A great big good morning to you our lovely Monday readers. How are you all today? Now some of you may have seen this stunning image on our Instagram account back at the start of June, and some of you, like me (and I know for certain our lovely writer Jo, lover of bluebells and all things woodland), might have been impatiently waiting for the story of the beautiful wedding that goes with this photograph. Well the wait is finally over and I am beyond excited to be the lucky writer bringing this gorgeous day to you.
The lovely Jeska, designer and owner of The Bridal Boutique of Jules, married her beau Mark on 9th May 2016 in a colourful, love-filled woodland wedding among the bluebells. Jeska and Mark’s divine natural setting isn’t just a place of outstanding beauty, it’s also full of the most moving memories.
“We wanted to have a very relaxed and fun-filled wedding. Having lost my mum several years ago I desperately wanted her to be a big part of our day too. As a little girl, mum would always take me to a particular woodland in May and sit me amongst the bluebells and primroses and take endless photographs of me. It has always been a very special place that we have always visited, not just to see the flowers, but also to make camps, run wild, swing on rope swings, have picnics and generally just have lots of fun and get very muddy; it was our perfect wedding venue. Our colours were inspired simply by my love for all things bright and beautiful. “The whole day was just perfect from start to finish. We wouldn’t change a thing, it was just amazing and so magical.”
Photography by Olegs Samsonovs
Jeska’s loving memories of her mother and her incredible new husband Mark helped inspire her to open The Bridal Boutique of Jules. With her boutique named in honour of her mum and the hard work of her husband inextricably linked to the creation and success of her business, it seems only fitting that Jeska chose to design and make her own wedding dress.
“Working with amazing, beautiful dresses and fabric on a daily basis, and seeing girls in incredible dresses as part of my job, made choosing a wedding dress really hard. So I decided to design and make my own dress with the help, love and support of two very dear friends of mine from The School of Stitch in Ashford.”
“Mark and I originally met as teenagers when we were both working at our local superstore. Our paths then crossed again on an online dating website having both been through very upsetting relationships.”
“Mark proposed at midnight on New Year’s Eve 2014/the start of 2015 on the beach behind our house while watching the fireworks. It was so romantic and very unexpected!”
I wholeheartedly believe that love has a way of uniting people who are truly meant to find one another; I’m a totally hopeless romantic. I am so so happy for Jeska and Mark that the universe found a way to bring them together.
Jeska’s make-up and intricately flower-woven hair-style were created by Bianca Outsell of New Cheveux and her sweet groom gifted her with wedding day perfume, and I strongly suspect a beautiful ruby-red pair of earrings, which perfectly complement her coloured engagement ring.
Jeska wore pretty Rachel Simpson shoes, stocked in her own boutique, and beautiful, blousy, colourful blooms in her hair.
“Mark went to Dublin for his stag do and returned with a big bottle of Viktor and Rolf perfume for me; I couldn’t not wear it on my wedding day, it smells delicious. I also wore the little pair of earrings that I found on my pillow the night before we got married.”
“We are extremely lucky to have two amazing friends who are florists. I chose all of my flowers with my mum’s love for flowers in mind and Kirsty of Contemporary Flowers in Canterbury and Louise of Lillies and Lace in Deal created my exact flower-filled vision.”
“The Aston Martin DB5 was a surprise for Mark to take him and his best man to the woods and then Mark and I to the reception (all arranged by Mark’s brother Phil). Guests were taken to and from the woods on a vintage red London bus from MARShopper Ltd.”
The procession of adorable flower girls, in their colourful Joules dresses, followed by dapper little Fred and his gorgeous mummy just melt my heart. These divine images of happy people, picking their way across the sun-dappled forest floor are beyond beautiful and just bursting with emotion.
“Fred, our little five year old son, named after my dearest grandad, walked me down the woodland path. With no other family members left it was the right thing to do but we didn’t like to say he was giving mummy away. ‘Feeling Good’ by Nina Simone was played by Thomas Abrahams.”
“Karina of Simply Ceremonies UK wrote our ceremony and it was just beautiful; so perfect, so fitting and so very touching. We had a beautiful poem from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin read by Mark’s Canadian sister in law.”
“When it came to our rings, Mark and I both knew what we wanted so we’re lucky enough to know just the lady that could make it happen. Karina was not only our celebrant but also a Smooch representative. Mark has a rose gold band with my fingerprint engraved all around it and I have a very simple little rose gold band with diamonds.”
Lovely Mark wore a suit from The Bridal Boutique of Jules and the pretty maids also wore Jeska’s creations; multiway dresses, designed and made to measure. The bride created the wedding stationery herself and Fred’s handsome ensemble was a navy two-piece suit from M&S, with a waistcoat, tie and hankie all designed and made at The Bridal Boutique of Jules.
