Nathalie is a designer at
Orla Kiely and is very influenced by what they do there (as you would be – who doesn’t love a bit of Orla?)
Nathalie decided not to have a particular colour scheme as such but more a combination of all of her favourite things – pastels, pink, gold, glitter, bows, ribbon, fresh flowers, candles and cut glass “all rolled into one”. I know – the
perfectcombination if you ask me.
Everything on the fashion front is show-stoppingly stunning, from the
Miu Miu shoes to the bespoke suit to the self-designed gown complete with pockets and made with the same lace used on the the Duchess of Cambridge’s famous frock.
And the earrings?! 1960′s French glass – Possibly the most beautiful jewellery I have ever seen.
And the “something borrowed”?! a giant gold glitter ball. I die.
Nathalie’s write up is very detailed but well worth a read, I for one want to go out and purchase every single beauty product she recommends.
Meant To Be
We actually found our venue when we first started dating 8 years ago. Whilst driving around Hampton Court one day we found ourselves down a small pebbly lane leading towards a beautiful old house. It had bunnies hopping around outside and we had no idea what it was, but it felt like a secret.
Simon proposed on our 7 year anniversary in Las Vegas. When we got home we were beyond excited about planning our wedding. We had both grown up in the same area, and it felt right to have our wedding locally.
We were having a look at venues close by, but none of them were perfect. Some were too stark and conferency and some too refined, they were just not us. Then a friend suggested
Hampton Court House.
We arranged a visit and couldn’t believe it when we were driving down that same pebbly lane to the secret house. It felt like it was meant to be.
We were shown around the house by the lovely Sarah and Dee, and the venue couldn’t have been more perfect for us. It is an 18c building which is grand but so welcoming, and it is slightly rough around the edges and not too polished which makes it so charming and homely. It felt like stepping in to an elderly lovable great uncle’s front room. I started crying halfway round, and when I showed my dad the doors we would walk in through, he welled up too. We knew it was the one for us.
It has a heart shaped lake and backs onto Bushy Park. There are three rooms to use over the day – each beautiful and different so it feels like you are taking a journey through a wonderful well loved house.
The venue was also so reasonable for our budget and they were unbelievably flexible with everything. We could choose a caterer and we could supply our own alcohol with no corkage fee, and any decoration was possible. With not too many pennies to spare, this helped us massively.
Know What You Want
I knew from the very beginning what I wanted my dress to be like, and I also knew that it would be impossible to find it in a shop as I had already imagined it in my head. So I knew the only way to go would be to design it myself and have it made. Luckily working in fashion, I have amazing people around me that could make this a reality.
I wanted it to be a little bit different, quite girly, slightly retro but still quite classic, long with a nipped in waist. I also knew that I wanted it to be pure white and use lace as it is so romantic and beautiful.
After lots of sketches, discussions, fittings, and material choices, the pattern cutter and seamstress at work made me the dress of my dreams. I chose to use a lovely white ottoman silk from Laurent Garigue for the main body of the dress with a lace overlay on the top from Berwick Street. The lace so happened to be the same as used on the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress, which my Granny was very thrilled about!
I went for a fitted bodice with a slight sweetheart neckline and a low cut out back. The skirt was gathered and quite straight to the floor. I wanted it to look a bit like a sixties prom dress, with not too much poof, but also very elegant. The lace overlay on the top had a scalloped bottom edge, a boat neck and capped sleeves. It opened up at the back, and was finished off with a big bow at the waist. The dress also had pockets, which is absolutely essential! I love a dress with pockets, it feels more relaxed and I had somewhere to keep my lipstick!
I also had a very clever removable train, so that the dress looked quite grand when I walked in but would be easy to move around in later on.
I was so thrilled with it. It was everything that I’d hoped and imagined and it made me feel incredible on the day. Simon also loved it, which was so important.
It was quite daunting making my own dress, as I had never designed a wedding dress before, and its quite a difficult challenge as every option is available! You really can throw the entire kitchen sink at it if you are not careful! But after a few last minute wobbles and alterations it was the most perfect dress for me and I wouldn’t have done it any other way.
