An Heirloom Tiara and Stephanie Allin Gown for a Black Tie Garden Wedding

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Hello there, lovely readers. I hope wherever you are, you’re having a wonderful day, and if you’ve headed here in search of beauty, inspiration and a large dose of romance, you’ve definitely come to the right place.

I have such a breathtakingly beautiful wedding to share with you all today; a gorgeous marquee in a family garden setting, thoughtfully installed so as to incorporate the cherry trees that were growing there, a classically elegant bride wearing a family heirloom tiara, and stylish gentlemen in black tie attire.

Let’s meet our bride and groom, shall we? Bride Emily, who works in marketing at ExCel London, and groom James, wealth manager and director of JRM Wealth Management, were married on the 26 August 2017 in a ceremony at the local parish church at Felixkirk, North Yorkshire, followed by a marquee reception held in the garden at the family home.

“We wanted a traditional church wedding, with a garden drinks reception and a beautiful marquee with pastels, lots of greenery and golden lighting created through a pea canopy and candles. The marquee structure was chosen and built to incorporate the cherry trees in our garden, they were dressed with fairy lights.”

Images by Michael Maurer Wedding Photography

36 A Stephanie Allin gown for a family garden party wedding

Photographer Michael Maurer has perfectly captured the late summer magic of Emily and James’ day in a natural, yet creative and altogether elegant way, while good friend Amelia Martel (no details supplied) undertook videography for the day.

“Michael Maurer – is a documentary style photographer who captured moments that I never knew existed on the day. He’s got so much creativity and energy that was present in every single photo that he took for us.”

Bride Emily chose an exquisite gown by Stephanie Allin, which she purchased from her London boutique. The floral lace jacket with its wide sash is delicate and beautiful on top of a chic silk gown.

Emily loved, “The beautiful simplicity of it, alongside the fact that it was two dresses in one, as the top could be removed to reveal an evening dress for the reception.”

1 A Stephanie Allin gown for a family garden party wedding

On her feet, Emily wore 1920s inspired peep-toe shoes in ivory and gold – ‘Mimi’ from Rachel Simpson. Ahead of their day, James gifted Emily a bottle of Coco Chanel Mademoiselle, which the bride then wore as her wedding perfume.

James also gave his bride a bracelet to wear, and Emily’s family made her a gift, a beautiful pair of pearl and diamond drop earrings.

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The bridesmaids sparkled in gowns covered in gold sequins by Jenny Packham along with elegant teardrop shaped earrings from Liberty in Love.

6 A Stephanie Allin gown for a family garden party wedding

Family friend Emma Odner (no details supplied) created a flawless make-up look for Emily, with a striking smoky eye and pretty pink lip.

Dean Kassem styled the bride’s hair into a graceful updo, crowned by a splendid diamond tiara – a precious family heirloom piece. Our bride’s ensemble was completed with a stylish and simple veil by Stephanie Allin.

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The neat bouquets for the bridal party, tied with pretty pink ribbon, included roses and hydrangea flowers in pastel shades of pink, peach and lilac were by talented florist Sinead at Twinkling Twine.

“A personal friend of ours, and a florist that is relatively new to the market, meaning that they are brimming with fresh ideas and creativity.  They are a joy to work with and took all the stress out of process for us.”

9 A Stephanie Allin gown for a family garden party wedding

Groom James wore a tailor-made formal suit with black tie from Boulter, Hepburn and Watts together with shoes from Emporio Armani, while his groomsmen wore black tie from Pierre Cardin.

“We met through a mutual friend in a Jamaican bar in Oxford. James proposed whilst we were out for dinner in a beautiful outside courtyard in Gozo. James had given me a promise ring earlier that day to say that at some point it would happen, which threw me off the scent. It was therefore a huge surprise when he proposed with a ring that he had hidden the entire holiday until he proposed. We were together for 9 years before he finally popped the question!”

11 A Stephanie Allin gown for a family garden party wedding

The bride travelled to the church in a friend’s Land Rover, accompanied down the aisle by her stepfather, Billy. Musical director of Aysgarth school, Matthew Atherton played the organ for the church service, while Opera North’s classical tenor Warren Gillespie sung solos including Bella Notte, Nella Fantasia, Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus.

The arrival at the church, and seeing her groom was a highlight of the day for Emily.

12 A Stephanie Allin gown for a family garden party wedding

The couple chose traditional vows, with the ceremony officiated by the Rev. Ian Houghton. They chose to exchange rings, which they had bought from Hatton Garden based Kentish Jewellers, upon the recommendation of a friend. The bride’s brother, Tom, read the beautifully romantic extract, Love is a Temporary Madness from the novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. James’ father Peter read the Bible passage 1 Corinthians 13.

“Having been together for 10 years, we wanted a reading that represented true love as opposed to false love! The extract from Captain Corelli’s captured this so well, and the last verse.”

13 A Stephanie Allin gown for a family garden party wedding

Inside the church, florist Gilly Guthrie (no details supplied) filled the space with wonderful pastel coloured blooms, which adorned the windows, pillars and around the altar.

“Gilly Guthrie – An established florist who managed to take my breath away when walking into the church with the stunning flower displays.”

Invitations and elegant orders of service came from Gee Brothers, and for other on-the-day stationery like place cards and table names, the bride and groom opted to make these items.

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Emily’s cousin Henry Lochrane played the pipes, and later in the evening, Switch Entertainment had guests dancing, with live saxophone music and DJ sets.

As their first dance as a married couple, Emily and James chose one of the first songs they ever listened to together, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol.

37 A Stephanie Allin gown for a family garden party wedding

The lovely, light-filled marquee was hired from Inspired Structures, and as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, built sympathetically around the cherry tress growing in the garden, which were decorated with fairy lights. Tables were laid with white linen and long garlands of flowers by Twinkling Twine, with pale pink candles and place cards and more lovely foliage and twinkling lights hanging from the marquee’s pea canopy.

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London-based Squash Catering made the journey to Yorkshire to provide a delicious, fresh and seasonal wedding breakfast. Family friend Miche Bigge made the couple’s wedding cake.

“The cake was a two tiered traditional fruit cake, with a white icing and shell shaped piping. We wanted something simplistic but beautiful.” 

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Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Start as early as possible so that you can enjoy the process and it’s not a mad rush. Everything comes together in the end, and it is the people that make your day so special not the details! You don’t notice the details on the day!”

“Take a moment on your wedding day, for just the two of you – for James and I, this was during our photographs; it was a lovely time, as it was just the two of us.”

39 A Stephanie Allin gown for a family garden party wedding

Congratulations, Emily and James and thank you very much for this glimpse into your classically elegant day. Huge thanks to photographer Michael Maurer for his thoughtful and romantic images, too. You can take a look at more stylish Stephanie Allin brides on Love My Dress here, as well as more lovely marquee weddings, here.

With love,

Laura

Credits & Thanks

Laura Callan

Laura Callan View all Laura's articles

Laura is a freelance writer and content creator who loves telling stories. She has keen eye for photography and art, and lives with her husband, cats, and huge amounts of books.

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