A Cosy Country House November Wedding Filled with Late Autumn Colour

As I sit down to write this piece, it’s all looking and feeling very autumnal outside; a grey, rainy day with the wind whipping the turning leaves from the trees. It’s definitely time to light some candles, I think! Today’s lovely celebration is itself a cosy autumn affair, filled with elegant, vintage inspired touches, and a beautiful palette of seasonal colours.

Occupational Therapist Natasha, and Mark, who is a Software Engineer, celebrated their marriage on the 2 November 2018, with a ceremony at All Saints Church in Witley, Surrey, followed by a reception at the historic Ramster Hall, Surrey; a magnificent country house and much-loved family home.

“We chose Ramster Hall because it was near to our church, and also it was somewhere my  mum regularly visits. When we went to look around they were very helpful and professional.”

Images by Matt Penberthy Photography

“We love autumn, plus it’s a little more of an unusual time to get married. We also met in the autumn, and I love the colours that we chose – berry, navy, silver, dark green, light grey and light pink. The overall style of the wedding was autumnal vintage elegance with a touch of  The Great Gatsby.”

Photographer Matt Penberthy’s contemporary, creative photography has been gracing our pages for some time now, and he is also a highly valued member of our Little Book directory. In these images of Natasha and Mark’s day, Matt has perfectly captured the colours of autumn, and the homely, comforting and intimate feel of Ramster Hall.

“We chose Matt after a recommendation by our venue, and we were very pleased with his professionalism. Many guests  commented after the wedding on how the photographs looked as though they were ‘from a magazine,’ because they were so good.”

Friend Marie Constable is a hair and make-up artist, and was on hand to create a beautifully glamorous look for Natasha, to which she added a delicate, custom-made hair vine of seed pearls and crystals by Victoria Harper, and a single tier chapel length veil from JJ’s House.

  

The bridesmaids wore pretty pearl hair vines from ASOS, which perfectly complemented Natasha’s look, and satin cami maxi dresses in a deep berry colour, also from ASOS.

At The Farnham Boutique, Natasha found an array of charming, vintage inspired dresses to try, and settled on the romantic ‘Lara’ design, with its botanical lace, delicate tulle illusion straps and mermaid silhouette with a gorgeous tulle train.

“I chose my dress after trying on around eight in two different shops. The shop assistant at The Farnham Boutique suggested it. It wasn’t the shape I thought I wanted (very fitted and it had no sleeves) however after I tried it on, I thought it flattered me the most, that Mark would like it, and that it suited the glamour of our wedding venue.”

Natasha added earrings and a wonderful blush pink feather stole from Liberty in Love, along with a bracelet gifted to her by Mark on the morning of the wedding. On her feet, she wore a pair of ivory satin court shoes from Debenhams.

Natasha was driven to the church in an absolutely stunning 1959 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, courtesy of Surrey Cadillacs, and made her way down the aisle accompanied by her dad, Mark, to A Thousand Years, by Christina Perri.

Michelle also decorated the entrance of All Saints Church with a spectacular arbour of seasonal greenery and romantic blooms, and the couple’s graphic designer friend (and bridesmaid) Allison Coggan designed their pretty, floral inspired stationery, including a welcome sign for outside the church.

“We first met at Kent University, on the first day in halls of residence, as we lived opposite each other. We’ve been together ever since (10 years) and got engaged in the Dominican Republic on a 5am sunrise beach walk.”

Natasha and Mark said traditional Church of England vows to each other, and exchanged rings, which they chose at jewellers Beaverbrooks.

   

Natasha’s mum chose the two ceremony readings, and the couple appreciated their words and meanings. The first was Vow, by Roger McGough, and the second was a Bible reading – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

 

As the ceremony concluded, Natasha and Mark made their way joyfully up the aisle together and into the waiting vintage Cadillac for the drive over to Ramster Hall.

Mark wore a smart navy blue suit and silver bow tie from Moss Bros., along with a contrasting cream waistcoat from ASOS. The flowergirls looked lovely in white dresses with burgundy sashes, wraps, white tights and shoes from Debenhams.

Guests enjoyed a drinks reception inside the hall, with music from Capital String Quartet, who Natasha and Mark booked through Little Book members Alive Network.

Natasha’s bouquet beautifully reflected their autumnal colour palette of berry, navy blue, pale pink, silver, grey and deep forest green. Florist Michelle Rust did a brilliant job with an arrangement that included greenery, roses, sea holly and delicate astilbe.

“Michelle was very professional, and I was really pleased with how she took on my ideas for rustic wildflowers and made them work perfectly with the colour of the bridesmaid’s dresses, etc.”

 

The wonderful timber-framed and panelled Long Hall was the setting for the couple’s reception, and here tables were set beneath a ceiling filled with fairylights. Tables were decorated with floral centrepieces, some arranged around vintage style candelabra wrapped in delicate asparagus fern.

“We added our own fairy lights, chalk boards made by friend Becky, photo frames we already had, and a DIY photobook from eBay. Our favours were inside boxes from Amazon, filled with personalised love heart sweets from Etsy. Wildflower seeds were from the British Heart Foundation in memory of Mark’s grandad.”

To finish off the elegant reception decor, there were Polaroid snaps on the tables, along with candles and tealights, and origami paper cranes on seats.

Brilliant Little Book members Jacaranda began the wedding feast with delicious canapes during the drinks reception, before everyone sat down to a magnificent dinner they had prepared, and the wonderful, rustic, three-tier naked cake was kindly baked by Mark’s cousin’s wife, Laura.

To kick off an evening of dancing, Natasha and Mark enjoyed their first dance together, to the Boyce Avenue version of Forever, before more music from band Ignite (booked through Alive Network).

“Dancing at the end of the day with friends and family was our favourite part, because we could actually let go and enjoy it – there was nothing left to try and keep tabs on!”

  

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Keep a to-do list with key dates and costings to keep you on track and make you feel in control when it gets nearer to your date.”

“If you can, delegate some key tasks such as someone arranging the transport/flowers/catering etc. or helping with invites, etc. Also have a spa day leading up to it to chill out!”

Natasha and Mark, congratulations and many thanks for sharing your beautiful, cosy autumn celebration with us, and readers, do make sure you look at our other enchanting autumn weddings. Huge thanks to Matt Penberthy for another collection of stunning images.

With love,

Laura