Good afternoon lovelies! I’ve got the most beautiful mid-week delight to share with you all this afternoon. So grab a hot beverage, relax, and pour over these stunning images by Cristina Rossi Photography and the bride’s two gorgeous dresses; a red qun kwa Chinese dress and elegant second dress by David Tutera for Mon Cheri. Meet Andrea, a Resource Manager at a consultancy firm and Andrew, a Solutions Architect at a managed services provider. They wed on 26th July last year at the spectacular and award winning venue, Fetcham Park in Surrey.
The couple’s inspiration for the day centred around a mix of their culture, and their love of good food.
“We are both of Chinese descent, but of English upbringing and so it was important that we incorporate this to our wedding day as our culture is so integral to who we are. We eventually decided to centre it all around food – because everybody just loves food. Kalm Kitchen really knew how to put va-va-voom into food sense! We were spoilt with brunch on the lawn, canapés, afternoon tea, evening bowl food and a stunning dessert patisserie in the evening.”
Photography Copyright (c) 2015, Cristina Rossi Photography
The couple were married legally prior to their big day – and therefore on their July wedding day they held a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, followed by a second ceremony, with a little help from their friends.
“We were actually already legally married before our wedding day. Because we wanted to fit in most of the Chinese tradition and the different elements to our day, timing of available registrars wouldn’t have fit our timescales so instead we had our friends conduct our ceremony on the day (inspiration from the TV show The Big Bang Theory). It turned out to be so unique and special, especially with all the jokes and unexpected moments.
We immediately fell in love with Fetcham Park and the first time meeting with Laura Caudery; she took our breath away. After many emails and visiting many lovely venues meeting Laura was like a miracle. There was finally someone in the wedding industry who has put the wedding couple first. Laura is so passionate in everything she does and really took the time to understand us and believed in our vision.”
The pretty pink bridesmaid dresses were tailor-made in Hong Kong and Andrea bought their gold bangles set from Lily and Louise via Etsy. Malissa Chaves, a friend of Andrea’s cousin, did the make-up and hair was by Fabulous You.
Andrea had the pleasure of wearing two dresses; the first was a traditional Chinese red qun kwa for the Chinese tea ceremony. Just look at the red silk and intricate embellished detail, so very beautiful.
And Andrea’s second stunning stylish ensemble was by David Tutera for Mon Cheri from The Bridal Chest in London, which she accessoriesed with pearl studs and a pearl pendant from Absolute Pearls, a bracelet that was a gift from her aunt, and Guess shoes from TK Maxx. Andrea was given the traditional gold jewellery she wore with the qun kwa and her veil was a complete bargain at just £8.
“It had everything I wanted – the lace, beadings, sparkles and the princess feel I always dreamed of having on my wedding day. When trying on this dress I had a couple of elderly passerby’s who tapped on the boutique window, getting my attention and gave me the thumbs up!”
The couple chose Cristina Rossi Photography as their photographer and the camera-shy pair was very happy with their decision.
“We first saw Cristina in action at a friend’s wedding. She gave us a great first impression – friendly, bubbly, approachable and sincere. At our wedding, Cristina and her second shooter Sally really made themselves an important part of the day. They made our guest feel at ease and produced outstanding images. We both are quite camera shy but working with Cristina she made it easy and captured stunning shots.”
Christine Morris created the bridal flowers of pretty peonies, with Andrea also lending a hand to the floral decorations.
“Our bouquets, buttonholes and mantel piece were put together by Christine Morris – a friend of a friend. I always wanted peonies and was worried I will miss the season at the end of July but I was absolutely spoilt by Christine, she managed to source peonies and also include David Austin roses in our bouquets – both elegant and my favourite flowers. The rest of the flowers (table centres and around Fetcham Park) were put together by myself.”
Andrea and Andrew met through a mutual sporty activity – and the groom popped the question in a location very special to them.
“We met when we joined a sport called Dragon boating and were part of the Typhoon Dragon boat club. We hooked up after being friends just under a year. Keeping this close to our hearts, we ensured to include this in our wedding and had dragon boat paddles as a guard of honour.
