Pronovias Elegance for an Online Dating Love Story

How many of you lovelies have met online? In the past we’ve shared some beautiful love stories from couples who have met in this thoroughly modern way (take a look here) and today it’s such a pleasure to introduce you to Natassja and Conrad.

The couple met on dating app Tinder, and married five years later in the long hot summer of 2018. So, let’s begin. Natassja, a solicitor, and Conrad, an airline pilot, married in their local village church of Holy Trinity, in Cuckfield, West Sussex on 2 June 2018, with a summertime reception afterwards in the grand but relaxed setting of South Lodge Hotel, Horsham. Their day was a true summer celebration, with a classic English countryside theme and a dainty colour palette of blush pink, white and silver. Just divine. The couple met in 2013, and despite an initial attraction resulting in a happy ‘swipe right’, their relationship was slow to get going.

Photography Michelle Cordner Photography

The joyous, light-infused photographs come from photographer Michelle Cordner. She managed to escape into the summer fields for these oh-so romantic couple’s portraits which I just love.

“She was amazing. She made us feel really comfortable and knew exactly what to do to get the best photograph! The photographs look so natural and really capture the atmosphere of the day. I actually cried when I saw them I was so happy. We could not recommend her more.”

The bride’s florist, Flowerbug Designs, was able to source white peonies for these beautiful bouquets. Don’t they look so soft and romantic?

“We went for white and blush pink flowers to go with our colour theme. I love peonies so chose white peonies; our florist said it was touch and go as to whether they would be available at this time of year and luckily they were, combined with pale blush pink sweet avalanche roses and deeper pink Miranda David Austin roses (for the bouquets).”

Can you believe that Natassja’s wedding dress is the first gown that she tried on, in the first shop she visited? It’s the immaculately beautiful ‘Vicenta’ by Pronovias, from The Pantiles Bride in Tunbridge Wells. I love the elegant, pure lines flow of its skirt with the illusion, appliquéed bodice and shoulder detail – so modern and sexy with a timeless vibe that is so special.

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“I saw it in the shop window and instantly fell in love with it. It was exactly what I had pictured wearing; sleek, figure-hugging, classy, delicate lace detail on the bust and a long train. When I tried it on I felt so comfortable in it and it just felt like it was made for me.”

“I tried on about twenty more dresses, including some big princess dresses which my bridesmaids had me try on, but none of them felt like me; I just felt like I was playing dress up. I knew nothing would top that dress. Everyone on the day said it was exactly what they had pictured me in, which I think is a good thing.”

If you’d like to find out more about The Pantiles Bride and the exquisite ranges that they stock, please take a look at our dedicated wedding directory Little Book.

Natassja’s choice of blush pink for the bridesmaids’ gowns is so elegant; they wore floor-length halterneck gowns from Dessy via Fairytale London, worn with their own shoes and a pearl or silver earrings.

“I gifted them silver infinity knot bracelets on the morning of the wedding which they wore.”

The bride’s perfume was the ever-popular Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede.

“I went to Jo Malone and tried several scents and absolutely loved this one, it is subtle, floral and timeless.”

A sheer white, cathedral-length veil looks perfect drifting behind her, and her blonde hair was ornamented with handmade silver and freshwater pearl hair pins from Etsy. For the day, hair stylist Stephanie Dorelli left it cascading around her shoulders in glossy ringlets.

“On the morning of the wedding Conrad gave me a gift of some gorgeous diamond earrings from the same place where he purchased my engagement ring so I wore those. I also wore my mum’s diamond bracelet as my ‘something borrowed’.”

“Our relationship was a slow burner; we saw each other on and off for about six months and then Conrad (eventually) asked me to be his girlfriend in April 2014. We moved into a rented flat in November 2015 and then bought our first house in October 2016.  Conrad booked a surprise trip to Iceland for my 26th birthday present in November 2016. I had absolutely no idea of his plans to propose; in fact he had almost convinced me he never wanted to get married so I really wasn’t expecting it!”

