Bex in David Fielden for her Dewsall Court Wedding Full of Warm Neutral Tones

Dewsall Court confetti photography

Bex and Chris married on 26th March this year, at Love My Dress recommended venue, the very beautiful Dewsall Court in Hereford.

Bex, who works in the wedding industry herself, worked with a fabulous team of suppliers to bring the day together. Her David Fielden dress was a discovery at Ivory Tower bridal boutique in Knowle. The day was full of sunshine and absolute joy – captured beautifully and to perfect by the incredible Maja Tsolo – another Love My Dress recommended supplier. I couldn’t adore these images more – they give me goosebumps! THIS is what weddings are all about.

Enjoy!

Bridal Beauty & Accessories

Hair was styled by Rachael Capocci and makeup was by Mariella Rodhouse I have worked so much with the girls in the past at weddings I’ve photographed and they’re both angels.

There was nobody else I would have wanted as my glam squad!

My earrings were from Botias Accessories.  I wore a princess cut diamond ring which was Chris’s mums and a hexagonal ring which was my grandma’s. I also wore a signet ring which was my other Grandma’s.

I wore simple Hollywood waves with my veil.

I wore Jo Malone’s ‘Poppy & Barley’, along with Jo Malone’s, ‘Blackberry & Bay’.

The Look

I wore a David Fielden dress, bought through Ivory Tower, Knowle. My main priority was to be comfortable. I didn’t want to feel restricted with tight boning or structure. I wanted to be able to eat and drink without ending up with a tummy ache. The design of the dress was so me; it was ‘champagne’ in colour and I loved the texture of the lace.

My veil (also from Ivory Tower) matched my dress, with the same lace trimming at the end of the cathedral length.

I searched for pretty much a full year for the right shoe. I probably ordered 10 shoes and none were right, wrong style, not comfortable. When I saw these Jimmy Choo shoes in the sale, I had to do it. They have (somehow) the same lace as the dress and were so comfortable! It was a no brainer!

Planning in a Pandemic

Our original wedding date was meant to be 27th June 2020. We then re-scheduled to 10th April 2021 and then obviously moved it again to 26th March 2022.

For us, an important element of the wedding was having Chris’s Canadian side of the family able to travel across and be a part of the day.

His cousins were part of the bridal party – the best man and bridesmaid and her daughters were our flower girls. They were such an integral part of the wedding and we couldn’t have done it without them.

We also have some dear friends who live in Houston, Texas, who flew over on the Friday, left to fly home at 4am on the Sunday just to make the big day.

The Ceremony

My gorgeous bridesmaids and flower girls walked down from the main house with me to the church. Then my Dad (Rob) met me at the flower arch to walk me down the aisle to give me away – this was to the sound of ‘A Life That’s Good’, by Charles Esten (Nashville cast), sung by Doc Brown Trio. The lyrics are incredible!

The Reverend Carl Attwood lead our ceremony. He is a legend – he made the ceremony about us. We feel we have made a friend for life in Carl. He made it funny, memorable, so special and put both Chris and I at ease.

The two readings we chose were Union, by Robert Fulgham and He’s Not Perfect, by Bob Marley.

Our rings were by Mitchel & Co. We went back there as that’s where Chris had the engagement ring designed and made. My wedding band mirrors the shank of the engagement ring, Chris went for a simple gold band.

We did a collection for Ukraine at the end of the church service. We were so aware of the trauma, and unrest in the world whilst we were having a wonderful day in the sunshine with our family and friends. We wanted to acknowledge how lucky we were to be safe and able to have our special day. We raised £275 which was donated to the red cross fund for Ukraine.

Country folk band, The Doc Brown Trio, provided music for our ceremony and drinks reception.

Discover more wedding readings here.

 

The Photographer

Maja’s photography is just exquisite. She captures the heartfelt moments throughout the day, not just the couple shots (even though these are so beautiful too). She sees and captures what’s important. Close family and friends, the narrative of the day, the emotion.

Her colours are to die for, warm, enchanting, romantic. From the moment we spoke, we knew she was the right fit for us.

Her passion is clear, she works so hard and I admire her work ethic personally and professionally.

How They Met

I actually went to school and was good friends with Chris’s sister, Faye. We went through life knowing each other, and each other’s family, with the occasional “like” on Instagram. Our paths crossed in 2017 when I was shooting a mutual friend’s wedding. But the timing wasn’t right.

2018 came around and I posted a photograph on Instagram of a new neon sign I’d bought for my exhibition stand at the NEC wedding fayre, which said ‘Fulton’. This caught Chris’s eye, and we haven’t stopped laughing and talking since that DM!

It’s so wonderful that I met Chris’s mum many times during our teenage years for play dates with Faye, sleep overs, parties, and nights out. Chris’s Mum, Phil, sadly passed away 11 years ago, so it was so special to have had the opportunity to know her.

