An Effortlessly Elegant Allure Bridals Dress for a Home-Spun Garden Party Wedding at Brinsop Court in Herefordshire

Spring is in the air – snowdrops and crocus are emerging through the grass and the air is definitely a little less icy than it has been. I’m beginning to look forward to the summer and the return of bright, balmy days spent outside.

Today’s couple, Collette and Paul, certainly made the most of the long June days for their wedding weekend, marrying outside against the backdrop of the rolling Herefordshire hills. The bride and groom are Collette, a supply chain worker and Paul, a support worker, who married on 2 June in the leafy gardens of Brinsop Court in Herefordshire.

Photography Lottie Elizabeth Photography

The historic house and its unique grounds offered a wonderful backdrop for a relaxed garden party wedding weekend, complete with home-made garden games, gin cocktails and lots of sunshine. A loose theme of greens, golds and rose blush underpinned the day, which set off the pure white of Collette’s gown beautifully.

Collette’s gown is simply exquisite; I adore the clean lines and modern feel created by the plunging bodice with its lacy back. She chose this Allure Bridals design at Elizabeth Louise Bridal Boutique in Chester.

“I loved the way it made me feel. It was elegant and simple but still striking. It was different from any other dress I had tried on (and I had tried a lot!) or seen so far.”

The lace back was echoed in the beautiful lace edging of her dramatic veil from Nieve Couture, and the intricate tiara, also from Nieve Couture, that adorned her blonde up-do.

Her elegant silver shoes came from Jimmy Choo, and she accessorised with a bracelet lent by Paul’s mum.

“I wore Chanel Chance. This was a Christmas gift from Paul and an old favourite of mine.”

The venue really does looks so special; I love the warmth of the old stone against the fresh green of its lawns and it looks as if there are so many interesting parts to explore. The couple and their guests were fully able to do so, having hired it for the entire weekend.

“We had a weekend wedding and had the whole venue to accommodate 33 guests to ourselves. This meant family and friends travelling from around the world – Australia, USA, Brazil, Canada – could share the whole weekend with us and make the most of it.”

“We had a BBQ on the Friday night for everyone staying at the venue. We ordered sausages and burgers from a local butcher. Then on the Sunday, we booked in at the local pub for Sunday lunch.”

 

“I designed a lot of the stationery and had it printed at a local stationery shop. This helped save some costs and they did a great job.”

“I made my own table plan and orders of service with the help of my trusty bridesmaids. I also made my own table place names from salt dough and a heart cutter.”

“I painted a pallet from work and Imogen (my bridesmaid) wrote the order of the day. We still have this pallet propped up in our back garden as a reminder of the day. Brinsop provided flowers in the main building plus lots of pillar candles for the tables. They also lit firepits for the evening. We set up some fairy lights in the courtyard too.”

These minty green, draped bridesmaids’ gowns were found on ASOS. Worn with their own shoes and fresh gypsophila in their hair, they look so fresh, relaxed and striking. Each girl carried a bouquet of dusky pink roses, eucalyptus and more gypsophila, smaller versions of Collette’s own bouquet. They were styled by The Herefordshire Flower Studio.

“We went for dusky pinks and green colours. I wanted a cascading bouquet to complement my dress. I love eucalyptus so wanted a lot of that.”

To suit the summer’s day, Paul chose a fresh navy suit from Gieves & Hawkes paired with a crisp white shirt and pale pink tie by Swagger & Swoon. His groomsmen wore their own blue suits to match and they all completed their look with dainty white buttonholes.

The perfect weather meant that the ceremony was held outside under the trees. The ceremony lawn looks beautiful with its rows of chairs adorned with fresh flowers. Collette’s father, Idris Day, walked her down the aisle to the sound of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’. Heading outside to marry was the bride’s very favourite moment from the day.

“For me, it was walking out of the main house on my dad’s arm and seeing everyone turn around. It was so surreal and special, knowing that this was the moment. I could just see Paul beaming and I felt so happy.”

The civil ceremony included two readings; ‘A History of Love’ by Nicole Krauss read by Collette’s brother Christopher and an extract from Philip Pullman’s ‘The Amber Spyglass’ by read by Paul’s friend Cris. Rings were from Kayes Jewellers of Chester.

“Paul chose my engagement ring from Kayes and they had a matching wedding band. The staff were lovely and I can go back to have it cleaned as many times as I like which is great.”

The signing of the register took place inside, then it was back outside for photos, drinks and canapés and games on the lawn. I can’t believe the beautiful weather, which meant both the speeches and cutting of the cake could happen al fresco.

Lottie Elizabeth Photography is behind these richly-coloured photographs, full of candid moments and happiness.

“The best photographer in the world! Lottie was so professional and attentive in the run-up to the wedding and the day itself. She did everything she could to get the best shot and really made it all feel very easy and relaxed.”

Back outside, the guests relaxed to live music from Zoot Serious and the Bellyful of Bop bathed in the glow of the fairylights and firepit.

“The trumpet player in this band, Mr Tout, was my old band conductor from school. I played saxophone in the school band so we were thrilled when they could play at our wedding.”

The Banqueting Hall was laid out for the wedding breakfast catered for by A to Zest, with each table named after a theatre show. Walking in to see the guests assembled was the groom’s stand-out moment.

“We had Thai food for the reception canapés, then a seafood starter and a classic Herefordshire lamb for main, finished with a delicious chocolate and honeycomb tea cup. We hired some antique tea cups and saucers especially which was a bit of a splurge but our guests loved them.”

The couple felt that Brinsop Court needed little dressing but added lots of home-spun elements including garden games, pallet signs, fresh flowers and stationery designed by Collette.

“We felt the venue spoke for itself and we didn’t need to dress it up too much. While I did create a mood board full of greens, golds and rose blush colours, we didn’t have a specific theme. Having never planned a wedding before, our focus was more on bringing everybody together for a weekend since a lot of our close friends and family were coming from around the world.”

“My dad made the garden games (wooden arrows) and Giant Jenga. We also tried to include things we both enjoyed such as musical theatre, so we had different shows as the table names.”

“I hand-made some seed packets and sewed them up using gold and green thread. I bought bags of seeds online and filled them before tying with ribbon. I then got a pallet from work to paint and hang them from.”

The thoroughly modern ‘Painterly’ cake, simply banded with pastel ribbons, was created by the bride’s best friend and maid of honour, Imogen.

“We wanted it simple and elegant on the outside and wild on the inside, much like the cakes Imogen and I baked when we were young. We often made multicoloured cakes to put our parents off from eating them. There wasn’t much left over of the wedding cake though!”

Back inside, the couple took to the dance floor for a first dance to Louis Armstrong’s ‘La Vie En Rose’.

“How can you not love this track? I have a love of jazz and Edith Piaf. Paul heard it on the radio and knew it was the right one.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t feel guilty about talking about your wedding day to people – this is your moment!”

“If you can, try to take ten minutes on the day to yourself. Everything can become overwhelming and it was good for me to take a breather. I snuck away after the meal and lay on the bed where I was getting ready in the morning. It was amazing how together I felt after and ready to welcome our evening guests.”

“Try to support local businesses as much as possible.”

“Our original budget was about £25k and it ended up costing about £30k. This did include our honeymoon to Greece though. We spent a week at the stunning Lindos Blu in Rhodes – highly recommended.”

Collette and Paul, what a beautiful venue. I’m so glad that you got to relax there and enjoy time with your guests for a whole weekend, too. Thank you so much for letting us share your special day today – it’s been such a delight.

Thank you also to Lottie Elizabeth Photography for your beautiful work; it’s injected such a lovely dose of green to our blog today.

Ele xx