Lillian West Lace and Blush Pink For the Rainy Day Wedding of University Sweethearts

‘It’s like rain on your wedding day..’ (as the Alanis Morissette song goes), and the very thought might leave you worried for you own day, if you’re in the midst of planning – checking forecasts and that weather app on your phone over and over!

Well, let this absolutely gorgeous spring wedding help you to realise that even rain can’t dampen joyful spirits, and that wet weather sometimes also leads to the most stunning and memorable of images, too.

Communications Executive Sophie and Tom, a teacher, were married on Easter Sunday – 1st April 2018 at Dartington Hall in Devon, a place that held exceptional significance for them both for a lovely variety of reasons.

Images by Clare Kinchin Photography

Sophie’s wedding gown is a lace-lover’s dream, with a soft blush under-dress, long, tapered sleeves and a row of elegant buttons running down the back. The dress was by Lillian West by Justin Alexander, which Sophie purchased from Bea’s Bridal Studio in Harbury.“I wanted something very relaxed and fun that wouldn’t make me feel like a pretty little doll who couldn’t move! I absolutely loved the dress the second I put it on, the beautiful sleeves and the unique style just felt like ‘me’.”

The couple took their inspiration from the lovely setting of Dartington Hall, and their very special connection to it, planning a laid back day incorporating lots of beautiful flowers into the decor.

Totnes-based Dutch Quality Flowers created a wonderful bouquet for Sophie in shades of lilac and blush pink, with thistles, anemones, roses and delicate waxflowers.

“They did a really incredible job with the flowers we were so impressed!”

For accessories, Sophie chose a simple and pretty necklace and earrings set with a sweet pearl flower design by Sophie Oliver Jewellery, and on her feet, ivory brocade shoes from Ruby Shoo.

“Lucy, my bridesmaid and make-up artist had chosen me a Dior perfume specifically for the day, but we got in a muddle as we were leaving and her bag had been packed in another car and already gone to the venue so I had to put on the only thing left in another of my bridesmaids, Nat’s, handbag! Luckily, she has exceptionally good taste and had Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir.”

With make-up courtesy of bridesmaid Lucy, Sophie’s hair was pinned into a chic, side-swept and braided style by Emily from E-Hair Designs, and adorned with a charming hair vine by Amanda Wyatt.

The bridesmaids each wore white camisole tops and dusky pink hued shoes from New Look paired with romantic tulle skirts from Boohoo. As gifts, Sophie commissioned necklaces made of sparkling rose druzy, including each bridesmaid’s initials and matching earrings from Etsy (seller details unavailable). In their hair, they wore beautiful dried flower combs from the Artisan Dried Flower Co.

Sophie’s mum and sister booked a vintage car as wedding transport, but the car actually broke down a mile away from the venue!

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“A wedding car was an expense I decided we would have to forego, however my mum and sister booked me a beautiful vintage car as a surprise. The best bit was that we arrived to the ceremony about 15 minutes early, so I asked the driver to drive around Dartington…and then about 1 mile away from the ceremony with five minutes to go, the car broke down! I had to hitch a ride with a very lovely lady who was taking her daughter to Dartington cinema. Luckily, I got there just in time!”

“Tom and I met as students at Dartington College of Arts, which used to be on the Dartington Hall Estate (the campus has since moved to Falmouth University) in 2010. We became boyfriend and girlfriend there in 2010 (he asked me in the Rat and Emu pub which used to be on the campus!) and he asked me to marry him at the top of the Tiltyard in Dartington Gardens in 2017.”

“We always knew we’d get married there and actually booked the wedding the day after we got engaged!”

Groom Tom wore a smart, herringbone pattern suit in light grey from ASOS, with a pale pink skinny knitted tie and sweet buttonhole from the Artisan Dried Flower Co.

“We met as students; we were at a very small arts university with only 500 students so we all knew each other, but I had ‘liked’ Tom from afar since starting university that year. He was in the year above me and was friends with one of my best friends who helped us get together! We’ve stayed together ever since. Our university campus moved to Falmouth in Cornwall and we both moved there.”

“I went to New York for university in my third year for 4 months and then we moved into a cottage in Penryn, Cornwall, for 6 months until I graduated in 2012. We then moved to Stratford-upon-Avon, near to where I’m from, and lived there for 3 years before buying our first home together in 2015 in the Cotswolds, where we live now.”

“Tom proposed last year in Dartington Gardens when we went away for the weekend for our 7-year anniversary at Dartington Hall. We had some champagne after at the White Hart and then asked to see the wedding co-ordinator the next morning and booked our wedding!”

