the delicate place settings, their flowers and installations were pure creative perfection. I loved the fact that they used such a chiaroscuro palette with deep copper beech, chocolate cosmos, KOKO LOKO roses, Julia's roses, Honey Dijon, Margaret Merril, Yves Piaget, homegrown roses and a faded chocolate Wabara rose called IOL...to name but a few! All of this floral beauty was then coupled with and worked beautifully alongside the most creative, elegant and modern stationery suite from Bureau Design. Our photographers, John and Soph from John Barwood Photography were an absolute pleasure to be around on the day. I love John’s artistic eye and the way he effortlessly captured the flow of the day, the details and those special moments. Of course, the dream team wouldn’t have been complete without our Celebrant Tamryn, from Wild & Oak. Tamryn was a pleasure to work with and did such an amazing job throughout the planning and on the day. She even went that extra personalised mile and copied our vows into a book of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (Pynes House is believed to be the inspiration for Barton Park in Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility). From an entertainment perspective, I couldn’t recommend Vince Freeman from Eight Ray Music highly enough – he even learnt our favourite song (in a couple of hours) and is an exceptional and accomplished performer. In the evening, Blaise from That Event DJ ensured that the dance floor was constantly packed.

Bespoke Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress

Of course, our wedding wouldn’t have been complete without the dress! I first began the search in London and ended up in New York. My dress was a custom Suzanne Neville number that combined two of my favourite of her designs. Whilst in New York, Suzanne was ironically there on same day and I got to meet her in person. I felt so incredibly special and fortunate having the opportunity to meet Suzanne and it was an experience I will never forget. And on top of this, Jodie and Nikki from Makeup by Jodie provided the glam!

Advice

Finally...my advice! Without a shadow of a doubt, hire Kat! She was the best decision that we made (apart from getting married!) Also, focus on the things that are most important to you (it is after all your day) and above all, remember each other. Try not to sweat the small stuff and just enjoy the first day of the rest of your lives together as a married couple.