Ria & David

There's nothing better than a perfect peach wedding. Especially when they include big bloomsey Dahlias and David Austin roses, and furniture and decor hire from some our favourite suppliers. The location for all this beautifulness was the local family church and rustic luxe venue Swanton Morley House and Gardens in Norfolk. And taking centre stage amongst all the pretty was the gorgeous Ria and David, whose love shone through and allowed Jason Mark Harris Photography and Together We Roam Films to capture some truly heartfelt moments.

Dress

Ria the Bride: I’d never really thought about what my dress would look like ... I had absolutely no idea where to start and after visiting a few shops (and trying on all manner of styles) I was even more confused! So, the hunt for the perfect dress was relocated to Norwich. It was important to me that my nan could join us, after calling multiple dress shops local to her I finally found one with parking directly outside and ground floor seating - result! A little bit of magic happened that day, the first dress she saw me in was the dress I fell in love with.

Grooms Fashion

David chose a blue three-piece suit with a navy tie, he frequently told me leading up to wedding that it was HIS big day ... he looked totally gorgeous. His cufflinks were part of my wedding present to him, copper with his initials engraved.

The Wedding Party

My girls wore pretty blush dresses, dress shopping was a little last minute, but I knew they would both look gorgeous in anything. Our makeup was by Leanne and our hair by Katie. Both ladies made us all feel completely relaxed and took the time to listen to what we all wanted. I have very pale skin and Katie knew exactly how to deal with it. Mum and I loved having all the trials and getting to spend time together.

The Venue & Decor

Unlike the dress, I knew exactly what I wanted with the venue! My grandparents and parents had both been married in Old Catton Church and I wanted to follow in their footsteps. The register is situated under a round stained-glass window which my grandad and his brothers had donated funds for. I felt a strong connection to him on the day. The date was also precious to us as David’s grandparents had been married the following day, 68 years previous. If our marriage brings us the same happiness as theirs, we will consider ourselves very lucky. The reception was held at Swanton Morley House and Gardens, it was perfect for us. A converted stable block with a central courtyard that provided a blank canvas for me to play with. Caroline was absolutely amazing, listening to my millions of ideas and brainstorming with me on how to make them a reality. Nothing was too much trouble, and anything was possible. Without any doubt she made our wedding day extra special and I will always be grateful. We sourced vintage tables and chairs which we decorated with pretty blue table runners, candles and beautiful blush flowers. I loved designing and sourcing all the little details, the vintage drinks trolley was a treasure I found in Brighton, the seating plan was a wedding present and the old school desk we found at a charity shop on the way home from the pub! They all now live in our home and remind us each day of our wedding. Setting up the venue the day before was almost as fun as the wedding itself, our family and my lovely friend Catherine (who drove 3 hours to help!) spent the day at the venue with us and it made the wedding so personal and special to us.

The Flowers

Penny from Crown House Flowers spent a lot of time with us helping us pick out the perfect flowers, we selected dahlias and roses in pretty pinks and peach colours. The flowers were actually grown in the venue grounds which I loved. The milk churns outside the church were a special touch for my family. I was also keen to do some arranging myself, my dad is a greengrocer and he sourced additional roses for me. My step mum and I had a brilliant day at the back of his shop filling jam jars our friends and family had collected.

The Ceremony

The car, organised by my dad, and driven by my step brother made the journey to the church was very special. We will always treasure sharing the moment with our family and friends. My wedding ring is very precious to me, I wanted something in a vintage style but in the same metal as my engagement ring. After searching and having no luck in finding, I sent a photo of what I wanted to my mum, it turned out she had the exact same ring! So we used her ring to have a replica made.

The Food & Drink

Florentina catered our wedding, they were amazing, going above and beyond our expectations. We had sausage and mash for our main meal... my uncle, a butcher, provided all the sausages which were to his own recipe. There was no way we could select one dessert, so we had three. Pizzas were served throughout the evening - the perfect food to soak up all the booze! ... and thanks to East Coast Bars, there was certainly a lot of booze! We selected them as they were incredibly helpful in accommodating all the drinks and cocktails we requested. It was unbelievable to receive an email a few days before the wedding to inform us that we were the 100th function of the year and so the bar and ALL the drinks would be provided completely free of charge. There were a lot of sore heads the next day!

The Photographer

Jason was the only photographer we wanted. We’d seen his work before and loved his style, we wanted the photos to be natural and so limited the formal shots. Jason and his team blended seamlessly on the day with our guests, you just can’t help but feel at ease around them. If there is one thing worth investing in it’s a good photographer, the day is over so quickly but they captured moments we will treasure forever.

The Film

We weren’t going to have a video at first but changed our mind and I’m so pleased we did. It took a long time to find a company with a style we liked and it was actually Jason himself and one of his team who also shot the film. Jason has since launched Together We Roam a boutique film venture aimed primary at smaller weddings and elopements but also available for larger weddings. Because it was the same team and its Jason’s style it complemented our photos perfectly. The lovely thing about our video is all the people we love dearly are captured laughing, chatting and having fun. Real memories of natural moments. I honestly don’t remember being filmed at all and judging by some of the funnier moments caught, neither did our guests!

{Watch The Film}