Glamorous Gold Gatsby Inspired Wedding

August 2012 – Mike planned a surprise trip to Paris, arranging it with the girls from work along with buying my engagement ring as I work in a jewellers. He said he won the tickets through work so I genuinely had no idea what was coming. It was a beautiful hot day and he proposed in one of the gardens near the Eiffel tower where it was just me and him. We then went to a really lovely restaurant and celebrated with lots of champagne.

Came quite late in the planning and really fell into place once I had chosen my dress 6 months before. We wanted a subtle ‘Gatsby’ theme without being over the top.

We spent a year planning the wedding, the first thing we did was book Chilston Park Hotel and things then followed from there. It was pretty easy making decisions because I knew what I wanted. Mike was quite a hands on groom and had a lot of involvement in choosing.

£25000 and we spent about £30000.

Chilston Park Hotel in Lenham which is a country house in Kent. It was the first venue we looked at and we reserved the date there and then. It is an amazing venue with lots of vintage features and that’s what I fell in love with. We loved the fact we could hire the whole hotel and our guests could stay.

Jenny Packham dress ‘Ruby’. Jenny Packham head dress, Jimmy Choo shoes ‘Dempsey’

A really long journey, trying on loads of different dresses. I started with a clear picture of what I wanted; a really fitted fishtail dress, but when I tried them on I just didn’t feel right in any of them. What I ended up choosing was nothing like what I had in my head to start with but the minute I put it on I loved it. Choosing the dress then went on to set the theme of the day and my overall look. My hairdresser (Vicki Lord) was amazing and suggested the perfect vintage ‘gatsby’ hairstyle to suit my dress which was the Marcel curl.

Without trying to give too much away to Mike about my dress, I really tried to steer him towards a suit that would tie in with the theme. We found this old fashioned suit makers in Essex (Jack Bunneys) and we both loved the suit Mike ended up with. The suit was made bespoke for him.

The reading was Carries Poem from Sex and the City. I walked down the aisle to ‘Turning Pages’ by Sleeping at Last which Mike chose as it is one of his favourite songs. We also had bagpipes after the ceremony playing outside to honour Mikes’ Scottish heritage.

My two best friends Syreeta and Laura, and then I had my nieces Molly, Evie, Ameli and Bo. I also had two page boys who’s suits kind of matched Mikes. The younger girls wore a dusky pink floral dress from Monsoon Kids. With Laura and Syreetas’ we went to the Ghost store in London to pick them out. I knew I wanted the Ghost dresses and they had free reign of what one they wanted to wear, as it turned out they picked the same one. They also wore head dresses from coast.

They had there hair in a very ‘Gatsby’ side bun. Our make up was done by Nicola Peen who was just brilliant and created the dramatic look I really wanted.

2 days before the wedding the florist called to say they could not get the gardenias I had originally wanted due to the supply of them being poor. They suggested white roses instead which still achieved the look I wanted.

I wanted a dusky pink cake with gold accent to fit in with the subtle colour theme. It was 5 tiers. I think it tasted nice it all went before I got any!

Our photography Kerry Ann Duffy was the second thing we booked after the venue. From the moment I saw her work I knew I couldn’t have anyone else photograph my wedding. She was one of the things I was most excited about during the lead up to the wedding as I knew the pictures would be amazing. I kept in touch with her through the planning of the wedding and she gave me some great ideas and recommendations. I would recommend her to anybody.

We wanted the colours to be warm and quite neutral. So we choose lace table cloths to cover the white table linen. We hired gold chavari chairs for the ceremony and breakfast and tall gold candlebras for our centre pieces. We also spent a year buying mercury gold votives for our top table, some had candles and the others cream flowers and were set at the front of the table.

We went to Montego Bay in Jamaica the day after. Mike chose the destination and hotel. It was pure luxury and so much fun.

I had surprised Mike with a Tag Heuer watch which he had wanted for a year. The watch really complimented his outfit and it was a total surprise when my Dad gave it to him just before the ceremony. In the morning my mum brought in my present from Mike which was a Chanel COCO gift set. I asked Mike to choose a perfume that he wanted me to wear for the day and the best bit was he had the bottle engraved with a really romantic message.

During the wedding breakfast we had a pianist – Danny Mills playing requests from the guests on a baby grand piano. One of our favourite bits was when he got Mike involved to sing Bohemian Rhapsody, it created such an amazing fun atmosphere and really got the party started.

Don’t stress too much about the finer details – by the time the wedding comes around you’ll be too happy to care if something isn’t exactly how you planned it.

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Glamorous Gold Gatsby Inspired Wedding

THE PROPOSAL

Came quite late in the planning and really fell into place once I had chosen my dress 6 months before. We wanted a subtle ‘Gatsby’ theme without being over the top.

THE VISION

We spent a year planning the wedding, the first thing we did was book Chilston Park Hotel and things then followed from there. It was pretty easy making decisions because I knew what I wanted. Mike was quite a hands on groom and had a lot of involvement in choosing.

THE PLANNING PROCESS

£25000 and we spent about £30000.

BUDGET

THE VENUE

Jenny Packham dress ‘Ruby’. Jenny Packham head dress, Jimmy Choo shoes ‘Dempsey’

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES

FINDING THE DRESS

Without trying to give too much away to Mike about my dress, I really tried to steer him towards a suit that would tie in with the theme. We found this old fashioned suit makers in Essex (Jack Bunneys) and we both loved the suit Mike ended up with. The suit was made bespoke for him.

GROOM’S ATTIRE

The reading was Carries Poem from Sex and the City. I walked down the aisle to ‘Turning Pages’ by Sleeping at Last which Mike chose as it is one of his favourite songs. We also had bagpipes after the ceremony playing outside to honour Mikes’ Scottish heritage.

THE READINGS & MUSIC

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS

They had there hair in a very ‘Gatsby’ side bun. Our make up was done by Nicola Peen who was just brilliant and created the dramatic look I really wanted.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS

2 days before the wedding the florist called to say they could not get the gardenias I had originally wanted due to the supply of them being poor. They suggested white roses instead which still achieved the look I wanted.

THE FLOWERS

I wanted a dusky pink cake with gold accent to fit in with the subtle colour theme. It was 5 tiers. I think it tasted nice it all went before I got any!

THE CAKE

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR

We went to Montego Bay in Jamaica the day after. Mike chose the destination and hotel. It was pure luxury and so much fun.

THE HONEYMOON

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

During the wedding breakfast we had a pianist – Danny Mills playing requests from the guests on a baby grand piano. One of our favourite bits was when he got Mike involved to sing Bohemian Rhapsody, it created such an amazing fun atmosphere and really got the party started.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

Don’t stress too much about the finer details – by the time the wedding comes around you’ll be too happy to care if something isn’t exactly how you planned it.

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