Hello everyone! I hope you are having a good week so far. I had an epiphany the other day. My passion for all things Japanese-ey suddenly became apparent as I looked around at home and noticed the hints of cherry-blossom art, little rice bowls, kimonos and assorted variety of tea-sets slowly eeking into my decor and wardrobe. It’s now high on my agenda as the next place to explore on my travels.
And for today’s lovely couple, it was their mutual love of Asia and travel that encouraged Sarah, an art and textiles teacher and Adam, a senior accountant, who married on 23rd July 2015, to choose their majestic venue The Matara Centre in Gloucestershire, complete with Japanese tea garden, as well as the bride’s love of two bygone eras.
“I’ve always been a fan of the 1920’s and 1930’s and I’ve always loved colonial style, and so I wanted to create a day that almost felt quite nostalgic. Initially, Adam and I were intending to marry abroad. We both love to travel and Asia is one of our favourite places, so this seemed like the obvious choice for us. However, after thinking long and hard, we decided that we wanted our nearest and dearest closest to us on our wedding day, and so we opted for a venue in the UK.”
Photography by Scuffins Photography
Being an art and textiles teacher, the bride tapped into her creative side (and inner origami goddess) and made all of the stationery, as well as paper cranes and other decor. Pretty flowers and parasols were also part of the decor to further beautify the incredible venue.
“From the moment we visited, we knew The Matara Centre was right for us. We adored the cloistered garden and house, with its leafy grounds and mix of Asian and period features – it provided everything we wanted for our day.”
“Adam and I met in January 2012, and our first date was a cosy dinner on New Year’s Day. I fondly remember chatting away and getting lost in conversation as we shared stories about places we’d visited and those we wanted to see. We only realised it was time to leave when the staff began to stack chairs around us. I knew then, in that moment, that I wanted to share my future adventures with Adam.”
Adam recalls his very romantic proposal to Sarah, whilst they were holidaying in Sicily in March 2014.
“I had planned to ask her to marry me, but I wasn’t sure how and where I would do it. The right moment finally came after we shared an intimate dinner in a hilltop restaurant overlooking the sea, and thankfully she said yes! We waited sixteen months before getting married.”
For their flowers, Sarah and Adam went for a combination of a florist and market-bought, and enlisted help from family and friends with the assembly. The end result is simply stunning.
“Flowers were an important part of our day, and we wanted to use as many as we could. We sourced our table decorations, bouquets and button-holes from the lovely Hannah and Jo at Scentiments Florists. The ladies were so helpful in putting together the exact look we wanted for our tables.
The rest of the flowers were sourced from Birmingham Wholesale Market by my wonderful parents. I love the delicate white and pink blooms of lisianthus and they look great alongside the peonies and roses I had chosen for my bouquet. Our dearest friends and family worked together to make the sixty-plus posies used for my chair decorations. I will be forever grateful for their help, as they worked so hard to assemble and attach these to the silk fans and satin ribbons I had purchased.”
The couple were very happy with their chosen photographers, Scuffins Photography.
From start to finish, Chris and Helen were fantastic. Their natural, relaxed style of photography really suited our day, whilst their skills were evident in the gorgeous photos they captured.”
Sarah found gorgeous kimonos for herself and her maids, from LuxeBridal and Mini Lunn via notonthehighstreet.com. Sarah, you’re a woman after my own heart, and I totally understand your passion for Japanese fabrics!
“I have a passion for Japanese textiles, and I had been hunting for the perfect kimono for years. I found the perfect one at LuxeBridal and wore this whilst getting ready on the morning of the wedding.
As gifts, I purchased pale pink embroidered kimonos for my girls whilst getting ready and they looked so pretty wearing them.”
Sarah was looking for simplicity for her dress and, as a teacher and lover of all things textile, chose ‘Bitan’ by Pronovias from the 2015 collection with sleeves and its beautiful chantilly lace fabric, via The Wedding Club in Birmingham, where she also commissioned her incredible Juliet Cap veil. Absolutely divine!
“I wanted a very simple dress and being a typical textiles teacher, I love gorgeous fabrics (I’m a bit of fabric magpie). From the outset, I knew I wanted a dress with sleeves and when I tried the dress, I knew its 1930’s fitted silhouette, comprising a train with lace panel inserts and chantilly lace bodice, was definitely for me. The brilliant Teresa Edmonds at The Wedding Club altered the dress for me, so it fit like a glove.”
