Emily & Philip’s classic, autumnal Layer Marney Tower wedding with Ayshea Goldberg Photography
Happy weekend, lovelies! Today we’re reminiscing a little as we head back to autumn for a wonderfully colourful wedding at Layer Marney Tower. The florals are bold, vibrant, and quite breathtaking. Emily and Philip are absolutely gorgeous together, and the story of their dreamy wedding is captured beautifully by lovely Ayshea Goldberg Photography.
Wedding photographer’s website:
https://ajg-photography.co.uk/
How did you choose your photographer?
We met Ayshea, or at least her photos, at a wedding fair at Layer Marney Tower. We unfortunately missed her on the day but i picked up her brochure. They were the only pictures I kept coming back to.
After a couple of weeks I decided to message and speak to her in person.
The great points on paper for hiring Ayshea were that she knew the venue,was local and had some great reviews as well as proven pictures. However, after speaking to her, the passion she shows for her role on your day is beyond what you would expect. She loves to meet people and is a pleasure to be around. After that there wasn’t a choice on who we needed to capture our day
Were you pleased with your wedding photographer? Do tell… we love a brilliant review!
Ayshea had been amazing through out the process. She was cheerful and always on time- everything you want really. However, on the day she acted as hairstylist, photographer and wedding planner. She helped to switch my hair piece after the service, she marshalled everyone to where they needed to be and was constantly helping us keep to timings, so we could enjoy the day. Our day would not have been the same without her.
Tell us about the moment you saw your wedding photos for the first time?
We were nervous and excited! The day had gone so well and we really hoped the pictures showed that.
Fortunately Ayshea’s pictures exceeded our wildest expectations! It brought back such lovely memories of the day and we’re so glad she took so many.
Wedding venue:
St Mary’s Church Layer Marne and Layer Marney Tower
Wedding month:
October
Can you describe your wedding in fewer than 10 words?
Classic, Autumnal, Family, Church, Traditional… no, I tried very hard but I can’t!
Our wedding was the best day we have had, you can’t put that into words.
Where did you find your suppliers? (Blogs, magazines, recommendations?)
We found nearly all of ours locally. We met both our photographer and florist at the Layer Marney Tower wedding fair. They had really lovely personalities and it made us feel a lot better that they knew the venue well so we wouldn’t need to scout for locations for photos on the day or miss a great place to put flowers.
We met the DJ through the Layer Marney Tower website.
Where we could we tried to keep everything local, and where we couldn’t we spent a lot of time either creating bits ourselves or on Etsy. From our experience with Moss Bros to the local providers; we got a much better and more personal service.
What’s your top tip for saving money?
Spend wisely! Decide what is important to you and spend a little more on those and cut back on the bits you have strong feelings about. Early on we knew it was important to us to be married in one of my ‘home’ parishes and preferably somewhere with history (we are two history graduates). The flowers and photographs were very close behind in terms of importance so we spent more here and I saved some of our budget by making the stationary inside the reception hall myself. We also skipped favours
… and which elements of your wedding are you glad you spent more on?
The photos and flowers.
These are the two elements you can keep from the day. We spent more on our photos because we wanted images and memories we would look at and simile. Ayshea captured moments that we didn’t think anyone else saw .
Our flowers brightened the room and just added to the already beautiful venue. I’ve actually had my bouquet preserved because the flowers were so lovely. Again its about the memory of the day
Where did you buy or source your wedding stationery – or was making it a labour of love?
Our invitations and orders of service came from Amiee Willow Designs. Amy was really great at putting what we wanted onto paper in a way that turned it into a work of art.
www.aimeewillowdesigns.co.uk
Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?
I did!
I actually fell in love with it in my head first. I was very headstrong and knew the shape I wanted but with the bead and embroidery work on another. Caroline Castigliano was amazing and merged the two for me. I didn’t see my dress until 4 months before the wedding- and it was worth the wait as it was everything I hoped for.
Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:
I wore a strapless sweetheart mermaid gown from Caroline Castigliano. It doesn’t have a name because I merged two dresses together – Treasure and Simplicity. I feel in love with the beading on one and the shape of another.
Tell us about your accessories: jewellery, shoes and anything else!
I accessorised my dress with a cathedral length lace veil, gold and Pearl hairpiece, necklace and earrings. The earrings and necklace being my something borrowed and the hairpiece something new. I also had a blue garter and a sixpence.
My shoes were from Fraya Rose and had the most amazing mother of pearl heel- thankfully I can dye the shoes so I can keep enjoying them now.
The hair piece came from a wonderful designer in Covent Garden called Afsham Shamas. All her designs are handmade with pearls and crystal, she will also customise pieces for her brides: email info@afshanshamas.com; Instagram afshanshamas
And what did the groom wear?
