A Jesus Peiro Gown, Bridesmaids in Grey and a Floral Hexagon Ceremony Backdrop

Happy Sunday morning friends, I hope you’re all snuggled up in bed or on the sofa having a catchup on all things wedding planning.

It’s a pleasure to introduce you to Laura, a higher level teaching assistant and Lee, a senior business analyst, who married on 7 September 2018 at The Riding School at Calke Abbey, Ticknall in South Derbyshire. The faded glamour, sense of history and the beautiful grounds lent themselves perfectly to Laura’s vision of a ‘The Secret Garden’ and enchanted woodland-inspired day, put together with a modern, boho twist and subtle colour palette of grey, green and white.

“The theme was born and along with this I also knew I wanted to keep the colour scheme quite neutral and natural. I opted for a colour palette of grey, green and white. I also wanted the wedding theme to have a rustic, boho-chic feel.”

Photography Humpston & Bull Photography

The couple met back in May 2009 in Laura’s hometown of Leek in Staffordshire.

“At the time I was working as a barmaid and Lee’s friends would come most weekends to the bar where I worked, three years prior to us meeting. The night we met, we were both out in Leek and he approached me and my friends at the bar. He offered to buy me a drink and our love story begun from there.”

“Our engagement was very much the ‘fairytale’. Lee had taken me to New York for my 30th birthday – an absolute dream come true. That particular day we had planned to get the ferry over to Brooklyn and walk back over Brooklyn Bridge.”

“Once in Brooklyn we took a stroll along the promenade to take in the stunning views of the Manhattan skyline. We sat on a bench and that’s when Lee got down on one knee and presented me with the most perfect Princess-cut ring.”

“I always knew when I got engaged I didn’t want to be straight into planning. I wanted to have that time just enjoying being engaged. A year later we set to finding the perfect venue for our wedding. It took us a few months before we finally discovered the beauty that is Calke Abbey. We set the date in April 2017.”

Laura wore a beautiful fishtail, fitted gown by Jesus Peiro gown, a designer who you know we adore here on Love My Dress. The bride had a superb experience at Southwell boutique Frances Day Bridal choosing her gown. My favourite detail is the lacy, epaulette cap sleeves layered over the delicate tulle bodice.

If you love this gown then please do visit Jesus Peiro in our Little Book Wedding Directory.

“I had such an amazing and wonderful experience and loved every minute of it. Frances Day Bridal is an absolutely beautiful bridal shop based in Southwell, Nottinghamshire. They stock some stunning dresses and what I would call not your ‘average and typical’ dress, which is what I was after. Julia and the team are fantastic and so warm and welcoming – they made the whole experience of shopping for a dress a dream!”

“I knew I was after something a bit different and I found three I really liked, two of which were by designer Augusta Jones and then my Jesus Peiro dress.”

“I had booked in again to have another fitting and during that two week period it was the Jesus Peiro that I couldn’t stop thinking and fantasising about.”

“I loved the cut and fishtail fit of this dress with its gorgeous, geometric, statement lace design. It was so unique and different and like no other dress I’d ever seen. I just knew straight away ‘I don’t want to take this dress off ever!’. I felt like a Queen in it.”

Her gorgeous sandals were ‘Emily’ by Jimmy Choo in Champagne glitter fabric. Statement crystal earrings from Miss Clemmie, a Pandora ‘Essence’ bracelet and a spray of Dior’s Miss Dior fragrance finished Laura’s outfit.

The bridesmaids look cool and relaxed in their pale silver TH&TH floor-length gowns – so pretty with their deep V back and ruffled sleeve line. They wore them with their own shoes in metallic tones and their own jewellery.

Victoria Hutchinson styled Laura’s long, dark locks into a dramatic, over-the-shoulder, fishtail plait whilst her make-up was natural and beautiful, applied by Makeup by Tabitha Glaze.

It’s always great to see brides wearing something a little bit different and Laura’s birdcage veil from Joyce Jackson is just that. It adds a quirky, individual touch and flirty feel that is so fun.

“I’d always loved the idea of wearing a birdcage. I loved the vintage, bohemian chicness of them and again it was something a bit different.”

In line with the elegant colour scheme, the bouquets were opulent, hand-gathered affairs of fresh green foliage and lots of different white flowers.

“I knew I wanted Laura from Avant Garden Weddings to do our flowers from the moment I saw one of her beautiful sample bouquets at a wedding fayre. It was made up of lots of different white flowers including roses, thistles, veronica, wax flowers, freesias and different types of eucalyptus.”

