Jess in Rosa Clara, for her Wedding Filled with Seasonal, British Grown Flowers at Dorfold Hall in Cheshire

87 Dorfold Hall Wedding Rosa Clara bridal gown

Graphic Designer Jess married Marketing Manager Max on 29th April 2022 at Dorfold Hall in Cheshire.

Jess works in the flower industry and being “absolutely obsessed with flowers”, always knew she wanted her wedding to be very floral and nature focused. Min, their florist from Smokebush, did the most incredible job of filling their day with beautiful, seasonal, British grown blooms.

The bride wore a Rosa Clara gown, a discovery from the Knutsford Wedding Gallery and the whole entire day was full of joy and celebration.

Love and thanks to Mike Plunkett for sharing these images.

1 Dorfold Hall Wedding Rosa Clara bridal gown

Bridal Beauty and Accessories

I had a full length cathedral length wedding veil, with pearl details and purchased it from Knutsford wedding gallery too.

I got my shoes from a little Etsy shop and my perfume was just my usual L’interdit by Givanchi as I wanted to smell like me on the day. My hair stylist was Lisa Simms.     

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The Dress


I wore the Saigon dress, by Rosa Clara, from Knutsford Wedding Gallery.

The experience was very positive and very easy. I had already been to a couple of shops to try on dresses before but as soon as I tried on my dress I knew it was the one and took it home there and then.

Luckily it was a sample dress in my size and so I could just take it and get it adjusted slightly afterwards.

I knew I wanted sleeves, as I don’t like having the tops of my arms out and wanted to be comfortable on the day. I also thought I wanted something super simple and so surprised myself by liking the extra lace and pearl details on the dress I went for.      

I would recommend Knutsford wedding gallery to other brides.

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“Our flowers were by Smokebush – a Cheshire based florist called Min, who grows all her own seasonal stems. She was absolutely amazing and I couldn’t recommend her more highly. I knew I wanted seasonal, British grown flowers, styled in quite a wild way – that is, not a traditional, tight, round bouquet. Min absolutely smashed it. The flowers were so stunning and a real highlight of the wedding for me.”

The Bride

Bridesmaids

My bridesmaids wore ASOS. I found picking my bridesmaid dresses the most stressful part of the whole wedding as I had four bridesmaids of very different dress sizes.

In the end, I just picked a colour from ASOS and let everyone choose their own style. I think it worked really well in the end.

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The Ceremony

My dad walked me down the aisle, to the sound of a string quartet, who played ‘Your song’ by Elton John. This is Max’s go-to Karaoke song and it was a surprise for him.

Photography & Film

We chose Mike Plunkett as our photographer, as I didn’t want anything staged and loved his relaxed and humorous style of storytelling through his photography.

We would absolutely recommend Mike. He made us both feel so comfortable and by the end I forgot he was even around.

Our videographers were Sincerely Yours Films.

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How They Met

We met when we were both at Uni in Northumbria Newcastle. Max was in his final year and I was in my first. He worked behind the bar at a student bar called Nancy Bordellos which was right next to my uni accommodation and was somewhere I used to frequent regularly for cocktails.

We got engaged in Bath (the place not in an actual bath) just before the world went into lockdown in March 2020 and then got married in April 2022 two years later.

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Venue

I grew up in Cheshire and always knew I wanted to get married back at home. (We live in Hackney, London now.) I absolutely loved the modern extension that Dorfold finished last year and the way it contrasted against the old house.

In fact, when we booked Dorfold as our wedding venue the extension had only just been started and so we had to just go on architectural drawings that we were shown. But I’m so glad we took the risk as the standard of the new design is so beautiful.

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11 Dorfold Hall Wedding Rosa Clara bridal gown

Reception

Decor & Detail


Our caterer was Samuel James Events. When we booked at Dorfold Hall, they gave us a choice of three caterers and we went for Samuel James. The food was delicious!

We hired three birch trees from Real Oasis Cheshire, as the room we ate in was very tall and I wanted something to draw the eye up.

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I designed most of the stationery myself, though we used Lollapalooza for our invites as I wanted each of gold foiled and in seed paper so that people could plant them afterwards.   

I designed most of the stationery myself, though we used Lollapalooza for our invites as I wanted each of gold foiled and in seed paper so that people could plant them afterwards.   

As favours, we provided seed packets filled with wildflowers for everyone to take away and plant.

Evening & Dancing

The band in the evening were so good and had everyone dancing on the dance floor all evening.

We also did a sparkler moment as the sun was going down which was very special and the photos are fabulous.

Our first dance was to John Legend’s ‘Conversations in the Dark’, which the band sang for us.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

Jules Von Hep said recently “Your whole day and the whole day of your guests is all determined by your mood. So if you’re anxious about how you look or you’re moaning about how something has turned out, all your guests are going to feel that. If you enjoy every second and are really present, everyone is going to feel that positive energy and enjoy themselves so much more.”

I think that’s great and agree with it so much. I think just have the best time as there’s nothing you can do to change anything on the day anyway.

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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.

Wedding Dress Designer
Bridal Shoes
Bridesmaids
Tree Hire
Groom's Suit
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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