This truly beautiful modern wedding was effortlessly captured by our all-time fave wedding photographer, Georgina Harrison, who fully understood the assignment to document Imogen and Reece’s classic, timeless and minimalist wedding at the Middleton Lodge Estate.
The couple tied the knot on 14th October 2023, in a sophisticated black-tie celebration. They opted for a black-tie dress code early in the planning process, as Imogen envisioned her bridesmaids in elegant black attire and knew the groomsmen would look amazing in tuxedos. This decision set the tone and aesthetic for the rest of their day and other style choices fell into place seamlessly.
Imogen, a project manager at Daniella Draper, opted for a Chosen by Kyha gown – a pared back modern design featuring gorgeous ruched tulle sleeves – a dress she discovered at Hull based Ghost Orchid Bride boutique.
The venue was filled with contemporary white floral styling, including a cloud of gypsophila and the newlyweds celebrated with their friends and loved ones in a romantic, candlelit marquee in the grounds of this gorgeous, laid-back-luxe country estate.
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Venue & Location
We got married at the Middleton Lodge Estate in Richmond. We were married in the stairwell of the Main House and had our reception in the marquee on Middleton Lodge Estate.
We chose Middleton Lodge because it has such beautiful buildings, grounds and it fit perfectly with our wedding aesthetic. I found Middleton Lodge on Instagram and instantly fell in love with it.
We were given a coordinator by Middleton Lodge called Rhiannon, six months before our wedding. She was amazing and so helpful. She was available to answer all our many questions, and made sure that our wedding ran smoothly.
The Dress
I wore a dress called ZIVA by Chosen by Kyha. I bought my dress from Ghost Orchid Bride in Hull. The owner, Katie was so patient and kind; it was such a lovely experience. I tried on nine dresses in the shop, and it was the first of the nine that I eventually went for.
I would whole-heartedly recommend this Boutique to other brides. It is such a beautifully decorated shop with limewash walls and a minimalist aesthetic. It reflected my own personal style, which made me feel even more confident that this was the shop that I wanted to get my dress from.
The dress that I eventually picked was one that I had seen on Instagram and had requested to try on. Luckily, there was a Chosen by Kyha trunk show at Ghost Orchid Bride, so I was able to try on a lot different style dresses.
I knew that I would like a fitted dress with sleeves, and the ZIVA dress was everything I ever dreamed. It was an ivory form fitting dress with a structured bodice draped with tulle wrapping the bust and tulle ruched sleeves. It was simple and elegant which aligned well with the minimalist theme of our wedding.
I loved everything about my wedding day wardrobe, but the sleeves on the wedding dress were something I hadn’t seen before, and I felt that they were so unique and special.
Bridesmaids, Beauty & Accessories
My perfume was Luxuria by Memoize. I love a masculine fragrance and this has a lovely musky, vanilla scent. Reece wore Jo Malone Myrhh and Tonka cologne.
I didn’t wear any hair accessories; the veil was so incredibly beautiful that I didn’t want to detract from it. I wore bespoke bold aquamarine earrings, made by Daniella Draper. The aquamarines were sustainably sourced from the all-female Zimbaqua mine.
My veil was also Ghost Orchid Bride. It was a cathedral length tulle veil scattered with delicate white pearls.
My sister gifted me a delicate ivory garter with a little blue bow from Bluebella, and my auntie gave me a lucky sixpence to keep in my shoe that was from her mum. I also had a locket with a photograph of my grandad tied by a ribbon onto my bouquet. This meant a lot that I could have my grandad with me whilst I walked down the aisle.
My hair stylist was Amy of Bridal Hair By Amy and my makeup artist was Emily Josephs. I would highly recommend both of these ladies. They made me, my bridemaids, mum and mother in law feel so beautiful.
My shoes were Steve Madden. They were a slim white satin heel with embellished sparkling straps. They were surprisingly comfortable, however I did change into some pearl flip flops later in the evening.
I wanted my bridesmaids to feel comfortable and have something that suited each body type, so I suggested that my eight bridesmaids choose their own black dress. Some of the brands included ASOS, Mango, Karen Millen and Significant Other.
One of my bridesmaids also surprised me by jokingly wearing a satin Adidas mini dress on the wedding morning. Luckily, that dress didn’t make it to the ceremony. I also gifted each bridesmaid a Daniella Draper Silver Tiny Trace Chain Bracelet that they wore on the wedding day.
The Ceremony
My mum walked me down the aisle. It was a lovely moment between us and I’m honoured that she gave me away. I walked down the aisle to was ‘Crystal’, by Stevie Nicks. It is from my favourite film, ‘Practical Magic’ and it has always been the song I wanted to walk down the aisle to.
My engagement ring and our wedding bands are all from Daniella Draper Jewellery. The rings are made from 100% recycled metal and sustainably sourced stones. Reece chose a carved silver band with our wedding date hand engraved into the side, and my wedding ring is a platinum band with six little baguette diamonds set into it. Reece chose the silver band as it suited his skin tone and he liked the chunky feel of the ring. I had baguette diamonds added to my band to complement my engagement ring which features a centre Asscher cut diamond and two baguette diamonds down the side.
One of our favourite parts of the wedding was straight after the ceremony, where we could both turn round and look at all our friends and family. All my bridesmaids were stood up the staircase and it was incredibly emotional to see everyone there celebrating our marriage.