Phil wore a traditional morning suit from Moss bross, with a gold waistcoat and black brogues from Russel and Bromley.
Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?
The adult bridesmaids wore a strappy a-line floor length gown in burgundy. They did have small faux fur shawls, but the weather was too warm for them. Both chose their own jewellery and shoes in gold.
The little ones had ivory lace detail dresses from Debenhams with ivory shoes with sequins. The cardigans were also from Debenhams.
Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?
Professional!
I wanted a really clean classic up-do and did not have the skills to do that myself. It’s also some well deserved pampering to have someone else do your hair and make up on the day
Hair and make-up
Contact name: Team Glam- Tara and Carla
www.teamglam.com
Describe your wedding flowers. Who arranged them for you? (florist details would be lovely please)
Philip actually chose most of the flowers – he certainly chose the colours. We’d always wanted an autumnal wedding because of the vibrant changes in the leaves.
My bouquet was chosen by me. As I had chosen a cathedral length veil I wanted to mirror that in the front with the flowers, so went for a shower bouquet. The bridesmaids had hand tied arrangements to they could be enjoyed at home after the day.
The men all had a rose buttonhole to match the rest of the party
The centrepieces where chosen so that our guests could still speak across a table and still made a statement in such a dramatic room. It looked lovely and worked with the colours that we were after.
We were also looking to use flowers in our table plan. I had been looking for a table plan that wouldn’t cost a huge amount. The traditional card ones were quite expensive and it didn’t seem responsible for something that would then be in the bin. So I started to look for something that could be used again. Searching on Pintrest I saw something similar with a ladder but didn’t want the stress of organising it. There was a lady on etsy selling crates for very little and I decided to buy that and fill with flowers…. My parents walked off with them at the end of the wedding so they defiantly were not thrown away after but enjoyed.
The cards in the top, I made using an online template and the original images from our invitations to tie the stationary together.
General styling – did your venue need much decoration?
We were lucky that Layer Marney is beautiful by itself so really didn’t need anymore in terms of decoration. Other than the flowers we only added some freeze-dried petals in matching colours to the tables and the place cards.
The place cards were made by a lovely lady in Edinburgh. As we were not giving favours we wanted the place names to be almost art work so they could be taken home and enjoyed. By having them hand calligraphed this made each one personal and lovely. The burgundy backing colour and gold font reflected the bridesmaids who wore burgundy and gold.
Crafts and makes – tell us about any homemade elements of your wedding… did you enjoy them?
We made the table plan cards and menus using some of the elements from our invitations. I also made our cake.
I did enjoy doing these bits but I wouldn’t advise another bride to make something as big as the cake without being already very used to doing so. When it’s yours it takes a lot more time and my grandmother and I were making and adding flowers up to the week before
The wedding cake: what kind of cake did you choose and why?
The cake was made by myself and my Grandmother, Beryl. The three of us chose to make a fruit cake as it is a wonderfully autumnal flavour and also keeps well so can be made in advance and decorated over time. When I was very young, 18mnts, my grandfather passed away. As a way to help Nanny through that period, my mum left me with her for two days a week, so I have always been very close to her. On many of these visits she would teach me how to make sugar flowers. Together we have worked on many other people’s cakes. That time together has been so special to me that I know no one else could have possibly have made the cake.
Entertainment: any musical recommendations, surprises or treats?
We chose to only have a DJ. Our friends and family were on mixed tables, so we wanted to encourage people to chat to each other. To us the wedding wasn’t just us being married but a joining of two families so it was important to us that they developed relationships during the day.
We were also very conscious that sometimes people won’t dance if there is something else to do…. Both Phil and I like to dance and didn’t want to do so alone on the day; it worked out really well with lots of people dancing and enjoying themselves
Words of wisdom: share your best piece of advice for other couples:
Write a list of jobs other people can do for you on the day- stationery you want saved (we lost ‘the groom’ place card), who is going to pick up the cards and gifts at the end of the day, who needs to clear the venue etc- you shouldn’t worry about that just enjoy the day; it only happens once
What’s the best thing about being married?
The promise to be together, really together, to have someone to enjoy the good times with, and make the bad times less difficult. Life is long, and the moment you exchange rings is a promise to experience all of it together.
Favourite supplier web links for other brides and grooms:
Photographer
https://ajg-photography.co.uk/
Flowers
https://www.butterflyflowers.co.uk
Stationery
www.aimeewillowdesigns.co.uk
Entertainment
www.essencemusicagency.com
Place cards
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KSHCalligraphy
Dress
Caroline Castigliano
Hair accessory
Afsham Shamas
Hair & makeup
www.teamglam.com
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