Bespoke Tailoring + Family Tartan For an Apres Ski Festival Inspired Wedding at Hampton Court House

I’m totally smitten by today’s sublime wedding, with its rich colour palette inspired by family tartan as well as the couple’s gorgeous dog, Harvey and the home they share together.

There are so many personal and touching details, too, all combining for an epic celebration paying homage to Scotland, and to the couple’s shared passions – cycling, skiing and the outdoors. Get yourself comfortable and settle in, you’re going to love this.

Andy, Managing Director at Money Saving Expert, and Gordon, a Chartered Accountant, were married on the 21 July 2018 at Hampton Court House on the fringes of Bushy Park in south-west London.

Capturing the joy and sincerity of the day was talented photographer Robin Goodlad, who the couple found through our Little Book Wedding Directory – I just adore his creative use of light and shadow in these images.

Images by Robin Goodlad Photography

“We met Robin in Lymington (Andy’s hometown) for an engagement shoot and got on with him instantly, and the photos he produced were amazing so we knew we were in good hands. On the wedding day he was assisted by Nathan and together they captured the day perfectly, mingling with the guests so at no time did the photographs feel formal.”

Gordon and Andy first met in Alpe d’Huez in 2014, whilst both taking part in the Haute Route Alps bike race.

“This is a 7 day bike race from Geneva to Nice across the Alps.We are both very keen cyclists and have both done seasons when we were younger. We got engaged in January 2017 in Niseko Japan on holiday skiing.”

Zoe Barker Design created the most exquisite suite of watercolour stationery for the couple, incorporating all of the key inspirations for their day (and naturally featuring Harvey!)

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“Zoe designed a bespoke stationery suite including the boys’ bikes, their dog, greenery, hills, mountains and a Scottish piper… All the table names were places that meant so much… and Zoe drew and hand painted each one individually, going over and above all our expectations.”

It seemed right and fitting then, to plan a wedding day inspired by these shared loves and pursuits, and Cristina Kennedy of The Black Sheep Wedding Company worked with Andy and Gordon to bring their vision to life.

“Cristina was fabulous; as soon as we met her we knew she was the right person to create our perfect day. She very quickly took on board the concepts and themes that we liked and turned them into reality.”

“We wanted the day to reflect both of our interests and tastes. With Gordon coming from Glasgow we wanted to bring Scotland to London. We both did winter seasons so we wanted to create an apres ski / festival kind of theme. We did not want it to be stuffy or traditional, and wanted natural materials, lots of woods and lighting. We both love green and blues, so when we saw Gordon’s family tartan included green, blue, dark orange and charcoal we decided with Cristina to use these colours as a base for the design.”

Andy wore a fantastic teal three-piece bespoke suit by tailor Lydia Foulkes of Perfectly Attired. I love the accents and details, including orange lining and buttonhole stitching and tartan buttons and pocket square.

“Lydia Foulkes is the most amazing tailor, her attention to detail is phenomenal and she spent hours ensuring every part of the outfit was perfect.”

Andy also wore an ivory shirt with rose gold cufflinks, and orange tie with a copper tie pin, and accessorised with Pride socks from Happy Socks and the most amazing custom tartan brogues by Simon at the Hand Dyed Shoe Co.

“Gordon wanted to wear a kilt so wore his family tartan (Sinclair Ancient Hunting) kilt with blue tweed jacket, waistcoat, and ivory fitted shirt with orange tie.”

Gordon’s handsome attire came courtesy of Stewart Christie & Co, and he also wore his grandfather’s cufflinks and a Breitling watch, as well as a cool silver kilt pin in the shape of an antler.

“We live in Twickenham and wanted a venue close to where we live. We regularly walk Harvey our yellow Labrador in Bushy Park and felt that the deer linked the location well with Scotland, where Gordon is from. The minute we saw the venue we knew it was the right place – a beautiful building, with lovely gardens backing onto the park.”

“It’s currently a school so the building offered us a blank canvas to create a wedding that was unique to us. Renting the building meant we could put the furniture and décor in that we liked and make the wedding unique and our own.”

The couple both wore beautiful buttonholes in orange and blue shades, with lovely textures in the thistles and ferns chosen, and made by Sam at Violets & Velvet Bespoke Floristry.

“Harvey (our dog) is a gorgeous copper colour along with elements of our home so we agreed to bring some copper into the mix too. We love cycling, skiing and the outdoors so it was important that this was incorporated into the day and that everything should look rustic and natural. We also have some modern prints and wallpapers in our home so this was considered too in the styling and design.”

