Melanie & Chad’s classic English country wedding at Maunsel House in Somerset, with Linus Moran Photography

Published by Claire Gould on

Hey everyone! I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend. We’ve had a brilliant couple of days visiting family and friends on the Cumbrian coast, and I’m ready for a week full of weddings, style ideas and glorious images to enjoy! We begin with gorgeous couple Melanie and Chad, who married at Maunsel House in the autumn. Lovely Somerset wedding photographer Linus Moran Photography sent this one in, and the super lovely couple have shared lots of fantastic tips and supplier recommendations with you too! Can you believe Melanie bought her flowers from a wholesaler and made her own bouquet?! Isn’t it beautiful?

Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (44)

The only decorations we wanted to do were in the pergola in the grounds of the house and even then we didn’t want to take away from the natural surroundings and the vines climbing the wooden pillars. So we just put together simple hanging glass baubles with dark green moss and led tea lights. Our place names and table names were all handmade, as well as all our flower arrangements and bouquets. My mum made a delicious Somerset apple chutney to go with our cheese tower cake, made using Bramley apples donated from her neighbour’s garden. Our flower girls’ crowns were made from bits and pieces from hobbycraft with help from my sister. We loved coming up with the ideas and designs and to have the personal touches all come together on the day made it that extra bit special.

Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (35)

 

Wedding photographer’s website:

https://www.linusmoranphotography.co.uk

How did you choose your photographer?

Linus’s style was exactly what we were looking for, natural, relaxed and documentary. From his previous work we could see he was also able to capture those precious little moments of the day and not just the usual main events which was important to us.
As an award winning photographer we knew we would be in good hands and on the day we would be able to totally switch off from worrying about whether or not the day was being captured the way we wanted it to be.

Were you pleased with your wedding photographer? Do tell… we love a brilliant review!

Absolutely! We could not be happier with Linus’s work, the full set of pictures feels more than just a generic wedding album it’s like an entire story book of the day which doesn’t only capture the main events or smaller details of the day but also captures the emotion felt through every part of it in the most natural way.
We are so happy and feel so lucky to have a set of photos which will enable us to relive the day so vividly for the rest of our lives, remembering how every moment really felt and not just what it looked like.

Tell us about the moment you saw your wedding photos for the first time?

We were in Swanage enjoying our last few days of down-time with family before jetting off on our five month honeymoon travels. The photos came through while we were having a night in with takeaway pizzas so we popped open a bottle of bubbles and spent the rest of the night reliving the day!

Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (39)

Contact & bookings: Maunsel House wedding photographer Linus Moran

www.linusmoranphotography.co.uk
Instagram.com/linusmoran
Facebook.com/Linus.Moran.Photography
Twitter.com/linusmoran
Linus Moran Photography on YouTube

 

Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (1)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (2)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (3)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (4)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (5)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (6)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (7)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (8)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (9)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (10)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (11)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (12)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (13)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (14)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (15)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (16)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (17)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (18)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (19)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (20)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (21)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (22)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (23)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (24)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (25)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (26)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (27)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (28)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (29)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (30)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (31)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (32)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (33)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (34)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (36)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (37)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (38)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (40)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (41)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (42)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (43)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (45)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (46)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (47)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (48)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (49)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (50)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (51)
Maunsel House in Somerset - see inside a real wedding with Linus Moran Photography (52)

Can you describe your wedding in fewer than 10 words?

Fun, emotional, full of love, a party of a lifetime.

Your wedding style or theme:

Classic English country

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

Instagram, facebook and recommendations

What’s your top tip for saving money?

Do the flowers yourself and choose an alternative wedding cake. With a venue like Maunsel House, particularly in autumn, we didn’t need to go big on any floral decorations as you can’t compete with the natural beauty of the grounds and the Virginia Creeper covering the entire house. And since my dress had so much detail I didn’t want a hugely complex bouquet, so I made my bouquet along with the bridesmaid bouquets and buttonholes just from watching a couple of YouTube tutorials. I bought all of the flower stems and foliage directly from a wholesaler which saved a huge amount of money.
My Mum did an amazing job for the ceremony table arrangement and she had even planted a whole crop of white cosmos flowers for the table centerpieces which she made sure came into perfect bloom just in time for the wedding.
What made this so simple and stress free was sticking to a very simple colour scheme of white and green.
Our second biggest money saving was on our wedding cake – a cheese tower from Costco. It went down an absolute treat with our guests. It was so simple to decorate, no stress to transport and the leftovers lasted for weeks after the wedding!