“Our families were slightly surprised when we came home from the weekend not only engaged but also with a wedding booked just 10 months away. We always wanted to do it quickly – Tom wanted to do it that summer (we got engaged on 20th May, but they didn’t have any dates (which was good, as we also had no money!).”

Making it just in the nick of time, Sophie was accompanied down the aisle by her dad, to the song Perpetuum Mobile by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

“This was a song Tom loved at university and would often play it to me at Dartington when we first met. It’s such a beautiful and special song and seemed to really fit the feel of the day.”

Natasha read the first reading, I Carry Your Heart With Me by E.E Cummings – a favourite poem of Sophie’s.

“Our friend Alex read an extract from The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman – it’s such a beautiful reading but also perfect for us as it talks all about atoms and the sky (Tom is a science teacher and loves astronomy).”

For their third and final reading, Tom’s mum Jill read Robert Fulghum’s All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.

“Which was lovely and talks about being kind, and holding hands – something Tom’s parents never fail to do! She also read some of her own words which brought us all to tears! This is some of it:”

“In your lives together: be happy, laugh together and share magical moments. But don’t let them get lost. Capture them and keep them safe as treasured memories. Be honest, thoughtful and kind to each other. Know when to leave space and when to hug. Take time in your busy lives to really see each other; see the smiles, the laughter, the sadness, the anger, the frustration – but always see the love. Be interested in each other. Listen. Respect. Admire. And be proud of each other.”

Along with their vows, Sophie and Tom exchanged rings, with Tom opting for a brushed titanium band from Camilla Jones.

“I had to have mine custom-made as my engagement ring is my gran’s from the 1920s and wouldn’t sit flat with a normal ring. The staff at Camilla Jones were incredible – we went in with not the biggest budget and told them what we liked and they designed my ring for us.”

“It is yellow gold, to match my engagement ring, and curved to sit flat with the engagement ring. It is a mix of normal and cinnamon diamonds, which perfectly complement the older style of my engagement ring.”

“Walking out of the ceremony room (with Everlasting Light by the Black Keys playing in the background) and looking at Tom and it finally being the two of us was pretty special – we just looked at each other and went ‘We’re married!’ laughing.”

All the joy and laughter was captured with ease and style by photographer Clare Kinchin, and Sophie is full of praise for Clare’s approach and creativity, not to mention how she took the challenge of the wet weather all in her stride.

“From the moment Clare arrived (early!) at the house we were staying at to get ready, we all immediately felt at ease and I knew we had chosen the right photographer. Looking at the photographs from the morning, it’s incredible that she managed to capture so many tiny moments and details, as we were barely aware of her there. There were no awkward moments where you felt like you were being posed for a photo, it was just as we would have been on our own, but now with lovely memories.”

“It poured on our wedding day – from the moment I stepped out of the car at 2pm for the ceremony right until the early hours of the morning! But, this didn’t stop Clare from trekking through the mud, wind, and rain around Dartington gardens to take us to where we got engaged (the top of the Tiltyard) to get the shots that we really wanted.”

“We had so much fun on our couples shoot, despite the very cold and wet weather and amazingly, you can’t tell at all from our photos what a miserable day it was. I have no idea how Clare has managed that.”

“Clare also managed to get all of our guests out into the pouring rain in the evening to arrange a sparkler procession for us, the photos of which are incredible. Clare stayed late specially to do this for us and we’re so grateful that she did and managed to get a photo of pretty much every single person who came to the evening as well as the day (which is not an easy task!).”

“The photos are so much better than we could have ever imagined; all these tiny moments that you didn’t even remember are captured on film and when you look back at the photos, you don’t just think ‘wow we look lovely’ but you remember exactly how you felt when it was all happening. To be able to capture that sort of emotion is a true talent.We’ll cherish Clare’s photos forever and we’re so incredibly grateful for the fantastic job she’s done.”

Tom had designed the initial logo for the couple’s invitations, which was then projected onto a wall in the Great Hall at Dartington.

“His dad then took that design and turned it into our invites and also made beautiful handmade letter pressed envelopes with a lavender imprint and a hand-cut letter pressed leaf to seal the envelopes (with the help of Tom’s mum, Jill). That design was also used on our favour tags and menus, which was kindly done for me by my designers at work, Stich Creative.”

The Great Hall is a spectacular, soaring space filled with light, just wonderful for a relaxed reception. Across the long dining table, a 20 foot long greenery garland was placed, made by Dutch Quality Flowers, and on all the tables there were terracotta planters filled with pansies and trailing ivy. Blush pink and lilac fabrics were draped from the chairs, and the couple bought lots of items (like silk ivy) from Hobbycraft and eBay, as well as adding vases of fresh-cut flowers.

