I adore intimate weddings. Sharing the day with just your closest family and best of best friends makes for such a relaxed, happy and stress-free wedding. So today’s is pure bliss: just beautiful couple Jennifer & Harry with 28 guests, celebrating in the sunshine at Larmer Tree Gardens with the loveliest images by UK wedding photographer Liam Bowler Weddings. (Keep reading for the sweetest review!)

Wedding photography

Photographer’s website

UK wedding photographer Liam Bowler weddings – https://www.liambowlerweddings.com/

Wedding photographer review

Liam is brilliant and is such a lovely, calming guy. We felt so at ease, around him, his documentary style meant we had space to enjoy our day without pressure to pose and trusted him to capture the moments he knew we would want to see. He completely understood our vision and made sure he took time to get some really special photos with our closest friends and family. Liam’s signature style is creatively beautiful, but to us, Liam’s biggest strength is capturing real moments, and that is what really stands out in our wedding album – every photo is there with intention and reason, each a specific memory that we treasure, which is something we value so much. Cannot recommend Liam enough!

Wedding Story

We stayed together the night before in the Studio at the estate, and went for a walk across the fields together of a sunny evening to get excited about our wedding. It was a beautiful evening, we walked out to the Folly on the Estate which is absolutely beautiful.

Whilst it’s not traditional to be together the morning of the wedding, waking up together made us feel so relaxed and we enjoyed the time in quiet anticipation of what was about to unfold.

Tell us anything you did differently – any NEW traditions (or if you had none at all!)

We were very relaxed about speeches. The groom didn’t really want to do one, nor did best man, so we ended up having speeches from father of the bride and also groom, and then the bride did one.

I had best intentions to write it in advance, but just didn’t, but actually enjoyed wittering on to friends and family and let it come from the heart!

Wedding suppliers

Wedding venue name + review

Larmer Tree Gardens weddings & events venue – Wiltshire
Larmer Tree is so special to us, as we attend End of the Road festival each year which has become such a focal point of our lives and our shared love of music. The Victorian gardens themselves are stunning, it is a very whimsical venue with heaps of character, and perfect for our casual summer party wedding. Our ceremony was at the Lower Indian Room (a beautiful wooden structure imported flat packed from Nepal in the late 1800s!) and our wedding breakfast and reception was in the Jubilee Hall. The wedding coordinator team are a lovely bunch, and we felt so supported in the planning and on the day, to allow everything to seamlessly happen around us. There was also space for guests to camp there that night, which really was in keeping with the summer festival party vibe. The resident peacocks made for some unique extra wedding guests!

Florist name + review

Bright Blooms Floral Boutique – wedding florists in Shaftesbury, Dorset

We actually approached Bright Blooms quite last minute as we had a miscommunication with another florist, and Ellen was such a safe pair of hands to help with our flowers. We wanted whimsical, country garden, seasonal native vibes and she absolutely delivered and kept us updated on what flowers she was able to source for us. We had so many compliments on the bud vases for the tables.

Hair + makeup name + review

Hair – Jess and Mia from Pare Hair Co – Wimborne

Jess is Jennifer’s long term hairdresser so to have her and Mia on the day to do Jennifer and Lauren’s (maid of honour) hair just felt like having two friends with us getting ready. Both bride and MOH had very loose, casual curly hair (no veil for the bride!) with plaits and dainty flower pins for a vintage look. Both Jess and Mia are very talented stylists and did an amazing job on the day. Makeup – bride/bridesmaid did themselves!

Wedding cake maker name + review

Our cake was an M&S two tier cake, decorated by a long-term friend of the bride.

Stationery designer’s name + review

The bride prepared the table plan and all name tags, the night before the wedding… nothing like a looming deadline to get a job finished!

Wedding wear

Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!

Bride: Daytime – Zimmermann 100% silk dress, purchased in 2019 (we were supposed to have a wedding during COVID!). Jennifer wanted a very casual and vintage vibe, inspiration was taken from Pattie Boyd, Florence Welch, Bianca Jagger and Sharon Tate. Whilst it was absolutely roasting on the day, the billowy sleeves and floaty skirt on the dress were perfect. Daytime shoes were the Lucille High sandals by Sezane, with an old Reiss straw clutch that had been in the wardrobe for ages. Earrings were pearl drop earrings worn by the bride’s mother on her wedding day, and worn previously by the bride’s sister on her wedding too. Evening outfit change – switched to a short silky number by House of CB and Jimmy Choo low ivory heels with some bling, and some sheer ivory opera gloves, because why not!

Groom: Suit was a dusty pink relaxed fit blazer and trousers from Moss Bros. The shirt was an embroidered Cuban shirt from CHÉ Studios and the loafers were from Duke and Dexter. Accessories included a Vivienne Westwood pearl necklace and a vintage star opal statement ring, gifted to the groom by the bride’s grandmother.

Styling and personal touches

Wedding ceremony and readings

A very special part of our day was the ring warming during the ceremony – an old tradition where our rings were tied together by a piece of blue ribbon, and passed around each friend and family member for them to make a wish for our marriage, before we exchanged rings. That felt very profound and like we had so much and support and love from those there with us. The bride and maid of honour also spent a lot of time before the wedding making friendship bracelets as favours for all guests – it was definitely a Taylor Swift summer, and we were riding off of that! It is so nice that our friends still wear those friendship bracelets today.

We only had 28 people at our wedding ceremony, our closest family and friends. It felt so intimate and exciting to have them a part of our ceremony. We had two readings from our friends, one was part of Thomas Hardy’s poem Concerning Agnes, which was about seeing a woman he loved at a party at Larmer Tree. The second was Cave Dwellers by A. Poulin Jr. which felt so us, as a couple we are often so content in our own bubble together so perfectly represented us. Once our ceremony was over, we walked back down the aisle to I Do, I Do, I Do by ABBA which was such an elating moment and really got the party started for the afternoon!

Wedding planner name + review

Larmer Tree Venue helped with planning, otherwise, the planner was the bride!

Wedding DJs: a special mention

We need to flag the DJs – Rock The Boat DJs (@rtb.sound on Instagram) DJ’d our wedding. Helen is sister of the bride and Arthur is her husband, and they are the coolest DJ duo in the Salisbury area. Their mantra is ‘all killer, no filler’ and we had people on the dancefloor all night! Helen also DJ’d the night whilst 6 months pregnant, so dedication to the party is strong. Lots of funk, disco, classic 2000s pop, and a fair bit of Eurodance at the bride’s request!