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

Our band, Sean Jackson Music, they seriously over delivered, we were all blown away by them and so many guests told us they were the best wedding band they had ever seen. They totally got the party started!

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

Our invitations were designed and sent out using paperlesspost.com – this made keeping track of RSVPs, dietary requirements and guest numbers so simple!
Our placenames and table names however were a real labor of love. Along with help from my dad and my sister, we hand wrote and hand wax-stamped each name. Two days before the wedding I was out in the rain carefully picking the 100 camelia leaves from the back garden! We loved the end result and some of our guests even took their placenames home!

Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?

My wedding dress was the first one I saw, even seeing it on the hanger I knew it was the one but I still indulged in trying on 10 more in the shop…I always wanted to know how it would feel to try on one of those huge meringue dresses!
An incredible tailor in Somerset, Neris Nash, absolutely perfected the fit I was after and I couldn’t have felt more like a princess in it on the day.

Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:

Wed2b in Bristol

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

Shoes – Jenny Packham
Earrings – Debenhams
Tiara – Cherry Blossom bridal boutique in Taunton
Veil – my something borrowed! From my sister

And what did the groom wear?

The Regent suit from Moss Bros

Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?

Emerald green wrap dresses from Tobi.com. With 6 girls (and 2 being pregnant at the time of shopping for dresses!) the wrap style was ideal.

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

Professional, and it certainly paid off! They did an amazing job and totally took any worries away. I had a trial with both girls and I had total confidence in them on the day.

 

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

We chose a cheese tower for the cake mainly because everyone loves cheese! But also we knew it was going to be the easiest cake to store, transport and decorate once at the venue. We also had a pick ‘n’ mix table so we wanted to have a savory option for those without a sweet tooth. Not to mention it was a fraction of the price of a traditional wedding cake!

Entertainment: any musical recommendations, surprises or treats?

Our harpist, Siona Stockel, created such a beautiful atmosphere in the ceremony room and during our drinks reception. Walking into the room and down the aisle to her music was a real fairytale moment!
As mentioned above our band absolutely rocked. They carried the party well into the night, and still at 2am we were all huddled around the fire pits outside, wrapped in blankets drinking and singing along to my husband and his cousin Rosie performing acoustic songs for us all.
This was the best bit about Maunsel House, a lot of our guests were staying on site so there was no end to the party. I think the last song was sung at around 5am!

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

It’s worth investing time and money into finding the right photographer, band and venue, the rest can be kept simple. It’s these 3 things in our opinion that really made the biggest impact on the day. Also, creating a good solid timeline of the day’s events so that you can visualize how your guests are going to experience the day ensured everything ran really smoothly and our guests weren’t left feeling like there were long waits for anything.
So many of our guests commented on how nice it was not having to think about getting from the ceremony to the reception, having the whole day and night at the same venue meant everyone could just relax and enjoy the day from the start.
And of course just enjoy the whole experience, we look back on our 18month engagement with such fond memories of planning our day together, it was a real team effort and just a lot of fun.

What’s the best thing about being married?

Getting to spend five months traveling together on our honeymoon!

Favourite supplier web links for other brides and grooms:

Hair – Louise Alway http://www.louisealway.com
Make up – Amy Elizabeth
http://www.amy-elizabeth.com
Dress tailor – Neris Nash in Yeovil, Somerset)
https://tailorbird.co.uk
Band – Sean Jackson – http://seanjacksonofficial.com/sj/
Harpist – Siona Stockel ( http://www.serenesounds.co.uk)
Photographer – Linus Moran & Ryan Carpenter videographer https://www.linusmoranphotography.co.uk


Claire Gould

Claire spends her days writing - either in beautiful calligraphy or online. She lives on the edge of the English Lake District only minutes away from the beach, where she loves to escape and unwind. Claire's calligraphy can be found at www.byMoonandTide.com. Claire launched the English Wedding Blog in November 2009 - it's been a top 10 UK wedding blog ever since, with a regional focus we hope you LOVE.

1 Comment

Louise · February 4, 2019 at 12:36 pm

It all looks so beautiful, such great photos. The venue looks amazing.

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