A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding…

I have some truly beautiful weddings to feature in the coming days and weeks, and wanted to save one of the very loveliest for today. No huge reason really – just perhaps that it's Sunday, and I know how much I like to find a moment to sit and browse lovely inspirational weddings on a Sunday late afternoon or early evening as the day winds down 🙂

Jacqueline and Simon tied the knot on 3 July 2010 at the beautiful Bratton Farmhouse, in Bratton Seymour, Somerset and Jacqueline wore a gown by one of my favourite ever designers, Jenny Packham.

"I'm a huge fan of all things vintage. Old movies, jazz music,
antique wares, retro clothing and classic literature (especially
american literature, from the likes of F.Scott Fitzgerald, John
Steinbeck , Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, Ernest Hemingway etc). I love
old movies too so I chose a dress which had 'Garbo' feel to it. Anything
old school/Hollywood gets thumbs up from me.

The dress was called Erin and was made from
Silk Chiffon. I loved the way it sat on my neckline and fell across the
shoulders – the knot – it really made me feel like I was floating on a
pink fluffy cloud all day long!…"

I totally adore this vintage style wedding, which was photographed by the ever-talented London Wedding Photographer Marianne Taylor (who covers the whole of the UK and overseas).  I adore Marianne's work, and this set of images is no exception to her usual, supremely high standard.  These photographs showcase beautifully all the thought and effort that went into preparing this special day, and I have to say, this really is one of the most splendid real weddings for all the 'detail and decor' that I have ever featured.  I hope you enjoy it 🙂 …

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Marianne Taylor

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Vintage Wedding Day Inspiration…

"Initially
I wanted to marry in Provence, France, and have a real provencial style
wedding, but it wasn't meant to be.  My main inspiration otherwise was
simple vintage style, sophisticated and deliriously classy.

I went through so many different ideas (my wedding
scrapbook is testament to that!) and eventually decided on a
quintessential English garden wedding with a vintage/antique twist."

The 1920's/30's/40's – all of those decades inspire me and at
some level they also inspired my wedding day. Think the Great Gatsby,
the Jazz era, Atonement, Paris in the Springtime, Autumn in New York,
Black and white movies, Hollywood glamour, Audrey Hepburn (I know her
era was the 50's but who cares, she was a legend!)."

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Bridesmaids wore dresses from Monsoon Bridal and their own grey/silver heels to match their frocks…

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

London_wedding_photography_creative_reportage_photojournalist_somerset_15

Jacqueline's shoes were by Rachel Simpson and she wore a pair of marcasite Antique Drop earrings.  Her 'something blue' was an antique marcasite and blue topaz bracelet.

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor... 

The beautiful rings that were exchanged during the ceremony…

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Transport….

Traction Wedding Cars provided a beautiful 1920/30's French Traction Car in pearl grey…

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor... 

Bratton Farmhouse – The Wedding Reception…

"Our first concern  was to decide on where to hold the wedding
reception. We eventually stumbled on Bratton Farmhouse
, Bratton Seymour,
Somerset and the local church, St Nicholas Church, Bratton Seymour
quite early on, so we were lucky.

The owner is a keen gardener and we
fell in love with the house and walled rose garden straight away (and
there are pockets of lavender dotted all around grounds of the garden so
I wasn't going to complain!). It was as if the venue had been made for
us. We then had to commit to attend the local church once a month (which
meant driving for just over two hours on the last Sunday of every
month) which was the tough bit, but we were more than dedicated to the
cause.

The
setting at Bratton Farmhouse
was so stunning and the house/grounds (as you
can see) are very  beautiful. The venue had infact never held
a wedding reception there before and the church hadn't performed a
wedding ceremony in 10 years. We were the first!  The view from the church (and venue) was breath-taking so it made
our travels down to Somerset all the more worthwhile."

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor... 

The garden was decorated with old
terracotta pots, trugs filled with flowers, french bistro chairs and
tables, enamel jugs filled with yet more flowers, recycled picnic
blankets, old tin watering cans and buckets, linen covered cushions,
antique oil lamps, homemade wooden signs, iron hooks which held jars
filled with candles. 

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Beautiful Blooms…

Flowers were provided on the day by Bath Organic Blooms…

"The
flowers were just stunning, made the day. I wanted vintage looking
flowers to fill all the bits I had bought for the tables. Amnesia roses
(they have a slight pale grey look around the edge of the rose, giving
them a mystic look), pale lavender Hydrangeas, some daisies, a few wild
flowers and I allowed Jo our florist to be as creative as she wanted.
Simple, but beautiful was the image I wanted to create. A step back in
time!"

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Totally loving the pretty cut-out heart detail on this guest's dress…

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Wedding Day Decor…

"Simon and I have
been planning our wedding since October 2008, so just over a year and a
half.

I wanted to create a unique vintage style garden wedding, so I
spent months collecting antique silver (jugs, teapots, goblets), pretty
cut glass (vases, decanters, old perfume bottles etc), delicately
decorated tea cups and saucers, antique embroidered lace/linen
tablecloths, antique picture frames (for photos of our parents),
vintage/antique napkins, old travelling suitcases and any other bits
that we were able to source from the hundreds of antique shops, flea
markets, charity shops and vintage fairs. I rummaged for months and
months – we now have three huge trunks full of accessories which fill
our spare room – help!"


