A Surrey Palace Wedding + Galina Signature Dress

Hello lovelies, and a very warm welcome if you’re newly engaged and visiting our pages for the very first time. Have you heard about our private Love My Dress Facebook group?

It’s a truly supportive online space for brides to connect and share so please take time to join our community. Today I’ve got the most lovely of September weddings to share with you. I hope you find it full of inspiration for your own day. Addington Palace, Surrey was the venue for the late summer wedding of Taya, who works in marketing and Mark, who has a career in banking. They married on 29 September 2018 in a service at St Mary the Blessed Virgin Church, Addington. The newly-weds and their guests moved on to the Palace for a celebration inspired by its regal surroundings, with softness added by masses of fresh flowers in a beautiful colour palette of gold, pink and green.

Photography Carl Glancey Photography

“My bridesmaids and I agreed that a soft pink suited all so that led the way with our theme. Our final colours were gold and pink with lots of greenery and muted flowers. The beautiful design of the Great Hall at Addington Palace did the rest.”Taya selected her wonderful Galina Signature gown from David’s Bridal, then worked with Orhan London Tailoring to create a unique, customised gown that suits her down to the ground. I love the almost-sheer skirt and fitted, embellished bodice with its daring low-back.

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“I loved the flattering shape on me and had an idea of what I wanted to create with the tailors. We completely transformed it into something unique.”

To mirror the embellishment of the bodice, Taya wore a sparkling statement necklace and matching hairpiece from Debenhams and layered a mid-length veil (an Amazon find!) over her skirt. Her beautiful silver sandals were from Jimmy Choo, and a spritz of Chanel Coco Mademoiselle completed her preparations.

The girls’ hair and makeup were styled so beautifully by Louise Scotland Makeup Artist, with their looks finished off with crystal pins and fresh flowers. They each carried a bouquet of fresh white blooms and crisp foliage, put together by florists Rhubarb & Bramley.

“We’d met them at a wedding show and loved their modern flowers and decorations.”

The morning’s preparations were caught on camera by Carl Glancey Photography, whose natural style means that all of the intimate, relaxed moments have been recorded beautifully.

“Carl was simply incredible. I’d spoken with a lot of photographers but we had the best rapport with Carl. As we’re not too big on posing we loved his documentary-style photography to capture the true atmosphere of our day.”

“He was fun, patient and so creative. We could not be happier with our pictures and everyone has commented on how great they were!”

Taya’s six bridesmaids chose the most divine gowns from Maya at ASOS, selecting styles to suit their own styles and tastes. I adore the pretty combination of sparkly bodice and tulle skirts.

“One bridesmaid lives in Australia and another was eight months pregnant at the time. The different styles from the same range meant everyone could pick what suited them best.”

“Addington Palace is absolutely stunning and has a very regal feel. It really did not need much work to bring it to life.”

“With a bit of Pinterest research and my mum’s helping hand, we began collecting glass bottles of all sizes and collected numerous floral decorations along the way to create the centre pieces.”

Mark chose to wear a sharp, tailored blue suit and waistcoat from Cad & The Dandy on Savile Row, complete with a Rampley & Co pocket square, Church’s shoes and his grandad’s pocket watch. His groomsmen pulled their look together with matching Rampley & Co pocket squares.

After meeting in a Speakeasy bar in Shoreditch, London, the couple got engaged after just over a year together.

“We were sitting on tables next to each other when Mark’s friend Laura spilt her cocktail everywhere, getting us all talking. Mark decided to pop the question on holiday in Jamaica last year. After four days of sweating it out and hiding the ring in a gym bag in the hotel room, he grabbed a Red Stripe beer, got down on a wobbly knee and proposed on a quiet beach in our favourite spot.”

The bridal party was completed by Taya’s godson Teddy, dressed in an adorable River Island five-piece suit and bow tie.

“Teddy had just turned two and stole the show!”

The couple planned and organised everything themselves but hired an on-the-day planner – Planner At Hand – to take the stress out of setting up on the actual day.

“I designed the day booklets, menus, table plans, table names and place cards myself to match the original invites from Papier.”

The Church of England service was held in St Mary the Blessed Virgin church, which Taya and her father entered to ‘Ave Maria’ by Schubert played on the organ.

The couple then exchanged their vows, and rings bought at Heera Diamonds in Hatton Garden. Their marriage ceremony was personalised by two readings; ‘Song of Solomon 2. 10 – 13; 8. 6,7’ read by Mark’s brother Andrew and ‘Blessing Of The Hands’ read by Taya’s friend Jodie Harris.

“My favourite part was when we were announced man and wife at the church. We were officially Mr and Mrs and our friends cheered SO loudly that it was the only moment I’d got emotional all day!”

The couple were blessed with such a beautiful late September day, meaning that mingling outside at Addington Palace in the sunshine was essential. The guests enjoyed the welcome reception outside, along with live saxophone music from Ian Thompson at Solid Sax.

“Our wedding cake was a naked three-tier cake from M&S decorated with flowers and fruit. We also had a second five-tier cheese cake (I’m a huge fan of cheese) which doubled up as part of the evening food menu. That was from Borough Box.”

Taya and Mark had worked so hard to dress the Great Hall of the Palace, using a garland of artificial wisteria to frame the top table to wonderful effect.

“We had tonnes of flowers that we’d collected throughout the year from Amazon and other stores including a beautiful garland which we hung as a backdrop behind the top table. No one noticed that the flowers weren’t real!”

“Our wedding favour was a bottle of Butler’s Gin per table, with a can of Fever-Tree tonic each. It was fitting given our new family name and we’re big gin lovers. Butler’s Gin also happens to be one of our favourites and is crafted not far from where we live in London.”

The wedding breakfast was served by Super Event, whilst the naked cake was a tower of Marks & Spencer cakes.

“Incredibly professional, delicious food and an absolutely delight to work with! I cannot recommend them enough.”

In a nod to their engagement story, the couple’s first dance was to Bob Marley’s ‘Is This Love’.

“It then launched into a house remix of the same song to get the party started. We got engaged in Jamaica so Bob Marley has a special place in our hearts.”

“The band, DJ and second saxophonist were all booked through EarCandy.”

“My second favourite moment was right at the end of our wedding where the two of us ended up crowd surfing to Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’. That was definitely unexpected but a sign of a great party!”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Enjoy every single moment. It’s said so often but the whole planning process and day itself really does fly by and you don’t get to do it again! Soak it all in, don’t let yourself get stressed out and bring your friends and family along the way to make it even more fun and memorable.”

“Try on lots of dresses even if you know what you have in mind. It’s the one time you get to do it and it’s all part of the fun!”

Taya and Mark, sending so many thanks and congratulations to you on your wedding; it’s been such a pleasure to share it here and I adore those sunset shots. Thank you to Carl Glancey for such glorious photographs. If you’d like to get more country house wedding inspiration, then please visit here.

Ele xx