We’re bringing you all the sunny vibes today with this super lovely wedding from Somerset. Meg’s horse gets a starring role in the day, and even he couldn’t tell the sunflowers weren’t real (he had a nibble to be sure)! This is a glorious Hestercombe wedding with pretty styling touches, and a fantastic interview from the bride and groom.
We love Meg’s honesty: she told us she much prefers to wear overalls and welly boots, so dress shopping wasn’t her favourite thing… although she does look absolutely amazing in her Enzoani dress. It’s important for us to share with our readers that not every bride loves the process, or sets out excitedly searching for ‘the one’ in boutiques with a gaggle of bridesmaids. It’s fine to still be YOU when you’re outfit shopping – and actually it’s really important to stay true to yourself. So Meg, thank you ever so much for your honesty – and we do think you’re an incredibly beautiful bride!
The day was captured by lovely Hestercombe Gardens wedding photographer Martin Dabek, who gets a brilliant review from the happy couple.
We were amazed by our stunning wedding photos and really enjoyed having Martin there on our Hestercombe wedding day. We had loads of feedback from guests about how great he was and how easy he was to chat to. When we knew he was there he was a pleasure to have around, creating lots of smiles and giggles. He also blended in so well it was easy to forget he was there, allowing us to feel relaxed and him to take many photos that we had no idea he had captured.
Wedding photographer’s website
How did you choose your photographer?
We complied a list of recommended photographers from friends and family then looked at their websites. We had a zoom meeting with our two favourite photographers and chose Martin because we really enjoyed chatting to him and liked his approach to wedding photography.
What’s your fondest memory of your wedding?
I can’t choose a fondest memory, there are so many amazing memories from our wedding day. Some of the best are seeing my husband crying at the end of the aisle as I walked towards him (happy tears I hope), our fathers’ speeches, my bridesmaids copying our romantic poses and the horror on my Mum’s face when my horse slobbered on my wedding dress immediatley after our arrival.
Tell us about your venue – what made this place special for you?
Hestercombe is a beautiful venue to get married in. The gardens are always stunning, Hestercombe House is magnificent and the orangery is beautifully light and airy. There are loads of amazing photo opportunities and areas to explore including lakes and waterfalls.
The staff were brilliant and very accommodating. We were allowed to take my horse and dog for photographs on our big day. They also allowed me to do a practice run with my horse a few weeks before so we could help him to relax
Did you love wearing your outfits? How was your shopping experience, was it fun to find your wedding gear?
I didn’t enjoy wedding dress shopping. I’m a farmers daughter and much prefer to be in overalls and welly boots. However once I’d found the right dress I really enjoyed wearing it, enough to wear it again all evening for a Covid delayed wedding party at a later date.
Joe hated suit shopping and in true Joe style left it until last minute. He then proceeded to unknowingly chose and buy the same suit he wore when he was best man the year before for my sisters wedding. On the plus side it meant that he had a spare if he spilt anything on his suit, my Dad already had a matching suit and they both already had shoes to match which had already been worn in so were more comfortable.
Did you hire a florist? Tell us about any floral amazingness
We used artificial flowers for everything and I was really pleased with them. I don’t think you can tell that they aren’t real, my horse couldn’t either as he tried to eat them!
Our florist was Flowers By Tasha and she was brilliant.
As cake lovers here at English Wedding we’d LOVE to know who made your cake, and how delicious it was?
We have a local lady who makes amazing cakes. She made our wedding cake and our post-covid wedding party cake. Both were beautiful and tasted amazing.
The lady is called Cakey Sue and she can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/habberfieldcakes/
Tell us about any special personal touches, or creative projects you made yourselves
We hand made our save the dates and our invites. They were very simple and used our thumb prints to make a heart.
All of our music was on a playlist complied by Joe. There was no DJ or live music but this worked really well for our intimate little wedding.
What was your first dance song? Why did you choose it?
A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. We copied a friends first dance song after dancing to it at their wedding and really enjoying it.
A sparkler exit
Walking under an arch of sparklers held by guests at the end of the night. This was a great way to finish our evening and made for some great photos.
Favourite wedding suppliers
Somerset wedding photographer – Martin Dabek Photography, Bristol
Flowers: https://www.facebook.com/flowersbytasha/
Hair and Makeup: https://www.facebook.com/cheneymariehairmakeup/ and
https://www.facebook.com/georgiaatescape
Wedding dress boutique: https://www.14andsixpence.co.uk/
Wedding dress designer: https://www.enzoani.com/en/collections/enzoani/ondra
Men’s wedding attire: https://www.gurds.co.uk/
Cake: https://www.facebook.com/habberfieldcakes/
I do love a winter wedding. Seeing how couples incorporate lights and candles, and the bare branches and evergreen foliage we celebrate through the darker months – it makes weddings a little more special with all those wonderful styling touches. And then, of course, there’s the opportunity for incredible lighting in your photos.
Connie and Lewis knew they had to choose the right photographers for their day, and they loved our friends and Devon wedding photographers Younger Photography from day one. Keep reading to see the review they gave us in their English Wedding interview below!