A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Pale Grey and Lavender…

"The colour I ended up with was pale grey and pale lavender. Fresh
sprigs of Lavender were  tied in twine for the table settings – they
were then placed over small postcard style envelopes that were filled
with popping candy (for the two children, we used Jelly Tots and for the
two pregnant ladies we used Jelly Babies). The vases/silver
jugs/vintage china were filled with an array of flowers from Tuberose,
Lavender Hydrangeas, White Sweetpea flowers, daisies, Peonies, English
roses of many different varieties, in particular Amnesia roses…"

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

"On the backs of each chair, were brown cardboard tags with each guest name tied with delicate ivory ribbon.


The tables were given names of leading characters from some of my
(and Simon's favourite) movies. For instance, Stamper and Loomis (Bud
Stamper and Deanie Loomis – 'Splendour in the Grass'), Singer and Hall
(Alvie SInger and Annie Hall), Burns and Albright (Harry Burns and Sally
Albright – 'When Harry Met Sally'), Gardener and Morosky (Hubbell
Gardener and Katie Morosky – The Way we Were)  etc etc."

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Vintage Guestbook…

"The
guest book table held an old battered 'Royal' Typewriter for a real
nostalgic feel, with a copy of a first edition of 'the English Book of
Oxford Verse' which was held open with a single pressed red rose for
guests to view and read my favourite poem, by William Wordsworth Ode to
Intimations of Immortality (read by Simon's sister during the church
service/again film related – the poem is read by Natalie Wood in
'Splendour in the Grass'). There was also a 'Wish Box' on the table with
small bits of recycled paper where guests could leave their wishes.
There were two antique copper frames which held photos of both my
parents and Simon's on their wedding day. Our guest book was bought in a
charity shop and tailored by Simon to fit the theme of the day.

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

"Next
to the Guest book table I put three vintage travel suitcases where I
lay an old picnic rug. 
On top of that, I placed an old brass car horn
(that was incidentally used as a ploy by our Master of Ceremonies to
round up our guests for dinner – whenever he presssed it, they came
running!"

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Cheese Cake…

Jacqueline
and Simon opted for an exquisite four-tier somerset cheese tower –
somerset brie, a blue cheese, smoked cheese and a cheddar with 6
different types of chutneys all provided by the House of Cheese,
Gloucestershire
.

All other catering was provided by the Dartmoor Kitchen, Devon"I
can't say enough good things about our wedding food. The caters were
our most expensive supplier, but worth every penny on the day. I've had
so many complements on the food from our guests. The caterers main job
was to ensure that I was provided with champagne saucers and not the
other stem variety – they came good in the end. Just like Miss GoLightly
in Breakfast at Tiffany's!"


A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Reason For Their Love…

Jacqueline and Simon danced their First Dance to Ron Sexsmith's 'Reason for Our Love'…

"It is a song that means a huge amount to Simon and I;  Our first
holiday together alerted us to this particular song. And the words
"there's a reason for our love" has a huge meaning. Simon and I met at
university in 1997 when we were both dating other people. I didn't like
him much but over the years we became friends. It wasn't until I came
home from living in New York leaving my then fiancee and Simon returned
from travelling where we were joined together through heartache (as
terrible as that sounds) and developed an even stronger bond. There we
became great friends and eventually our love grew in to something
incredibly special and well here we are, the rest they say is history!

My
first dance with my Dad was Someone to Watch Over Me, by Ella
Fitzgerald and it was just perfect! Sent shivers down my spine."


A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Entertainment

Entertainment was provided by the 'Alive Network' band – 'The Somethin' Happenings'

"Great music – again nostalgic band with a
rock and roll twist. They played songs from the 40's through to the
modern day."

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

Both Simon's and my family (together with some close friends)
helped prepare and decorate the marquee during the two days before the
wedding. There was so much work that needed to be done and at the time, I
thought on more than one occasion, 'is all of this really worth the
effort?', (it's been nearly two years of
collecting/diy-ing/decorating/storing/hoarding/buying and general
overspending), but looking back I wouldn't change a thing for a second – my day perfect in every possible way.

I even own a silver teapot,
bought in an old salvage yard that is inscribed with the words Mrs K
Byrne on her Wedding Day, June 1924. The fact that I own something so
old makes me so very happy. That silver teapot was once given to a bride
on her wedding day and I nearly, 100 years on used it to fill flowers.
My wedding day was truly a unique and life changing experience and one
that I will cherish forever.

Just enjoy
it! It is afterall the one of the best days or your life (if not the
best!). Savour every moment, because before you know it, it'll will be
over and you'll want to do it all again."

A Quintessentially English, Vintage Style Garden Wedding, Photography by London Wedding Photographer, Marianne Taylor...

What an absolutely beautiful thought to end this feature on.  I am feeling so incredibly inspired by Jacqueline and all the hard work she put in to styling her gorgeous wedding day – thank you Jacqueline for sharing all your style secrets and passing on some of that wonderful enthusiasm of yours 🙂

Thank you so very much too, to the wonderful Photographer that is Marianne Taylor – one of the best and most talented Photographers out there.

Have a lovely day all 🙂

Annabel xXx

  

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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