Charlotte & Craig

Where do I even begin with this beautiful, beautiful wedding?! It's literally like something from a fairy tale. Charlotte looks Princess-esque in Pronovias, surrounded by a sea of gorgeous Bridesmaids. The florals are OUT OF THIS WORLD - just wait until you see inside the marquee! There's some kind of amazing drinks display stand fashioned from wood and copper. The boys look dapper in kilts. And I haven't even mentioned the photography from the incredible Matt Porteous and team at Wedding_M. Based in Jersey, but working all over the world, we're head over heels for their natural, emotive style. Well if he's good enough for the Royals... The whole day unfolds at St Ouen's Manor in Jersey, so not only are the styling and fashion incredible, but it's like we've stepped into a French chateau. I'll stop gushing now and let you enjoy...but trust me, it's a cracker of a wedding lovely ones!

The Bride

Charlotte The Bride: I initially wanted a simple dress that I could dance and feel relaxed in on the day but in the end I fell in love with this much bigger dress from Pronovias. I adored it, but it wasn’t what I had originally envisioned. I liked it so much and so I decided to go with it and make it work whatever happened. After all the planning and preparation I wasn’t going to let a big skirt get in the way of us enjoying the day or evening. As it turned out I had so much fun with my dress on the dance floor and so wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a large train for any Bride that also loves to dance.  The wedding gave me the perfect excuse to buy a pair of Hangisi Manolos to go with my dress. I saved up for them outside of the wedding budget and bought them about 7 months before the day. They were my biggest personal extravagance and I didn’t regret buying them for a second.  

The Wedding Party

My bridesmaids wore individualised dresses from David’s Bridal and Beau our flower girl wore a silk dress handmade by a family friend. They all looked so beautiful on the day. In Craig’s view the kilt was the one and only way to go for our wedding day. We had the kilts made in his home town of Falkirk in Scotland. Craig, Stuart (his brother and Best Man) and Stephen (his Dad), all wore the Grey Stewart tartan and the Groomsmen wore Grey Spirit. All the kilts and accessories were purchased at Stewart Highland, and Euan and Fiona who run the shop were so helpful and paid attention to every last detail. The button holes were in the colour scheme but had a Scottish thistle in each. Our page boy Austin didn’t fancy wearing a kilt so he wore a suit from John Lewis that matched my Dad’s with a tartan pocket square. 

The Venue

I grew up in St Ouen in Jersey, and so we were keen to get married somewhere on the island and if possible close to my home. We viewed a few different venues but when we visited St Ouen’s Manor it just felt right. The Manor and its stunning grounds offered us the ideal platform for both our wedding ceremony and reception. The gardens all looked so beautiful and the people who ran the venue were so kind and so we decided it was the one for us. The gardens are immaculately kept but with lots of colour and some wilder areas nearby, and we let this inspire our overall look for the day. Alison Davis was tireless in her efforts to make the marquee look exactly as we had hoped including personal touches and detail throughout. We always wanted a Scottish wedding in Jersey, to reflect the merging of our families

The Décor

We wanted lush greenery and bursts of colour everywhere against the plain marquee setting. The flowers were so important to get the look right and Clara Barthorp who created the ceiling installation, bridal flowers and top table decoration understood this perfectly. The texture, movement and colours were exactly what we had hoped for. Alison Davis made by hand all of the centre pieces, bar décor and the table plan; each item was brimming with colour and lush greens. To tie all of this together we used a mixture of gold and copper vessels and detail.  To source the various copper and gold pieces (ranging from plant pots to 5 litre kettles) Alison and I went to auctions, charity shops and even New Look sales. If we found something that was lovely but not the right colour we used spray paint to achieve the look. Alison’s expert eye and generosity with her time and efforts made the final look more beautiful than we could have ever hoped for. 

The Ceremony

We only had one reading for our ceremony from my Granny. Uncommon Love by Terah Cox managed to encompass all the things we hope for in our marriage. We wrote our vows together a few months before the wedding. It was much harder than we anticipated but well worth the effort. Every word mattered to us and made the ceremony feel even more important and personal for us. Although it did make it even harder to hold back the tears. 

The Entertainment

We both love music. Carole Le Gresley played Cavatina on the classical guitar to walk down the aisle which is the same piece of music my Mum walked down the aisle to. We then chose meaningful songs to accompany the rest of the ceremony. There was a Jazz Quartet in the garden during Drinks and Canapes, and they created a beautiful laid back atmosphere. A saxophonist and classical Guitar continued to play during the wedding breakfast.  We wanted to include elements of a Scottish wedding into our wedding in Jersey to reflect the coming together of our two families. The traditional Scottish ceilidh was perfect for this and took place straight after the meal to get our party started. Fiddle Paradiddle were our fantastically energetic ceilidh band, and they made sure to get everyone involved and ensured our party started with a bang. When we started wedding planning the one thing we were sure that we wanted was a Ceilidh because we enjoy them so much, but we were so pleased that all our guests loved it as much (some even more than) as us.  After the Ceilidh we had the husband of one of our bridesmaids, Neil Whittaker (DJ Whiskers), as our DJ for the rest of the night. Neil expertly managed to appeal to the diverse crowd and made sure the dance floor stayed. We wanted everyone to let their hair down and really enjoy the food, drink and the party. Neil, Fiddle Paradiddle and Bossa Basseline helped make that all happen for us. 

The Photographers & Videographer

We were so lucky to have 3 extremely talented people document our wedding. When we look back at the photos and the video it seems incredible how they managed to capture the feeling of the day. We were so excited and full of energy that we didn’t notice how carefully they must’ve been setting up every single shot. They caught the magic of the day for us and all our guests. It helped that all three of them were so laid back, they were more than our Photographers and Videographer they were part of the fun and felt like guests and friends who had joined us for the day.