A Chic Pronovias Gown for a Black Tie and Botanical Inspired Hampton Court House Wedding

Hello lovelies, I hope you enjoyed your 4-day weekend and that if you’re back to work today, it isn’t with too much of a thud.

Incase you missed it, I posted a feature yesterday which includes many of the gorgeous dress designs I saw when I visited London last week for Bridal Fashion Week – brides marrying in 2019 may like to take a peek at this – these are the gowns that will be making their way to the bridal boutiques over the coming weeks and months.

This afternoon’s wedding was sent in by Christian and Annie of Olliver Photography, who we absolutely love supporting. Olliver Photography shared a really useful and informative post full of wedding photography tips and advice – bookmark and read it later if you haven’t already. The Olliver’s were hired by bride Jennifer and her beau Tom to capture their September wedding at the beautiful Hampton Court House wedding last year. Jennifer grew up in Surrey and used to visit Hampton Court Palace on weekends with her family.

“Our photographer was Christian of Olliver Photography. Christian is great, funny and loves natural photographs. This comes across in his snaps! The composition of the photos never felt awkward and we had a great time shooting them. We knew Christian as he photographed Tom’s best friend’s wedding and her images were amazing. The best thing I can say about Christian is he gets the shots without ever being intrusive. He was a very welcome member of the wedding party.”

Images by Olliver Photography

“We wanted the wedding to be relaxed but glamorous, in an old-fashioned sense. The venue was so beautiful and so did not need much embellishment, just complimentary decorations. Tom and I loved the idea of copper geometric accents against green and white botanicals, with lots of texture. All very fresh, gently modern and striking. My wedding dress and bouquet followed the same theme which developed as we went along.”

The couple met nine years ago through friends.

“We bought a house in southeast London in September 2015 and Tom proposed in February 2016! He was cheeky and used my 30th birthday present to him – a trip to Rome – to propose to me! We then had a leisurely year and a half to plan the wedding although at the end time goes extremely fast.”

“I did my makeup myself – I am very particular about my eye makeup, particularly mascara (I like lashings of it) and so did a few trials so I could pick up tips. It also means you get to keep all the products afterwards! My hair was done by my usual hairdresser who is just fabulous.”

“On the day I wore my favourite Jo Malone perfume. It’s a strong, sexy scent that I am very comfortable with.”

Jennifer’s chic and beautifully fitting gown was a purchase from the Pronovias flagship store on Bond Street.

“It’s strange, I had in mind that I wanted a fitted dress and a very low back and not overly fussy, but could not picture the exact dress in my head. I visited a few, great boutiques before we got to Pronovias. I am half Spanish so my mama was keen for me to visit the store and I (obviously) am so glad I did.”

“I had a lot of fun trying on different styles but kept going back to the dress I eventually wore on my wedding day. I felt I was wearing the dress, the dress was not wearing me which sounds strange but it must feel right. It made me feel sexy, and it felt like me.”

“I chose some gorgeous silver T-bar heels from Rachel Simpson, but also bought some soft leather vintage looking white pumps with detachable art deco diamante shoe clips in case I wanted to wear flats. In the end I chose the pumps and kept the heels to wear on another special occasion. I also bought a simple silver necklace with a diamante stone and some simple art deco style diamante drop earrings. My bracelet was a gorgeous silver bangle I bought in Peru a few years ago returning from a work trip.”

“We had Simon Grand playing the piano during the ceremony and drinks reception, Jam Experiment playing jazz on stage during the wedding breakfast and Paul Budd as DJ for the evening. Tom and I love our music and the day was absolutely full of it! Utter heaven.”

The groom wore a Jaeger tuxedo with Dune shoes, whist his groomsmen wore Moss Bros tuxedos. Tom gave personalised silver cufflinks to each of the groomsmen.

“My bridesmaids wore dresses from ASOS. My two best friends, Kara and Zoe, were my bridesmaids. Kara was eight and half months pregnant on my wedding day and so ASOS maternity was a brilliant option. I wanted them in similar dresses but slightly different.”

Jennifer’s Papa accompanied her down the aisle to a piano instrumental of George Gershwin’s ‘The Man I Love’.

“Tom and I had civil ceremony with a registrar with a great, dry sense of humour. He made the ceremony so fun while very emotional.”