Prince Of Wales Check
Simon knew that he didn’t want to hire a suit. But wanted one that he could keep forever, and wear again and again. He doesn’t get on well with suits off the peg, so decided to get a bespoke one made. We stumbled across the wonderful
Cad and the Dandy, who do made to measure suits on Savile Row for very reasonable prices. He chose a pale grey Prince of Wales check, three-piece light wool suit with a navy lining, that was fully hand stitched.
He also got a made to measure white shirt with a penny collar from the same company, which fitted with the style of my dress nicely. The outfit was topped off with tan suede
Church’s brogues. I also made him and the groomsmen liberty print bow ties and navy polka dot silk pocket squares.
He looked so dashing, and felt amazing. It was incredible to see him at the end of the aisle looking as suave and gorgeous as he did.
Influential
I work as a designer for
Orla Kiely, and I’m very influenced by everything we do there. I really love fashion and wanted my style to come across on my wedding day. I wanted to look very me, and not too traditionally bridal.
For my hair, I wanted a sort of sixties feel without it being too perfect. I wanted it up to show off the back of my dress, but for it to look quite cool but timeless. For our AW13 presentation at London Fashion Week the models had amazing hair – sort of Bridget Bardot/Françoise Hardy. It was kind of a dishevelled Chelsea bun with a bit of a beehive. I decided that it wouldn’t be complete without a big bow! I made the bow out of the same material as my dress to fix on top of the bun. The amazing Lucy at
Elements in Teddington managed to create this perfectly for me. The team there were fabulous, and also did my mum’s and bridesmaid’s hair.
I wanted to do my make up myself. I felt much more comfortable and didn’t want to look like a clown or get frustrated with someone else doing it wrong. I thought it would be much nicer to buy the products and get to keep them rather than pay to have it done. It also kept the costs down.
I had a lesson at
Bobbi Brown, which was really helpful, and then I bought a selection of their products as well as bits from
Mac and
Laura Mercier who do the most perfect foundations and a gorgeous lipstick colour called Pink Label.
I always do a cat’s eye flick when I’m going out and I always feel the most confident with that kind of eye. It also matched the hair in being quite sixties. I went for a flawless base, with defined eyes and pink cheeks and lips. I wanted to look really glowing and a bit glamorous.
I felt strangely calm doing my make up with my Maid of Honour Louise in the morning, and it was so lovely to have an hour with just the two of us.
Graduated Glitter
For my nails I knew I wanted glitter to match my shoes! I had practiced with a few ideas but eventually chose to have graduating gold glitter tips on a pale pink base. I used
Essie and
Barry M as they do the best colours. I painted on pale pink first, then layers of glitter going up the nail until the tips were solid glitter. They made me smile all day!
The perfume I wore was really important to me as I think a smell can remind you of a moment forever. I really wanted to have a special scent for the day that would always be my wedding day smell. I had found a perfume I loved a while ago in Liberty’s called
‘Jasmin 17’ by Le Labo. It is the most wonderful smell, like rainfall in Thailand. I was hooked, and every time I went past the shop I had to go in and have a spray. Simon had so sweetly remembered and surprised me with a bottle to open on the morning of the wedding, it was so wonderful.
Double Miu Miu
As the wedding was in February it was going to be quite cold so I knew I needed some kind of jacket. I looked at a few furry options but they weren’t really me. There was a jacket from the
Orla Kiely SS13 collection from work that was perfect and I was lucky enough to be able to get it made up in my size in the same fabric as my dress. It was a fitted, short boxy jacket with a bow at the neck and it went beautifully with the dress.
I knew the shoes had to be incredible! A wedding dress is usually quite classic so I always think that the shoes have to be really fabulous and a bit crazy. After a bit of searching I found the most amazing gold glitter pair from
Miu Miu. They were high, but not too high with a strap to keep them on for dancing, and dripping in glitter. They were really wow shoes, and so perfect. It took a while to track them down in my size, but it was worth it!
I also decided that I needed to have a flat pair for the evening, and sitting next to the perfect heels were a pair of pale pink patent ballerina pumps with a glitter toe and massive bow also from
Miu Miu. They had diamonds around the heel… I had no choice! I loved sparkling through the day. I have worn both pairs since and although expensive, they were worth every penny.
French Glass
I love jewellery and wanted something special for the day. I knew I was having my hair up, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get some really fabulous earrings. I searched for ages to find the perfect pair. I wanted them to be pale pink and quite bold and look like they were from a Hollywood movie. I finally found them on Etsy (www.etsy.com) from the wonderful ‘
Not Just Jewels By Jess’. They were gorgeous, 1960’s French glass, in pale pink and clear stones. They really topped off the whole look. I felt so glamorous in them!
