The perfect love-filled wedding is filling my screen with smiles and love today! James and Sophie’s day at St Giles House is beautiful, relaxed, filled with incredible florals and some really special personal touches. The happy couple completed an amazing interview for English Wedding, with fabulous supplier recommendations including their superb Dorset wedding photographer Nathan at Libra Photographic – a brilliant member of English Wedding who’s been with us for a few years, sharing some stunning Dorset and Wiltshire weddings on our platform. With a beautiful ivory A-line dress from Bridal Reloved in Dorchester, and a navy three piece suit from Moss, Sophie and James look fantastic, and I love how the atmosphere of their day – from ceremony to epic party – shines from their images.

Wedding photography

By Dorset wedding photographer Libra Photographic, capturing weddings in a documentary style since 1999 and with an impressive 600+ weddings to show for it! As James and Sophie are about to tell you, the photos are absolutely beautiful and Nathan’s approach and personality were perfect for this lovely couple.

Photographer’s website

Nathan Eames (Libra Photographic) https://libraphotographic.co.uk

Wedding photographer review

Nathan was absolutely fantastic from meeting him at a wedding fair, to being sent our wedding album. Knowing where to start when looking for a photographer was quite overwhelming, but after seeing Nathan’s style of documentary photography and having a good chat, we knew he was perfect for us. During our wedding day, Nathan blended right in and made us feel so at ease. As a couple who aren’t used to being in front of a camera, Nathan made the day feel so natural and fun, taking both portraits we requested, and candid shots we didn’t even notice were being taken. Nathan’s humour and chilled personality was also a plus, and he certainly made us and our guests laugh! Our photos were absolutely beautiful, beyond our expectation, and Nathan kept us up to date the whole editing process, offering us a few sneak peeks along the way. He utilised every part of our venue, and really captured the beauty of St Giles House throughout each time of the day.

Wedding Story

Best wedding moment or memory

One part of our venue that made us know it was the one, was the absolutely epic nightclub in the basement. We knew the venue had a a club from seeing it online, but in person it is really something special, and we knew we needed to make the most of it. This in mind, one of the best memories we had from our day was our transition from the classic and beautiful drawing rooms, to the epic night club. We had just finished giving out our ‘drinks on us’ scratch card favours, and our bridal party began ushering our guests down into the club. We both had personalised ‘Mr and Mrs’ sunglasses we put on, and had a few photos under the disco ball on the stairs, when we heard our song of choice start being played through the speakers (Chase the sun by Planet Funk). We danced into the club through all our guests up to the speakers, whilst everyone danced with us and cheered us along with their glow sticks. The clubs strobe lights were perfect and everyone was having such a good time dancing around us. It really made all the stress of planning worth it, as we realised we were now married and the night had only just began.

Tell us anything you did differently – any NEW traditions (or if you had none at all!)

Anyone who knows us will know we absolutely love coffee! We have every coffee gadget and machine you could imagine, and we’ve had so many coffee shop dates over the years. This being said, I decided as a wedding present to James (The Groom), I would book a surprise coffee van to provide drinks for the wedding party, and guests as they arrive, as this reflects us so well. Being so excited, I did tell James before the wedding day, but despite it not being a surprise it was fab and went down a treat. We booked The Coffee Guys, who were great, and even let us make our own first coffee as husband and wife together. Guests loved this too, and everyone got caffeinated up ready to dance all night.

Wedding suppliers

Videographer name + review

Twenty Twenty Videography (Chris Weston) Chris and his team were brilliant from start to finish. We explained our vision for our day, which was very relaxed and timeless, with our nightclub twist later in the day. We spoke about our documentary style photographer, and explained we are looking for a videographer with a similar style, and they absolutely delivered. On the day our videographer blended right in, and we barely noticed him there which was exactly what we wanted. Being in front of the camera felt very natural, and as he worked alongside our photographer, it kept everything very easy and time efficient. When we received our video we were over the moon! It captured every detail of our day, from getting ready to the final few songs at night. Watching our video really bought back the day, and so many small details were captured we didn’t even notice on the day. We’ve had endless compliments from our family and friends, and we can’t stop re watching our video!