“We went through the vows and kept the ones we liked and meant something to us. Nothing mushy or cheesy. Exchanging our vows was a real highlight of our day. I loved saying those words in front of the people we love. The sun shining while we were outside for the wedding reception was also special.”

“We also had three readings during the ceremony read by our three good friends. They included ‘The Road Not Taken’, by Robert Frost. I fell in love with this poem many years ago and it was perfect for our day, ie, ‘There are many paths in life and many people to choose from, but you chose this life and this person’. There is something very satisfying about that notion.”

“Our second reading was ‘I Don’t Believe in Marriage’, by Tina Modotti. This was a funny one and I got my good friend Haj to read it. I never dreamt of weddings as a child or teenager but after a few years together with Tom he brought me round to the idea and I’m so glad he did. It is such a special time. It is truly romantic if you get hitched for the right reasons.”

“Our third and final reading was ‘If I Should Fall Behind’, by Bruce Springsteen – one of Tom’s favourite musicians. This was a no brainer when we came across it. The lyrics are dreamy without being mushy.”

“My wedding band was purchased at the same place as Tom got my engagement ring – Farringdon’s Jewellery Tom’s wedding band was made by my super talented brother’s girlfriend Clare!

“Tom and I snuck away with our photographer Christian into Bushy Park before the wedding breakfast and those photographs are stunning. There is one image of Tom and I in the park with Hampton Court House behind us and we are looking at each other (not smiling but content), Tom, the dress, the sky – it was just perfect.”

“Once we had decided on the venue, I went onto Instagram to see who had flowered the venue – Fairynuff Flowers stood out immediately. We met with Steph and explained our vision which would mean the flowering the venue a bit differently to how it had been done previously.”

“Steph was really helpful and enthusiastic about our ideas and on the day – well the photographs speak for themselves – it was stunning.”

“We ordered many things off Etsy, including our invitations. Special mention must go to Made With Love who produced our menus, table plan, place cards etc in our marble/copper design. They were the perfect finishing touch and brought the theme together. Thanks Clare and Simon!”

“Our florist did a lot to jazz up the venue, but as it’s such a beautiful place it did not need much additional decoration. I did collect copper additional shapes to decorate the conservatory though.”

“Tom and I decided on a botanical theme for our reception. Tom loves cacti and we came up with the idea of giving miniature ones as favours. They were so cute.”

“Acclaim Food regularly do catering at the venue and were suggested to us when we viewed Hampton Court House. To say the food was superb does not do it justice. We had guests coming up to us the whole day saying how good everything was! They do not just do the food, they effectively run the whole day and it was seamless. I cannot recommend them enough.”

“I met Sergei of Pret-a-Cake at a wedding fair in Islington. Tom and I liked the idea of a semi naked cake and we went to visit him at his beautiful house in Kent and tried his lemon and carrot cake options among many! We decided on alternate tiers of the flavours with the cake to be subtly decorated on the day by Steph. The cake looked great!”

“We actually served the cake as dessert so cut it after our starters so it could be plated up.”

“Our first dance was to Louis Armstrong’s ‘A Kiss to Build a Dream On’. I’m smiling as I type this. Tom and I were in the car over a year ago and this song came on and I just smiled and Tom and I knew this would be the perfect first dance. It fit with us and our wedding style. Vintage but fresh. Tom and I actually did not practice dancing to it until the day before the wedding. While family were helping us get our things together to take to the venue, Tom and I stole a moment in our bedroom.

We put one earbud in each other’s ears and played the song through his phone, dancing in front of the mirror. The sun was streaming through the blinds and that moment was pure magic. One of my favourites actually.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Let the day be a reflection of whoever you are. It can be relaxed, it can be glamorous…it can be anything you both want but nothing can prepare you for the magic of the day itself. The small things melt away and in the end it’s just you and your other half, surrounded by the people you love.”

What a beautiful day – our love and thanks to The Ollivers for sharing this beautiful wedding with us today – you can see more from Olliver Photography here on Love My Dress – you might also want to explore our Pronovias features. And for those of you considering a Pronovias gown for your 2019 wedding, keep an eye out on our Instagram feed on Monday 23rd April – we’ll be broadcasting live from the Pronovias catwalk show in Barcelona as they debut their 2019 gowns – exciting!

Love Annabel x