Chic & Stylish Wedding With A Hint Of The 1920s

Having been together since 2004 we always knew getting married was on the cards and had talked about it. I always found it difficult to imagine telling friends and family over the phone that Peter and I had got engaged and always thought it would be such a shame not to be able to see everyone and tell them face to face – Peter made this part of his grand plan & so in June I went round to a friends for a few drinks before a night out, little did I know

that upon instruction to go out to the garden would be a sea of tea lights lighting a pathway to a bench where there was flowers and champagne at the ready for the imminent celebration. My knees instantly went weak and so Peter led me across the stone path to sit me down, got on one knee and shared with me his thoughts of us before asking me to marry him. Our song Sweet Disposition played in the background as I held back the tears and said Yes, presented with a beautiful emerald ring (my birth stone)

he knew me so well and confirmed we would be going to design another ring together. As he poured the champagne he confessed that he knew I would want to celebrate with our friends and family and so as our friends appeared from their house to congratulate us so did my parents and many more of our closest friends appear from a small hideaway in the garden where they had all been patiently waiting for the que. It was a bit like a stampede from my parents and burst into tears all over again.

After a mammoth of well wishes a party enthused including fireworks from the small roof of the 1 bed flat in East Dulwich, London just because Peter knows I love them. It goes without saying that for me it was the perfect way to agree to be Peter’s finance.

We had soooo many different ideas for what our wedding could be and viewed about 12 venues in total including the Barbican and Richmond Park that were both close seconds. We both knew we wanted to have a relaxed feeling to the wedding with a venue that could provide lots of fun, but that maintained the importance of the day and some of the formalities. When we saw Nonsuch, we just knew it was perfect. It reminded us very much of seeing our first flat together

in that Peter was like an excitable child saying ‘I want it’ and I had tingles in my toes but trying to play it cool so not to blow our budget. The overall vision for Nonsuch was that we wanted to make it feel like our house for the day, and welcome our guests in to share its beauty.

We started with the planning after about a month. We had two years in total from when we found the venue and as any bride will know at points it does feel like wedding & work is all that consumes you, however, we ensured that we were honest about when we just couldn’t spend an evening looking at the budget or making a decision on the favours etc. and when we were raring to go and excited to get more done we treated ourselves to an early evening in the pub;

tablet and notepads in hand we would enjoy some good grub and a few beers and not to anyone’s surprise the decisions were far easier to make. It also avoids any heated debates.

Nonsuch Mansion, Cheam, Surrey. As we said above we fell for the venue instantly, Jade Tombs was our wedding planner and Grace co-ordinated our day. They were an absolute dream, guiding us along the way, giving us tips on working with suppliers or making decisions about food etc. and nothing was a problem on the day. It really felt like a natter with friends each time we saw them.

The venue is stunning with large grounds and therefore a summer wedding would be stunning here, however the fireplaces inside are magnificent and never dreaming of a summer wedding Peter and I just fell in love with a November wedding, warm fires, hearty food! The catering company Bovingdons that own the house are awards winners for their food and rightly so, guests praised the food and one or two even managed to sneak an extra portion!

My dress was from Pronovias; the Urbina Dress. Shoes from Dune in the sale, it pays to look round the high-street. I really didn’t want traditional wedding shoes, wanting to wear them again and again afterwards. My hair slide was from Vintage Styler. Jewellery was vintage from my great grandmother given to me by mum.

Makeup & Hair was provided by Deco Dolls; I also had them for my 1920’s themed hen doo and they are absolutely above and beyond what I could expect on both occasions. They are true artists studying era’s and getting look just right making sure that everything they do works for you. So accommodating on the day and worked to keep everyone very calm.

I had looked around quite a few different dress shops on various trips with mum & aunt, maid of honour but there was always something not quite right whether it be the tiniest beading detail or the extortionate price tag that I just couldn’t ask my wonderful parents to shell out. I know what I like when it comes to shopping and I always shop on my own so nothing clouds my judgement, therefore I always suspected when I finally found

the dress it would be on my own and that is exactly what happened. Pronovias had their 2013 collection in and were having a trunk show at Bond Street, it was impossible to get a time but thankfully I was able to take an extended lunch from work and pop out. I had two dresses in mind and the wonderful Leisha was there to greet me to help out. I tried a few dresses on but from the moment I put on the Urbina I knew it was the one;

I had at one point gone to speak to a dress maker about designing my wedding dress, the pictures I had in my mind were in front of me all in the Urbina dress, it was perfect! I rang my mum immediately and with the additional discount offered by the trunk show agreed to put a deposit on it straight away without showing a single person. It ended up being the most perfect dress for the day, the venue, for me!

Peter always wanted his suit made as well as his best man who was his father. They both had them made from A suit that fits in London. Peter’s suit was Petrol Blue herringbone and his dad’s a navy blue herringbone. We were able to find perfect usher suits to hire that matched Peter’s dads. Peter went for a double breasted, very 20’s style and he looked gorgeous!

