A Pronovias Bride + Her Black Tie, Romantic + Child Friendly Wedding

There’s a very lovely abundance of roses in the spectacular floral arrangements for today’s timelessly romantic celebration. It all took place at a magnificent Tudor manor house in Lincolnshire –  and as some of you might know, roses were the emblem of the Tudor family, so it seemed fitting to fill the venue with their loveliness.

This is the wedding of Katie, who is mum to the couple’s three children, Alice, Sam and Ella, and Simon, who is the Director of a bowling alley and luxury lodge park. They celebrated their marriage on the 28 July at Doddington Hall & Gardens on the outskirts of Lincoln, holding their ceremony in the hall’s beautiful Long Gallery, and their reception in the converted Coach House.

Film by Blue Sage Films

“We booked James at Blue Sage Films last minute, and are so pleased we did. He was brilliant, he captured so many beautiful moments that we hadn’t seen. It’s a wonderful thing to have to look back on, along with your photos.”

“We didn’t have a particular theme to our day, but just picked things that we loved after spending hours on Pinterest and wedding blogs! I like to think it ended up being romantic, with lots of greenery and roses, and fairylights, and everyone looking gorgeous in their tuxedos and beautiful dresses.”

Images by Philippa James Photography

After the ceremony, Katie and Simon spent some reflective and romantic time together, to enjoy their newly married status. These, and so many more of the day’s beautiful moments were captured elegantly by photographer Philippa James.

“Philippa is just one of those special people that when you meet, you feel like you have known them forever after just a few minutes. It was a pleasure to bring her into our home for a family shoot, and then to our wedding. The photos couldn’t have been more perfect; they are memories that we will treasure forever.”From boutique Jaynes Bridalwear, Katie chose a showstopper of a dress by Pronovias, with a glittering, intricately embellished tulle illusion bodice with sparkly edging, a subtle mermaid silhouette and a dramatic, lace trimmed train.

“I am terrible at making decisions, and was so worried about not having the right dress. ‘The’ dress was the third one I’d picked, and I still had my second choice as back-up until the last minute, but in the end it was perfect.”

Sarah and Kerry from Beauty Boutique Lincoln took care of make-up for Katie, her mum and bridesmaids, with their hair styled by Chloe, Georgie and Courtney at Toni & Guy in Lincoln.

Katie wore silver heels adorned with crystals, by Manolo Blahnik, and earrings by Heming. In her hair, she wore a tiara by Richard Designs, together with a romantic tulle veil by Pronovias.

“I picked a new perfume for the day – Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel, so that it would always remind me of our wedding day.”

Simon looked smart in a timeless, stylish tuxedo by Andrew J. Musson, with the groomsmen in matching attire, and the sweet pageboys wearing black tie from Monsoon.

In keeping with the soft and romantic colour palette of the day, Katie’s two bridesmaids wore lilac grey and pale pink maxi dresses from Monsoon, with shoes from there also, and jewellery pieces from Wanderlust Life.

The flowergirls looked lovely in an assortment of dresses from High Street favourite, Monsoon; sparkly dresses with spangled tulle skirts, and a white lace and tulle dress with a pink sash, applique roses, and an embellished cardigan.

Katie and her bridesmaids and flowergirls carried ethereally beautiful bouquets of pink and cafe au lait garden roses, accented with white berries, feathery asparagus fern and lots of other lovely, seasonal foliage.

“Rachel Petheram of Catkin is the resident florist at Doddington Hall, and she is incredible. I wanted big, blowsy roses and lots of greenery, and she took those ideas and turned them into a masterpiece.”

Katie was accompanied down the aisle of Doddington Hall’s elegant Long Gallery by her two brothers, Chris and Rich, whilst pianist Anne Rattigan (sadly unable to find any details about Anne) played La Vie En Rose on the resident Steinway.

