A Bespoke Gown For A Friends And Family Focused Day At An English Country House

Happy Friday ladies! I do hope your weekend includes lots of lovely plans. I know I’m hoping to take this one easy, spend time with friends and family and enjoy the last months of summer.

And speaking of friends and family, today’s couple had theirs fly in from all over the world to join them on their special day, so it must have been one heck of a day to fly across the world for! So, without further ado, let’s find out. Financial researcher Wanda and researcher Henry said their I Do’s on 5th May 2018 at the Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, followed by a reception at the grade I listed, 17th-Century country house Anstey Hall.

“Our biggest and overriding ‘thing’ for our wedding day was for it to be about family. We wanted a day where we could be with all our family, both the ones we were born into and the ones we have chosen (including our friends who have stood as family for us, one way or another). We tried to make it easy for everyone and we tried to make sure we had something for the kids, for example the ponies and little loot bags. Between all the parents, uncles, aunties and grandparents, I’m happy to say all of the kids seemed to have a blast!”

Images by Nicola Casey

Our bride really brought the wow-factor with a custom-made sleeveless gown design and made by Rae Sims of Ashley Sims, complete with a tulle cape to accessorise with.

“I really wanted something by Galia Lahav or Berta originally, but the prices were quite steep! Rae came to my rescue and made me something in the style of those gowns that I really love. It’s still hanging in my bedroom to this day – I can’t bear to pack it up! I really like that I got to pick the exact lace too, and Rae was open to all the modifications I had in mind. She even made me a tulle cape which I wore instead of a veil. The only real downer in the whole thing was that I managed to gain 7lbs between my final fitting and the wedding day! It still fit though, thankfully!”“I really really love the floral lace and the beading on the dress. I also loved that it looked a tiny bit vintage but with a modern edge. I wanted a soft A-line that would be easy to wear with some kind of intricate lace detail, and yet still be flattering. I’m happy to say I got all that and more. That the dress was a subtle corset style too just sealed the deal! It’s also very light, which made it quite comfortable on what was an unseasonably hot day. However the best part of it was that it was made for me and one of a kind! I had a hand in how it looked and it was just perfect – exactly my style.”

Choosing to do her hair and make up herself, the bride was luckily gifted some John Lewis vouchers in the lead up to the day and was able to purchase some new beauty goodies for the day.

“I just had my hair blow dried in loose waves at my corner salon and did my make up myself. Instead of opting for a make up artist, I just used the vouchers to buy make up. I used a lot of Charlotte Tilbury on my face (foundation, lip plumper and lipstick and Hollywood filter), as well as Hourglass (powder and highlighter), The Balm (highlighter and bronzer for contour), Chanel (loose powder) and Mac (eyeliner). I also used an old tube of Rimmel for mascara and Benefit’s Mariorette for blush.”

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“I wore hair vines which my mum brought over with her from the Philippines, a pair of diamond earrings which were an heirloom lent to me by my grandmother and brass bangles also from the Philippines, made by the T’boli tribe. I chose Issey Miyake L’Eau D’Issey as my scent. It was a gift from my in-laws and I loved the floral scent. It was also quite light which was great as heavy fragrances make me dizzy.”

“We chose the venue because we wanted something close to our new home – we had just moved from New York the year before. Anstey Hall was amazingly quirky and stately, but in a comfortable and relaxed way, and we loved it. We loved the vibe we got from it so much that we actually booked it before we’d even had chance to take a look at it as we were still in the US at the time.”

“When we finally saw it, we weren’t disappointed. The rooms were such a homey mix of old school charm with its Venetian chandeliers and four-poster beds, and modern humour (they had a foozball table in the basement lavatory!).”

“However it still felt organic somehow and not at all forcibly arty or overly curated.”

After first meeting in a bar in New York, Wanda quickly became pregnant with their first child before the couple decided to get engaged.

“Henry had actually messaged me a year before we first met in No Name Bar in Brooklyn. Then after dating for a bit, well I got pregnant! We hadn’t planned it but somehow we made it work. After some time, when our son was around 2 years old, we decided to make everything official and get married.“

“It was important to us in a practical way because we were a multinational family and a marriage certificate would let us live together whichever country we ended up in. My parents told me they were going to throw us a big engagement party in the Philippines where I’m originally from. A few months before the party though, we decided to elope at the city hall in Manhattan with only two of our  friends as witnesses. A little over a year and a half after that, we had our proper wedding in England.”

“We were also quite DIY with the day. This being our third wedding-related affair, I still wanted something beautiful, but I was also wary about over-complicating things. I did all the stationery design myself. My girls set up the venue and arranged all the flowers. My father-in-law played the organ for the ceremony, and my sister sang during the interlude. One of my best friends and bridesmaid did my hair. And in keeping with the family theme, we also tried to get suppliers that were small, local and/or family run.”

“We also tried to honour both our cultural traditions whilst still staying true to who we were as a couple. We’re not religious but we are both academically inclined in our own ways, so marrying in the college was perfect. We walked down the aisle together, hand in hand, because we recognise both our partnership and independence. We included Filipino touches within the Anglican ceremony with the candle, cord and veil, asking our parents and siblings to stand for our communities. The candle represented lighting our path, the cord to tie us together forever and the veil was a symbol of us being clothed as one.”

“Finally, I really wanted something elegant yet relaxed, and something that would take advantage of the English spring, and to me, that meant flowers! All our stationery included a flower motif and so did my dress, which was a floral lace. Fortunately Anstey Hall had a really nice lawn and we were in time for the wisteria climbing up the house which was perfect.”