After lots of looking around and considering lots of different options we found readings that were light hearted, fun and true to us. READING 1 – On our wedding day READING 2 – Union by Robert Fulgham They were read out by our friends Liam & Beckie and the second reading made Peter shed a tear thinking about how true the words were to us.

We love music and have eclectic tastes, we always knew we wanted music we enjoyed listening to walk down the aisle too and not a musician or singer, just wasn’t for us. We also decided that rather than just having an iPod playing in the corner that we wanted an old vintage radio to play the music from, we hunted forever to find a converted radio that we could plug into our phones or tablets but when we finally found it became our prized possession and now there is nothing better

than sitting at home at the weekend, TV off, radio on and relaxing on the sofa reading, chatting etc. I walked down the aisle to Sixpence none the Richer Kiss Me, a song I have loved from the days of Dawson Creek, it was always my little girl dream to walk down the aisle to that song, helped that Peter liked it too! We exited the ceremony to an instrumental version of Bable by Mumford & Sons; big fans!

The rest of the music was stuff we just loved! Listening to the playlist now as I write this. Music in the evening always had to be a DJ, Peter and I met at university and through a love of dance music danced our way through the four years. When I saw an advert for the Wedding Smashers on a blog and listened to their sound cloud on their website I just knew we had to have them.

We met Max from the company and he was such a dude and over a few beers we all had a good chat about what we wanted, specifically what I didn’t want; QUEEN, BON JOVI ….yuk! – sorry to the fans. Peter from the smashers played our set and he was bang on, friends from university felt like we had been transported back to the clubs, older relatives got down on the dance floor later to some swinging 60’s and 80’s classics and of course there was a whole lot of Mumford!

Our first dance was to Sweet Disposition and Peter had a big thing about not looking like lemons so we quietly took a few little dance classes; we got away with it we think!

Kat my maid of honour, Gemma, Rachel & Danielle bridesmaids. Danielle Peter’s sisters. Kat my best friend and roommate from university. Gemma & Rachel best friends from school. It was a great giggle when we got together for dress hunting, some really easy no’s. I wanted all the girls to feel comfortable and so when we finally found Bridesmaids of London it was perfect. I was relaxed on whether they had the same dress or different and they had a lot of say in the final dress,

my only requirement was to make sure I liked the colour. The dresses were JLM and shimmering bullet metal grey which was perfect for the frosted metallic that I was trying to incorporate into the day.

Jay Archer Flowers…. there are not enough words to explain how amazing this women is! I know very little about flowers other than I like what I like and you will know about it when I don’t. I did know I wanted roses in my bouquet to represent my late nan whose name was Rose as is my middle name, I also knew I didn’t want a really structured bouquet.

I went to Basingstoke to meet Jay for the first time, Peter thought I was mad but knew there was no point talking to me if I had to do something in the name of research then that is what I was going to do. He thought I was even madder when I said she was the one! When we both met Jay he totally got it, she listened to the feel we wanted to try & achieve; homely, no grand displays, incorporate lots of personal items from our family homes and bring in warm frosted metallic colours.

Our agreed reference for the table centres was Mrs Havisham from Great Expectations without the cob webs! She got it; her suggestions of flowers were perfect as well as all the props that she bought along to add to the day. I could go on and on and I never feel like I have done her justice, shortly after we booked Jay she started to get nominated for awards and just keeps winning which is well deserved as far as we are concerned.

We’re not big foodies so we didn’t really know what to do about a cake but when I found Mel and her website The Cake Revolution everything came together. She was happy to stick with our budget constraints and was so accommodating to visit me at work with samples of sponge or decorative features. Shout out to her husband for being the go between us for various parcels and deliveries! The cake was in keeping with the day and tasted very scrummy!

Tarah Coonan is AMAZING! More than a photographer, she gets stuck in & helps out with whatever is required. She is so relaxed and understood exactly what Peter and I didn’t like from poses and what we did and brought an air of calm to the day – even organising our mad families didn’t faze her. You didn’t even realise she was there sometime and to see the photos later it was like ‘Where were you?’

She has captured some of the best moments that we can cherish and we are still really enjoying working with her to get our album together.

The idea was to have as many personal touches as possible, nothing too uniform. We placed my parent’s writing desk in the hall way which held our guest book and photos. There were vases, candlesticks, boxes all taken from the family home to use on the day in addition to the wonderful props supplied by Jay Archer. We selected various photos from when we were children and included photos from our parents wedding day.

Peter loves reading and so there were a lot of vintage books used through the venue, and these created our table numbers sticking steel copper numbers onto the front of books. We weren’t sure about whether to do favours or give money to charity, we didn’t want to be too serious about the favours and said we would only do them if we could think of something light hearted to do. We were pleased when we came up with the idea to make fridge magnets

with photos of us with silly or loving notes – we traipsed around London with a close photographer friend Rik and took various snaps looking like idiots as people stared at us, but it was all worth it! Older relatives got loving messages whereas close friends got jokes or messages which had them cracking up!