Connie’s dress was important to her, having worked in the bridal industry for five years. She chose a stunning Pronovias wedding dress from The Wedding Company in Plympton, which looks incredible – she’s such a beautiful bride. Lewis is ever so handsome in a three piece tweed suit, perfect for a winter wedding.
The venue is Trevenna Barns in Cornwall – a wonderful space which looks magical, filled with strings of fairy lights! We’re thrilled to be able to share their day on English Wedding, and we hope you love it too!
Wedding photographer’s website
https://www.youngerphotography.com/
How did you choose your photographer?
Younger Photography have an incredibly respected reputation, and we knew as soon as we were engaged that we had to have them! There was no question that we would choose anyone but them, their style of photography was everything we wanted.
Were you pleased with your wedding photographer? Do tell… we love a brilliant review!
Andrew and Agnieszka simply blew us away on our wedding day – they put us at ease and made us feel so comfortable. They felt like friends and guests rather than suppliers, making sure that we were getting the photos we asked for and kept the day flowing smoothly. Neither of us are particularly natural when having our photo taken, but Andrew and Agnieszka are both so endearing and approachable, making us laugh and smile the entire day.
Tell us about your venue – what made this place special for you?
We were married at Trevenna, in St Neot, Cornwall. Not only is the venue beautiful, but it was an experience for the entire weekend as 40 of our closest family and friends stayed with us in the stunning accommodation available on site. The views from the venue are gorgeous, with brilliant photo opportunities. Also, the food at Trevenna is incredible, locally sourced and delicious which was so important to us, as we knew our guests would want great food as a lasting memory of the weekend.
Did you love wearing your outfits? How was the dress / suit shopping experience?
Connie spent 5 years working in the bridal industry, so she had an exact idea of the dress she would wear for the day. Her vision came to life with a dress by Pronovias from The Wedding Company in Plympton, however the process was made slightly more complicated when Covid delayed the wedding and our daughter was born in March 2021! After a few alterations, the dress was perfect again. Lewis also knew exactly what he wanted to wear – a gorgeous three piece tweed suit from The Grooms Room in Plympton with silver accessories to match the theme of the wedding.
Did you hire a florist? Tell us about any floral amazingness
Hannah Burnett Floristry created the flowers for our wedding. We wanted to embrace the time of year, with a nod to Christmas and she captured that perfectly. The bridal bouquet contained gorgeous foliage, and included orchids, succulents and pine cones, matching the button holes. Our centre pieces were tall glass vases with eucalyptus, pampas, foliage and pussy willow and were stunning.
As cake lovers here at English Wedding we’d LOVE to know who made your cake, and how delicious it was?
We chose not to have a wedding cake, and instead created our own mince pie tower – seven tiers of mince pies with a big bowl of fresh local clotted cream for our guests to enjoy! It went down a storm, everyone loved it and tucked in to mince pies all evening.
Tell us about any special personal touches, or creative projects you made yourselves
We really wanted to embrace small Christmassy touches to create an experience for our guests. Each guest had a personalised Christmas bauble with their name on, which doubled up as their place card but also a memento of the day that they could take home and put on their Christmas tree, so every year they would remember our wedding. Connie hand made each of the baubles for our guests. We also had Christmas crackers designed to fit our silver theme, and the guests loved playing with the traditional Christmas cracker gifts found inside! Each of our guests chairs were dressed with ivory hoods with a candy cane popped inside.
We also created our own confetti with flowers that had grown in Lewis’ parents’ garden which we had dried and put into personalised bags for each of our guests.
Did you personalise your vows or have any wedding readings? What were they?
Connie’s 12 year old brother read a beautiful poem during our ceremony – People Need People by Benjamin Zephaniah. It’s a lovely reading emphasising why we need our friends, family and loved ones, and was the perfect fit for our ceremony.
What was your first dance song? Why did you choose it?
Our first dance song was A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay. The lyrics mean a lot to us, but also the song is perfect for dancing so all of our friends joined us on the dance floor after a minute or so of us dancing just the two of us – not something we’re particularly good at!!
How did the pandemic affect your wedding plans? Do you have any advice to share with couples planning their weddings right now?
Like many couples, this was our third wedding date and third time lucky getting down that aisle! Covid delayed our plans for a year, and actually we replanned our wedding completely differently to how we had initially intended – the pandemic and having our daughter changed our perspective on many things and we realised what was important to us. We had lost loved ones in the last year who should have been at our wedding, so we didn’t want to delay any longer – we wanted to finally be husband and wife and celebrate that with our close family and friends. It’s very difficult planning a wedding at the moment, especially with the ever changing rules and guidelines. Our advice would be to remember what it is important and why you’re getting married in the first place – things might not turn out exactly as planned, but you will always have your memories of your wedding day.
Favourite wedding suppliers
Florist – https://hannahburnettflorist.co.uk/
Photographer – https://www.youngerphotography.com/
Venue – https://www.trevenna.co.uk/
Dress – Pronovias – from The Wedding Company https://the-wedding-company.co.uk/
Photobooth & 360 Camera – https://www.westcountryphotobooths.co.uk/
Suits – The Grooms Room
Makeup – Emmie Green Make Up Artist
Hair – Lisa Sheldon Wedding Hair
Younger Photography is a member of the English Wedding Blog