“My mum made and painted our incredible photobooth and signs, with the lettering done by Tom. We made loads of the decor ourselves… Lots of fairy lights too! We used Rustic Love to dress the tables with beautiful runners, candle sticks, frames, lighting and their 3 feet rustic LOVE letters.”

As it was Easter Sunday, favours were jars filled with mini-eggs placed on green paper (to look like grass!).

Following the lovely meal laid on by the Dartington Hall team, there were speeches – a favourite and emotional part of the day for Sophie.

“The speeches were amazing: my sister, Rosie, my dad, Tom’s brother Dan, and Tom all made me cry with their beautiful words… I always wanted to do a speech at my wedding, as I don’t like the idea of all the men speaking whilst the bride sits in silence! My sister also wanted to say something, and wrote a lovely speech, which made us all cry.”

“A few days before the wedding, despite being adamant I was going to give a speech, I couldn’t think of anything to say! I had written something for Tom months before that I never planned on reading to anyone out loud, but in the end decided it was the only thing that would do. It’s quite soppy which is rare for me, but it summed up what I wanted to say.”

“Know that some days, there’ll be no romance.
You’ll be tired and I’ll be tired and life will just go on like that, sometimes.
We’ll argue about the dishes, the shopping, the cat
Because that is life.
But always know that I’ll love you.
Even when the bins need taking out, and the washing has piled up, even then I promise to love you the same.
Know that I’ll love you even when you haven’t had your hair cut for weeks
And your funny double crown is sticking up,
When you’re moody and boring and can tell me nothing
Apart from how bad your day has been. I’ll love you then as I love you
now,
When everything is perfect, on the day that we are supposed to love
each other
More than ever, know that I love you the same now
As when you forgot to buy any food and we had nothing.”

Claire’s Sweet Temptations pulled out all the stops with a semi-naked three-tier cake, with one layer gluten free, surrounded by lilac macarons.

For their first dance, Sophie and Tom chose These Arms of Mine by Otis Reading, and there was live music from The Achievers.

“They are local to us in Gloucestershire and I booked them for a work’s party and they turned out to be incredible! They were absolutely brilliant; so much fun, they play vintage dance music. Steve, the lead singer, just has the most incredible voice and stage presence.”

“And, they even let me sing a song with them as a surprise for Tom! We did one secret rehearsal and then I got up on stage in the evening of the wedding and sang one of Tom’s favourite songs, ‘Call Me Al’ by Paul Simon. It was a surprise to everyone except my mum and seeing everyone’s faces was amazing – especially my dad who loves seeing me perform!”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Don’t get hung up on everything being perfect – you don’t need to spend thousands of pounds on everything! Choose what parts are the most important to you, and spend on those.”

“Also, everyone will tell you that you must ‘love’ the planning, which I think puts so much pressure on people. I didn’t really enjoy the planning: you get into this weird place where suddenly people start judging how in love you are based on how much you care about the colour of chair covers – these things have nothing to do with each other.”

“Remember, it’s about the two of you getting married, not how beautiful your flowers are, or how perfect you look. Just be happy with each other, and ignore the rest.”

“The only thing I’d have done differently is not stress so much in the run up! I’ve never been a ‘wedding’ person, never dreamed of my ‘perfect day’ but still the stress got to me and I wish I’d been able to ignore it. But on the day, everything was pretty much perfect.”

“We thought we’d try and do it for £8k and then quickly realised  it wouldn’t be enough, so upped it to £10k. I think we  spent more like £11k in total (though some bits were paid for as gifts like our cake, the wedding car, odd bits and pieces for decorations – so in reality I’d guess the wedding as a whole cost more like £12k). We were very aware of our budget the whole time – we had a spreadsheet and did as much as we could ourselves (decor, invites, etc).”

“My niece did the bridesmaids hair as she is a trainee hairdresser and she did the most fantastic job! My best friend also happens to be a make up artist which is very lucky, so she did my make up. My dress I was very lucky to be the only person to try it on and Bea’s Bridal let me buy it off the rack as it was my size, so I got it at a bit of a bargain too.”

Sophie, what brilliant  words of wisdom! Congratulations and many thanks to you and Tom. Thanks also go to Clare Kinchin for her rain-drenched but totally magical images. You can view more gorgeous rainy day weddings on Love My Dress right here.

Until next time!

With love,

Laura