Rosie & Alex

I have a sneaking suspicion that this afternoon's rustic luxe wedding with a blush pink and copper theme is going to set Pinterest ON FIRE. That log slice, hydrangea and bottle display is SO gorgeous, SO striking and yet so simple to recreate. Thank you lovely Rosie for demonstrating this in such a wonderful way, and thanks in advance from everyone who will be copying it ;) Images come from Julia & You, whose romantic style was just perfect for these two love birds...

The Bride

Rosie the Bride: I wore a Lusan Mandongus dress which we bought at the beautiful Isabella Grace in Tunbridge Wells. I had always said I would never go for a strapless dress because I have big boobs, but the structure of this dress made me feel amazing. I put the dress on, pulled back the curtain and had that moment all brides dream of. My mum, Mother in law, Nanny and sister all in tears agreeing that this dress was “the one”. I had it altered at Miss Kay Seamstress which is across the road from Isabella Grace and they were absolutely amazing, no request was too much, and they could not have made the experience more special. I had my make-up and hair done by my best friend and very talented make-up artist and Hair Stylist Lucianne from Lucianne Beauty. I wore a necklace Alex had given me in the morning from Pandora, and bracelets on each arm one from my Mum and one from my Mother in Law.

The Groom

We rented the suits from Stephen Bishop for the Grooms party, my Father loved the tradition of top hats, and so after lots of convincing, we agreed to add top hats to their outfits for the day. We had the Groom Alex, best man Luke, my three Brothers Jeremy, Charlie & Patrick, my Dad and Alex’s Dad and Step Dad all in these beautiful suits.

The Venue

We were married at St. John’s church in Old Coulsdon, Surrey which was very special for my family as we were all christened there. For as long as I can remember I had dreamed of having the reception at my parents’ beautiful home in Kenley. I am part of a big family being one of 5 children, so this house carries so many of our best memories. This made it very easy to plan our wedding, which we did in less than 8 months, as we could do little bits at a time. I urge any brides that have the option for an “at home” wedding to go for it. Getting to go back to my parents’ house and it hold all the memories of the best day of my life is so amazing. My parents spent months and months making sure everything in the garden was perfect, we had many comments on the day about all the amazing flowers. We used White Tent Events for the marquee and Andy listened and exceeded expectations with how beautiful it was. We had a reveal curtain so the starlit dance floor and bar area was hidden to create an intimate experience during the wedding breakfast, and the curtain lifted as Alex and I were taking our first dance. A moment we will never forget.

The Decor & Styling

Our colour scheme was white, rose gold and blush and everything turned out exactly as I had dreamed. My Mum, Mother in Law, friends, family and I did all the decoration and flowers for the marquee and it was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. My mum had some amazing ideas, white paper lanterns which transformed the marquee and garden, hand painting jars for flowers, the log candle and flower decoration and the most beautiful flower arch which we made from scratch. We used Floral Gallery in Caterham, Surrey for the bouquets and button holes and I could not have been happier when they turned up in the morning. The bridesmaid’s bouquets were pure white, and looked like clouds.

The Wedding Party

Our gorgeous bridesmaids wore Adrianna Pappel dresses which I got from House of Fraser. I wanted them to be in different dresses as there were 8 of them who are all very different shapes and sizes. My sister is also very special to me so I wanted her in her own dress to stand out. My Mum had a custom made dress and looked absolutely beautiful. My flower girl wore a dress from John Lewis and I loved that it looked like a mini version of mine. My page boy was in a little suit from Next. We started the day in gorgeous custom made, hand stitched dressing gowns by my wonderful friend Georgina.

The Ceremony

We had a beautiful church service at St. John’s Church with readings from our friends and Alex’s sister who was 7 months pregnant and looked absolutely stunning. My cousin Abbie also sung Fields of Gold which had the whole church in tears. We travelled to and from the church in a gorgeous Rolls Royce Silver Wraith which made us feel so special.

The Reception

We had a solo singer perform while the drinks reception was happening, we served ice cream from Ice Cream Cab Company. We also hired Andrew Kelly, a magician, who is without a doubt the best money we spent on the day. When guests are getting to know each other, it’s a fantastic ice breaker to have someone like Andrew blow them away. We were taking pictures while the whole garden were screaming with amazement. We hired the band MIB who had everyone on the dance floor all night. We also hired Enigma DJ to make sure the partying could continue throughout the night.

The Food

Our caterers were Two Many Cooks and were absolutely amazing. The guests are still talking about the canapés. We served mini pasta bowls in the evening to soak up some of that alcohol. We had a Krispy Kreme tower as well as a delicious wedding cake made by my very talented sister.

The Photography & Film

We could not have been happier with our Photographers and Videographer. They honestly made our day. Julia and Michelle from Julia and You, and Kim from Kim Williams Photography, captured our day in a way we only could have dreamed of.

Advice

My advice to other brides planning a wedding is to first and foremost, enjoy it. When it’s all over you will miss those special moments with your family and friends while you are tying ribbons or cutting material. I think some brides take it all too seriously, getting tied up with making sure everything is as they have seen in Pinterest. Work out what is important to you and make sure you are surrounded by people who want to make it the most special day.