“Words can not express how amazed we still are with how wonderful Olegs Samsonovs‘ photography was. We can not recommend Olegs and Rita enough; they are such a wonderful couple and together make an incredible team. They captured our vision, the fun, the love and the laughter absolutely perfectly. We will forever be thankful to them both and honoured that they were part of our special day. Clambering over logs and the tottering all over the beach was so worth it; we simply love every single image that Olegs captured.”
Following their woodland ceremony, the stuff of many a bride’s dizziest daydream, Mark and Jeska headed to the coast for their reception.
“Both Mark and I are country bumpkins at heart but growing up in a seaside town we also both have a love for the seaside. When the opportunity arose to purchase the then falling down old fishing tackle shop beside the seaside in Walmer, we jumped at the chance to take the big leap and move to the seaside. Our love for the coast has grown so we wanted to also incorporate the seaside within our special day, and what better place than our local beside the sea.
The Coastguard on The Bay is a fun-filled, quirky seaside pub-restaurant on the beach. It’s been recently refurbished in a seaside theme so we didn’t want to spoil its already interesting features. We simply accessorised with lots and lots of beautiful flowers in copper painted bottles and jars.”
In keeping with the relaxed and colourful splendour of Jeska and Mark’s day, a laid-back afternoon tea fed and watered their guests and later on The Coastguard on The Bay kept tummies happy with seaside appropriate fish, chips and mushy pea fritters.
“Mark and I both have a love for cheesecake, especially Kerensa’s cheesecake (The Coastguard’s owner) so we opted for nine strawberry and maltesers cheesecakes as well as a beautiful little cake designed and made by my lovely friend, Brook.”
“Thomas Abrahams, an acoustic guitarist, learnt new songs especially for our day. He played in the woods and during the afternoon tea. The evening music was courtesy of Kevin Iverson, a solo guitar player and singer.
Mark chose our two songs; firstly we had Jamie Lawson’s ’Wasn’t Expecting That.’ The words are just very apt for us except the last chorus so I faded it out and mixed in the second song for a more up beat dance; again the words say it all in Coldplay’s ’Adventure of a Lifetime‘.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“Let it be! Please enjoy the planning, enjoy sourcing everything, and most importantly enjoy the build up and everything together. Your day will be magical and will all come together as you envisage it; the stress and worry will all be worth it.”
Let it be indeed; I adore these words of advice from our bride. I am beyond grateful to Jeska and Mark for sharing their truly beautiful day with us. And a huge thank you goes to Olegs Samsonovs Photography for these gorgeous images.
Have a fantastic week lovelies,
Em x
Credits & Thanks
- Photographer - Olegs Samsonovs Photography
- Celebrant - Karina via Simply Ceremonies UK
- Venue - The Coastguard on The Bay
- Wedding Dress - Jeska Hammond
- Shoes - Rachel Simpson
- Perfume - Viktor and Rolf
- Bridesmaids - The Bridal Boutique of Jules
- Flower girls - Joules
- Groom - The Bridal Boutique of Jules
- Page boys - M&S suits + The Bridal Boutique of Jules accessories
- Florist - Contemporary Flowers + Lillies and Lace
- Rings - Smooch
- Transport - Aston Martin DB5 Hire + MARShopper Ltd
- Catering - Charlotte via The Windmill Coffee Shop + The Coastguard on The Bay
- Hair and Make-up Artist - Bianca Gutsell via New Cheveux
- Enterainment - Thomas Abrahams + Kevin Iverson
Well I can see why everyone who sees this wedding loves it so much. It puts a big smile on your face! Beautiful lace dress, outdoor, woodland setting followed by seaside fun. A gorgeous car, amazing, bright florals, a little boy accompanying his mummy down the aisle. Afternoon teas and fish, chips and mushy peas and big, big smiles. What’s not to love?! Congratulations to the lovely couple xxx
What a beautiful setting, it’s heavenly. Also the bouquets, the colours just pop out of the screen! Xx
Jeska and Mark’s wedding was an amazing day, every detail simply perfect.
Jeska is a fabulously, funny lady, and being related now, through marriage is just great; mark is a lucky man, as I am a lucky sister-in-law xx
Thanks for your lovely comments Amanda. Your message is as full of love as these gorgeous photos are! Best wishes to all of your newly expanded family xx
Ohhh myyy wowww! Emily D you are so right! I’ve been aching to see Jeska and Mark’s stunningly beautiful nuptials amongst the bluebell woods. Those incredible flowers, the gorgeous lace dress, you’ve totally made my day, thank you, and huge congrats! xxx
What a romantic and colourful start to the week! This is what my deepest wedding dreams are made of – decorated trees, warm smiles and larger than life blooms. Utterly gorgeous and yet another day I wish I could have been a guest at. Huge congratulations to the gorgeous happy couple! xx
Yet again I am taken aback by the talent of LMD brides- another hand made dress! I absolutely adore the bright and beautiful colours and those amazing amazing flowers. Simply stunning x