An Halter Neck Dress And Bridesmaids in Pale Blue For A Stylish English Country Wedding

We love an elegant affair here at Love My Dress and today’s wedding has understated glamour in spades. Ice blue hues mingle with silvery tones with gorgeous Friars Court in Clanfield as a stunning country backdrop. Meet Lydia, a student teacher and big Love My Dress fan and her new husband Alex, a corporate banker. Their wedding took place on the 4^th of June 2016 at St Mary the Virgin in Bampton with their reception following at the aforementioned Friars Court. As a working farm, they took full advantage of the surrounding fields and I absolutely love the candid portraits of the couple by our photographer and Little Book For Brides member,  Ruth Atkinson.

“When we first visited Friars Court, we fell in love with the beautiful gardens, tucked away in the surroundings of the working farm. We could really imagine our wedding being there, in a way we hadn’t yet been able to at other venues we had visited. It provided the perfect setting for the classic, English country garden wedding we had in mind and Jeffrey Cleaver who is responsible for all things wedding at Friars Court was really good to us. His practical advice and hands on help were invaluable to us.”

I absolutely love her sparkly Rainbow Club courts peeking out from under the dress and with a long tulle veil and a gorgeous crystal band in her hair, Lydia is the perfect bride.

Bride Lydia is radiant in her gorgeous lace kick flare dress by Nicki Flynn from Caroline Jane Couture.

“The dress immediately stood out to me as being really unique. I loved the vintage effect achieved by the cobweb lace, and the embroidered detail, not to mention the halter neck. I was also really taken by the wool ivory colour, and the amazing train.”

“Pretty much everything about it grabbed my attention. The silvery hue of my dress was the inspiration for the silver/ivory colour theme and initiated the desire to achieve an understated sense of glamour.”

“I wore Miss Dior Cherie perfume. It was the first gift Alex ever bought for me, and it’s been my chosen ‘occasion’ perfume ever since.”

Lydia’s bridesmaids are wearing one of my favourite colours, a stunning silvery ice blue. Their Coast dresses are accessorised with a few sprigs of gypsophila in their hair and delicate silver jewellery from Amazon.

“A family friend, Fiona, does flower arranging for a hobby. She was kind enough to take on our wedding, and with the help of a couple of friends, did an expert job. I wanted a really leafy waterfall bouquet. I opted for lots of eucalyptus due to the silvery shimmer of the leaves, and one of my favourite features was the blue thistle, which tied in with the blue of the groomsmen’s cravats, and added a splash of colour. The ivory roses and gypsophila softened the overall look.”

“We met several years ago at church.  Alex always struck me as the nicest of guys, so I couldn’t say no when he asked me out in 2012. He proposed two years later in the Lake District.”

Lydia walked down the aisle with her father to ‘Only Hope’ from the film ‘A Walk to Remember’ and the couple said traditional Christian vows.

“We are both Christians and our faith is of fundamental importance in every aspect of our lives. We wanted a wedding, and pray for a marriage, which is honouring to God and I like to think that came across to everyone there.”

“We chose Colossians 3 v 12-19 as our reading for the ceremony. These verses focus on the theme of holy, chosen and loved, essential to the character of marriage and in appreciating what it means to be in relationship with God.”

“We got our rings at Webley Jewellery in Hatton Garden. Alex saw a rose gold, halo cut diamond engagement ring here, and the store helped him to design a similar ring in yellow gold, to match the rest of my jewellery. They also gave us a great deal on the wedding rings.”

“Our favourite part of the day was walking back down the aisle as a married couple.”

“The groom continued with the blue tones in a navy blue slim fit suit from Austin Reed with a derby silver waistcoat and dusky blue cravat.”

Lydia and Alex chose the wonderful Ruth Atkinson Photography to capture their beautiful wedding day.

“Ruth was recommended to us by a friend when we were in the early stages of planning. On seeing her photos, I fell completely in love with the reportage/documentary style of her images. She stood out from other photographers with the same style, as despite the natural and unobtrusive nature of her images, she manages to capture really unique and special moments. She was utterly lovely to work with.”

The couple gave a selection of 20 jams, chutneys and sauces with personalised labels from Suzie’s Preserves as favours so everyone got a different flavour to those on their table.

“We had silver bullet vases on every table, silver and ivory lace bunting and wicker hanging hearts in the marquee and trees, lanterns, and mirrors everywhere. The garden itself has mirrors dotted throughout, so we had place settings and table numbers framed by and written on mirrors to match.”

“Val Grant is an independent wedding cake supplier, and a close family friend. The four tier cake was made with ivory icing and dusted with a silver, pearlised shimmer, lace detail around the tiers and a silver bow.”

“We had a dance mash up, choreographed by my sister, Abigail. She has her own business providing fitness and dance services (including first dances) so we wanted to make the most of her talent! A lot of guests said it was their favourite part of the day, and it really encouraged everyone else to join in with the group dancing that followed.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“A lot of the day is a blur (albeit a happy blur!) so I wish I had consciously tried to take a step back every now and then, from the action, and taken it all in a bit more. In retrospect, I would have spent less time being indecisive, especially on the more trivial matters. I realised quite late in the day that it’s almost always best to go with the immediate gut instinct, otherwise, it leaves too much time for doubts and other opinions to enter and confuse things.”

Our gratitude to the lovely Lydia and Alex for sharing this beautiful day with us, and to wonderful Ruth Atkinson for these joyful images.

Love Caoimhe xx