Caroline and Sebastian’s sublime and classy Kew Gardens wedding took place on 10th June 2022, following a beautiful ceremony at the majestic Brompton Oratory in Knightsbridge.
The couple, who live locally in Knightsbridge, are always overwhelmed at the beauty of the Oratory and Kew Gardens in June in particular, wanted to plan a wedding with a classic and timeless aesthetic. Sebastian is from Mallorca, Spain and they both love the beauty of the Spanish catholic wedding, which inspired Caroline’s cathedral Mantilla veil, worn with her Rosa Clara dress.
Photography by the ever inspiring Dominique Bader whose work we are incredibly proud to share again here on Love My Dress.
The Dress
Rosa Clara
I wore a Rosa Clara dress, which was form the Rosa Clara store. I loved the long sleeves of my rosa clara dress with the lace detailing, the slight vintage aesthetic with the fitted lace on my wrists.
I knew right from the outset I wanted long sleeves with a fitted waist and a big dramatic veil.
This was the first dress I tried on and I just felt like me, I felt comfortable but beautiful in it, the best combination.
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Beauty, Jewellery & Accessories
I wore a Mantilla veil from Rosa Clara, the veil very much informed the dress. I love the Spanish mantilla veil look and the veil brought the whole look together.
It was important for me to wear my hair down on my wedding day, as this very much feels like me and the mantilla veil worked perfectly with this. My talented hair stylist Roxy knew just how to integrate the veil with Hollywood waves.
My scent was Wild Bluebell by Jo Malone – I used to wear this scent when we met.
I had some De Beers diamond studs gifted to me by my parents on my 18th birthday. Apart from this, no other jewellry I wanted my veil and dress to be the main focus. For the evening, I wore emerald pendant earrings that Sebastian had bought me years ago in Jaipur.
My makeup artist was Sylwia Kunysz and my hair stylist was Roxy Farrier.
Bridesmaids
My bridesmaids wore Halston Heritage – I also wanted my bridesmaids in white, we found the perfect dresses on net a porter. The white looked beautiful against the vibrant green and white flowers.
They looked like six angels walking up the aisle with me. I wanted their hair to be simple, blow dried and down (no updos). They all wore white court shoes.
Ceremony
Brompton Oratory
My Father accompanied me down the aisle, to the sound of ‘Eternal Source of Light Divine’, sang by a choir of 14 with a trumpeter. The choir was fantastic and this was just magical.
Our page boys were Sebastian’s younger brothers. We very much drew inspiration from the classic page boy outfits worn by little boys in Spain. Their clothes were from Pepa London.
We exchanged classic Catholic vows during our ceremony, which was officiated by Priest Father Michael.
Bear Brooksbank made us bespoke wedding bands. She designed mine as a dual band, one with diamonds and one in gold. Sebastian’s is brushed gold and both of our bands have our initials engraved inside.
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Photography
Our photographer, Dominique Bader, was lovely. We chose her because of her ability to capture timeless elegant photos that would never go out of style.
We had lots of conversations pre wedding of what was important to us to capture during the day, and the images truly did capture the happiness and romance. Some of the images in Kew gardens and outside of the Oratory were truly breathtaking and I will treasure these forever.
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How They met
We met at University in 2014, at the ages of 18 and 19 respectively. Sebastian proposed in St Moritz, Switzerland in 2019 and we were engaged for two and a half years – our original date was delayed because of Covid.
We postponed as so much of our family live in Spain andTurkey, where we are from, and with the rules on travel at the time, it would have meant close friends and family could not join us to celebrate. In June 2022 we had the beauty of celebrating restriction free and reuniting with relatives we hadn’t seen for so long, due to the pandemic.
Reception
Detail & Decor
Greeting our guests in the Nash conservatory and seeing friends and family who had come from far and wide was a favourite moment.
For the drinks reception, we had a lovely little band called Muted Affair, who played and sang some beautiful jazz classics including our favourite rendition of Misty.
We used trees rather than flowers in Kew gardens to decorate the Nash conservatory in Kew, these looked absolutely beautiful and had more impact than any flowers could.
Our floral designer was Mary Jane Vaughan. Again, she captures the timeless look perfectly. I knew I wanted Lily of the Valley flowers and luckily they were in season during our wedding. The rest of flowers were full of vibrant greens and whites and looked sensational.
Our cake was by Jen’s Cakery. We chose this style of cake with its romantic layers and simplistic beauty.
Evening & Entertainment
For my evening dress, Harith Hashim of the brand Harithand, a very talented Lebanese designer, made a bespoke dress for me. I had seen the dress in a different colour on Instagram and was blown away, I messaged him and he said he would make it for me in white. I sent him my measurements and I bought it without ever trying it.
When I received it, I was blown away and it fit perfectly. It had a beautiful chiffon cape and was so fun to dance in, I styled it with platform Prada heels to dance in and emerald pendant earrings that Sebastian had bought me years ago in Jaipur.
For the evening party, we had Atlantic Soul Orchestra entertain our guests. We have always loved and listened to soul music.
Our first dance was to Burt Bacharach’s ‘This Guy’s in Love With You’ – our favourite song since we were 18. This was the easiest choice of the whole wedding.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
I wish I’d started getting ready even earlier!
Take as many moments as a couple to breathe and take in just how special this moment is. Things will go wrong but you will notice more than anyone else who will have no clue so just make sure you enjoy the day and appreciate the moment.
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Additional Credits
The below suppliers and venues are featured in this article, but are not part of the Love My Dress Wedding Directory.
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.