“I instantly fell in love as I’m a great lover of all things neutral so it made perfect sense to have a very neutral and natural theme to our flowers. I said to Laura “make me this bouquet again for my wedding!”.”

“We chose Calke Abbey because we instantly fell in love with its rustic, bohemian charm and that it was a complete blank canvas. Calke Abbey is described as ‘The Un-stately Home and Country Estate’. Some people may perceive it as run-down and neglected; instead we found ourselves captivated by its imperfections and history.”

“There are so many little nooks, crannies and corners, each with a story to tell and this all intrigued us. We loved the white washed exposed brick walls of The Riding School and the beautiful walled gardens and glasshouses. It was everything we had wanted in a venue and more.”

The civil ceremony was held in The Riding School, beautifully decorated with lots and lots of foliage, festoon lights and chandeliers.

“The décor was a mix of professional wedding suppliers and bits I made and sourced myself. The talented and creative Fabric Theatre supplied the filament festoon lights which adorned the middle section of The Riding School and the stunning chandelier light feature that hung above the bar area.”

“This was one of my favourite décor features as it was very much a statement piece with a ‘wow factor’.”

“Jan at Fabric Theatre was completely on board with our secret garden/enchanted wood theme and she dotted a few little woodland friends around the venue.”

“Our florist supplied the hexagon ceremony backdrop – another statement piece which we loved. We wanted to source rustic-looking wooden chairs and found a company called Sami Tipi that supplied beautiful, rustic, oak, cross-back chairs. They looked really elegant but at the same time rustic against the white washed brick walls.”

‘Bright’ by Echosmith played as Laura entered with her father and made her way down the aisle to meet Lee. He chose to wear a pale grey Hugo Boss suit with contrast waistcoat, paired with cufflinks and a tie pin from Hugo Boss and shoes, belt and silvery tie from Next.

“Lee and I always said we wanted to make our ceremony really personal so we wrote our own vows to each other. My starting point was to write a list of everything I love about him and from there my creative flow began. It was such a lovely and emotional feeling reading and hearing each others vows.”

“We had three readings during our ceremony, two of which the Registrar read. Then Lee’s sister Olivia did one for us as well – an extract from ‘Wild Awake’ by Hilary T. Smith. This was my favourite. She did such an amazing job and made me cry!”  

The couple exchanged rings from Beaverbrooks and were declared husband and wife before emerging into the fresh September air to a shower of dried petal confetti.

“I made all my own confetti by collecting petals all summer from the roses in my back garden. We had so many trays filled with petals in our airing cupboard.”

Before the wedding breakfast, the couple spent time together with their photographers for these divine newly-wed portrait shots. I love the backdrop of Calke Abbey and those in the woodland and the glasshouse are so romantic.

“During the early stages of planning our wedding, I had slight wobbles and doubts about planning it – being able to pull off this perfect day and be this beautiful bride who would be comfortable being centre of attention. But, after a few chats with them and seeing them at the many wedding fayres we attended, I always came away feeling reassured and more confident in my ability to pull this day off and to make it something really special.”

The overall vibe and beauty of the day has been so wonderfully captured in these timeless images from photographers Humpston & Bull, whose sense of fun and eye for detail shines through.

“We couldn’t have asked for better photographers. Lee and Graeme are not only really talented, creative and professional but are both such lovely, friendly, genuine people who made us feel relaxed and comfortable throughout the whole day. Initially I had worries about feeling self-conscious and awkward in front of the camera but this feeling completely disappeared during our pre-wedding shoot.”

“I ended up really enjoying it and having fun and this was exactly the same for our wedding day. We had a lot of laughs with these guys!”

“I can’t thank them enough for our stunning wedding photos. They completely captured the love and emotion of the entire day. These guys really made our wedding day and this was down to their fun, relaxed and going above and beyond attitude, they really felt like an extension of our guest list.”

Laura and Lee worked with wedding and event planners Honeysuckle & Castle to style their day.

“As a little girl I loved the film ‘The Secret Garden’ and I’ve always been fascinated by walled gardens – there’s just something magical and enchanting about them. It was when we went to view Clumber Park that a ‘The Secret Garden/enchanted wood’ theme came to mind. Shortly after, we viewed Calke Abbey.”

“This place shared a lot of similarities with the beautiful walled gardens and glasshouses. It had that ‘enchanted’ feel and vibe with its red brick archways with green, flaked painted wooden doors adorned with wisteria and clematis leading to further gardens, secret tunnels that run beneath the gardens, mystical bluebell woodlands, stags and does and, to top it off, that little red breasted robin perched upon a branch of a tree.”