“I adore Juliet Cap veils and I scoured many online vendors to try and find the right one. After falling for a pretty veil during my dress fitting, I decided to commission the fabulous Katie Louise Harper Design from where I bought the dress to make mine for me. She created the most beautiful veil trimmed with exquisite chantilly lace which matched my dress perfectly – I felt magical in it all day.”
Sarah added a spritz of ‘Stella’ by Stella McCartney, an antique pair of aquamarine and diamond earrings given to her by her mother and wore her hair down.
“I kept my hair very simple. Heidi Vince styled it in Hollywood waves and I loved what she created. I had two flower grips from Accessorize on either side of my temples, which secured my veil. And I did my own makeup with my favourite Benefit cosmetics.”
“My flower girl had a lovely pair of silver sandals to complement her little Dickins and Jones lace dress and she also wore a little personalised pearl necklace from Posh Totty Designs.
I also had a flower girl pooch – our little whippet Suki. We wanted her to be part of our day too, so I made her a wedding collar decorated with diamantes and roses, sourced from Amazon and Hobbycraft.”
The groom and his groomsmen made for a handsome bunch in their suits and accessories from Peter Posh Formal Suit Hire. They all added personalised cufflinks and the bride’s father sported an antique tie pin she gave him just before they walked down the aisle together; such a lovely special touch.
“Our friends had recommended the suit hire place them after using them for their own wedding. Adam opted for a lovely navy suit, with matching waistcoat, complemented by a silver and pink spotted tie and pocket square and chose to finish off his attire with personalised cufflinks I had purchased for his birthday. He also wore a pair of grey and pink striped socks and some dark brown brogues.”
“Our groomsmen consisted of my dear brother Sam and Adam’s Brother in Law Daniel; both were so helpful as our ushers. Adam’s best man was his long time friend and fellow poker buddy Nigel. All the groomsmen including Adam’s father Paul wore the same attire as Adam, with silver ties instead. They also sported personalised cufflinks that related to their interests. My own father wore an antique tie pin which I presented to him, shortly before he walked me down the aisle.”
The two bridesmaids wore glamorous satin silver dresses from Label Lab at House of Fraser, paired with beautiful beaded camisoles that were co-designed by Kay Hobson Bridal Designs. They added their own shoes, from Debenhams and Next, diamante vintage style drop earrings from Accessorize and fresh flowers in their loose bun hairstyles. And the couple had two flower girls – two-year old Molly and their pet dog Suki!
“My wonderful father gave me away and walked me down the aisle. I felt so proud and happy to have him there next to me. It was a truly special moment as we stood together before he gave me away. I walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of ‘Heartbeats’ by Jose Gonzalez. I love the original version, but it didn’t quite fit, so I sourced an acoustic version by Chris Richter.”
The couple’s civil ceremony was held outdoors in Matara’s picturesque and serene garden setting. Her father gave Sarah away; a very special time for the bride, and their two chosen readings were another incredibly heartfelt moment.
“We aren’t a religious couple, but humanitarian values are important to us. Sadly, we couldn’t opt for a humanitarian wedding without travelling to Scotland, as we thought would be way too far for our elderly evening guests, but we were happy with the civil ceremony we created.”
“Readings formed an important part of the service for us and we had two, which were read by our bridesmaids: ‘The Apache Wedding Prayer’ and ‘The Blessings of the Hands’. I loved the Apache Prayer as it made connections to the earth and our place within it, whilst the second reading suggested all we hoped for. We didn’t plan to, but we held hands throughout and I couldn’t stop smiling as I heard my friends speak the words we had chosen together.”
“After finding my beautiful vintage art deco engagement ring together in a romantic trip by the sea, we went back to Brighton in March this year and found my beautiful wedding ring at Baxter and Hanks Fine Jewellery. Adam’s ring was purchased from Judith Hart Jewellers in Derby. The hammered metal style suited him perfectly.”
“The Matara Centre provided the yummy food for our wedding day, whilst our kind parents laid on the most amazing meal the day before the wedding for all our closest friends and family and took place in the stunning Kingscote House.”
“We had so many favourite parts to the day, but seeing each other just moments before getting married was something we’ll never forget.”
“Adam knew the parts of the wedding he wanted to contribute to (he is quite the foodie!) and he felt happier leaving the creative elements to me. I really wanted to make all our wedding stationery, and so set to work during school holidays printing, stamping, beading and sewing all the items we needed. Hobbycraft and local textile shops were my second home and our printer has never had so much use!