I also wore a ring and bracelet given to me by Simon, a ring given to my mum on her 21st birthday by her mother in law and my mum’s engagement ring as my something borrowed. For my something old I had my teddy which I was given on the day I was born from my Dad which I had hidden in the pocket of my dress. It was so lovely having him with me. My other something old was my wedding ring, which was Simon’s great aunt’s. My shoes were my something new, and my knickers had a blue bow on them!
My mum very kindly made my veil for me. It was rather last minute, as I hadn’t really decided what I wanted! I bought some fine silk tulle and dyed it a very pale pink and my mum then fixed it onto a comb. I initially wanted it full length, but dying it shrank the fabric, so it ended up quite a lot shorter! I just rolled with it and it looked great on the day. It was just bridal enough without it taking away from the back of the dress.
My Favourite Part
We knew that we wanted the whole day to feel really, really personal and be relaxed, fun and special for our guests. To have every element reflective of us and our families. This started with the ceremony.
As it was so cold, we wanted the room to be cosy, filled with candles and roaring fires.
When I first met him, Simon was a touring rock star! Music has always been a big part of our relationship and is very important to him. We asked The
Tiffinians, a vocal group from Simon’s old school choir to perform from the gallery during our ceremony. It was so special to walk into the room to their rendition of ‘Higher Love’ by James Vincent McMorrow. This, along with my Dad’s proud face brought everyone to tears and it was the most wonderful, special and life affirming moment. They sang ‘Darlin’ by the Beach Boys during the ceremony, and we walked out to a blinding rendition of ‘Happy Together’ by the Turtles.
The ceremony was our favourite part of the day. Walking down the aisle towards my incredible, gorgeous, big hearted husband with my Dad by my side and everyone that I love in one room was a moment I will never forget. It felt like I was walking on air, and that everything was lit up and radiant. It was just magic.
We didn’t let go of each other throughout the whole ceremony. I couldn’t stop looking at Simon and our guests and grinning wildly! There was so much love it the room. It was palpable. When we read the vows we had written together, neither of us could hold it in! It was so personal, perfect, surreal and romantic and at that moment, it felt like we were the only people there. Becoming husband and wife really was the best thing in the world.
We had two readings read by my aunt and uncle, who are also my godparents. The first was ‘Lover of the Light’ by Mumford Sons, which is a favourite of Simon’s with very poignant lyrics. The second was an extract from the ‘Velveteen Rabbit’, which reminded me of my beloved teddy, and is about how you only become ‘real’ when you have been loved until all your fur has rubbed off and you are a bit wonky!
All White
I had a Maid of Honour, Louise, who is my oldest bestest friend and three flower girls – Simon’s two nieces Sophie and Lamorna and my good friend Charlotte’s daughter Annabelle. I wanted them to all be in white as I think its such a pure and simple look, and it looks really beautiful, ethereal and uncomplicated in photographs.
Louise wore a white organza dress from the
Orla Kiely SS13 collection. I wanted her to look and feel fabulous, so I let her choose the dress. My only requirement was that she felt the best in it that she ever had. I had a jacket made up for her too like mine, but in a pale pink ottoman silk, so we sort of matched. She found pale pink patent shoes with a gold glitter heel from Topshop (www.topshop.com). I also gave her a gold leather bow clutch from Orla Kiely (www.orlakiely.com) to wear on the day. I thought she looked so beautiful.
The little ones wore white cotton lace dresses with a bow at the neck and back, and pale pink cashmere cardigans from
Hucklebones. They had white tights and gold leather ballet shoes. I wanted them to be warm and feel comfortable and be able to run around. They looked so sweet.
I gave all my bridesmaids little silver pendants with their initials engraved on them as a gift on the day. They were made by my colleague’s mum and were so beautiful. She also very kindly made Simon’s wedding ring. It made it so much more personal.
