Coombe Lodge in Blagdon is one of the loveliest wedding venues in Somerset – as impressive as any stately home on the outside, and beautiful on the inside too! Gemma and Will chose this perfect spot for their romantic summer wedding, and our lovely sponsor Sandy from Love In Focus to capture their day. Gemma is absolutely stunning and I know you’ll love all the magical moments from this classic English wedding.

Our venue was very classic and grand, which did not need much decorating at all, it was beautiful as it was with wall lined oak panelling and chandeliers. However finishing touches along with the flowers made it even more special. The main reception room was more of a blank canvas where we could make it more personal, along with grande chandeliers and an amazing views across Chew Valley.

I am not usually very crafty in general, however I did glitter around 10 jars, completely covered in gold glitter finished with ribbon, which I then gave the florist to fill with flowers, these really looked amazing especially when they caught the light and I was very proud of them! I did enjoy making them, I felt it gave more of a personal touch. We also had help from family to make our table plan and menu frames for the tables, these both also involved lots of glitter!!

I made a flip flop basket for the evening, for when guests’ heels were too painful, this went down very well for the evening and not one pair was left! I enjoyed making a few signs for around the venue, adding little personal touches just to make it more special. Will also made an A1 sized photo collage of pictures showing our 9 years together so far which was enjoyable to make.

Wedding photographer’s website:

http://www.love-in-focus.co.uk/

We were recommended our photographer through another photographer we had met at a Wedding Fayre in Frome, as this guy was fully booked on our wedding date he recommended Sandy at Love in Focus photography. We then went onto his website and fell in love with his photos along with the style. We then went on to meet with Sandy before we went ahead with the booking and saw more of his photos and we got along really well, so we were very excited for him to photograph our wedding day.

We were so pleased with our photographer, we absolutely love our photos they are amazing. Sandy is very talented and he knew exactly what he was doing and captuted perfect photos for us, whilst also remaining very relaxed so we hardly noticed he was there. He is so dedicated and passionate with his work and it really shows, we would highly reccommed him to others.

Sandy sent us an email to say that he had posted our wedding photos to us, which were on a USB, so we were so excited for the postman to come! In the mean time Sandy sent us a link with a few of his favourite photos on for us to see until they arrived, we were just wowed by these photos and could not wait to see them all. When they arrived in the post we put the USB into the TV that evening and looked through all of the photos (nearly 600) and loved every single one, we can’t thank him enough.

Contact & bookings: Love In Focus (Bristol)

www.love-in-focus.co.uk/
Facebook.com/LIFphotos
English-Wedding.com/tag/Love-in-Focus

Wedding venue:

Coombe Lodge, Blagdon

Wedding month:

July

Can you describe your wedding in fewer than 10 words?

Incredible, filled with so much love from family and friends

Your wedding style or theme:

Glamorous, gold and gold glitter

Where did you find your suppliers? (Blogs, magazines, recommendations?)

We found our suppliers mainly through reccomendations and local wedding fayres

What’s your top tip for saving money?

Make an initial budget and try to include everything as all the little things and finishing touches add up, especially closer to the wedding. We saved money on our bridesmaid dresses by getting them from a high street shop rather than a bridal shop, and having 5 bridesmaids this added up!

… and which elements of your wedding are you glad you spent more on?

We were so glad we spent more on our florist, we knew flowers were expensive but also knew how they really can make the venue and complete the room. We were amazed when we arrived at the venue and saw our flowers they were amazing! Especially the floral arch we had built onto the outside arch at Coombe lodge, it was stunning and a great place to have photos under.
Also, photographer and videographer we were glad we spent more on. The wedding day goes so quickly it really feels like a blur, and so when the day is over, you know you have the excitement of seeing the photos and video of the whole day which you can keep forever.

Where did you buy or source your wedding stationery – or was making it a labour of love?

