Happy Friday folks! Ah… how on earth is it the end of the week already?! We’ve had the most amazing week of wedding inspiration on the blog, and I have so much planned to share with you over the weekend and next week too! But first – I like to share something really beautiful every Friday: as work is winding down we can all afford a little longer for lunch, right? So today we’re sharing Alexandra and Hugo’s marquee wedding with tons of handmade touches (beautiful bride Alexandra bought and arranged ALL the flowers, as well as making the stationery!) and gorgeous styling.

“I arranged the bouquets, head garlands, button holes and marquee flowers along with friends and family helping with the church and flower arch. My bouquet was peonies – my absolute favourite with some eucalyptus. The bridesmaids had bouquets made up of lizzianthus and gypsophillia and the marquee flowers were roses and gypsophillia with the flower arch being a mix of all flowers used. When hiring a marquee you then have to do all decoration yourself so the days before the wedding no waking minute was wasted turning it into our dream venue! Plenty of flowers and bunting was used to achieve this. We had a traditional marquee with poles which we wrapped ivy around.

I loved making elements of our wedding it gave it such a personal feel. As well as painting the map Hugo also painted an “order of the day” board. We made sloe gin as our favours using sloes from around the estate. I also got friends and family to save jam jars and then decorated them with lace and ribbon, these became our centrepieces. We also had the bar made for us by one of Hugo’s colleagues which looked incredible and the flower arch which is now in our garden as a reminder of our day. In the evening we had three Polaroid cameras for guests to take photos! We have some amazing shots.

Wedding photographer’s website:

www.romylawrencephotography.com

I put a message on a recommendations site asking for recommendations for photographers who had a soft focus and dreamy style. When I looked at Gemma’s website I knew straight away that was what I wanted for our big day.

Gemma was absolutely perfect! Not only are the photos stunning but she really put so much energy and effort into our wedding and understanding what we wanted. She planned to do an enegagement shoot with us a few months before hand and came to our church rehearsal also. On the day she was so calming whilst I was getting ready and helped with any little bits she could. The images she captured of guests unknowingly are fantastic, one of my favourites is our three nieces holding hands in a circle – it’s just stunning. The end results speak for themselves. We couldn’t be happier.

We got the photos on the last day of our honeymoon which was the perfect end to the holiday. We looked through them all over lunch which made us so emotional! All the feelings of the day came back and it was so special to look back and remember those precious memories.

www.romylawrencephotography.com

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Gemma’s 2nd shooter at Alexandra and Hugo’s wedding was Alexandra Cavaye

Wedding venue:

We got married in St Peter’s Church in Over Wallop, Hampshire and we then had a marquee back at the country estate where Hugo grew up and we now live in Stockbridge, owned by Hugo’s godfather. We are so incredibly fortunate we were able to get married in such a stunning setting which is also so sentimental.

Wedding month:

May

Can you describe your wedding in fewer than 10 words?

A fairytale come true.

Your wedding style or theme:

Classic country wedding meets a midsummer nights dream

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

We mainly went on reccomendations and also got our videographer from a wedding fair we attended down the road from us at Lainston House so would definitely reccommend couples to visit a few.

What’s your top tip for saving money?

I bought a lot of flowers from a wholesaler and did all the flower crowns, bouquets and marquee flowers myself in the days before the wedding and family and friends helped out with church flowers etc – it’s a big saving on a florist and you have complete artistic reign.

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

Most definitely the food! We were told about our caterers, Mcrimmon and Reid by a few people and we really wanted to have a traditional three course wedding breakfast which doesn’t come cheap. They were fantastic and the food was just incredible! It was worth every penny.

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

My husband Hugo is an amazing artist and painted an illustrated map to go in our invites, this gave them a personal touch. We got the invites made up at papier. We also made the seating plan and got our place names from hobby craft- such an amazing place for DIY bits!

Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?

Of course!

Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:

Pronovias and I bought it from brides of Southampton.

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

On the morning of the wedding I opened a present from Hugo which was a Tiffany’s pearl necklace and bracelet, the bracelet had my new initials engraved which was a lovely detail. I wore these along with some drop pearl earrings with blue beading and a gold diamond ring of my granny’s she had gotten for her 21st birthday. I also wore a stunning Justin Alexander moonstone and pearl belt.

And what did the groom wear?

A navy ted baker three piece suit with gold lining that had a bumble bee motif.

Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?

They wore pale pink multi way dresses so they could customise them to suit there own style along with gypsophillia flower crowns.

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

I had a professional, Yasemin Bilgic – she gave me princess hair of dreams!

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

We had a three tier naked cake with pink roses made from icing and raspberries and blueberries scattered on top. The bottom tier was vanilla sponge, the middle honey and orange which was incredible! And the top lemon drizzle made by ditsys cakes.

Entertainment: any musical recommendations, surprises or treats?

For our champagne and canapé reception we had steel drums by the incredible steelosophical. It was just perfect the sun was shining and you felt like you were in the Caribbean. They played a range of hits from bob Marley to daft punk to under the sea from the little mermaid! It set the scene perfectly.

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

Weddings are an exciting time for all and friends and family love to be involved which is great but stick to your guns and don’t be swayed on what you have your heart set on. It’s your day so make sure all elements are what you truly want and you will have the best day of your lives!

What’s the best thing about being married?

Feeling relaxed in finally being united as one! And of course the amazing party you get to have with all your nearest and dearest.

Favourite supplier web links for other brides and grooms:

Steelband.co.uk
Www.mccrimmonandreid.com
Www.romylawrencephotography.com
Yasemin bilgic makeup artistry on Facebook
Www.ditsyscakes.uk
Www.moosmovies.co.uk