Flowers & Bridesmaids

My bridesmaids wore David Fielden champagne satin dresses in two different styles. My flower girl’s dresses were also from David Fielden.

Our florist was Jen from Liberty Lane Flowers. OH MY GOSH, she is a talent and some. She works so so hard, I couldn’t have been more thrilled with my choice to have her as our florist.

The venue recommended her, I saw her Instagram and booked her immediately. Jen completely understood my style and I had total trust in whatever she would create. We discussed where to put flowers (at Dewsall there’s so many options of where to create focal points) and I pretty much left the rest up to Jen.

There aren’t enough positive descriptive words for Jen, she’s become a friend over the years and I can’t recommend her enough to brides looking for a florist.

Videographer

I have known Jake Burgess for many years. We have worked together and he’s an all-round brilliant human. We booked each other to shoot each other’s wedding. Which were both postponed due to covid. I shot his wedding in October 2021 in Edinburgh.

He was one of the first suppliers booked, and there couldn’t have been anyone else I would have wanted to capture our special day.He works above and beyond to produce the most mind-blowing footage.

We will treasure our film(s) for the rest of our days.

The Groom

Chris wore a three-piece, navy dogtooth suit by Suit Supply, London and was dressed by Claudia Bonu. He also wore a maple leaf lapel pin from Canada, along with the gorgeous buttonhole created by our florist, Liberty Lane Flowers.

Detail & Decor

Having captured and seen hundreds of weddings, it made it quite difficult to pin down a ‘style’. Ultimately, I went for what we love with neutrals, a warm palette, textures and fabrics.

I wanted to try and make sure we didn’t go for anything too ‘on trend’ as I wanted to create an event that wouldn’t date rapidly, that would be easy on the eye yet elegant.

We had 900 candles – from both Ikea and Ester & Erik. My family and I also handmade linen napkins, which were embroidered with our surname, ‘Fulton-Danks’.  The lovely Ariella’s Closet did the embroidery.

Our wonderful friends Chloe and Matt set up a business in lockdown, The Crackling Candle Company – and they are now producing personalised wedding candle favours. They personalise your favours with your new wedded names on the candle & box with a huge choice of fragrances. They are the most wonderful favours that everyone loved. Some of our guests were doing a walk round at the end of the day, to see if anyone had accidentally left theirs on the table. No such luck, as everyone adored them.

Tom of Have Your Cake & Eat It came recommended by a friend who lives locally to him. MY GOSH he created a three-tier wonder. The cake’s bottom tier was chocolate, middle tier was carrot and top tier was lemon. No joke, Chris and I didn’t even get a taste of it, by the time we got round to tea and cake, it had all been eaten by our guests, it was that good!

 

Favourite Moments

For Bex – walking down the stairs at Dewsall, with the girls waiting for me, my sister behind helping with my dress. I felt like I was floating on air with the warm breeze coming through the doors. Walking down to the church and seeing THAT flower arch was mindblowing.

It was literally humming with bees. Walking in the church with the music was so emotional but my smile was just HUGE seeing Chris. I also loved the speeches.

Chris’s favourite part was when I walked in the church and then just after the ceremony, seeing all our friends and family gather for confetti. Then getting covered in confetti. (which I hand-made over the space of 3 years, although adding the lavender was a mistake as it went EVERYWHERE!)

Evening & Dancing

Our first dance was to Chris Stapleton’s ‘Joy of My Life’. We love country music, and this is just one of our favourite songs ever – it is so beautiful.

We booked our evening band, Hitsville Soul Stirrers, through d through Warble Entertainment and had Hitsville Soul Stirrers. (@motorcityrevue)

We had a neon sign created to combine our surnames which is now our married name, Mr & Mrs Fulton-Danks. This was created by Sketch & Etch.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

Don’t leave anything to the last minute, prep as far in advance as you possibly can to reduce stress as much as possible and so that you can enjoy the build up without being frantic.

It sounds cheesy but buy some disposable cameras too. I got them developed the week after the wedding when I felt a little blue, and they were amazing.

Savour every second!

I’d have perhaps got more people to help with the table set up on the Friday. It took longer than I had imagined but other than that it all went smoothly and I wouldn’t change a thing!

We didn’t really have a budget. We had some contributions to the wedding, which covered the cost of the venue hire and catering. Everything else we covered. (would rather that this part wasn’t publicised though).

A Note From The Editor

This wedding is so beautifully photographed – Maja Tsolo is one of my personal favourite photographers and I’m humbled that she continues to choose to share her work on Love My Dress – we have shared many of her incredible weddings before now, you can see them here.

Dewsall Court  is also a delight of a venue to support – a fantastic team behind it, they always, always host the most beautiful weddings. If you’re looking to get married at a country house in Herefordshire, this gorgeous venue should be top of your list.

And if you’re planning an evening of music and dancing that your guests will enjoy immensely, we highly recommend you take a look through the live acts available to book through Warble Entertainment.

Love Annabel x

majatsolo.com

Credits & Thanks

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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