Hello there – I hope you’re all ready for the weekend? I’m enjoying the longer *almost* spring evenings and as the first flowers of the season appear I’m getting impatient for warm, sunny days much like the 7th of June last year, which also happens to be my birthday J Doctors Sophie and Aled met through mutual friends at Medical School and tied the knot after 7 years together at the truly magnificent Ragley Hall in Warwickshire.
The couple used an abundance of flowers to compliment the elegant décor of the hall and charming, botanical inspired stationery by Love My Dress contributor Erin Hung of Berinmade, which tied together the overall pink floral theme beautifully. Each image captured by Lisa Carpenter captures bride Sophie’s infectious grin that doesn’t leave her face all day.
“I was hugely inspired by the venue. I never imagined I’d have pink as the colour theme of my wedding, but it felt right to work the colour of the dusky pink walls into the flowers, stationery and other details, we felt it really worked out well. The team at Ragley Hall were great. They really looked after us and worked with our requirements, guiding us through the whole thing!”
Photography Copyright (c) 2015, Lisa Carpenter
“I went to school with Erin Hung of Berinmade and had continued to follow her developing career via social media. When we got engaged I knew straight away I wanted to use her work and she was a dream to work with. I loved her designs for our invitations and on the day stationery, they added a sense of joy and fun and tied in completely with our theme.”
“The cake was made by the wonderful Pam and Norma at the Red Cake Company. It was a four tier creation, chocolate, victoria sponge, fruit and our favourite, ginger. The cake decoration was inspired by the venue, with intricate pipe work and cameos and topped with incredibly realistic sugar peonies and roses. It was delicious!”
“Our photographer Lisa Carpenter was incredible from start to finish. She put us (both fairly awkward self conscious people) at ease on our engagement shoot and helped me find my amazing hair and make-up artists. On the day she was brilliant, catching lovely moments but never being intrusive and taking us away for pictures together gave us brief moments to catch our breath!”
“My hairdresser Helena Sinclair was amazing to work with, completely unflappable, even when I changed my mind about hairstyle on the day! My make-up artist Katy Bird was great fun, from the trial to the day itself. She worked with colour palettes that I already used, as I wanted to still look like me!”
“We chose Nicky Gray-Cheape to do our flowers as she had worked at our venue extensively. We knew early on that we wanted lots and lots of flowers! We were spoilt by the season and opted for peonies, roses, hydrangeas, sweet peas, stocks and amaranthus. We had arrangements spilling over the fireplace mantels, candelabra arrangements on the tables and spray arrangements at the top of the aisle. The overall effect was incredible!”
You can buy little gift tote’s just like this one from Alphabet Bags.
Sophie looked absolutely beautiful in her full skirted Pronovias gown, a style that she felt suited the style of their grand venue. At The National Wedding Show she met accessory designer Hermione Harbutt who helped her choose a hairband which complimented the dress perfectly. A last minute addition was the jewelled Pronovias belt, found completely unused on Ebay!
“When I first got engaged I never thought I’d go for a strapless or full skirted gown. I ended up with both! After trying over a dozen dresses, we went to The Wedding Club and I loved the shape of Alcanar by Pronovias with the sweetheart neckline and delicate lace. It just felt so romantic.”
Sophie’s Jo Malone Peony and Blush Suede wedding day scent complimented the blousy pink peonies in her bouquet.
“Ragley Hall was the first venue we looked at and I fell in love with the classical architecture of the Great Hall with its beautiful original plasterwork and the views of the stunning formal gardens and rolling countryside.”
Sophie and her dad loved travelling to the wedding in their stunning 1935 Rolls Royce which had been used at one time by Princess Margaret. He then walked her down the aisle to ‘Balcony Scene’ by Craig Armstrong. With its soaring strings, the music suited the venue perfectly.
“Our first Reading, Union by ‘Robert Fulghum’, really echoed how we had grown together towards marriage and we loved it. My sister did this reading just before our vows and it was perfect. After the vows my best friend Catherine read ‘Good Luck and Congratulations’ by Anonymous, a more celebratory reading and we couldn’t stop smiling!”
“We loved the ceremony, we just couldn’t believe it had actually arrived and all you can see in the photos are our goofy grins! Afterwards it was just wonderful seeing our families and friends all together, laughing and joking and enjoying the sun which had finally decided to show its face after a morning of torrential rain and lightning!”
As well as treating herself to a pair, Sophie treated her 2 lucky bridesmaids to a gorgeous pair of Jimmy Choos to wear on the day with their dusky pink Dessy dresses.
“We worked with a palette of pinks, silver and white, using dried rose petals and mercury silver votives. For a fun touch we had enormous pink and white balloons, we loved them and they were great for photos!”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“It was a lot of hard work and a fair amount of stress, but we don’t think we would have changed anything, (although during the planning there were moments of wanting to elope to Las Vegas!) On the day, make sure that every once in a while, you take a second, look around, soak it up, and lock it in your memory. It’s gone in the blink of an eye and you want to remember as much as possible!”
Thank you so much Sophie and Aled for sharing your beautiful wedding day with our readers. More images from photographer Lisa Carpenter can be found here.
Love Caoimhe xx
Photographer – Lisa Carpenter
Venue – Ragley Hall, Alcester, Warwickshire
Wedding Dress – Alcanar by Pronovias from The Wedding Club
Veil – Joyce Jackson from The Wedding Club
Headpiece – Hermione Harbutt
Shoes – Jimmy Choo
Accessories – Pendant, Martin & Co Cheltenham + Earrings, Leslie Davis
Bride’s Scent/perfume – Peony and Blush Suede by Jo Malone
Groom – Moss Bros
Bridesmaids – Dessy from Perfections, Worcester + Jimmy Choo shoes + Glitzy Secrets hair accessory Flowergirls – John Lewis
Florist – Nicky Gray-Cheape
Cake – Red Cake Company
Transport – 1935 Rolls Royce from Celestial Cars
Entertainment – Capriccio String Quartet + Russ Morris + Magician Rob James
Toastmaster – Tim Parry
Rings – Leslie Davis
Stationery – Berinmade
Hair Stylist – Helena Sinclair
Makeup Artist – Katy Bird
Caoimhe Anderson View all Caoimhe's articles
Caoimhe will never tire of beautiful wedding dress and a blooming flower crown. When she's not lusting after a gorgeous wedding she will be trying new vegetarian recipes, knitting very slowly or capturing a pink sunset from behind a camera lens.
Wow! I adore that pink cake! So pretty. I know white is traditional but I do love it when an accent colour is used that way.
Wonderful wedding in perfect dress!