A Short Cecilie Bahnsen Dress for a Modern English Country ‘At Home’ Wedding

What a week it has been. My heart goes out to anyone who has had their wedding plans disrupted and if you’re not already, I really recommend you join our private Love My Dress Facebook group which is a wonderful source of support and advice for any bride to be.

We’re throwing back to happier, more certain times today and my, what a stunner of a wedding I have to share with you. I really hope that this adds a ray of sunshine to your day and inspires many of you to do something slightly different with your bridal attire, too.

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Please meet interior designer Lizzie and PE teacher Sam, whose relaxed, fun and colourful wedding took place on 20 July 2019 in Worth Matravers, Dorset.

Following a joyous wedding in the 500 year old village church, St Nicholas of Myra Worth Matravers, the newly-weds and their nearest and dearest headed over to the grounds of Sam’s family’s holiday home for a lively marquee reception full of fun and the colours of summer.

Lizzie’s dress is a creation from sought after Danish fashion designer, Cecilie Bahnsen. I just adore its light fabric, the open back and the delicate, lacy embellishment which gives the whole piece such a fun, ethereal feel.

“I bought my dress in Dover Street Market on Haymarket in Piccadilly. It was amazing. I had a private room with the most incredible backdrop of wallpaper and this super-helpful girl was bringing me shoes and hair pieces that she thought would work.”

“I didn’t feel right in a lot of the typical wedding dress boutiques so searched further afield and bought a ready-to-wear piece which I felt so much more comfortable and me in.”

With the dress she wore a cute, short veil from Etsy, show-stopping block heels from Prada and a matching perspex hair band which is just so delightfully quirky.

Similarly summery were the bridesmaids in their light and floaty, minty green wrap dresses from Whistles.

“As my dress was short I felt like these should be a similar length and the wrap worked well for all shapes.”

“All the bridesmaid’s worth their own shoes which were a mixture of neutral or gold sandals or heels. My nieces wore beautiful white linen dresses from Zara Kids.”

Lizzie left her long blonde hair down and asked her friend to apply her radiant, natural make-up.

“My very good friend Harriet Roland-Jones did my makeup as my wedding gift. She is a friend from school and now a very accomplished make-up artist.”

After a spritz of Issey Miyake, the same perfume that her mum wore on her wedding day and also a gift from her mum, the bride was church-ready.

“My dad walked me down the aisle to Florence and the Machine’s cover of ‘Stand by Me’. We were married by the parish Reverend, James Mercer of St Nicholas’ Church.”

“We didn’t tailor our vows but followed the traditional Church of England format.”

Having met in a lift at the media agency, the couple both worked at in 2011, the couple began dating.

“We had some friends in common and started hanging out more and more at the many media events that were booze-fuelled.”

“We got engaged at Chapman’s Pool in Worth in February 2018. Sam managed to build a fire in the pouring rain and wind and got down on one knee. It was pretty special.”

To suit the hot summer’s day, Sam dressed in a lavender blue linen suit from Paul Smith, paired with suede loafers from Clarks, a bright wildflower-sprigged tie and a cute buttonhole.

The readings were Corinthians, read my Lizzie’s brother. Sam’s Grandma read ‘The Confirmation’, by Edward Muir.

“We got our rings from a little family-run shop that’s in their fourth generation on Hatton Garden – E Katz & Co Ltd.”

“The veil was probably the cheapest thing I bought. I found it on Etsy and it cost about £20. I only wore it for a couple of hours. My red suede platform sandals were so incredibly comfy as I’m rubbish in heels. The heel was chunky too so it was ideal for the walk through the field.”

“I wore a headpiece by Simone Rocha which is incredible. It was made of red Perspex flowers so worked with the modern countryside wedding vibe and looked cool with the shoes.”

The newly-weds emerged from the church in a shower of confetti, looking super-happy, and it was just a short walk to the reception venue.

“Everyone just walked from the church to the house so logistically it was easy. We organised buses for 2am to take people to the surrounding villages.”

The guests spilled over in to the beautiful Dorset garden for the champagne reception, all the while being entertained by a folk bank.

“We had a little folk band who we found in the pub the day before.”

“Sam’s family have been visiting Worth for seventy years and we have had so many special times there so it was a no-brainer. We knew Worth in the summer just provided the most beautiful backdrop of wild flowers, green fields and the sea so in terms of style we went with a modern English country wedding vibe.”

The main decor for the day was masses and masses of fresh flowers, put together by the couple, their families and friends. Sam and Lizzie also had a helping hand from Tor of Victoria Sykes Events for pre-wedding and on-the-day co-ordination.

“Tor was incredible and ensured everything ran smoothly in the lead-up and on the day. In terms of suppliers we sourced everything ourselves, but Tor ensured a meticulous timeline to maximize the day and take the stress of everything flowing off us leading up and on the day.”

“We did our flowers ourselves with the help from some family friends. The mums made up all the table flowers and bouquets and a friend who lives in the village did the most incredible job with the church flowers.”

“We did our seating plan the night before and on the morning of the wedding Sam’s sister wrote it all out onto a large mirror which we sat on a trestle and covered with flowers. We did all the stationery design ourselves via Papier and Sam’s sister illustrated a beautiful map of the village.”

Relaxed, laid-back and summery was key, and DP Marquees set up a light and airy marquee in the family garden for the ultimate summer celebration.

“DP Marquees were brilliant. They set up five days before the wedding, allowing us to take our time with sorting everything inside.”

After some fun, informal group shots it was time to eat and the guests headed inside for a crowd-pleasing feast.

“We used Crab Apple Catering who are based in Swanage. They made the most epic Paella. In the evening we did wood-fired pizzas from a little van which went down extremely well.”

Like the rest of the wedding day, the wedding cake too was a little quirky.

“We bought two enormous strawberry and cream cakes and a million brownies from Konditor which were so, so delicious. We hired an ice cream fridge from Purbeck Ice Cream which we filled with our favourite flavours and people just helped themselves.”

Capturing the day was Harry Michael Photography and, without a doubt, his style is so well-suited to the couple’s vision of a modern English country wedding with fun and informality at its heart. However, these golden hour images have captured my heart. Just how beautiful are they?

“We chose Harry Michael because we loved his romantic but also energy-filled style. We knew our wedding would be a big party and he stayed till the end (2am) getting some of the funniest shots later in the evening. He took Sam and I off for a couple of moments in the day to reflect which was great.”

 

Kicking off the evening party were The Cash Cows.

“Our first dance was to Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’. The Cash Cows who are an awesome duo to get the party started. They did a couple of sets – one outside after we served espresso martinis and one inside the marquee. They were brilliant.”

“I loved everything. It was the most fun and energy filled day. Everything was perfect from the weather to the food but ultimately having all my favourite people together was immensely special. I loved the church ceremony and having everyone bellow out the hymns gave me goosebumps.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Enjoy the process!! Don’t panic about the little things as ultimately no one will care. Important things are the food and booze so invest in these and make sure you don’t run out.”

“You can always enjoy them the next day or months that follow like we are!”

Sam and Lizzie, your day has cheered me up immensely. I’m head over heels for your gown, and I love the entire vibe of your wedding. Thank you so much, and thank you Harry Michael too. Wishing you all a good week,

Ele xx