Good afternoon my lovely lovely blog readers 🙂
I've such a beauty of a wedding to share with you this afternoon, a delightful affair set in the stunning Walled Gardens over at Cowdray in Midhurst, West Sussex, where Mark and Kathy tied the knot on 28 May surrounded by family and friends …
Kathy's lovely 50's style dress is by Ian Stuart, and was a purchase from The Ozone in Brighton…
"I wanted a dress that was tight to the waist with a big full 1950's style skirt. This was also the first dress I tried, having wandered in with a friend, and it was in the sample sale so after a little hesitation I bought it on the spot.
The money I saved in the sale payed for my bespoke hand made shoes by Hetty Rose. Hetty also made me a hair corsage out of the same material as the shoes..."
Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Joanna Brown assisted by Sacco & Sacco Photography
Aren't those floral shoes fabulous? I have formerly blogged about Hetty Rose shoes, click here and here…
Beautiful block colour blue for the Bridesmaids, these dresses from Reiss + Coast look just perfect against the garden backdrop. Shoes were from Hobbs + French Sole.
Brave ladies to take raise those hemlines but what a fabulous look!
"I don't think we really had a plan but I guess it started with the idea of the garden, in that we went for pretty, intimate and English and then lots of splashes of brightness in the outfits, which were a bit more modern and reflected our own personal tastes…"
The couple chose the beautiful Walled Gardens over at Cowdray in Midhurst, West Sussex as their wedding venue…
"We liked the idea of getting married in a garden in the English countryside. When we saw the venue it was perfect, restored Elizabethan walled garden that feels like a secret garden, intimate rooms in the old stable block next door for the ceremony and meal, and to top it off a ruined castle next door for photographs. It was a good balance between having a wow factor but also being small and relaxed for an intimate day focused on family and close friends.
Also we liked that it didn't come with a package so we could choose all our own suppliers and tailor the day to what we wanted. And, we didn't want a pay bar – it doesn't charge corkage so we supplied all our own drinks…"
"Sam at Spriggs Florist used my shoes and the bridesmaids dresses as the basis for the colours in the bouquets. For the flowers in the venue, we wanted summer english flowers to complement the garden outside, and lots of bright colour. We didn't have a huge budget so we went for one big arrangement with an explosion of summer flowers and then loads of single stems dotted about everywhere in bottles and jam jars that my mum collected…"
Words of Wedded Wisdom…
"For us, taking time over the planning, and picking all our suppliers separately as opposed to going for a venue that came with a package, really payed off – as we got exactly what we wanted and a lot more for our money. But I don't think one person could have done it on their own – Mark and I divided up the work pretty much equally…"
Photographer – Joanna Brown
Venue – The Walled Gardens
Brides dress – Ian Stuart
Brides shoes + Hair Accessory – Hetty Rose
Bridesmaids – Reiss + Coast Dresses, Hobbs + French Sole Shoes
Groom – Richard James Bespoke + Duchamp shirt, tie & cufflinks + Paul Smith shoes
Hair Stylist – Wonderful Wedding Hair
Makeup Artist – Dani Richardson
Florist – Spriggs Florist
♥ ♥ ♥
Thank you so much Kathy for sharing your lovely wedding day ideas with my readers, and thanks too to Joanna Brown and assistant Sacco & Sacco Photography for providing these inspirational photographs…
"Joanna did an amazing job. We love the photos, and had loads of fun having them taken on the day…"
You can see more alternative style wedding photography from Joanna Brown here on Love My Dress here, and check our the 1950s wedding day inspiration features too 😉
Are any of you readers going to be wearing Ian Stuart on your wedding day? What about a 'Walled Garden' wedding?
Much love,
Annabel xXx
♥
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
