Laurie & Anoushka’s beautifully creative DIY wedding, with Jessica Grace Photography

Published by Claire Gould on March 24, 2021March 24, 2021

A joyful 2019 wedding with a traditional ceremony in a 600 year old church. Beautiful bride Anoushka wears a bespoke Mona Vora gown with lace detail and a stunning back. Ivy trails from a loose bouquet full of foliage with sea holly, salix (willow) and blue / grey leaves – the flowers and foliage are wonderfully different. An elegant tiered cake with gold accents captures the autumn vibe of the day – as do the fabulous images by lovely Jessica Grace Photography, who gets a fantastic review from our happy couple Laurie & Anoushka!

Wedding photographer’s website

https://jessicagracephotography.co.uk/

How did you choose your photographer?

I (Anoushka) actually attended university with Jesse and over the years her photography has really captured my eye and imagination – especially when I had never really been one to imagine my ‘wedding’! Her photos always have such a fun and relaxed energy to them and she managed to capture light and elegance in a really dreamy way. Her photos always have such a fun and relaxed energy to them and she managed to capture light and elegance in a really dreamy way.

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

We are so pleased with the photos and the Jesse’s process through the day. Not only did she make us feel comfortable with being in front of the camera – which our engagement shoot at the same venue really helped with! But she also managed to capture moments we either did not see ourselves or didn’t think she would be quick enough to get. The church staff and our relatives were so impressed with how she was able to capture the important moments but not divert attention. Jesse was also incredibly patient and happy to go with the flow of the day, which wasn’t fully structured, but also keep things on track to ensure the important elements like cake cutting and close family portraits were photographed well and quickly so we could get back to the festivities! A year on they are wonderful snap shots of such a special day and brilliant prompts for us to reminisce on moments we have forgotten or share with family and friends.

Tell us about your venue – what made this place special for you?

Our ceremony venue was extra special. It is St. Mary’s Church in Cheshunt, where we both have grown up and lived, and is where Laurie’s parents were married and also where he and his siblings were Baptised. It was wonderful having the family connection to the church, which is over 600 years old! Our reception venue was the Long Gallery and Inner Courtyard at Forty Hall Estate in Enfield. As a couple we have regularly visited the estate and grounds over the years and enjoyed bringing our family and close friends to a location that has been a special location for our story. The Walled Gardens in the estate were the perfect background to our engagement shoot in the Spring, and ultimately our beautifully Autumnal wedding day photos.

Did you love wearing your outfits? How was the dress / suit shopping experience?

We loved our outfits so much, we even kept them on for our meal in London that evening for the two of us!

(Laurie) The suit shopping was relatively straightforward as I had a good idea for the colour and style, everything was ordered online and fortunately did not need any adjustments.

(Anoushka) My dress was made by a designer who also made my other outfit for our Hindu ceremony later in the week. (As featured on the fabulous Bride & Tonic blog.) As she had my measurements it was a simple task of telling her materials and style elements I loved the look of. The dress was mostly a surprise and I loved the smaller details like the open back and lace over the shoulders.

Did you hire a florist? Tell us about any floral amazingness

Our florist was recommended by Laurie’s mother, Hazel. She came to our home and went through all the various styles and what flowers would work given the colour scheme – which was largely based around Laurie’s pale grey/blue suit. As we both wanted to have autumnal elements represented and blue featured we asked for the buttonholes and bouquets to include eryngiums. Anoushka’s bouquet also included orchids (her favourite flower), salix and lots of other light, green leafy plants. In memory of Laurie’s grandmother Ivy both his buttonhole and Anoushka’s bouquet included the leaves.

As cake lovers here at English Wedding we’d LOVE to know who made your cake, and how delicious it was?

Our cake was organised by our mothers, with the suggestions of Autumn and gold given as ideas for the style. It was made by Cake Rush (Mike and Angela Rush) and was as simple and elegant as it was tasty!

Tell us about any special personal touches, or creative projects you made yourselves

As the lunch reception following the ceremony was relatively small (and all about the food and bubbles) we wanted some light entertainment but nothing that needed space for dancing or was too loud. At a wedding event we attended Laurie loved hearing a singer and guitarist during the meal and in our initial conversations with her found she also provided live music for wedding ceremonies. This was such a beautiful and personal addition to the already intimate ceremony as we were able to pick out songs that meant a lot to us as a couple to welcome everyone to the church and walk down the aisle to.

What was your first dance song? Why did you choose it?

We didn’t do a first dance but asked that Tightrope from the film The Greatest Showman be played as we walked out of the church as we both love the sentiment of the song when with a newly married couple in mind and the lyrics