We had ‘Kiss Me’, by Sixpence None the Richer, sang by Samuel Simmons whilst we walked out after the ceremony.
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Photography
Our photographer was Georgina Harrison. We chose Georgina because of her effortless editorial wedding photography. She captures each moment with such love and care and we knew that her photography would complement our wedding style well.
Georgina was professional, calm and made us feel completely at ease in front of the camera. She confidently knows what will work and has such a great eye for detail.
She was always in the background quietly capturing authentic and candid shots which are some of my most favourite photos. These include some beautiful images of me and my nanna, who I sadly lost six weeks after the wedding. They are memories that I will treasure forever and can’t thank Georgina enough for those photos.
Her work is truly magical, and I would highly recommend her to any couple who are looking for a wedding photographer.
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How They Met
Reece and I met when I was working in a jewellery shop with his cousin, Emma. Reece would often come into visit her, but we soon realised that he wasn’t coming to see her anymore. A few months passed and Reece eventually asked me to go on a date. We knew instantly from that day that this was something special and we became inseparable. A year and a half later in 2018, we had bought our first home together.
As I work for a jewellery designer, I already knew the style of ring I would like and Reece did not disappoint. He began to have secret meet ups with the designer, and named her ‘Monday Night Football’ in his phone to throw me off the scent. The ring was completely bespoke and made in three months ready for Reece to propose on the 18th of May 2021.
The engagement was a complete surprise during lockdown. Reece arranged for us and my sister’s new miniature dachshund puppy, Arnold to go on a beautiful Lincolnshire walk. It began to drizzle with rain and Arnold was refusing to walk, so I suggested going home and taking him out another day.
Reece stayed cool, calm and collected and suggested carrying Arnold until it stopped raining. We walked for a few minutes and finally, the sun came out as we approached a little bridge. Reece asked me to turn around and this is where he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. It was one of the most perfect and magical moments of my life. We were engaged for two years before we got married.
The Reception
We hung festoon lighting leading up to the marquee and fairy lights around the inside marquee poles. As our wedding was in October, the festoon lighting was great for the darker evening. Our lighting was from Typical Type.
We had an oval top table and 12 feast tables for our guests. We preferred this seating arrangement for the styling. We added disco balls to our gypsophelia cloud display above the guests to add an element of party and fun to the evening reception. We then decided to keep it simple yet elegant with our tables and decorated them with white linen table clothes, white dining candles, white roses and gypsophila in bud vases.
We finished off the inside with fairy lights around the inside marquee poles.
We chose Jane and her team of Wedding & Events Floral Design to supply our floral design, after finding them on the Middleton Lodge Instagram. The floral designs have a luxury and timeless feel and they can make any venue look incredible.
We chose all white flowers to suit our black tie theme. I wanted it to feel cohesive between the main house and marquee, so opted for white long stem roses for my bouquet, white roses for the button holes and bud vases on the tables. We then had gypsophelia throughout both spaces.
I had also always wanted to add disco balls into the wedding somehow, and our lovely florist/event designer incorporated these in to our wedding in such a chic way.
Middleton Lodge catered our wedding. For our canapes we had miniature steak and chips with bernaise sauce, miniature cottage pie, feta bites with chipotle, mac and cheese and lemon meringue tart with basil. The canapes were delicious and all of our guests commented on how lovely they were.
For the wedding breakfast we had a vegetable soup and crusty bread for starter, Sunday style beef dinner for the main and sticky toffee pudding for desert.
Finally, for the evening, we had street food which consisted of chicken burgers with chipotle mayonnaise, mac and cheese and pulled pork ciabattas.
Our cake was a one tiered Lambeth cake by Where the Ribbon Ends. It was covered in white royal icing with piping round the edges and ‘Just Married’ piped on to the top. I loved the classic, simplicity of the design and I had a beautiful vintage silver cake stand that I wanted it to sit on. We chose two flavours for the cake which were white chocolate and raspberry, and Biscoff.
I would highly recommend Gayle and her team from Where the Ribbon Ends. Gayle took the time to listen to all our requests and was extremely professional. Where the Ribbon Ends produced a stunning cake that tasted delicious.
Our invitations were from Papier and our wedding stationery was made in Canva and printed by printed.com (e.g. welcome sign, seating chart, table numbers and place cards.)
Another favourite moment of our day was from the speeches where Reece’s brother Brandley, gave a hilarious and heartfelt speech.
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Evening & Dancing
Our first dance was How Deep is Your Love by the Bee Gees. Reece and I have a couple of songs that mean a lot to us, and this was one of them.
We often slow dance in kitchen to this song and it felt like the perfect one for our first dance.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
My words of wisdom would be to choose suppliers, venue and catering that feel authentic to you and your partner. Don’t follow a trend if it doesn’t feel right for you both.
I would definitely shop around and look at your venues Instagram to find local suppliers as they will be familiar with your venue, and they will be able to give you the best experience.
Don’t worry about guests and family politics; the day is about you and your partner. Everyone who attends the wedding is there because they love you and want to celebrate with you.
The only thing that we may have done differently would be to have the ceremony slightly earlier. We were married at 2pm and although this was great for getting ready, it would have been lovely to spend longer with our friends and family after the ceremony.
Finally, it may sound a little cliché, but on the day take it all in, be present and appreciate every moment. It is one of the best days of your life!
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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.
