It has become a tradition, on these beloved wedding blog pages, to share an extra special wedding every Sunday and so today it brings us so much pleasure to share with you the beautiful summer wedding of Makeup Artist Stefi and Sculptor James, who tied the knot on 29th June this year at Suffolk country estate wedding venue, Bruisyard Hall, in Saxmundham.
Stefi looked incredible in her floral wedding dress by Zimmerman – having had to postpone her wedding three times, she and James finally tied the knot, surrounded by friends and family, in this most beautiful of East England wedding wedding venues. Enjoy!
Venue & Location
We really wanted a barn wedding and we found this amazing venue set in the gorgeous Suffolk countryside and as a bonus you could also hire the Estate country house for three nights for all our close friends and family
Katie from Bruisyard Hall co-ordinated everything for this wedding to happen. She is so amazingly patient – she helped us so much with things like timing and things we didn’t have any clue how to organise. We were so lucky to have her.
Shoes, Accessories & Bridal Beauty
I wore pearls from Etsy and my perfume was Black Opium by Yves Saint Laurent – my partner bought it for me, it’s one of my favourite perfumes and a scent that I want my husband to remember.
Hair was by my hair stylist, Hair by Mella. Makeup was by me, as I am a professional makeup artist. I also did my bridesmaids. Nails were by Anita Cheeta.
My shoes were from N21 and Asos.
The Dress
My main dress was the Zimmerman, which I purchased from Matches. My evening dress was Piccione Piccione, via Yoox.
After two years I did some more research and I decided to change my original dress – so I ended up having two. I started the day in one, and danced the night away in another, which was a bit of a treat!
I am petite so I wanted something to fit me without having to do a lot of alterations. So it worked perfectly for me and I can wear them again.
I love how comfortable and elegant was my dress and how perfect for the dance floor my second dress was.
How They Met
We met five years ago late November 2019 via an online dating app. That day, I felt so tired and I didn’t feel in the mood to go out, but forced myself to go after all. I was so happy to meet this amazing man, I was so happy that he actually looked even better than the photos in the app! We had a great connection and ended up moving in together after six months. We got engaged after two and half years on a rowing boat on the Thames at Richmond. We set a date for June six months later and then Covid struck!
We finally tied the knot two and a half years later after three postponements.
James’ suit was from Moss Bross. He also wore a Gresham Blake waistcoat and Barker Shoes.
Bridesmaids Dresses
My bridesmaids got pregnant during the covid outbreak and three had to change their original dresses which again worked out well as they could choose their own dresses so they felt comfortable on the day and actually the selection was amazing!
Their dresses were from Needle and Thread, Mya Collection and Hope & Ivy.
The Ceremony
Our original wedding date was scheduled for 1st of June 2020, with only fifty eight guests. Two years and three postponed dates later, we finally celebrated, surrounded by sixty six guests.
My stepfather accompanied me to the ceremony. He was so sweet – I will never forget how stressed he was, probably more stressed than I was! We were accompanied by the sound of ‘When You Say Nothing At All’, by Ronan Keating.
Lisa Goldsmith from the Woodbridge Registrar office lead our ceremony. She was so sweet, funny and she eased a lovely ceremony for us.
My best friend and maid of honour delivered a reading and she did an amazing job, it was so funny and I was so proud of her.
Inspired by the tradition something new, something old, something borrowed and something blue, I wore my vintage engagement ring from the 1900s – blue sapphire and six small diamonds, and my mum loaned me her earrings pearls. My bespoke wedding ring was from Tales in Gold.
We wanted to create a bespoke ring, to fit my engagement ring.
Photography
Our photographer was Bart from Miracle Moments. We loved Bart’s work. He was very relaxed and easy going and he did incredible job. We booked him for a half a day and he delivered amazing photographs. After the wedding day, he sent us ten preview photos to share on our social media and show to friends and family it was amazing. We can’t recommend hime enough,
We had originally booked our brother in law of Wildly In Love Photography for our wedding but after lockdown, he become a father so we decided that maybe is was best for him to enjoy the day and just take some extra photographs for us as a couple for the evening. We are grateful to have them both! Both styles of photography are amazing.
DIY Wedding Flowers
We didn’t have a florist as it was one of the things that we wanted to try to save on budget, so I tried to find alternatives.
As we had to postpone multiple times, during lockdown, I started watching a lot of tutorials and learning how to do my own arrangements at home. So at my wedding, I did all the tables and my bridal bouquet and buttonholes for the groom and my stepdad with the help of our family and friends.
I’m not going to lie – doing our own wedding flowers was one of the most stressful things as we arrived later than we planned at the venue and I didn’t have enough time to do the flowers the way I wanted. But at the of it I was so proud and happy about everything.
I love peonies and especially coral peonies so we definitely wanted them, the vibe was floral and pastel and some vibrant colours so the flowers I choose was a mix of coral, peach, white, and blue with eucalyptus and pampas and bunny tales for a more rustic touch.
Evening & Dancing
We danced to Mink Schmink, by Eartha Kitt – a slow swing song as we wanted always to learn to dance swing, so we decided that would be the perfect first dance song.
Sam from Dreamwave Group was amazing! We didn’t stop dancing; myself and James and the guests were on the dance floor all night – it was the best party ever. We loved that everyone was involved in the Greek dance too – that was the most amazing part, we will never forget it.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Enjoy every moment of it because it goes so fast. Remember that people are coming to celebrate with you – they won’t care about the small things that you forgot or the things you put so much effort in to, because they are coming for you.
If you can stay somewhere for an extra days, we definitely recommend it. It was amazing and to be able to enjoy the experience more with friends and family.
Regrets? I wish we had thought more for the pregnant ladies and added non-alcoholic drinks for the evening. With all the changes to our original plans, we overlooked this.
I would be less stressed the day before about silly things and enjoy the preparation for the day more.
We spent a bit more than £21k in the end, though started out with a maximum of £15k, but it was all worth it. We had the chance to stay for three nights and enjoy it all the more.
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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.