We were keen to have a more eclectic and personal look than hired formal suits for the boys. Simon had three best men (he couldn’t decide on only one!) – his best friends Dan and Paddy and his brother Sean, and two ushers – my brother Matt and Simon’s nephew Zak. They all wore navy suits of their own choosing with white shirts and tan shoes. We thought this was really classic and smart and complemented Simon’s suit. I made them and our dads bow ties out of different Liberty print fabric, and navy polka dot silk pocket squares to give them a bit of jazz. They all looked so handsome and all matched without looking too samey.
Something Borrowed
I had no particular theme or colour scheme, but rather it was a coming together of everything that I love. Pastels, pink, gold, glitter, bows, ribbon, fresh flowers, candles and cut glass all rolled into one. I just started gathering bits and pieces of inspiration and I quickly realised that I had created a theme and colour scheme without even knowing.
There were a lot of gold and a lot of glitter and lots of pale pastel colours. I wanted it to look glamorous and a bit vintage without it being too twee or retro. I just picked everything that I instinctively liked, and luckily it all came together.
I wanted flowers and candles everywhere and spent months scouring car boot sales and charity shops for cut glass vases, bowls and brass candle sticks. I also commandeered all of my friends and family to collect jam jars to use as tea light holders… We had boxes of them in the end!
We had jars of flowers and candles going up the steps to the house and all along the aisle. Large church candles also lined the tops of the fireplaces in the ceremony room. On the tables we grouped together different height vases of flowers, jars of tea lights and candlesticks to make the centre pieces. I also had the odd ceramic swan filled with flowers dotted around the tables. We had a lot of ivy adorning bits and pieces around the venue. All of this was arranged on the morning of the wedding by our group of amazing friends.
In the conservatory we rigged up the biggest gold glitter ball you have ever seen. I borrowed it from work and it looked spectacular above the dance floor. It was a real focal point and made the whole room sparkle.
Sweet Treats
An old family friend happened to be one of the caterers recommended by our venue, which was a bit of a result. Carol from
Parties to Go was so helpful and it was so nice to work with someone we knew.
We realised quite quickly that it was a lot cheaper to have a served sit down meal than a buffet, which was really surprising. We wanted something warming, British and slightly nostalgic that would suit most people’s tastes. We chose potted shrimp or ham hock terrine to start followed by either lamb hotpot or fish pie. It was absolutely delicious. Then we had a dessert buffet table that was a mixture of cakes baked for us by family and friends, desserts our caterer provided and our wedding cake. We had a table laden with profiteroles covered in gold glitter, Eton mess in tea cups, brownies, coconut cake, rose cup cakes, peppermint creams, chocolate lollipops and Cornish scones. This was wonderful and informal so our guests could keep grazing throughout the night.
We designed our wedding cake and the ever so helpful and accommodating Chaya at
Yummy in your Tummy cakes made it a reality. We chose a double layer Victoria sponge cake with a rhubarb curd and white chocolate cream filling covered in pink ombre ruffle butter cream icing. We chose rhubarb as it was in season and was a little bit unusual. It was spectacular and tasted superb. We topped it with two gold rabbits we found on
ebay.
For our favours we liked the nostagia and traditional sentiment of sugared almonds. I also liked the pastel colours! We liked what they stood for and packaged them in little glassine envelopes with the meanings stamped on the front.
Fresh Florals
I really love fresh flowers and we both decided that they were an important part of the day. As the wedding was in winter, they would bring some colour and life into the rooms.
Flowers are really expensive so to keep costs down we decided to do all the decorative flowers ourselves. My lovely mum and I went to the
New Covent Garden Flower Market in the very early hours two days before the wedding. We packed the car with as many gorgeous flowers as we could afford. It is an incredible place, with such helpful traders and you really get a good bargain. We picked up bunches of different roses – hydrangeas, ranunculus, hyacinths, gypsophila, paperwhites, freesias and wax flower. We also picked foliage from my parent’s garden.
They day before the wedding, with the help of our wonderful families and a particularly green fingered friend, Lucy, we arranged them all into our various collected vases of all shapes and sizes to go around the venue and on the tables. They all came together beautifully and made everything look and smell amazing! Lucy also made us a gorgeous ivy wreath for the front door.
I wasn’t brave enough to make the bouquets myself. Luckily we found the incredible
Scarlet and Violet. Vic and her talented team listened to all my ideas, looked at all the colours and put together the most stunning bouquets for my maid of honour and I. I wanted them to be quite free and not too rounded or compact. They included sweet avalanche, quick sand, O’Hara, majolica and my favourite peachy pink Juliette roses. Along with white hydrangea, ranunculus, dill and astrantia. The bouquets were tied in ribbon with a big bow. They were bunches of pure pastel gorgeousness, they looked like a delicious dessert!