“He had the ring hidden in his hand luggage and it went off at airport security, so he told me to go and do some shopping to make sure I was out of the way. His first plan was to propose in front of the Northern Lights if they made an appearance. We went on a late-night trip out to see them, but they didn’t really appear until we had all got back in the bus. We went on a tour of the Golden Circle the next day and he proposed to me in front of the beautiful Gullfoss waterfall. It’s all a bit of a blur but I just remember being on cloud nine and apparently I kept asking if it was a joke (as I was so shocked) before saying yes!”

Whilst the girls got ready, Conrad and his groomsmen were preparing for the ceremony, donning crisp blue suits from Jack Bunneys paired with patterned waistcoats.

“Conrad gifted his best men and ushers some personalised silver plated cufflinks with their initials on. The groomsmen had pale pink sweet avalanche roses to tie in with the colour theme and their blush pink ties.”

“We moved to Cuckfield in 2016 and absolutely loved the church when we saw it – it is beautiful. We always wanted a church wedding and when we met the vicar our decision was made as he made us feel really comfortable. Everyone said on the day how good the service was and how funny the vicar was. Cuckfield is a lovely little village and we thought it was a good opportunity to show people the village we live in.”

 

“We always wanted a church wedding and ideally a reception venue less than fifteen minutes away and fell in love with South Lodge when we visited it. The grounds are stunning and the staff amazing so it was instantly sold to us. We have stayed at Pennyhill Park Spa Hotel, South Lodge’s sister hotel, a number of times and love it, so knew if it was anything like this it wouldn’t disappoint.”

“We actually had another venue booked but I came across South Lodge on the internet and on a whim booked us to go and see it, we knew as soon as we drove up that it was the one. It’s an amazing hotel but it doesn’t feel too formal or pretentious; that’s what we liked about it. Luckily we managed to get our deposit back on the other venue.”

The bride looks so radiantly happy as she travels to the church and enters on the arm of her father.

“We used my family’s Bentley, Tesla and Range Rover (all navy blue). My dad drove me in the Bentley and Conrad drove us from the church to the reception. It was a lovely moment when our guests greeted us as we pulled up outside the entrance to the venue. The bridesmaids went in the Range Rover and Conrad drove some of the groomsmen in the Tesla.  We also borrowed a family friend’s Bentley and Jaguar to take other members of the bridal party.”

After walking down the aisle to Pachelbel’s Canon in D, Natassja and Conrad were married in a traditional Church of England ceremony, with two readings from Corinthians 13 and an extract from ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ by Louis de Bernières.

The artwork for the beautiful order of service was by the bride’s gifted auntie, whilst a family friend helped with the rest of the personalised stationery.

“My auntie who is a very talented artist helped us to make and design the order of service for the church; she did an amazing drawing of us outside the church and also a lovely map on the back which showed the directions to the reception. A family friend who makes cards and invitations made our beautiful invitations as a wedding gift.”

“The moment when we walked up the aisle and out of the church as husband and wife with all our guests cheering and the bells ringing definitely stands out as a moment that will forever have a place in my heart. The sun came out in full force just as we stepped outside and it was like a dream, it was exactly what I had hoped and pictured. Also outside the church when we did the confetti walk, you could just feel all the love from our guests.”

South Lodge Hotel looks like such a glorious wedding venue, with lawns that stretch as far as the eye can see. The couple loved its relaxed feel, and worked with the venue’s wedding co-ordinator Emma Farnes and Flowerbug Designs to style their day. The floral styling looks so romantic and has such a breath-taking effect at first glance.

“We chose to have a silver mirror table plan which was provided by South Lodge and they also provided the place cards, table names and menus.”

“We had four silver lanterns at the entrance to the reception with ivory and blush pink roses and rose heads at the base. For our centrepieces we went for alternating tall silver candelabras with tall candles, surrounded by ivory roses, phlox, white hydrangea, ivory stocks and white lisianthus, with just a hint of pale pink sweet avalanche roses and touches of mixed foliage breaking up the flowers and giving a more natural look, and rose bowls filled with the same flowers.”

