Vivienne & James

We had the pleasure of meeting gorgeous bride Vivienne in London for a work meeting at the beginning of the year. Viv's excitement about her wedding day was infectious, so it's really lovely to be able to share her and James' beautiful day with you all. The couple have created a truly elegant occasion, from the florals to the fashion, every element is truly timeless. Viv wears Ronald Joyce and quite rightly states that there aren't many times in life where you can wear a silk ballgown...so you may as well make the most of it! And we're so glad she did, Viv looks incredible. And for such a stylish, classic wedding, an elegant photographer was needed - step in Anneli Marinovich, whose style reflects Viv and James' big day to perfection. And make sure you watch the film from Cupcake Videos - it really brings the day to life. Congratulations lovely Viv, and thank you for sharing your day with us.

{Watch The Film}

{Pin the Wedding}

The Bride

Vivienne the Bride: I wore Ronald Joyce and found my dress at J S Couture. I have to say the ladies at J S Couture were wonderful. So sweet and knowledgeable, and not pushy at all. Sophie in particular! They were also incredible when I went down two dress sizes (in hind sight I had just come back from a holiday in Italy when I bought the dress, and was probably more stressed than I realised!) They essentially re-built my dress over, 6 dress fittings...! Sorry ladies – I really put your skills to the test - but you were amazing. I had the common dilemma of being torn between a fishtail and ballgown. I wear a lot of pencil skirts and dresses so fishtail was very much my style...but when else do you get to wear a silk ballgown?! Our hairstylist Louise was lovely and so talented – she fulfilled the brief for each of us beautifully. Elle our MUA is a true artist. She knows her stuff, is super chilled and the make-up looked flawless all day (and night!)

The Groom

Jamie wears a suit to work, and given the venue was an old house we felt it’d be nice to do something a bit different, yet traditional – so we went for tails. However, we didn’t want it to be too traditional or heavy, but finding a mid-grey quality tails was a hard thing to do, until we found Neal & Palmer. They’ve a wonderfully quaint shop in an arcade just by Piccadilly Circus, with winding narrow stairs and racks and racks of wonderful fabrics, waistcoats and suits. A real find!

The Venue

We both grew up in the same little village in Kent (although we never met growing up– another story!) so searched high and low for a venue in the local area. Unfortunately, nothing was quite right – it was either too big, too small or didn’t have a late enough curfew! So I stuffed all our criteria into google and Brympton House was one of the few that came up. On our first visit we knew it was the place – significant but not imposing or showy, stunning so didn’t require too much decorating and everything for the day was in one place – even down to Bridal Suite we got ready in! And the gothic feel, flower filled gardens and fairy light strewn stables for the evening party made it feel very romantic. It was also very well considered – it had a different space for every part of the day, which made the most of the house and also made sure that there was a lot of variety for the guests. The layout of the house was also very thoughtful – the flow of the guests was really natural from one space to the next, and having rooms for us to stay in and get ready in (we had the venue from the night before too) made the morning just fun – not stressful.

The Decor & Styling

We’re both very classic in style, and wanted the day to feel really special but were also mindful that we didn’t want to feel stuffy or pretentious. So we were working to a ‘relaxed elegance’ tone. My first thought when it came to colours were pinks! But Jamie being a manly man was keen that they weren’t too over powering, or barbie. That’s why for the bridesmaid dresses we chose a soft, nude pink. And the flowers were a mix of shades of pink, whites and lots of lovely foliage too. Being such an old, romantic venue, it didn’t need to do much decorating, but the venue did have a team called Tie the Knot that we used to help finalise the options, rent certain elements from (a very good decision!) and set up on the morning of the wedding. We also wanted to make sure that the styling we did complimented the venue too. As the house was old, golden stone we chose to have flashes of antique gold throughout our décor – from candelabras in the wedding breakfast centre pieces to the icing on our wedding cake. We did have a few pinterest-inspired ideas - hankies (it’s a running joke that I cry at ALL weddings), mints and fortune tellers with funny stories of people at that table at the breakfast, and blankets to snuggle in during the evening. But we kept this minimal to avoid too much stress, and avoid it feeling too tacky too. A best friend and her boyfriend designed all our wedding stationery. We wanted to make it feel classic yet modern, and incorporated elements of the venue so it’d feel in keeping on the day. For example the room we cut our cake in had a wall of antlers, so our logo featured antlers and flowers. I chose the font, and we got inspiration for wordings and layouts from various blogs and magazines. One of our favourite elements was our table plan. It was a drawing of the side of the House, and each window had two panels that opened to reveal who was sitting at which table. Really well designed (thank you friends!) and painstakingly built. It was not only stunning, in keeping with the venue but was super fun too.

The Flowers

I adore flowers – one of the reasons we chose to get married in June – so they were always going to play a big part in the décor. We went for classic, romantic and scented flowers – roses, peonies, stocks – and a mix of sizes and tones to make sure that the arrangements felt classic but modern too. Emily our florist was fab, she even made sure we made the most of our flowers by making sure we used the same arrangements in each different space. And as we went on honeymoon the day after the wedding it was lovely to be able give these to our friends and family as a thank you gift the morning after!