“Simon and I were introduced by mutual friends in 2014. We went on a blind date and immediately knew this was going to be something (a line from Simon’s speech). I already had my daughter Alice, so after a few months of dating, Simon and Alice were introduced, and skip to few more months later, and we moved into Simon’s bachelor pad (no more!) and not long after I was pregnant with our son, Sam.”

“We moved into a new home together just in time for Sam to arrive in November 2015. Simon proposed in May 2016 after a movie night and pizza.”

“As I was putting the dogs to bed, he popped open a bottle of champagne (a bit extravagant for this late at night, I thought but let’s go with it!) and then he proceeded to get down on one knee. He still laughs about the shock on my face.”

“After the excitement had died down, we decided to squeeze one more baby in before the wedding, so our lovely Ella arrived in March 2017, and we booked our venue shortly after. Then we could get planning for the wedding in July the following year.”

The couple’s ceremony was conducted by a registrar from Lincoln Registry Office, and being as there were lots of children present, they chose to keep there vows as short and sweet as possible, during which they also exchanged rings, chosen at Heming.

“We went down to Heming in Hatton Garden to choose my engagement ring in 2016, so we had another lovely trip to London to pick our wedding rings.”

The ceremony also included a lovely, heartfelt reading of an extract from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, by Louis de Bernieres, Love is a Temporary Madness.

“We had around 40 children at our wedding, so had to prepare for anything. I included lots of things to entertain them – activity boxes, games, glow sticks, ribbon wands, and we had a wonderful activity tent from ParTpees in the garden, which had a craft table, dress up and outdoor games.”

Everyone enjoyed drinks outside in the gardens whilst the little ones had great fun with their games and dressing up.

“We chose our location because the Doddington Estate is so beautiful, with a wonderful farm shop, restaurant and cafe, bike shop, and the hall and gardens.”

“We had visited many times before attending their Wedding Fair in the Coach House, and we knew this was where we wanted our wedding to be.”

“Our favours were chocolate bars from a small business in Edinburgh owned by couple Matt and Ish – Ocelot Chocolate, which is organic and fair trade, in packaging designed by themselves.”

Table centrepieces were petite posies of flowers placed on top of log slices, with tealights and pastel coloured bottles and jars with single stemmed blooms, berries and ferns placed inside.

Across the windows behind the top table, and across the table itself, were two breathtaking garlands packed with all kinds of gorgeous greenery, and pastel-hued garden and spray roses.

Doddington Hall’s Coach House looked wonderful, with stylish, minimalist stationery courtesy of Little Book member, Lilac & White, and the timber framed ceiling decorated with greenery and twinkling fairylights. 

After a delicious wedding breakfast from the team at Doddington Hall, there was cake – a marvellous three-tier iced creation with the most exquisitely handmade sugar flowers, by Fiona Milnes of Cakes by Design.

Katie swapped her veil for a lovely, wild floral crown of roses and multi-textured greenery, and she and Simon headed to the dancefloor for live music from Mumford & Sons style band, Hipster, who they discovered through Hire a Band.

“We didn’t have a first dance. I think both Simon and myself would have felt uncomfortable up there, so we broke that tradition but we did still cut the cake.”

“I loved the ceremony, but we had so much fun afterwards too, and I loved every minute. It went so fast, so just make sure you sit back and take it all in when you can.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Give yourself plenty of time to get into your dress, and for the finishing touches. I ran out of time at the end, and had hoped to have a glass of champagne with my entourage before walking to the ceremony, but instead we ended up rushing out.”

“Organise in advance who is walking down the aisle and when, so it’s not a free for all! My sister-in-law ended up carrying my two smallest children, as she was the only one left with them before me!”

Katie and Simon, thank you and many congratulations, and all the very best to you and your lovely family. Many thanks also go to Philippa James for her wonderful images, and to Blue Sage Films for their lovely highlights. To see more of Philippa’s vibrant photography on our pages, do be sure to take a look here.

Until next time.

With love,

Laura