We made most of our stationery ourselves, including the save the dates, table plan and menu cards for the tables. The only thing we didn’t make was the invitations, we used a local stationers in Frome called PostScript to make our invitations after meeting with Natasha at a local Wedding Fayre and she did such an amazing job.

Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?

Yes! Although I am terrible at making decisions so I did try it on in a couple of a shops before committing, I went to 7 shops in total but I always came back to that one dress. I think it was good to try on many styles and still I knew that was the one!

Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:

My wedding dress was Mori Lee, which I purchased from Brides of Southampton. They were so lovely in this shop and really did everything they could to ensure my dress was perfect.

Tell us about your accessories: jewellery, shoes and anything else!

My shoes were Rainbow Club and I am so glad I went with these as they were so comfy I was able to keep them on all night and dance the night away! The heel was the perfect height.
My earrings I absolutely loved as I love sparkle, these were 3 tear drop earrings from Ivory & Co at John Lewis.
I was lucky enough to receive a wedding gift on the morning of the wedding from my husband, this was a diamond bracelet which I was able to wear on the day as it matched with my dress and earrings perfectly.

And what did the groom wear?

He wore a 3 piece navy suit which we hired from a local bridal shop in Frome, called Frome Bride and Belles. These suits were Cameron Ross suit hire. The groomsmen all wore the same, apart from Will had an Ivory tie to match with me.

Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?

My beautiful bridesmaids looked stunning in maxi length dresses from ASOS, made by TFNC.

Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?

Myself and the bridesmaids all had our hair done at Melanie Giles salon in Frome, and we all absolutely loved our hair, and it lasted all day. The bridesmaids had their make up done by a friend and make up artist, Charlotte Kinsler. And my make up was also done by a professional make up artist Nina Norman who did such an amazing job.

Describe your wedding flowers. Who arranged them for you? (florist details would be lovely please)

Our florist was called Fiesta Flowers who are based in Bristol. We had seen some of their previous work at Coombe lodge as they are on the reccomended supplier list for the venue, it really makes a difference when the florist knows the venue well.
For the table centre prices we had tall martini style vases filled with flowers which made the room, along with the top table lower display. We had an arch of flowers built onto the arch of the building which looked incredible, and also 2 free standing floral displays which went at the end of the aisle. We had flowers on the chair ends of every other row which also oooked beautiful. Myself and my bridesmaids all loved our bouquets which were mainly filled with roses, Ivory and light pink, and gypsophila.

The wedding cake: what kind of cake did you choose and why?

We had a 3 tier wedding cake, chocolate bottom tier, lemon middle and then a Victoria sponge top. Our wedding cake was made by Wills Auntie as she is a pastry chef, and she did an amazing job. The colours were Ivory, pale pink and gold glitter, finished off with fresh roses.
We chose this cake because we don’t like fruit cake and are definitely have more of a sweet tooth!

Entertainment: any musical recommendations, surprises or treats?

We had a harpist, Ruth Kenyon, who played the harp for when I walked down the aisle, and then carried on playing for the reception drinks and canapés, we would highly recommend her. Our DJ was also really good, called the Wedding Players.

Words of wisdom: share your best piece of advice for other couples:

We would say, just enjoy the planning and don’t rush into any decisions. Think about how you want your day to feel and look, then work around that as a theme. Try and get crafty where possible as this will save money and you’ll have fun! And just enjoy the wedding day as it really is the best day ever, And it goes way too quickly, make sure you stop and have a minute to take it all in.

What’s the best thing about being married?

Marrying your best friend, and getting to finally call Will my husband!!

Favourite supplier web links for other brides and grooms:

http://www.coombelodge.co.uk/coombe-lodge/
http://www.love-in-focus.co.uk/
https://www.heatherbaileyphotographyandfilm.co.uk/
http://www.fiestaflowers.co.uk/
http://www.bridesofsouthampton.co.uk/directions
http://www.ninanorman.co.uk/
http://www.melanie-giles.co.uk/