“The girls at Honeysuckle & Castle were absolutely amazing – a special mention to Rebecca and Emma who were an absolute dream. They worked closely with us during the planning process and co-ordinated on the day.”

“We had a lot of love for these girls and they made our wedding the great success that it was. We felt lucky and blessed to have had them working alongside us. They were very supportive and always on hand to offer advice, ideas and recommendations for suppliers.”

Back at The Riding School, a wedding breakfast from Black Peppermint Food Co was served on long trestle tables, decorated with more foliage and lit by those beautiful festoon lights.

“I spent a year collecting bits myself, including vintage glass bottles for the flowers, terracotta plant pots and log slices. I also did a spot of calligraphy writing on some vintage mirrors sourced from the local antique centre in Belper and our welcome A-board sign. Favours were mini Absolut flavoured vodkas.”

Laura and Lee worked with wedding and event planners Honeysuckle & Castle to style their day.

“As a little girl I loved the film ‘The Secret Garden’ and I’ve always been fascinated by walled gardens – there’s just something magical and enchanting about them. It was when we went to view Clumber Park that a ‘The Secret Garden/enchanted wood’ theme came to mind. Shortly after, we viewed Calke Abbey. This place shared a lot of similarities with the beautiful walled gardens and glasshouses.”

“It had that ‘enchanted’ feel and vibe with its red brick archways with green, flaked painted wooden doors adorned with wisteria and clematis leading to further gardens, secret tunnels that run beneath the gardens, mystical bluebell woodlands, stags and does and, to top it off, that little red breasted robin perched upon a branch of a tree.”

“The theme was born and along with this I also knew I wanted to keep the colour scheme quite neutral and natural. I opted for a colour palette of grey, green and white. I also wanted the wedding theme to have a rustic, boho-chic feel.”

“The girls at Honeysuckle & Castle were absolutely amazing – a special mention to Rebecca and Emma who were an absolute dream. They worked closely with us during the planning process and co-ordinated on the day. We had a lot of love for these girls and they made our wedding the great success that it was. We felt lucky and blessed to have had them working alongside us. They were very supportive and always on hand to offer advice, ideas and recommendations for suppliers.”

My eye’s been caught by the tiered, semi-naked wedding cake decorated with fresh greenery, a Cottonwood Bakery creation.

“Our cake was a three-tier, semi-naked cake. I loved the classic, elegant simplicity of them. We dressed the cake with real flowers supplied by our florist and topped it with the cutest Stag and Doe set which I sourced from eBay. Our cake flavours were salted caramel, lemon and orange and Autumnal spices. All three flavours tasted fantastic.”

RJL Events were on hand to get the evening party started, with a first dance to ‘You & Me Song’ by The Maccabees.

“It’s a song we both love about a realistic relationship with ups and downs. No matter what, it’s always just the two of us together facing the world.”

“It sounds so cliché but we absolutely loved every minute of our day – from the moment I woke up that morning to see my beautiful bouquets to the very last dance (‘New York, New York’). The whole day was magical and I don’t think we’d change a thing. It was perfect just as it was.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“‘Your day, your way’. Make sure you have the day you both want as a couple, don’t be influenced by people or even friends and family telling you what you should and shouldn’t have. Your big day can be whatever you want it to be, even if it doesn’t follow a classic, traditional wedding. Don’t be afraid to do something adventurous or outside the box but always be true to yourselves and have no regrets.”

“Enjoy the planning process and don’t let anxieties and doubts get in the way. I initially did and I felt like this hindered me from really enjoying the first six months of planning. Keep talking and sharing your thoughts with your fiancé, friends, family and suppliers as this really helped me. Take in all the compliments and feel like a queen for the day!”

“Another cliché but it’s so true and everyone said this piece of advice to me; ‘Enjoy and take it all in, because the whole day goes so quickly’.”

“We had an initial budget of £15,000 when we started planning our wedding but months into planning, the budget went slightly out of the window, especially where my dress was concerned. You can’t put a price on love!”

Oh Laura and Lee, what a beautiful day and I love how you subtly wove your inspiration through every element. Laura, you look beautiful in your Jesus Peiro gown, and so comfortable and confident.

Sending you and your new husband congratulations and thanks for sharing your day with us. Thank you also to Humpston & Bull for your photographs too. I hope to see your work again here soon.

Ele xx