“We had the windows in the wedding breakfast room dressed in white wraps from Bows Hire and hired the Annabel Flower Wall from The Wedding People and had this set up behind the top table and then moved out to the foyer for the evening reception. We also hired the large light up ‘Mr & Mrs’ sign from The Wedding People which looked great set up behind the top table, and the white postbox.”

“We had a trinket table set up with large framed photographs from our engagement shoot with our photographer and an Instagram sign. We had tiny silver mirrored hearts made which said ‘Mr & Mrs Hanlon-Gouveia’ and crystals sprinkled on each table. We also put disposable cameras on each table.”

The beautiful tiered cake, with its statement gold-leafed tier and adorable bride and groom figurines was by Corinne at Classic Cakes of Bexhill, Sussex.

“We chose a four-tier cake with a white marbled effect and the second from top tier was a gold leaf wrap, with handmade white and blush pink flowers cascading down the side, the inspiration for which I found on Pinterest. I love anything marble and thought it was quite a unique idea as I had not seen a cake like it. It was topped with our personalised cake topper which we had made by Atop of the Tier; a miniature replica of Conrad in his pilot’s uniform and me in my wedding dress. They got the detail absolutely spot on and it’s definitely something that we will keep forever.”

The South Lodge Hotel catering team served the guests with a delicious wedding breakfast, and each guest received a locally made favour.

“We provided miniature bottles from Kentish Tipple, a local homemade liqueur-maker near us which I sampled at the Wealden Country Fair. We had alternating elderflower gin and blackberry vodka bottles, which I have been advised went down very well. We had tags made saying ‘we tied the knot, now take a shot’, and for the non-alcohol drinkers gave Hotel Chocolat heart chocolates.”

The newly-weds kicked off their married life together in splendid style, with an evening packed full of entertainment.

Live music came from Murdoch’s Crazy Eyes, which really got the guests up on the spectacular LED dance floor, supplied by KG Entertainments.  And a tender, romantic moment came during the first dance to ‘Come Away With Me’ by Norah Jones.

“We chose it because it’s a lovely gentle song and we didn’t want anything to up-tempo that we had to dance to – we were terrified about the first dance. Murdoch’s Crazy Eyes They were amazing – highly recommended! They did a mix of old classics and new releases and got everyone old and young dancing.”

“We also hired casino tables (one roulette and one blackjack) from Jewel Fun Casinos and set up one of the rooms as ‘Las Vegas’, as that’s where we both went on our hen and stag do’s. We had ‘Bank of Hanlon-Gouveia’ dollars printed with our faces on and the winner won a bottle of Champagne. It went down very well with the guests. We also hired a photobooth from K G Entertainments, which is always a winner.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Try and enjoy every little bit of planning and don’t wish it away, even if your wedding feels like ages away. I remember thinking at the start I wish the wedding would hurry up and I just couldn’t wait for it, but try to enjoy all the planning because that’s all part of it and when it’s over you will probably miss that.”

“We had four speeches which meant that it was quite long and the timings of our evening reception were delayed, so with hindsight I would have checked the timing of the speeches or maybe had less.”

“Also I know a lot of people say this, but try to take moments throughout the day to take it all in. Really look around at all your guests and think they are here for you. It goes so quickly but it’s just the most incredible atmosphere.”

“As bad as it sounds we were lucky that we didn’t really have a set budget. My dad said from the start that he would give us £25,000 towards it and Conrad’s mum also contributed, so we paid anything else on top. It’s hard to calculate everything as there were so many little things from the start which added up, but I would say all in we must have spent about £45,000.”

I’ve been swept away by the beautifully romantic florals at Natassja and Conrad’s day, and think the bride looks simply beautiful in her Pronovias gown. Are you taken by this look? We’ve shared so many other weddings which feature Pronovias gowns, and you can enjoy them here.

Thank you so much Michelle for sending your work into us, I do hope that we see your photographs grace our pages again very soon. Thank you also, and many congratulations Natassja and Conrad. It’s been such a pleasure to find out more about your wedding.

Ele xx