Sorry not sorry for beginning with that dress! I mean look at those elegant long sleeves, the lace detailing and illusion back. Oh my. Bride Grace certainly oozes style and beauty in Orquidea by Pronovias and to be honest the exquisite style just follows through into their day too.
David and Grace were married on the 22nd April 2017 at Winters Barn in Kent and envisioned a day which was fuss free, with minimal décor and great cuisine. The focus for the décor was on the floral arrangements, which were so darling and used some unusual flower choices too. The burgundy and blush pink colour scheme really stole my heart, it worked so well, especially in the bridesmaid outfits, the girls looked gorgeous! Groom David meanwhile looked really dapper in a navy Ted Baker suit and tan brogues.
The barn looked wonderful decorated in lanterns, a live band ensured the dance floor was fit to bursting and the pair borrowed a Polaroid camera for guests to take images for their guest book. All in all a really beautiful day, captured sensationally by Ross Hurley Photography, thanks so much Ross.
THE PROPOSAL | We went to Marcus Wareing’s restaurant in London, scoffed 10 courses (there were no pre-proposal nerves!) and then we went to the shard for breakfast to celebrate the next day.
THE VISION | A no-fuss, pain free day! We were in search of a venue that catered to all our needs and worked in any weather and Winters Barns definitely offered that. We wanted minimal but elegant decoration and flowers that would steal the show (and they did!). Our colour theme was burgundy and blush pink. Food is also a big passion of ours so we knew we wanted the day to centre around eating!!
THE PLANNING PROCESS | We were engaged for two years, so we had plenty of time to consider our options and choose our suppliers. We were generally on the same page about most things which made it easy. Winters Barns were really helpful and made sure that there was no stress from start to finish and where we were stuck on ideas, Lizzie (our event manager for the day) had a lot of experience to draw on and help us decide. We both have busy jobs so we kept it very stress-free by just doing a bit of planning at the weekends and around other commitments but never putting too much pressure on ourselves.
BUDGET | More than we hoped!!
THE VENUE | Winters Barns, Nackington, Nr Canterbury. They did a fantastic job and the package included a night’s stay in the bridal cottage, which was lovely and a perfect end to the evening as we didn’t have to wander far once our guests had left! We had an event organiser for the day (Lizzie) who was so efficient and professional.
THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | Pronovias 2017 Collection. The dress itself is called ‘Orquidea’ and was purchased from Pantiles Bride in Tunbridge Wells. My dress had a very simple fitted front with delicate intricate back detail so I didn’t need any jewellery apart from earrings and I wore my hair up so that I could really show off the back of my dress and not detract from it. The shoes were pearlised white scalloped open-toe shoes, with a low heel. These were an expensive purchase from Rachel Simpson however they were 100% leather and I had struggled to find any non-ivory shoes anywhere else so were worth it.
FINDING THE DRESS | Before I even looked in any wedding dress shops or online, I knew exactly what style dress I wanted. I was fixed on something fitted with long sleeves (our wedding was in April so I was aware it could be a little cold!), a lace detailed back and simple front and the Orquidea ticked all the boxes. I decided to allocate just one day to looking for dresses with my mum and sister at three different bridal shops and actually found that limiting myself in this way meant that I was much more decisive. For example, I didn’t try on dresses that I knew I immediately did not like, despite how they may have looked off the peg. Alexandra at Pantiles Bride helped my sister find her dream dress a couple of years back and she provided the same amazing service for me too so overall there was little competition between the three places I tried.
GROOM’S ATTIRE | Ted Baker navy blue suit (from Moss Bros), Calvin Klein burgundy tie, Barker Brogues – tan with navy blue suede inset.
THE READINGS & MUSIC | I carry your heart with me (I carry it in] by E. E. Cummings
Stumblin’ In – Suzy Quattro
The Weight – The Band
Oh La La – The Faces
First Dance – Dancing in the Dark – Bruce Springsteen
For the evening we had an amazing live 7-piece band called Mowtown Sensation. They really made the evening so much fun and got everyone up on the dance floor from young to old!
BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | My three nieces wore two different dresses; the burgundy from Jolie Moi and the pale pink from John Lewis.
THE FLOWERS | The flowers were more amazing than we could ever have imagined. Shani from ‘Flowers at the Malthouse’, Charing, was so lovely and easy to work with and had great ideas. We wanted burgundy show-stoppers for the tables and blush pinks for the posies and Shani didn’t fail to deliver and surprise us. Sadly, a couple of weeks before our wedding, the floods in Colombia affected supply of many of the flowers we had thought of using originally and so Shani had to redesign everything at last minute but everything looked fantastic and better than we could have even hoped for. We always said that we didn’t want overly ‘traditional’ flowers and some examples of the more quirky ones are Snake’s head and Astrantia, plus lots of different seed heads and moss-lined glass dishes.
THE CAKE | A family friend made our cake and we were so pleased with it. The three layers had different flavours; chocolate, strawberry and champagne and cherry bakewell. The icing detail was in the design of the lace design on the back of my dress, which tied in nicely and then the toppers were a Chimp and a Bear (our pet names for each other!) in wedding dress outfits to match our own which sparked conversation! We served the cake as pudding by laying out a platter on each table with a mix of flavours on, mainly to ensure it got eaten.
YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Ross Hurley. Ross was fantastic at making us feel at ease and the style of his photography really appealed to us as something a little bit different and more of a natural set up. We have definitely not been disappointed with our photos and we particularly loved going out into the nearby fields in the low evening sun to get some fabulous and very fun photos. We would recommend the engagement shoot too as we originally thought it wasn’t ‘our thing’ but it meant we got to know Ross and feel more at ease on the day.
THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | Winters Barns has such a nice backdrop, that we had very little that we needed to add, beyond flowers and a few photos of us. We did borrow a friend’s Polaroid camera for guests to take photos during the day and to stick in our guest book with some messages to us, which made fun reading.
THE HONEYMOON | We went to San Francisco, New Orleans and the Florida Keys. We were lucky enough to have three weeks to enjoy our travels and of the three destinations, we’d highly recommend New Orleans; a unique experience we wont forget.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS | The food was a highlight as was the band. They were so much fun and the dance off was a great way to end the night.
ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Don’t stress, it’s supposed to be fun! We also took a few days off work before the wedding to really unwind and relax. Also, remember that you will have photos of you getting your make up and hair done before you are in your dress so make sure you plan your morning outfit well!!
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |
Photography | Ross Hurley Photography
Flowers | Flowers At The Malthouse
Dress | Pantiles Bride
Bridesmaids’ dresses | Jolie Moi
Venue | Winters Barn
Hair stylist | Seven Hair Design
Make up artist | Lauren Elle
Caterer | Chef Scott Anderson
Band/DJ | Bands For Hire – Motown Sensation *WWW wedding directory members*
Groom’s suit | Moss
Groom’s shoes | Barker Shoes
Bride’s shoes | Rachel Simpon Shoes
So very beautiful.
David and Grace, thank you both ever so much for sharing your wedding story with us xo Lou