Cocktail Hour
During the cocktail reception after the ceremony, The Tiffinians performed a set of fabulous songs to keep our guests entertained whilst sipping on their drinks. We decided to serve champagne in beautiful coupe glasses, which gave everyone a glamorous air, along with cocktails we had designed. We named them after our cats! The Little Bear cocktail – rose syrup, prosecco and a brown sugar lump, and the Monkey cocktail – whiskey, lemon and ginger ale. This was served with popcorn in old fashioned cinema boxes and cheese straws. They went down an absolute storm!
Then, unbeknownst to me Simon suddenly joined the choir and serenaded me as a surprise! He sang ‘Darlin’ again by the Beach Boys, one of our favourite tunes. He had been working on it with them for weeks. It melted my heart, and everyone else’s. It was so touching.
The music and entertainment was very important to us, especially as Simon’s family and our friends are very musical.
Thanks to all of this musical talent, we were lucky enough to organise a live set performed by a few of our wonderful friends and family, with each choosing 3 or 4 songs to play. We had Simon’s sister in law Morwenna open, followed by his dad Max, his brother in law Simon, our friend Kate and Simon’s best man Paddy. This was followed by a half hour set from the amazing acoustic covers duo,
The Holt Brothers, made up of his best man Dan and Dan’s brother Sam. It was incredibly personal and really special to us both.
The Holt Brothers also learnt and performed our first dance with Paddy. It was so special to have it live. We picked ‘The Girl’ by City and Colour. This is the song we danced to like loved up loonies around our Las Vegas hotel room on the night of our engagement! So its very poignant and the lyrics are so touching with out being too cheesy. We also had a lyric from this song ‘yours to keep’ engraved on the inside of our rings.
Go With Your Gut
The most special moment for me was walking down the aisle. It is your very last moment as a single lady. Please please go slowly, look around, smile at everyone you can, take it all in and breathe. It is a moment to really cherish. Simon agreed that watching me walk towards him was the best part of his day and only wishes the aisle was much longer!
Try to be as focused as possible. There is so much ‘wedding noise’ around you from so many sources that it is so easy to get caught up in it all and totally lose yourself, what you both really want and what is really important. There are so many things that you are told that you ‘need’, when all you really require is the two of you, your hearts, and everyone you love.
We had quite a short engagement. 9 months, and although saving and budget can be more of an issue it really was a blessing as decisions have to be made quickly and you can’t just faff about ooohing and ahhhing over everything. You have to be very clear and decisive right away. It makes things a lot easier and your gut decision is almost always right.
Choose
bridesmaid dresses uk, and pick your time of year and your venue wisely if you have a tight budget. We saved an absolute fortune by getting married on a Friday in February, and that our venue had a BYO no corkage policy on alcohol. Winter weddings, although lacking in light, can be just as beautiful (I’m biased here) and a little more magical. It started snowing as we said our vows.
Really enjoy the planning process and try your very best not to get stressed out by it. If possible, try to delegate to your wonderful friends and family. I was rubbish at doing this, and I could have definitely asked for more help than I did, but my perfectionism got in the way. Everyone loves to be included, and it makes everything more special and personal.
Lastly choose your photographer well. As everyone says, when the guests have all gone home and the cake has all been scoffed, it is your photos that serve as tangible memories of your day. Ours make us weepy every time we look at them. Shella from
Shell de Mar really captured all the emotion, colours and light so perfectly and made everyone so comfortable on the day. We really couldn’t have asked for more.
Venue –
Hampton Court House
Grooms Suit –
Cad And The Dandy
Brides Hair –
Elements Teddington
Brides Shoes –
Miu Miu
Brides Jacket –
Orla Kiely
Brides Earrings –
Not Just Jewels
Choir –
The Tiffinians
Maid Of Honour Dress –
Orla Kiely
Flower Girl Dresses –
Hucklebones.
Catering –
Parties to Go
Cake –
Yummy In Your Tummy
Bouquets –
Scarlet And Violet
Acoustic Due -
The Holt Brothers
Photography –
Shell De Mar
