Sarah Seven Elegance For A House Party Wedding in Kent

wpid287465 sarah seven wedding dress photography by helen cawte 28

Hi everyone, I’m back again with another gem of a wedding you will just love! It took place in a spectacular converted Victorian Oast house in the Kent countryside and I just love the bright colour scheme with a laid-back fun vibe.

Adam and Jo chose to have a very small legal ceremony at the Mansion House, Tunbridge Wells prior to their wedding on May 10th 2014, allowing them the freedom to have a special and completely personalised ceremony. Delivered by their friend Matt and with their bridesmaid Katie on acoustic guitar, Finchcocks Oast in Kent was the unforgettable backdrop for their tailor-made wedding blessing and 3 day wedding party.

“We wanted our wedding to have a relaxed but elegant country party feel, everyone to have fun, keeping some ‘weddingy’ bits (e.g. speeches) but losing others (e.g. table plan). We didn’t go to great lengths to style the wedding and the venue really set the scene. We just used a loose colour palette of our favourite colours, yellow, coral, navy and grey and picked things we liked.”

Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Helen Cawte

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

“We wanted relaxed, woodland style flowers to fit in with the feel of the wedding. We gave this brief to Kim Watson at The Flower House asking for some yellows and corals and she did an incredible job – we were bowled over by how beautiful the flowers were, she got it spot on and better than we could have imagined!

We had a couple of larger arrangements in the venue and popped the bridesmaid’s bouquets into mix-and-match jugs around the venue after the service.”

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

Jo bought her stunning dress in a sample sale, making a quick decision certainly paid off. The dress was fitted by a dressmaker and a gold braid was added to the waist. Her look was beautifully finished with a long veil from Love You Bride Design and gorgeous gold shoes she already owned.

“I had seen Sarah Seven’s dresses online and loved her style. I had gone to the sample sale on a whim and spotted the dress hanging on its own. As I went to try a few Blackburn Bridal hurried over to ask me to try my dress first as someone else had come back to buy it so I had to decide there and then! I couldn’t believe I had found a Sarah Seven dress and went for it. I loved the raw edges to the lace, which I think gives it an unusual and ethereal look. I also loved the low back and the gold threads running through the lace. The dress is very light and easy to move in, unlike so many other dresses I had tried.”

 

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

Jo wanted her best girls to feel comfortable on the day so each chose her own navy dress and teamed it with a coral cardigan. A fabulous idea to set the girls apart from the other guests and keep them cosy in the outdoors!

“We didn’t want things to be very ‘matchy’, so the bridesmaids and groomsmen chose their own outfits and shoes to mix and match.”

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

“We chose the absolutely wonderful Helen Cawte to be our photographer, she is totally lovely and really put us at ease. Helen blended in so well on the day that we hardly realised she was there most of the time and Jacques the second shooter was fabulous too. Helen is a complete professional, she sent the photos back to us quickly after the wedding and they are amazing.”

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

“We chose ’Tin Wedding Whistle’ by Ogden Nash, ‘Scaffolding’ by Seamus Heaney and an adapted version of ‘Love is Friendship Caught Fire’ by Laura Hendricks as readings but we replaced the end of the last poem with a quote that we felt summed up our joint idea of marriage, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry from Airman’s Odyssey; ‘Experience shows us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction’.”

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

“We didn’t have set tables so we bought a box of 100 postcards of different Puffin book covers. We chose a book cover for each guest and wrote three facts on the back, one that wasn’t true, then pegged the postcards up in the entrance hall and asked everyone to find their postcard based on the ‘facts’. We hoped it would be a conversation starter between guests, a bit of fun, and also show we had thought carefully about each person.”

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

“My mother Denise made a LOT of fantastic square flag bunting in yellow and navy, thanks mum! The venue itself is so great it didn’t need much else.”

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

Food was high on the priority list for Jo and Adam and with that in mind they decided to have an Indian feast, complete with bio-degradable bamboo leaf plates, from Calcutta Club. The next day they provided their guests with the perfect cure; a fish and chip van from Moby Dicks!

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

“Adam’s favourite part was seeing me for the first time walking down the aisle. The speeches and the “Polish blindfold game” were all brilliant & hilarious. I especially loved having my Best Woman give a speech but dad, husband, and best man did amazing jobs too. We both unexpectedly loved our first dance to ‘Wonderful World’ by Sam Cooke. Dancing with my dad to Girls Aloud Love Machine was a highlight!”

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Don’t feel penned in by traditions or fashionable things that don’t mean anything to you. People value being ‘fed and watered’ and spending time with you more than expensive favours, decoration and entertainment. Spend money on a great photographer. Don’t be afraid to do your own make up if you feel more comfortable – visit several make up counters before you choose new makeup, then practice! Try to marry someone who is good at organising so you can share the work J”

sarah seven, kent wedding, blackburn bridal, oast house, helen cawte wedding photography

Don’t Jo and Adam look so relaxed and happy! I simply adore the yellow bouquets with the mix-and-match navy dresses all shot beautifully by the wonderful and highly recommended Helen Cawte. Thank you so much for sharing your day with us.

Love Caoimhe xx

  

Photographer – Helen Cawte
Venue – Blessing and Reception – Finchcocks Oast, Kent + Legal Ceremony Mansion House, Tunbridge Wells
Dress – Sarah Seven via Blackburn Bridal + Alterations by Wendy Benstead
Veil – Love You Bride Design + Shrug – Untold at House of Fraser
Shoes – Ash Footwear
Hair – Sarah Nash at The Chapel, Tunbridge Wells
Groom’s Suit – Chris Kerr Bespoke Tailor
Groom’s Shoes – Edward Green
Groom’s Accessories – Turnbull & Asser
Rings – Ernest Jones, engraving by Ruth Anthony + Engagement ring Vintage Tiffany & Co.
Florist – The Flower House, Mayfield
Caterer – Calcutta Club, Polhill, Kent + biodegradable plates from Little Cherry
Cake – Waitrose Entertaining
Transport – Donovans 1971 Mercedes from Barratts Car Hire
Stationery – Harquil Printing
Guestbook – Smythson

Follow Love My Dress® on Google+

Caoimhe Anderson

Caoimhe Anderson View all Caoimhe's articles

Caoimhe will never tire of beautiful wedding dress and a blooming flower crown. When she's not lusting after a gorgeous wedding she will be trying new vegetarian recipes, knitting very slowly or capturing a pink sunset from behind a camera lens.

5 thoughts on “Sarah Seven Elegance For A House Party Wedding in Kent

  1. My other half and I will be having our reception at Finchcock’s too. I would love to know what Adam and Jo did about parking cars near the venue!

    Thanks,

    Helen

    1. Hi Helen! We told all our guests (except wedding party) that they would need to arrive by train or park in a nearby village and then take a taxi. We put several local taxi numbers on the invitation info sheet and we called the firms the day before to let them know roughly what time guests might be calling them and to make sure they knew where the venue was. We tried to put guests coming from the same place in touch to share taxis. This all seemed to work ok. Congrats and have a fabulous time!! X

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Close
Top