Andy and Gordon were both accompanied down the aisle by their mums, and piper Rich Gordon (who flew down specially from Dundee for the occasion) followed them playing Highland Cathedral. Andy’s Best Man was Andy H (they met when Andy was teaching children to sail twenty years ago) and Gordon’s Best Man was school friend Graeme (they’ve been friends since they were 12!)

There were heartfelt vows exchanged, and rings, too from Hatton Garden based Unique Rings. There were two readings, the first being Taylor Mali’s sweet poem How Falling In Love Is Like Owning A Dog and the second was Tandem Twosome, chosen as the perfect complement to Andy and Gordon’s life together.

“We wish we had recorded the wedding ceremony, it went so quickly looking back it’s a bit of a blur.The day went so quickly so make sure you take the time to watch everybody having an amazing day.”

The beautiful spaces at Hampton Court House were adorned with blooms – garlands and pedestal arrangements, with the lush greenery and blues and oranges really popping against the backdrop of the deep claret coloured walls and checkerboard floors.

“The brief I gave to Sam at Violets & Velvet was to not only to complement the colour scheme but to be wild and natural like the parks and mountains that the boys love so much with hints of Scotland. The boys also wanted fragrant herbs and lots of greenery.”

 

After the ceremony, it was outside to enjoy the summer sunshine and some delicious drinks and canapés.

 

The beautiful spaces at Hampton Court House were adorned with blooms – garlands and pedestal arrangements, with the lush greenery and blues and oranges really popping against the backdrop of the deep claret coloured walls and checkerboard floors.

“The brief I gave to Sam at Violets & Velvet was to not only to complement the colour scheme but to be wild and natural like the parks and mountains that the boys love so much with hints of Scotland. The boys also wanted fragrant herbs and lots of greenery.”

It was Gordon and Andy’s wish that the food be of the very best quality, and what a feast Acclaim Events created!

“It was important the food, especially the main meat dish was local, fresh produce and excellent quality. Chosen on the quality of a lamb rump at the tastings!”

Cute model deer were used for the children’s place settings, from Schleich, and Zoe Barker’s hand drawn place settings also had gorgeous copper calligraphy by Judy Broad.

There was a selection of copper hanging frames from Nkuku containing photos from Andy and Gordon’s engagement shoot, which were later gifted to guests at the end of the evening.

To start, everyone enjoyed hot smoked salmon with an Asian dressing, followed by that amazing lamp rump and finished off with a trio of delicious desserts – lemon posset, cheesecake and chocolate torte.

Not only that, there was wine and champagne from Vine King, local beers from Twickenham Fine Ales and the most incredible sounding gin bar put together on a rustic bar set up from the Vintage Bar Co.

The gins chosen all had a personal connection to the couple, hailing from the places they are from, or from close to where they call home today – such a lovely and thoughtful touch – Tanqueray, Lymington Gin, Arran Gin, The Botanist Gin, Edinburgh Gin Company’s Rhubarb and Ginger, Kew Gin, Hendricks, as well as Seedlip and a selection of Fever Tree tonic waters.

  

There are so many decor details to delight over here – Andy’s vintage orange Colnago bike was used to hang a welcome sign, with vintage handmade signs from Etsy seller Ivy Cottage.

There were exquisite jewel tones on the dining tables, with coloured glassware and copper cutlery from Classic Crockery Event Hire, and deep charcoal napkins simply decorated with fragrant sprigs of rosemary.

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The wedding cake was a showstopping four-tier creation in copper and green, with flavours of elderflower, orange and lemon, chocolate ganache, Victoria sponge, and a fantastic surprise rainbow cake layer, all made by Andy and Gordon’s talented friend Angela.

“There was not a first dance but the first songs played were a couple of songs we love – Deacon Blue’s Dignity and Greatest Day by Take That. We ended up dancing in the middle surrounded by friends and family anyway so it was a very emotional moment.”

Dirty Weekend Festival Band kept the dance floor hopping all night long as everyone made merry into the night (fuelled by pizza from Dough & Deer’s mobile Land Rover pizza van!)

“We loved the whole day, it was amazing to have all our friends and family in the same place at one time.It’s very hard to choose but we particularly enjoyed the band singing ‘Lets Get Married’ before our ceremony and the dancing – the band were amazing.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Relax and enjoy the day, people will appreciate how much work you have put into your special day.”

Andy and Gordon, congratulations! Writing about your breathtaking wedding day has been completely magical, I’ve loved it. Huge thanks also go to Robin Goodlad for these truly lovely and touching images.

Until next time!

With love,

Laura