 

“For the ceremony we went for a classic college wedding. Corpus Christi’s chapel is historic and beautiful (the organ in particular is amazing) and Henry is a praeceptor and fellow there, so we were lucky enough to be allowed to be wed there.”

“On a more personal level, since we had just moved from another country, having the wedding in our new town felt like a great way for us to put roots down. Although Henry is British, he’s never actually lived in Cambridge so this felt like a good way to really embrace this new chapter in our lives together. Both of us were newcomers and ready to explore our new community.”

“On a practical level, we knew we would have guests flying in from all over the world (Denmark, the Philippines, Singapore, Chicago and New York to name just a few!), so we wanted our venue to be accessible and close to places of interest. London was out of the questions but Cambridge, especially since we had governing body approval to marry at the college, was perfect.”

“It was nicely tourist-friendly but still also retained a lot of tradition and it was within easy access of London and the airports, so we knew people would be able to enjoy their time without too much stress. We also liked that Anstey Hall was an exclusive venue and they had a good number of rooms available!”

“All of my bridesmaids wore their own shoes and chose their own outfits, although the majority of the dresses were from ASOS. I just told the girls to pick something pink and long. My bridesman wore a black suit.”

The classic bridal march, played by Henry’s father, welcomed the couple into the college chapel before a service held by the chaplain of Corpus Christi College, Rev Andrew Biggs. The bride and groom chose the traditional Anglican vows for a blessing and a reading from the Bible; 1 Corinthians 13. The rings they wore were the ones they bought for the original elopement in Brooklyn.

The groom looked fabulous in a three-piece navy and grey Moss Bros Morning suit which he left to the last-minute much to Wanda’s stress.

“This was a tiny stress point for me, I must confess. My groom kept on putting off getting his suit because he wanted to shave a few pounds off before he committed. I went along with this because I thought hey, if worst comes to worst, he can just put on one of his many old suits that were hanging in the closet.”

“Until it was the week before, and he still didn’t have anything to wear and I felt absolutely certain that nothing he currently owned would be right. Thank god for Moss Bros who were able to get a morning suit together in just a few days. He picked it up right before the wedding!”

Instead of a florist, Wanda ordered her beautifully colourful flowers for the bouquets and arrangements herself online via Triangle Nursery, before enlisting friends and family to help with putting everything together.

“I ordered peonies, ranunculus, garden roses, anemones and other fillers from Triangle Nursery who are an amazing online wholesaler. My sisters and friends then arranged them in vases and goblets I sourced from various places including thrift stores and eBay.”

The classic bridal march, played by Henry’s father, welcomed the couple into the college chapel before a service held by the chaplain of Corpus Christi College, Rev Andrew Biggs. The bride and groom chose the traditional Anglican vows for a blessing and a reading from the Bible; 1 Corinthians 13. The rings they wore were the ones they bought for the original elopement in Brooklyn.

Following the ceremony, the couple hopped in a vintage 1920 Tourer hired from Vintage Wedding Cars Cambridge, whilst guests travelled to the reception venue in a double-decker wedding coach from Richmond’s Coaches.

On arrival guests were greeted with canapes, drinks and oversized lawn games whilst the children were surprised with ponies draped in gorgeous blooms from the Bedfordshire Party Pony Hire.

The marquee was decorated by the couple themselves with duck egg blue damask tablecloths covering each of their round dining tables and hired from 88 Events. Wanda kept the rest of the decor quite simple, letting the already gorgeous surroundings and history of the venue do all the talking.

The wedding breakfast was served in a marquee and catering provided by Greens Catering.

“We chose to have three courses of sharing platters. It was so great and so family friendly too. Greens Catering also served five different canapes with the pre dinner drinks.”

“Our favours were 100 gram packages of single source Philippine coffee, roasted in London and bought from Muni Coffee.”

On hand to capture the day in all it’s glory was Cambridgeshire-based photographer Nicola Casey, who specialises in natural, creative and reportage-style photography.

“Nicola was super patient with me on the day. She was also super unobtrusive!”

 

“My favourite part of the whole day would have to be at the drinks reception, where we were just so happy to have everyone around us, mingling and talking. The kids were loving the ponies, everyone was catching up with everyone and drinks and nibbles were flowing. It was a lovely, relaxed and beautiful time.”

“It was also quite hot so we decided not to do the picnic blankets on the lawn as planned, thinking most people would opt to stay either inside the house or in the shade. On reflection however, I think we should have stuck them out anyway, even if they ended up being unused. I also wish I had stuck to my original plan of having our son walk down the aisle with us, but 4 year olds are just so unpredictable!”

Words Of Wedded Wisdom

“Plan as much as you can in the months before the wedding but on the day itself, don’t sweat the small stuff, just have fun! I mean listen, people might notice your missing napkins or that you forgot to put your necklace on but it won’t matter in the end, as long as the bride is smiling and laughing and generally having a ball! If you have fun, most other people will too and that’s the most important part, right?”

“Also, if you don’t have a coordinator, then delegate one dear and responsible friend to handle the organisation of the day. Come up with not just a ‘day of the wedding’ schedule, but also a schedule of the three days in the run up to it; when the cake is arriving, what time the suppliers are arriving etc. That way, you or your delegate will always be on top of things! Our venue had an on the day coordinator who was great about making sure our suppliers were where they were supposed to be.”

A big thank you to the bride and groom Henry and Wanda for sharing their very special day with us. What a wonderful way to celebrate with family and friends from all over the world, and show them a little bit of British hospitality. A big thank you also goes to Nicola Case for her exceptional photography skills, capturing moments the bride and groom I’m sure will treasure forever.

Until next time…

Holly x