Etsy and notonthehighstreet.com were my favourite online haunts – and sellers like Luxe Bridal, God Save the Teatime, Nana’s Attic and Elrond’s Emporium were all fantastic.”
“I got in touch with my inner origami goddess and made as many origami cranes as I could possibly make before the day. I enlisted Adam to make as many base folds as he could too… When, after one hundred and fifty, I was running out of time, (and seeing cranes in my sleep) Laure at God Save the Teatime (via my mother in law) came to the rescue with her gorgeous hand made paper cranes, so we could finish decorating the venue.
“We had several vases of lisianthus and roses around the aisle and a wonderful wood and silver lantern from TK Maxx that my dear work colleagues, Steve and Paul, helped me to customise into a postbox. In keeping with relaxed and spiritual feel of Matara, I used bowls from IKEA and floating candles encircled by floral arrangements.
I purchased a beautiful Asian parasol from eBay around which hung the pretty white cranes and white parasols I had borrowed from the venue. They also had lovely pink and white lanterns I borrowed for the aisle.”
“For our favours, we didn’t want to give our guests something that would be otherwise, eaten, forgotten or placed in a drawer, so we sourced a beautiful selection of healing pink Agate slices from the The Mineral Warehouse and placed these in pretty silver bags with handmade cards.”
The sight of Sarah and Adam’s delicious three-tiered cake, baked by Adam’s clever sister Louise, is making me want to reach for a sweet treat!
“We were super lucky to have a very skilled baker in the family; Adam’s younger sister Louise, who made our gorgeous wedding cake. We are not too keen on the traditional iced wedding cake and we wanted to bring in some of the flavours we loved whilst travelling in Italy. After a glorious and very filling cake tasting, we opted for three-tier naked sponge cake, decorated with fruit.
Our top tier was amaretto sponge, the second white chocolate and raspberry, and our base was lemon and poppy seed – each one was truly delicious!”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“Make sure you make time for each other that doesn’t involve wedding planning at all. Don’t obsess too much over the small details and make time to relax in the days prior to the wedding. The day is over in a flash, so allow yourself the time and energy to enjoy the preparations beforehand.”
A great piece of advice – making time for and doing things together that isn’t wedding-related! Thank you to Scuffins Photography for these delightful pictures and Sarah and Adam, huge congratulations to you both and I’ve just loved sharing your big day.
If you’re keen for a picturesque, relaxed, Asian-inspired setting, be sure to see here for more beautiful weddings at The Matara Centre we’ve previously highlighted on this beautiful blog.
Wishing you all a wonderful rest of week, lovely readers!
Love Jo -x-
Photographer –Scuffins Photography
Venue + Catering – The Matara Centre, Gloucestershire
Dress + Veil – Pronovias dress and veil by Katie Louise Harper Design, via The Wedding Club
Shoes – Rachel Simpson
Jewellery – Aquamarine and diamond earrings, gift from bride’s mother
Perfume – ‘Stella’ by Stella McCartney
Bridesmaid’s Dresses – Label Lab silver dresses via House of Fraser + beaded camisoles co-designed by Kay Hobson Bridal Designs
Bridesmaid’s Shoes – Debenhams and Next
Bridesmaid’s Accessories – Diamante vintage style drop earrings from Accessorize
Kimonos – LuxeBridal and Mini Lunn via notonthehighstreet.com
Groom + Groomsmen – Peter Posh Formal Suit Hire
Flowergirl – Dickins and Jones dress + own sandals + personalised pearl necklace from Posh Totty Designs
Pooch Suki’s outfit – Wedding collar decorated with diamantes and roses from Amazon and Hobbycraft
Florist – Scentiments Florists + Birmingham Wholesale Market
Entertainment – The Revue
Rings – Baxter and Hanks Fine Jewellery + Judith Hart Jewellers
Cake – Handmade by groom’s sister Louise
Stationery + Decor – Handmade by the bride with help from God Save the Teatime, Hobbycraft, local textile shops, Etsy and notonthehighstreet.com
Favours – The Mineral Warehouse
Hair – Heidi Vince
Jo Singletary View all Jo's articles
Jo hails from and lives in sunny Australia, is currently working towards her dream of being a career coach and a few of her favourite things are watching the sunrise over the ocean, morning walks on the beach, butterflies, and supporting the guide dogs charity.
Great post! thank you for your sharing!
How beautiful and vintage, this wedding is styled wonderfully.
This wedding is stunning. The Japanese touches look so elegant and the venue is complete perfection! Making me want to go back to Japan. Beautifully put together, Congratulations!