We couldn’t decide what to do, we wanted to get away but knew after all the exhaustion of the wedding a long-haul break was not for us so we took a simple week to the canaries in a 5* hotel and pampered ourselves and now in 2014 we have lots of mini trips booked all over Europe and beyond.

Walking down the aisle and seeing each other was a fabulous moment, there was no doubt we wouldn’t make it to that point but to actually be there both looking so amazing was really special. For me particularly walking down the aisle with my dad when he shook Peter’s hand and passed me over to him. Peter says that marrying me was the easiest thing he has ever done, it was just the rest of the day that required all the effort. I agree it was easy to marry him too.

In the evening of our wedding we did sparklers with all of our guests organised by the wonderful Tarah and I changed and made an entrance in my mother’s dress that she had worn the evening of her wedding day. No one knew other than Kat and my bridesmaid Gemma and so to see my mums face as she got so emotional was very special. Our speeches were wonderful but Peter’s dad as best man was particularly nervous and so I know for Peter this was a really

lovely moment to enjoy the words spoken by his father. Both families expressed in their speeches how welcoming Peter and I had each been made to each others families and it was so true and a nice time to reassure each family. Our evening celebration nonstop dancing with friends was fabulous and a bit of foot stomping to Mumford was just perfect captured brilliantly by Tarah.

Escaping into our luxury car and babbling to each other about the last 48 hours and all the amazing things that had happened… There are so many moments but these are just a few

The pub is a great place to plan, especially if you are finding it hard to agree on something that might end up as a debate at home. Be honest with every supplier and say something instantly when you know you don’t want something or like something. Try and make as many decisions you can together you will be able to share in the pride together later.

The day will be perfect whatever happens because it will be your day! Leading up to the day I kept telling myself not everything will go to plan and it didn’t but no one knew a thing and I didn’t worry about it because by time everyone was enjoying the day it really didn’t matter. My best advice is take in a few moments maybe as you sip your drink and look around, take in what you can see because we have the most beautiful memory

of a full Nonsuch Mansion filled with our friends and families having such fun and feeling so much love in the room, it sounds corny but it is the best feeling ever that Peter and I made that happen out of our love for each other.

more

16 Biggest Wedding Money Wasters 7 Delightful Reasons to Have a Destination Wedding 10 Must-Have Wedding Photos See More See More See More Learn more

Chic & Stylish Wedding With A Hint Of The 1920s

The Proposal…

The Proposal…

The Proposal…

After a mammoth of well wishes a party enthused including fireworks from the small roof of the 1 bed flat in East Dulwich, London just because Peter knows I love them. It goes without saying that for me it was the perfect way to agree to be Peter’s finance.

The Proposal…

The Vision for the Day…

in that Peter was like an excitable child saying ‘I want it’ and I had tingles in my toes but trying to play it cool so not to blow our budget. The overall vision for Nonsuch was that we wanted to make it feel like our house for the day, and welcome our guests in to share its beauty.

The Vision for the Day…

The Planning Process…

tablet and notepads in hand we would enjoy some good grub and a few beers and not to anyone’s surprise the decisions were far easier to make. It also avoids any heated debates.

The Planning Process…

The Venue…

The Venue…

The Dress + Accessories…

The Dress + Accessories…

Finding the Dress…

Finding the Dress…

Finding the Dress…

Groom’s Attire…

The Readings + Music…

The Readings + Music…

The Readings + Music…

The Readings + Music…

The Readings + Music…

Our first dance was to Sweet Disposition and Peter had a big thing about not looking like lemons so we quietly took a few little dance classes; we got away with it we think!

The Readings + Music…

Beautiful Bridesmaids…

my only requirement was to make sure I liked the colour. The dresses were JLM and shimmering bullet metal grey which was perfect for the frosted metallic that I was trying to incorporate into the day.

Beautiful Bridesmaids…

The Flowers…

The Flowers…

The Flowers…

The Cake…

Your Photographer…

She has captured some of the best moments that we can cherish and we are still really enjoying working with her to get our album together.

Your Photographer…

The Details + Decor…

The Details + Decor…

The Details + Decor…

We couldn’t decide what to do, we wanted to get away but knew after all the exhaustion of the wedding a long-haul break was not for us so we took a simple week to the canaries in a 5* hotel and pampered ourselves and now in 2014 we have lots of mini trips booked all over Europe and beyond.

The Honeymoon…

Memorable Moments…

Memorable Moments…

Memorable Moments…

Escaping into our luxury car and babbling to each other about the last 48 hours and all the amazing things that had happened… There are so many moments but these are just a few

Memorable Moments…

Advice for Other Couples…

Advice for Other Couples…

of a full Nonsuch Mansion filled with our friends and families having such fun and feeling so much love in the room, it sounds corny but it is the best feeling ever that Peter and I made that happen out of our love for each other.

Advice for Other Couples…

more

Read