Harriet and Luke’s mid-Autumn wedding was held at the beautiful Buckinghamshire country house wedding venue, Hedsor House, in October last year.
The bride looked the epitome of effortless glamour in her Suzanne Neville couture gown, which she discovered at Miss Bush in Surrey.
Harriet told me they dreamt of a seamless day full of splendour – and that Hedsor delivered just that. Enjoy!
The Venue & Location
Our venue was Hedsor House in Buckinghamshire. As soon as we hit that stunning mile long sweeping drive, complete with baby highland cows, pheasants and beautiful blooms, I knew it was the venue for us.
Hedsor had everything we wanted, exclusivity, in-house guest bedrooms, no travel time between proceedings, stunning architecture and a flawless track record. The grounds, combined with the recently refurbished rooms made it a no brainer – we paid the deposit on our very first visit.
I planned the wedding myself. I had been an Executive Assistant for 10 years, so organising events is luckily second nature to me.
Getting Ready
My wedding shoes were my ‘something old’ – they were well loved white ASOS strappy heels that I wore to my sister-in-laws wedding many years ago when I was her bridesmaid, very comfy and you couldn’t see them if you tried. I could have gotten away with anything under that dress.
I wore a bespoke two tiered veil from Miss Bush. I wanted the drama the height would bring on top of my head and the length was of course necessary when swishing down the aisle.
I had the most amazing team – my makeup artist Aimée Grace Morrison, who I met on instagram, is a Bobbi Brown Pro who I adore, and my lovely hair stylist Carolanne Armstrong was recommended by Miss Bush themselves. Caroleanne knew her stuff inside and out and helped the morning run smoothly. Both hair and makeup artist were a dream team.
I wore pearl accessories from Etsy to enhance my up do, they caught the light perfectly. I also wore my favourite Diptyque scent Philosykos, which I wear every day – Luke loves it. My ‘something borrowed’ were my Mum Gloria’s gorgeous pearl drop earrings. They finished my look perfectly.
The Dress
I wore an incredible bespoke Susanne Neville gown, sketched at Miss Bush in Surrey by Emma and myself. I knew exactly what I envisioned for my wedding gown, and I couldn’t find it anywhere, so made it we did. It was the best decision ever.
I bought my bespoke Suzanne Neville gown at Miss Bush in Surrey. Emma and her team were so helpful I would recommend them without hesitation to any bride.
The boutique is situated in a converted chapel which is stunning, the attention to detail is exquisite and they honestly made the process a joy.
No task was too big. I loved my dress, and seeing it come to life month after month from sketch to silk was a dream.
Miss Bush know exactly what they are doing – for all body shapes – and truly want you to look your most beautiful on your wedding day. They nailed my vision perfectly.
I wanted to feel like a regal Princess walking down the aisle – I opted for a gown with many many petticoats.
Groom
Luke wore a black velvet tuxedo from Gieves & Hawkes, located on Savile Row. The service in store was amazing. They took us into their Royal chambers and showed us their archives. It was a really special moment.
I gifted Luke an engraved pocket watch on the morning of our wedding and he wore this with his waistcoat on the day.
Ceremony
We opted for a civil ceremony as Luke and I are not religious and wanted to focus on entertaining our guests from the minute they arrived to the moment they left.
My Dad walked me down the aisle to Enya’s ‘Only Time’. I have always loved this song & had envisioned the double doors flying open to the opening beat time and time again.
Luke and I both had our wedding bands made by Simon Wright. Luke designed my diamond engagement ring with Simon in 2019, so we simply had to go back and use him for our wedding bands – we started this journey with him so it was only right to finish it together too. I could not recommend Simon more. A personal and flawless service.
Photography & Videography
David Bostock captures the most beautiful images in stately homes, he is a recommended supplier of Hedsor House and I would personally recommend him without hesitation.
We also had an engagement shoot with David prior to our Wedding day. He is super easy to work with, very professional and delivered us the most wonderful photographs that we’ll cherish forever.
We chose to have a videographer for our big day – he was worth every penny. Capturing the moments on film is something so special, to see every moment in motion and truly remember the feeling.
Filmmaker Ben, of The London Wedding Film Co., was great, you barely noticed him amongst the guests.
Bridesmaids
The most elegant, flattering emerald green floor length velvet gowns from Jenny Yoo, flown in from America.
The girls all wore their hair in a romantic low bun with pearl drops around the centrepiece.
How They Met
Luke and I met working at ASOS in 2015, our paths crossed at one of the notorious work parties and the rest is history.
We got engaged after three years together, originally planning a wedding for Autumn 2020, however Covid had other ideas- come summer 2020 we decided to postpone our wedding by one year exactly, resulting in our Autumn 2021 Wedding, which was perfectly perfect!
Timeless & Classic Decor
I wished for a traditional day with our loved ones, throwing in a few modern twists along the way.
The decor was always going to be timeless and classic. the venue spoke for itself so leaving it to shine was also in the plan.
Reception
Seventh Heaven were a chosen florist. They had worked at Hedsor House time and time again so knew the lay of the land. Our visions aligned perfectly, their online inspiration was exactly what I was looking for. It was truly an enjoyable and easy process working together and seeing it all come to life was magic. I wanted lush whimsical green and white blooms erupting everywhere and that’s exactly what I got.
Food was incredibly important to us and oh my goodness did we choose well. At Home Catering did a phenomenal job of feeding us all and running our day without a hitch. I could not be more thankful.
We chose a classic three -tiered cake from Le Papillion Cakes. Smothered in delicious vanilla icing and fresh white roses, we chose a sponge flavour each. A layer of carrot cake, salted caramel and vanilla. So yummy!
Planning in a Pandemic
As mentioned already, our original wedding date was Friday October 30th 2020. When Covid hit, we didn’t know its longevity at all, the risk and emotions were high so we made the decision in July 2020 to postpone our wedding exactly one year to the day – Friday October 29th 2021.
Thankfully moving it just the once with ample notice enabled us to keep all of our wonderful suppliers. I was so incredibly relieved after we moved the date & everyone was notified. I put all of my ‘wedmin’ thoughts and feelings in a box and left them there tucked away for a year. It was a sad day when our original date rolled around, however the heavens opened and consequently we had glorious sunshine a year later… it was meant to be.
Inevitably, we had to change the seating plan and amend the invitees a little, with guests now having double bookings and new relationships forming- but on the whole we felt very grateful it was so painless. We truly believe everything happens for a reason, a few of my friends got engaged and started planning their own weddings in the year delay so we could enjoy the process together. All’s well that ends well.
Evening & Dancing
We took a first dance to Etta James’ ‘At Last’. I remember watching Michelle and Barack Obama dance to Beyonce singing this song, when Obama was sworn in to the White House and I thought there and then, that will be our first dance song. It’s iconic.
As dancing is very important to me, I was sure to buy a second evening dress, with free flowing movement that was a little more va va voom. This was a great decision! I loved how I felt in both dresses – they allowed me to display both sides of myself.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
A few words from one bride to another; whatever time you have allocated to get in your dress – double it!
Ensure your caterer keeps back a tray of ALL of your chosen canapes for you as you will be running around / taking photographs/ mingling with guests, you don’t want to miss out on all the goodies.
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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.