Wedding venue name + review

St Giles House, Dorset

We cannot rate the St Giles Team and venue highly enough. From the very first enquiry, we were met with lovely staff who were excited to hear about all our wedding plans and ideas, to leaving after the big day was over. The team were so warm and friendly, inviting us back for multiple viewings with our family, and ensuring we felt no pressure. Looking around the gorgeous house and grounds, we immediately knew it was for us. We loved its exclusivity and privacy, as we had the whole house to ourselves not only on the day, but the day prior for set up, keeping our wedding feeling intimate. The grounds were stunning, with its on site accommodation, lake, acres of green space and gorgeous fountain, but equally beautiful photo opportunities inside incase of a rainy day. We were spoilt for choice with which room we’d like to tie the knot in, and we loved its unique library dining space. The bridal suite was spacious and open, with plenty of space for hair and make up artists alongside all of us getting ready. On the day we couldn’t have had more support from the staff, particularly Charlotte who ensured we had a drink and canapés during our photos. Every stage of the planning felt personal with St Giles, and they answered any concerns we had, no matter how small or silly, making planning so relaxing and fun. It is such a classy and timeless venue with some amazing history, but we loved its fun hidden nightclub in the basement. This really was a guest favourite, and it made our reception so much fun! We really couldn’t recommend this venue enough to any couple tying the knot.

Florist name + review

Poppies Florist, Kinson. I found trying to decide on flowers was very overwhelming, as I had no idea where to start, but Poppies made it seem so simple. I met with the Poppies ladies at a wedding fair where I saw some of their work, and it was simply beautiful.

After emailing, we met at their shop, where they showed me examples and helped me with ideas until I had exactly what I was looking for. We spoke about the venue and colour schemes, and they took this all into consideration when we spoke about what flowers would work. I also really appreciated the ways that we were able to re use some florals, saving waste, such as moving some florals from the ceremony room to the wedding breakfast room. The Poppies team answered all my questions and concerns in such a reassuring way, and were very accommodating when we made some changes nearer the wedding date. Our flowers looked really incredible on the day, and we got so many compliments from our family and friends. We would absolutely recommend Poppies and we couldn’t be more thankful for all their help.

Hair + makeup name + review

Simply Gorgeous – Sophie Gallagher

Sophie from Simply Gorgeous was definitely the right choice to do my hair and make up for my wedding. I chose to do a trial with her before the day, and she listened so carefully to what sort of vision I had, suggesting what she thought would work. I was so happy with the trial, and felt so comfortable around Sophie. On the day Sophie was so accommodating fitting everyone in, and helped create such a lovely calming getting ready space. When time was getting tight, Sophie even helped button up my dress and ensured my bridesmaids were comfortable in theirs whilst keeping everyone calm and positive- she really couldn’t have been more helpful! My hair and make up both looked absolutely beautiful and lasted all night long. She really took the time to ensure it was exactly how I wanted it, and worked with such precision. I would highly recommend Sophie to any bride.

Wedding cake maker name + review

Sarah Louise Cakes

We reached out to Sarah Louise after coming across her on another wedding planning website. We thought her cakes looked brilliant, and after visiting her website requested some tastings. She had such a huge range of flavours it was so difficult to choose, but the ones we tried were absolutely delicious. Our cake looked stunning, and Sarah was so helpful setting it up, arranging our flowers and cake topper exactly how we hoped. Our guests loved the flavours too, and commented how beautiful it looked. We’ve already discussed ordering another cake from her in the future!

Wedding catering

We would just like to mention our wonderful catering team, Victoria’s Food. She and her team created the most delicious and stunning dishes for us, and kept everything running so smoothly.

Our DJ

Also, we would like to praise our DJ James Herkes. He created the most amazing party in the St Giles House nightclub, and really utilised the space, we did not want it to end! He knew how to get everyone involved in the party despite their age, and did an amazing job of reading the room.

Stationery designer’s name + review

Our stationery maker was James’ close friend and groomsman Jordan Smith (Jordan.smith.creative on Instagram). Jordan is an incredibly talented graphic designer, and offered straight away to help us create our invites, signage and more. He bought our vision for our invitations, menus, and signage to life, being so simple and classy, but still reflecting our day perfectly. Despite being a good friend, he treated the process very professionally from start to finish, offering us plenty of good ideas and ensuring it all looked perfect in the venue.

