Lizzie, owner of online gardening brand The Rose Press Garden, tied the knot with Ed, a fifth generation British flower grower at Smith & Munson, in May, at Shotesham Park, a private run family estate nestled in the heart of the beautiful Norfolk countryside, and a venue located just five minutes from Lizzie’s home.
The couple hired the lovely, talented and super hard working Emily of Hardesty Event Design to plan and style their day. We’re proud and thrilled to recommend Hardesty Event Design to our readers.
The bride wore a beautiful bespoke design gown by Sassi Holford, a discovery via The Bottom Drawer Bridal boutique and the couple which she teamed with a single tier chapel length veil and shoes from high street fave, Dune London.
I adore the sense of joy and celebration captured by photographer Salsabil Morrison, but first, a film by wedding filmmaker, Liv (if you’re as obsessed with that first track as I am, it’s ‘Good To You’, by T.J. Wilkins (one for the summer soundtrack). Enjoy!
Accessories & Beauty
My shoes were from Dune London. Ed bought me some special pearl earrings from Tiffany and Co when I first exhibited my business and brand at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, so it was lovely to wear these on my wedding day.
I wore a veil with delicate Swarovski pearls embroidered into it. It was recommended by Victoria and made locally.
My hair stylist was Gemma Holiday and my makeup artists were Chloe and Meg.
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The Dress
Sassi Holford
I wore a bespoke wedding dress from Sassi Holford from The Bottom Drawer Bridal.
The Bottom Drawer Bridal was such an amazing and personal experience. Victoria, who runs it gave us all such a warm welcome.
I knew the Sassi Holford dresses were gorgeous and Victoria picked out my dress straight away.
I knew I wanted sleeves, so it was lovely to have lots of options to try and test out alongside different styles of dresses. The boutique felt really personal, warm and welcoming.
I adored the simplicity of my dress and the timelessness. I chose the bespoke sleeves which have a point at the ends, where I had my new initials embroidered over my ring finger. Ed and I now have the same initials, so this was a lovely touch and made him smile when he put my wedding ring on my finger.
Flowers
The flowers were the first thing we got excited about and discussed, with Ed being a British flower grower at Smith & Munson and myself running a gardening brand, The Rose Press Garden – it felt fitting that the flowers took centre stage.
We knew we wanted all British flowers and loved Spring for the tulips, ranunculus and choice of British flowers on offer.
The Ceremony
We had a lovely ceremony in the village church at Shotesham. We had a traditional organist and chose our favourite hymns to get everyone singing.
We even had the national anthem ending our ceremony as it was the week after The King was coronated.
We had close friends read our favourite readings about love.
Ed chose my beautiful pear shaped ring from Hancocks London. I’d hinted that I wanted something different over the years of dating for my engagement ring, and Ed really delivered. I absolutely adore it.
The ring and diamonds are beautiful and Ed loved that the jewellers make the Victoria cross in London for generations in their family business, plus service they gave was impeccable so we also chose our wedding bands with engravings from there too.
Photography & Videography
Our photographer, Salsabil Morrison, was absolutely sensational from the moment we booked her, our pre wedding shoot made us feel relaxed for our big day and the pictures from that shoot were in a bluebell woods in Spring where my late nanny’s bench is, so it was a special evening.
Salsabil was so helpful, kind and supportive, making us both feel immediately at ease. The pictures she took were breathtaking and we love having them to treasure for the rest of our lives.
Our videographer was Liv of Liv Vid – Liv delivered ‘wow’ with her video of the day- we didn’t want a stuffy video, instead Liv’s video was dynamic, fun and full of energy which captured our day perfectly. She picked Rock DJ as the backing track, which was our fun first dance!
Liv was just delivered ‘wow’ with her video of the day- we didn’t want a stuffy video, instead Liv’s video was dynamic, fun and full of energy which captured our day perfectly. She picked Rock DJ as the backing track, which was our fun first dance
How They Met
We got engaged in front of the beautiful lake at Castle Howard in Yorkshire, which is our favourite place in the UK to go on holiday.
Ed organised a picnic and a walk of the gardens (It felt very fitting that gardens and flowers featured in our engagement) and got on one knee in front of the lakes on a glorious Spring sunny day.
Ed had chosen the most beautiful ring and had organised a beautiful presentation box. We celebrated at Middleton Lodge in the evening, which is our favourite place to stay in Yorkshire.
