An Elegant Watters Dress For A Pretty English Country Garden Wedding

Happy Thursday lovely ones. I really adore taking a peek into others wedding days and I love weddings held at family homes, they have such a personal feel and always nail that relaxed vibe. This bride’s parents garden is a beautiful haven so it was a no-brainer for the couple to hold their reception there. Leah, a solicitor and Tim, a mechanical engineer tied the knot on the 11^th of July 2015 at St John the Baptist church, Egglescliffe followed by a reception in Leah’s parents garden in Middlesbrough. The gorgeous church is also opposite Tim’s favourite pub so of course he popped in for an obligatory pre-wedding pint. The couple laid on a delicious Mexican feast for their guests and enhanced the garden feel in the marquee with a summery colour palette.

Photographer Sally has captured the intimate feel of the wedding beautifully and she also produced a stop motion video of the wedding, a great alternative to a film.

“We wanted a fun and relaxed back garden wedding with our loved ones, nothing too formal. Getting married in my parent’s garden gave us the freedom to have the exact wedding we wanted and freed up the budget for an open bar. The most important thing was for everyone to have a great time so we focused our attention on good food, good wine and a great band for our guests to dance to.”

Stop Motion film + photography by Sally T Photography

The bride wore an elegant Watters gown from Helena Fortley in Surrey with a long tulle veil and accessories from Alan Hannah Devoted and Jenny Packham.

“I loved my dress straight away as it was so light and comfortable. It wasn’t too structured so it felt soft and in keeping with our relaxed vibe but the beaded top made it feel really special.”

The gorgeous bridesmaids wore pretty floral dresses from Monsoon with their own choice of shoes and gorgeous floral hair accessories made by Leah’s mum.

Leah and Tim enlisted Sally T Photography to document their wedding. The images have a beautiful natural feel to them and Sally has really captured the family feel of the day.

“Sally was amazing. She is so relaxed and calm and I barely noticed she was there but the photos she took were so beautiful and she caught so many special personal moments that I will treasure forever.”

The gorgeous flowers were bought wholesale arranged by the couple’s mums in the days leading up to the wedding. I love the pink and peach hues of the bouquets, they are so beautiful.

Leah went for a bridal consultation at the wonderful Jo Malone store and chose English Pear and Freesia, a light and summery perfume which perfectly complimented the summer garden wedding.

“We met at a Rolls Royce Ball in Derby in 2011. I was attending as a last minute guest of my best friend (and future maid of honour) who worked at the same company as Tim. We were introduced and have been together ever since. Tim proposed in Rome in June 2014 and we got married the following summer.”

Groom Tim wore a blue French Connection by Moss Bros suit with a yellow Marks & Spencer tie. His groomsmen also wore their own suit in a shade of blue with the same yellow tie.

Leah’s dad walked her down the aisle to meet Tim. The couple exchanged traditional vows but their reverend put a fun twist on the service by playing a game of ‘Mr and Mrs’. They chose ‘I Carry Your Heart With Me’ by E.E. Cummings for their only reading as they both love the sweet simplicity of this poem.

Tim’s ring was bought in an antique shop in Brighton. Tim picked Leah’s engagement ring as a surprise from Whittakers and apart from the size being far too big, she loves it. The bride got her delicate band in Freeman Jewellers, where they had a lovely selection.

“We hung multi-coloured tissue pompoms, paper lanterns, jars of flowers and colourful bunting around the garden and from the ceiling of the marquee.”

“My mum made our wedding cake. It was a fruit cake so it could be made in advance to reduce the stress in the days before the wedding. It was iced plain white with yellow ribbons and small white icing dots with flowers on the top. Again, we wanted something simple but beautiful, and it tasted delicious.”

“Our favourite part of the day was in the evening when everybody was dancing to our amazing band. There was such a happy atmosphere.”

The newlyweds had their first dance to ‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers, a gorgeous and very fitting song for the day.

“We both love the song and the sentiment behind it that any day spent together is going to be a good day.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Don’t worry about the guest list, it really doesn’t matter if you have to squeeze a few people in. I spent so long perfecting the table plan and then on the day a guest who hadn’t RSVP’d turned up and we just put an extra chair in and got on with it.

If I could change anything, I would have given myself more time to get things done, we were still making bouquets at 10pm the night before the wedding.”

Thank you so much to Leah and Tim for allowing us to share your exquisite wedding with us. Also thanks to Sally T Photography for the marvellous images. How many of you are planning a garden wedding at home? We would love to hear all about your plans. You can also join our Facebook group to chat to other like minded brides, not only a fabulous bunch of ladies but a helpful lot too.

Love Caoimhe xx