Andrew proposed with his late grandmother’s jade ring at our new home. We are quite a low key couple and proposing somewhere we built together (we bought a project house) was touching and we were engaged for 10 months.”
The groom looked handsome in a Ted Baker ensemble from Moss Bros and Andrea got creative for the pageboy.
“Our page boy, Thomas, wore his own suit and I made him a little bow tie.”
And the couple’s classic wedding from the morning converted to a street food party in the evening; with vendors Mama Wang’s Kitchen, Kimchinary, Dosa Deli and The Coffee Traveller appearing in their street food vans to serve up tasty treats. What a brilliant idea.
Main catering was provided by Kalm Kitchen and Andrea attests to their creative partnership with Fetcham Park.
“No words can describe how grateful we were to have Kalm Kitchen as our caterers (see more amazing images from Kalm Kitchen here). We see how they are part of ‘Laura Loves’ and we cannot thank Laura Caudery enough for recommending them, they were absolutely brilliant. It must be said that Kalm Kitchen and Fetcham Park makes a dream team. Jen Middlehurst had the same attitude as Laura, positive, bespoke and full of ideas.”
The couple reflects on their favourite part of their big day.
“Favourite part of the day was our ceremony. With our friends conducting our ceremony it felt more personal and having all our family and friends watch us commit to each other was an amazing feeling.
All these elements made the wedding the best day of our lives; the stunning red bricked house, Vowed and Amazed with their A&A display and all the people we adore in one beautiful place. It’s cheesy but we just didn’t want the day to end!”
Words of Wedded Bliss
“Ensure your plans will allow you to enjoy your wedding. We are currently at the age where all our friends are also getting married (we attended 8 weddings last year and 5 excluding our own this year!) and have seen many couples going through a hard time trying to be ‘different’. Similarly don’t feel pressured into following the traditional formula for a wedding.
Your wedding is a symbol of love for one another and there is no other time and place to show the world how much you are made for each other. Whatever you do on your day will always be part of your special memories.”
Such wise words! A big thank you to Cristina Rossi Photography for sharing these gorgeous photos of the lovely couple’s big day. And Andrea and Andrew, thank you so much for sharing your special wedding with us – it sure looked like you had the most wonderful time … and the street-food idea is genius!
And if you’ve been inspired by Andrea’s beautiful princess dress, be sure to visit The Bridal Chest in London, for there are lots of wedding dress savings to be had right now. You can also eee more beautiful weddings at Fetcham Park in Surrey here).
Love Jo -xxx-
Photographer – Cristina Rossi Photography
Videographer – The Camera Chap Weddings
Venue – Fetcham Park, Surrey
Catering – Kalm Kitchen
Street Food vendors – Mama Wang’s Kitchen, Kimchinary, Dosa Deli and The Coffee Traveller
Bride’s Wedding Dress – David Tutera for Mon Cheri via The Bridal Chest
Bride’s Qun Kwa Chinese Red Dress – Bride’s own
Shoes – Guess via TK Maxx
Bride’s Accessories – Pearl studs and pearl pendant via Absolute Pearls, bracelet a present from aunt and own gold jewellery
Bride’s Scent/Perfume – Lancôme Miracle
Groom – Ted Baker via Moss Bros
Bridesmaids – Dresses tailor-made in Hong Kong
Bridesmaids Accessories – Gold bracelets from Lily and Louise via Etsy
Page Boy – Own suit and bowtie made by Andrea
Rings – Quality Diamonds
Florist – Christine Morris, friend
Cake – Spongeworks
Stationery – Pauline Chan, friend
Favours – Blooming Tea
Giant Letter Décor – Vowed and Amazed
Makeup Artist – Malissa Chaves, friend
Hair – Fabulous You
Entertainment – True Rumours and Platinum
Cars – ATS Minibuses
Jo Singletary View all Jo's articles
Jo hails from and lives in sunny Australia, is currently working towards her dream of being a career coach and a few of her favourite things are watching the sunrise over the ocean, morning walks on the beach, butterflies, and supporting the guide dogs charity.
Such a beautiful and colourful wedding. Fabulous photography as always Cristina xx