Wedding wear

Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!

James – I wore a lovely navy blue three piece suit from Moss Bros, with a pair of tan lace up shoes to match. I wore an olive green tie, matching the bridesmaids dresses, and a pair of green cuff links from Sophie containing metal from a Concorde plane, which as a pilot, I thought was very cool! I accessorised with a watch, and wore Tom Ford aftershave.

Sophie – I wore a beautiful ivory A line gown, with mesh on the décolletage, going into a sweetheart neckline. The bodice included beading details which also contained some sparkles down to just below the waist. The sleeves were mesh so ‘invisible style’ and contained the same lace and beading as the bodice. The back of the dress also had a mesh effect, and buttons went all the way down the back to the tail bone. The bottom of the gown had a long train in a plain material which fluffed out to an Impressive size.

I wore a long length plain veil which matched the material in the skirt of the gown and floated behind me perfectly. I wore block heels covered in an ivory sequin pattern, which were tied around the ankle with ribbon. These also had the phrase, ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a six pence in her shoe’ embossed into the bottom, and an actual six pence in the sole. The silver necklace I wore James bought me our first Christmas together, and I paired this with a plain pearl bracelet, and a pair of pearl drop earrings, where the stud matched my necklace perfectly. I wore Gucci Gorgeous Jasmine as my wedding perfume. I had an off shoulder ivory sequin mini dress for the evening which was from Coast. I wore this with my white Converse, which had charms saying ‘Mrs D’ on them I bought from Charlotte Mills.

Dress or suit shop name + review

James suit and shoes were from Moss Bros. They were really helpful and took the time to ensure everything fit and matched perfectly. They even embroidered our wedding date onto the inside of his jacket pocket.

Sophie’s dress and veil were from Bridal Reloved in Dorchester. The ladies in here made the experience of buying a dress so relaxing and fun. They were really helpful and honest, and made some great suggestions. Sophie’s shoes were from Charlotte Mills online. Sophie’s evening dress was from Coast online, trainers were fro, Converse and trainer charms were from Charlotte Mills

Styling and personal touches

During the wedding planning process, I (Sophie) really enjoyed completing as many DIYs as I could. I created a number of items we used on the day, but my favourite was our wedding day newspapers. We used these as a fun take on traditional orders of the day. We included a wedding day timeline, details of our wedding party, special thanks to our parents for their help, a special section for our loved ones who weren’t at the wedding, some wedding planning facts, and even a fun quiz. These were super fun props for taking photos with in the bridal suite while getting ready, and we enjoyed watching our guests try and complete the quiz. We also liked that these could be a talking point amongst our guests, and that we could share the story of how we met.

Wedding ceremony and readings

We decided to keep our wedding ceremony short and sweet, whilst still being meaningful to us. Our beautiful bridesmaids entered the room first and waited at the end of the aisle for me, with James’ Best Men on his side. My (Sophie) dad walked me down the aisle, whilst our amazing pianist Simon Woodley played Slipping Through My Fingers by ABBA (My favourite band). The registrar said some lovely words thanking my dad, and then continued to tell guests a little about our story. We had been together exactly 7 years on the day we got married, so our registrar touched on that amongst many other memories we had together, like how we met at Reading music festival, and how we spent 6 months apart when James studied abroad. After we said our vows, promises and exchanged rings, we chose our mums to be our witnesses which they were pleased about. Simon Woodley played our chosen piano music whilst we completed our signing and took everything in realising we were now married. We walked back down the aisle to Everlasting Love on the piano, and even squeezed in a dip and kiss walking back down. We were so happy and can see in our photos sighs of relief and cheering once it was official. Our ceremony room was stunning, with a big fire place and paintings on the wall, only minimal decoration was needed, so we kept it simple with just some florals and candles at the end of the aisle. We had tissues on each chair in a pack that said ‘for your happy tears’ with our wedding date, and reserved the first two rows for family and the bridal party.

Wedding planner name + review

We did not use a wedding planner, we did everything ourselves with one giant spreadsheet. However, the team at St Giles House helped coordinate the day, and they were incredibly helpful in ensuring everything ran smoothly.