We got married exactly a year later in Norfolk and had the loveliest Spring British wedding.
Notes From The Wedding Planner
Hardesty Event Design
Lizzie and Ed’s wedding was planned and designed by UK luxury wedding planners Hardesty Event Design, with a vision for encompassing the couple’s personality and passion for flowers was the top priority.
After tying the knot with a romantic floral filled church wedding close to Lizzie’s home, Lizzie and Ed travelled in style in their families’ Landrover to become the first ever couple to host their wedding reception at the stunning new wedding venue Shotesham Park in South Norfolk.
With Ed being a fifth-generation flower grower and Lizzie owning her own gardening brand, floral opulence was key to the planning and design of their gorgeous wedding day. The effortless beauty of family-grown tulips took centre-stage, with the creation of a stunning two-tier 5ft tulip chandelier suspended above the top table and individual displays adorned the guest tables to complement.
All blooms were British, locally and ethically sourced with foam free mechanics. We thoroughly enjoyed working with our couple and their suppliers to plan, style and design their day from the moment they were engaged. To make the seamless transition from day-to-night, fun evening styling saw sumptuous pinks meet sparkling disco balls to create statement dance floor décor before the international Saxophonist Visual Sax entertained all evening.
With Lizzie having a dream of her guests being taken on a journey, Hardesty Event Design offered suggestions to ensure guests had an experience they’ll never forget. A create-your-own bouquet provided a modern, fun twist on wedding favours, a saxophonist joining the dance floor to create the ultimate party vibe in the evening and a unique send-off saw Lizzie and Ed walk through a tunnel of guests with cold sparks sending them off on their mini-moon break in the back of a black cab – an iconic journey to mark the start of married life together.
The Reception
We had lots of flowers at our reception, including an incredible two tier, 5ft floral chandelier which Emily our Planner worked through in lots of detail with the Leafy Couture team, the weight of the flowers was a challenge, which Emily was able to overcome and it really was a wow moment when the room was revealed to our guests!
Ed designed the cake as a complete surprise for me, which made our cake even more special. He chose the sugar flowers and design and worked with Amber our cake maker, Love Wedding Cakes, and Emily our planner closely to get the exact varieties he grows on his farm.
I was blown away by his creativity and how Amber delivered against his brief. The cake also tasted delicious too! Emily’s recommendation of Amber was perfect as Amber is such a specialist in bespoke sugar flowers, so it felt the perfect floral match for Ed’s brief.
As a surprise for our guests, we booked The Singing Waiter Masters – they broke out into song just after main course. Gavin was amazing at entertaining guests and everyone was standing on chairs and throwing their napkins around their heads, so much fun and a really brilliant recommendation from Emily our wedding planner to make the day extra special and memorable.
We also booked a saxophonist and DJ to get everyone on the dance floor in the evening before the night came to an end with a cold spark display as we drove off at the end of the night in a black cab!
Our stationery was provided by Charlotte Munson Design, who created our wedding day newspaper, menus, place name cards and escort table.
We married our favours up with our place name card and escort system; we gave each guest a cute bud vase with their escort card to guide them to their seat for dining
Evening & Dancing
We did our first dance to Robbie Williams ‘Rock DJ’ – it was the funniest part of the evening and was all a bit silly but Ed and I didn’t want a traditional slow song, so we instead got everyone putting their hands in the air and it really was quite funny.
It’s brilliant as every party we now go to, it always comes on and gets everyone dancing!
Words of Wedded Wisdom
We chose an incredible wedding planner for our day and we honestly couldn’t have done it without her! Emily of Hardesty Event Design elevated the whole design and ensured everything ran seamlessly with her meticulous planning beforehand.
I know a lot of friends who didn’t have wedding planners were so stressed in the lead up to their weddings but I found the experience smooth and calm as Emily took all that weight off our shoulders, meaning we could really enjoy not just the day but the lead up to the wedding too. We couldn’t recommend Emily more, so if you’re looking for help with your wedding then look no further.
Emily made everything so seamless, and every attention to detail was thought through, not a thing was out of place so we really wouldn’t have changed a thing!
When planning your wedding focus on the areas that mean most to you. For Ed and I it was the flowers and entertainment for our guests, so this is where we started when planning with Emily. She was fantastic at guiding us through the process and knowing what to prioritise and when.
Make the day unique to you and ensure you entertain your guests and think of them.
Don’t skip a wedding planner, they’re incredible!
