Good evening lovelies, have you had a chance to visit the super cool London wedding we published this morning yet, because it’s wonderful! And have you spotted that we launched a new competition today?
Charlotte and Dan, who both work in the travel industry, tied the knot on 20th July 2017 at Preston Court in Canterbury. Their wedding was full of pretty pastel shades and we were thrilled to discover that Charlotte found Love My Dress and our directory Little Book For Brides so helpful – better still, that she got to discover her elegant bridesmaids gowns by Rewritten through our Little Book!
“I decided to plan the wedding myself with the help of Instagram, blogs i.e Love My Dress and Pinterest. Love My Dress was a site I constantly kept looking back at for ideas and inspiration of previous brides. I also found my bridesmaid’s dresses by Rewritten, through the Little Book For Brides, directory. To begin with, we decided on a colour scheme; shades of grey, green and nude. Preston Court was also a massive inspiration, I wanted the wedding to complement the venue and its surroundings.”
Photography by Joe and Charlotte
“Our photographers, Joe and Charlotte, were already friends of ours so there was no question who our photographers should be. They were so comfortable to be around and in front of the camera for and were so hard-working on the day, personally I think the images speak for themselves.”“My dress was called Perth – Willow by Watters. I purchased it from a local independent shop in Leigh-on-Sea called Blush. Out of ten dresses I tried on, of all different styles, it was the first dress I chose. I loved the fit and how comfortable I felt whilst wearing it.”
Have you chosen your wedding perfume yet? We have a fascinating piece on how to choose your wedding day perfume here on Love My Dress by the way – well worth a read.
“The bridesmaid’s dresses were from Rewritten. I wanted my bridesmaids to wear different dresses, and these were perfect. I loved the shade of grey, the fabric of the dresses moved effortlessly and were so comfortable. The bridesmaid’s shoes were also Steve Madden. They were the same style but in silver and with a lower heel.”
“My shoes were Steve Madden bought from ASOS. They were my ‘Something Blue’, I loved the style of shoe and the shade of blue.”
“Our florist was Grace & Thorn. The brief we provided was for our flowers to look wild, as though I picked them from a field.”
“Our florists also made my flower crown from delicate fresh flowers.”
“Dan and I met at school through mutual friends 11 years ago. We got engaged on our 10 year anniversary at the Town Hall Hotel in London and got married 16 months after our engagement.”
“We chose Preston Court as our venue because of its scenery, style and layout. We also had the flexibility to choose most of our own suppliers and of course, the carousel won us over.”
“During the day a friend of ours, Molly Christian played the acoustic guitar whilst I walked across the bridge and during our drinks reception. She also played a 15 minute set of the piano at the beginning of our wedding breakfast, whilst the guests were finding their seats.”
“My dad walked me down the aisle (over the bridge) to the sound of Molly played Jack Johnson – Better Together on acoustic guitar.”
“We had bespoke wedding bands made by Clarice Price Thomas. I found Clarice on Instagram and instantly fell in-love with the attention to detail in her previous work.”
“Dan wore a suit from the Ben Sherman Outlet at Debenhams. His tie was also Ben Sherman, he wore it with a tie pin I purchased as a present from J. Crew. His shoes were from Reiss.”
“The best man, groomsmen and both fathers were in the same suit as Dan but only as the 2-piece.”
“Our wedding breakfast was a bespoke Italian menu therefore we chose mini limoncello bottles as our favours. I sourced the mini bottles from EBay and the limoncello from a supermarket. Then had tags designed by Charlotte which I tied around the bottles with embroidery thread, the same colour as our napkins.”
“The couple hired two catering suppliers; Scott Anderson ltd. provided the canapés and wedding breakfast, whilst in the evening, the crepe van was supplied by The French Revolution.”
“Our venue was already well decorated with festoon lighting and bunting so I didn’t need to do much. I decided to make my own napkins from a grey linen fabric which took many evenings sitting in front of the sewing machine but was worth it. We also put together a DIY photo booth. I had a polaroid camera and we set up some twine with mini pegs, on the table with our guest book.”
“Charlotte, our photographer, was also our stationery designer. Without the help from Charlotte and her skills my wedding wouldn’t have been what it was. She helped me design everything from beginning to end; the save our date cards, invitations, place cards, menus, order of the day cards, welcome signage, table plan, tags for the favours and even thank you cards.”
“My maid of honour even contacted Charlotte and she designed my L Plate and other bits for the Hen do, so it would all match to the wedding stationery. Charlotte was my main contact through the whole planning process and I’m so pleased with the outcome.”
“Our cake was a wedding present from Dan’s aunt. We chose a lemon naked cake with buttercream and asked our florist for some extra flowers to decorate it with.”
“Our evening band Big Jacket was local to us, who very kindly accepted to travel to the venue. They were amazing and went down really well with our guests.”
“We chose Ben Howard’s ‘Old Pine’ for our first dane. We both really like the song and felt the lyrics had meaning. Our band agreed to play it for us which fitted their style of music really well.”
“It’s hard to choose a favourite part of the day – but it was probably the band playing in the evening, with our meal as a close second.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“For me, it’ll be to enjoy every moment of the planning process, it was all over too quickly and I didn’t know what to do with myself afterwards.
We didn’t have an exact figure when it came to budget and overall spend. We were realistic so we knew roughly what things would cost and we set a budget to what we would spend on each element.”
“I would probably have liked to be able to spend more time together just the two of us, to enjoy the moment and take everything in.
Also, I love the Love My Dress website design, probably the most useful part was the Little Book For Brides directory where I could find suppliers.”
Credits & Thanks
- Photographer - Joe and Charlotte
- Officiant - A Kentish Ceremony
- Venue - Preston Court in Canterbury
- Wedding Dress - Perth - Willow by Watters
- Shoes - ASOS
- Groom - Ben Sherman Outlet at Debenhams
- Bridesmaids - Rewritten + Steve Madden shoes
- Florist - Grace & Thorn
- Cake - Family member
- Transport - VW Beetle – Belle and VW Camper van – Marty from VW Brides
- Entertainment - Molly Christian
- Catering -The French Revolution + Scott Anderson ltd
- Stationery - Charlotte of Joe and Charlotte
- Hair and make-up Artist - Spence and Oliver
Charlotte and Dan’s wedding was absolutely beautiful from start to finish. Preston Court was the most amazing place for the feeling of an outdoor wedding. The barn was stunning. Everything that Charlotte and Dan chose were personal to them . The photos tell a wonderful story of the day ❤️