The Ceremony

Rosemary, our registrar, was a delight! She was so sweet and excited for us. She made the ceremony really relaxed and fun too. Though she did tell me, before the ceremony, to feel free to hold hands or kiss Jamie when I saw him at the end of the aisle. Out of habit and excitement I went to kiss him – which took him a little by surprise! We were keen that our mothers had an official role on the day, so they were our witnesses. We also chose Jamie’s father and an oldest friend from either side to do a reading each.

The Entertainment

We ummed and ahhd about having live music during the ceremony and drinks reception, and when we found Jon’s mix of modern, classic and Spanish guitar we knew it’d make all the difference to the feel of the ceremony and reception. It’s a bit cheesy but we started off with more classical songs, and got more present day, and up-beat, as we went through the ceremony. I walked in to Cannon in D. Register signing was to Stairway to Heaven, Led Zepplin (one of Jamie’s favourite bands). We walked out to Daft Punk Get Lucky – as it was fun, and meant a lot to us because it was the song of our first holiday together! Being played on acoustic guitar really made them feel more romantic whilst maintaining the spirit of the songs too. One of my work colleagues had The Hound Dog's and they were A-maz-ing! Jamie loves 1970’s rock, and we really wanted a band who could do old school songs for all generations. These guys ticked all these boxes. And more – they also DJ’d for us with a playlist we worked on together (and the guests fed in to) until the small hours! They were absolutely charming – we couldn’t recommend them enough. Our first dance was to Fleetwood Mac Everywhere - a song that for some reason seems to have always been playing at important points of our relationship (the first being when we bought our first bed!) We love to dance so it was great to have a song that Jamie could swirl me to as well. We actually ended up having a second first dance – purely by accident. Later in the evening everybody was up and dancing, and spontaneously stepped aside as Jamie swirled me around (again!) to Oasis Don’t Look Back in Anger. Not as romantic a song, but so so fun (likewise the fluffy ears I was wearing from the photo booth!) and one of our favourite memories of the night.

The Food

We’re big foodies so this was an important decision for us. Wanting to make sure we could party all night we had some carbs in there, as well as making sure that it was filling but also flavoursome. I (Vivienne) love tomatoes – it’s a running joke – so we had to have them in there. A dangerous choice though, I ate them very carefully! We worked with Dine With Style, a recommended supplier at the venue. They were super organised both ahead of the day and on the day itself. We served Goats Cheese and Pesto Ravioli with Butternut Puree and Basil Oil, followed by Rump of West Country Lamb served Dauphinoise Potatoes, Fine Beans wrapped in Pancetta, Roasted Cherry Vine Tomatoes and light drizzle of Rosemary Jus. For pudding we had Classic Lemon Tart served with Raspberry Coulis and edible flowers. Finished with coffee, truffles and wedding cake. We really wanted to use local suppliers, so found Ice Maiden Cakes via various blogs. Julie was great – we had a tasting and she encouraged us to try the unusual flavours – and we’re so glad we did, they were by far the most popular! We had a different flavour each layer: Vanilla, Coffee, Rose & Pistachio, Lime & Coconut. We were in the venue the day before too, when we had a BBQ by Wellies and Garlic. They also did our evening food. We kept this simple – bacon or sausage butties for all (except veggies who had bean burgers!)

The Photography

Anneli is amazing! She really captures the moment, and the way that she works with light is just magical too. Personality wise she was a fab fit as well – she was super organised and professional but very warm and made us feel at ease whilst giving us direction on how we should stand and interact to get the best out of the shots. She also just really understood our personalities and made a real effort to make sure that they showed through in each photo. We knew as soon as we found her – and had a skype – she was the one for us! 


The Videography

We weren’t going to have a videographer, but several friends said it was the one thing that they regretted getting. The thing that put us off was the thought of intrusive cameras around us all day. But at a friend’s wedding the videographers were so subtle (and used go pros!) that you barely noticed them; the end video was fab so we booked Cupcake straight away.

Advice

Have an engagement session with your photographer if you can. It was really fun, but also great in that we’d already met before the day, knew what to expect and Anneli our photographer knew what was important to us. Picking the right venue – it impacts everything from the food to the dress. We certainly went with the right venue for what we wanted for our wedding day, but be sure to dot the i's and cross the t's before you sign on any dotted line with venues or any supplier! Enjoy the process! Make it fun or an event where possible – you’ll never do this again. For example we had our food tasting over our anniversary and made a weekend of it near Bath. Involve people where you can – they only want to help! One of my best friends and her boyfriends designed all our stationery – from the logo to the sketches on the invitations and order of the day. Even the table plan!! We also had a wine tasting with both of our dads. It made it more fun and they loved being such a big part of it. Some things will go wrong - they will. But if they happen before hand you’ll find a solution - and friends and family will be more than willing to help. And if they happen on the day you either won’t notice them, or again your loved ones will be on hand. We got locked out of our room at 2.30 in the morning (!) and our friends scattered to try to find someone to let us in, so everything turns out alright in the end.