Emily & Charlie

Well hello there pretty, timeless wedding full of gorgeous fashion and florals. I literally have not been able to stop smiling whilst putting this together for you lovely lot. It's full of light and happiness and just swells the heart. The gorgeous blush pink and thyme green colour scheme is sublime, picked out beautifully in Bride Emily's stunning Naomi Neoh Fleur gown and the Bridesmaids Coast dresses. Both of which are members of our Look Book, so if you like what you see, you should definitely check out the rest of their collections. Then there are the florals, echoing the sweet pastel palette, with the bouquets and buttonholes lovingly put together by the Grooms Mother. Not to mention the adorable church arrangements, centrepieces and chair backs. Emily fell in love with photographer Helen Cawte's work on these very pages. We love hearing that we've helped unite couples with their suppliers, especially ones as talented as Helen who has cleverly captured every aspect of this sweet, romantic day for us to pore over and enjoy. And if you need help finding fabulous suppliers, look no further than our hand picked wedding supplier directory, The List.

Wedding Inspiration

Emily the Bride: I have to admit to having a few sneaky looks on RMW before I got engaged, so after we got back from a trip to the beautiful Ille de Re in France (where Charlie proposed) I was straight onto RMW looking at boutiques. I found a couple including Carina Baverstock Couture in Bradford on Avon, not far from my parents house in Wiltshire. It turns out this picturesque village is a little wedding paradise. There's even a shop dedicated to wedding garters... I had no idea what my dream dress would look like but when I stumbled across Naomi Neoh on the designers stocked by Carina I immediately fell in love with her designs. In particular Fleur, which had a beautiful romantic and French feel to it with the subtle blush pink underskirt and Chantilly lace bolero. I was a little worried that it might not suit me, but when I finally made the trip to Wiltshire to try it on with my Mum and Sister, I felt like I did not want to ever take it off. Carina's team were wonderful and helped with finding a bespoke blush pink cathedral length veil to match. I found some beautiful boho style Chantilly lace peep toe boots from Harriet Wilde to match, and the 3 inch heels meant I was able to dance all night with absolutely zero suffering!

Bridesmaids

I knew I didn't want my bridesmaids to be totally matching as I found that a bit too formal so I had been thinking about two different colours. It was whilst at a fitting at Carina's I was inspired by some sage green Jenny Packham lingerie which went so well with the blush pink of my dress, and with the help of my brilliant bridesmaids I was lucky enough to find the perfect dresses in Coast, two in dusty pink and three in thyme. They even had a rose sash which echoed the one on my own dress. My sister in law found the pretty little flower girls dresses in John Lewis.

Groomsmen

Charlie and his ushers all got their tails from Moss Bros, and Charlie managed to find thyme coloured ties which matched the bridesmaids.

Venue

We both wanted to get married in my village church so that was easy but finding somewhere close by to hold the party was a little more difficult. We knew we were looking for a romantic informal countryside venue where everyone could just relax and have fun, and when my Dad found Burcombe Manor in Wiltshire, a farm house just 20 mins down the road it was perfect, stunning yet low-key, and they were happy to let us do what we pleased, like setting up various games on the lawn. We hired a marquee and furniture to host the party from Quality Marquee hire who were excellent, and provided extras like the giant love letters and dance floor.

Colour Scheme/Decor

We wanted to keep the decor light and informal, so we had hessian runners, flowers in jam jars and our eclectic mix of lanterns on the tables, and the I was lucky to have the wedding party and lots of helpers. Our wedding favours were shots of sloe gin or limoncello which also served as name places too. We had a lot of fun putting it all together the day before.

Flowers

My mother in law created the beautiful bouquets and button holes for the wedding party and local lady, Mandy Gardiner designed the lovely church arrangements which we took with us to the venue.

Ceremony

The ceremony felt really special, with close friends doing the readings and my talented sister playing the piano beautifully whilst we signed the register. One of my favourite moments was at the end when we stood at the back of the church facing the congregation to sing the last hymn (the rather cheesy shine Jesus shine is my favourite) and I just remember feeling so happy looking out at the smiling faces of all our friends and family.

Entertainment

We are both obsessed with dancing at parties and it was important to us to have a full dance floor all night long, however despite that we really struggled with finding the right song for the first dance. The first song we had ever danced to together wasn't an obvious choice but in the end we had to go with it the so we had ice cube "you can do it" which really kick started the party! Our band The Magic Tones were super fun and energetic and kept everyone on their feet until late.

Food

Two very talented caterers from Bubble and Squeak created a really delicious feast for us, as well as the yummy canapés and wedding cake. For the main meal we wanted something relaxed and informal and loved the idea of sharing dishes on each table that the guest could help themselves to. We designated one guest per table to be "chef" by leaving and apron and chefs hat on their chair with the idea that they would carve up.  The highlights were butterflied lamb with sumac cumin and honey, skirt steak with Stilton butter and roast chicken with garlic, bay, thyme and orange, and lots of yummy side dishes such as chargrilled aubergine with lemon wild rice. Sarah offered to create our naked Victoria sponge cake. I remember saying a couple of layers was fine as I wanted real Chantilly cream inside and had been told by some confectionists we had spoken to that a sponge layer cake wouldn't stand up unless we used buttercream in it, so when I walked into the marquee and saw the beautiful 7 layer cake standing tall, I was stunned. It tasted utterly delicious, and we served it up as dessert.

Photographer

Helen our photographer was absolutely fantastic. I had seen her featured on RMW and fell in love with her beautiful use of light and the relaxed feel of the images. When we met she made us feel so at ease, it was like having a friend there on the day of the wedding. I treasure the photos we have as they really embody the look and spirit of our day.

Advice

Be as relaxed as possible and enjoy the planning, don't stress about the small things, and I think it's wonderful when your day reflects your personalities both as a couple and individually