Hello loves, join me to enjoy the wedding of Primary School Teacher, Elena and Civil Servant Oliver, who tied the knot on 29th July 2023, at Cambridge Cottage at Kew Gardens.
These gorgeous images were captured by a photographer whose work I truly adore for it’s natural, luminous, feminine qualities, she is Phoebe Piper and you should absolutely be following Phoebe on Instagram if you aren’t already
Elena chose the sensuous, backless, Lockwood gown by Kamperett – a discovery at The Fall Bride, a British bridal boutique who carry some of the coolest, modern bridal brands available in the UK.
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Venue & Location
We got married in Cambridge Cottage at Kew Gardens in London. We always wanted a wedding that felt like a garden party so instantly we thought of Kew. We visited Cambridge Cottage on a sunny day and loved how beautiful both the inside and outside were. The inside has gorgeous wooden floors and framed botanical prints. The Cottage has a lawn stretched right around it and we said yes on the first visit!
We both grew up near Kew and love going there together so it really was the perfect venue for us! We had about 80 guests in the day and more arrived in the evening.
The brief for the day was to feel relaxed and organic but with a romantic touch. I was inspired by websites like The Fall Bride and also felt really inspired by my Photographer, Phoebe’s Instagram account, where the brides looked really natural and modern. We wanted it to feel like a garden party with our friends and family and to make the most of the beautiful scenery at Kew. We felt like we didn’t need loads of extra frills as the setting itself was so lovely. I chose blousy flowers that were pastel coloured which were dotted around all over the venue in small vases.
I wore Neon Rose by Floral Street. I have always loved the smell of roses and had roses in my bouquet too.
I hired a Shrimps beaded Shelley bag from By Rotation which was so beautiful! It’s beaded silver and blue and I had always lusted after it. It really added something special to the outfit and got so many compliments. It was great to hire it for a few days rather than making a big purchase. I would definitely recommend renting pieces.
I wore some vintage gold jewellery and a pair of baroque drop pearl earrings from Hai. I liked how they added some drama and matched the minimalist vibe perfectly. I wore a pair of baroque pearl bell earrings from Hai. I also wore a baroque pearl bracelet from a shop in Brixton market. All my other gold jewellery was vintage and I wore a lovely rose gold belcher chain bracelet that my mum used to wear!
Again for my hair, I really wanted to still feel and look like ‘me’. I have super straight hair and wanted it to be wavy but not curly. My friend did my hair on the day and we had lots of fun doing practice runs!
My veil was from AM Faulkner via The Fall Bride. It was a white veil that was fairly short as I didn’t want it to block the back details of the dress. I love how modern it felt and wore it all day.
I wore a cream pair of strappy knotted leather sandals from & Other Stories. I don’t usually wear heels so these were the perfect mid heel height for me!
The Dress
Brand here
My dress was the silk Lockwood gown in ivory by Kamperett. It felt really classic but has an asymmetrical cut out at the back which adds interest. I wanted something quite minimalist that felt elegant and special. I feel like the dress really suited my personal style and I love how it went with the accessories I chose.
I bought my dress from The Fall Bride. They were amazing! It was the only place I really looked at wedding dresses as I feel like their range really matches my style and the type of vibe I wanted to go with.
Every time I visited with my mum or my bridesmaids they were attentive, friendly and completely un-pushy. It was very calming there and they offered us drinks while trying on which made it more of an ‘experience’.
They also recommended a tailor who they work with and she made the dress fit me perfectly. Would definitely recommend the Fall Bride for anyone looking for elegant and cool dresses.
As someone who doesn’t usually wear dresses I knew I wanted the dress to be minimalist but also very classic. The Lockwood Gown was perfect as it was simple but felt modern at the same time. The silk material flowed perfectly and I liked how the dress was ivory and not white.
I love how the dress lent itself to more accessories: I added baroque drop pearl earrings, a Shrimps beaded bag and a veil which all felt very ‘me.’
I wanted my bridesmaids to look ‘together’, but not matching. The brief was puff sleeves in pastel colours. The lilac one was from Anthropologie and the green one was from Nobody’s Child. I love how they looked together and it turned out that both dresses had a big bow on the back which added some unity. I love how we all looked together and how my bridesmaid’s dresses highlighted colours from the flowers so beautifully.
My bridesmaids wore bright contrasting coloured shoes that were their own which made the dresses look really modern and cool. I bought some baroque pearl hair slides from Etsy which they both wore.
The Ceremony
My Dad walked me down the aisle. This was a really special and emotional moment; I felt really nervous but it was lovely to see all of our family and friend’s smiling faces.
I walked down the aisle to ‘Harvest Moon’ by Neil Young. Such a beautiful song! Ollie and I both like Neil Young. ‘Harvest Moon’ feels very romantic and the lyrics are lovely.
We didn’t personalise any part of our vows as we were scared of getting too emotional during the ceremony!
We didn’t have readings during the Ceremony but had speeches interspersed between courses. I did the first speech followed by my Dad’s speech which was very sweet and had lots of Beatles references. Ollie and his mum did the next speeches.
Finally, my bridesmaids did their joint speech and Ollie’s best man Giles did an epic speech to finish off. They were perfect and just the right balance of funny and sentimental. It worked really well to spread them out between the food courses.
We chose plain gold D shape bands from Etsy. We both wanted the rings to be quite simple and I wanted it to match my engagement ring well.
We both walked back down the aisle after the ceremony to ‘Send Me on My Way’ by Rusted Root – a classic!
Photography
We chose Phoebe Piper who popped up on my Instagram and I instantly knew that I wanted her to capture our wedding. Phoebe was really nice and completely understood the brief. She captured organic moments and focused on the details as well as natural shots of family and friends laughing and having fun. I would definitely recommend her.
Ollie and I got to go off on a golf buggy around Kew to take photos. This part was really fun and we felt like celebrities as visitors were waving at us and wishing us congratulations. It was pretty special to have our pictures taken inside Kew’s Temperate house on the spiral staircase!
How They Met
Ollie and I met at the University of Bristol during freshers week in 2010. He was on the floor above me and we instantly hit it off! After a few years we started dating in third year and have been together ever since- over 11 years! We have done long distance and short distance throughout that time and have settled in Brixton in South London.
We got engaged on holiday in Madrid in April 2022 which was a total shock for me (Elena). We got married in July 2023.
Ollie’s suit was a dark blue linen one from John Lewis. It had a really nice pattern and texture to it and was perfect for a summer day. It was styled with a sage green textured tie and pocket square.
The Reception
Kew has an approved list of florists to choose from and I chose Pollen Nation as they seemed to match the vibe of our wedding the most. Although you can choose florists not on the approved list, it felt good to choose one who knew the venue so well and had lots of suggestions for changes to arrangements throughout the day.
We started with small vases of assorted pastel coloured flowers down the aisle they got moved onto the tables where we ate. This was all seamless and I’m glad they were able to use their experience of the venue to make it look so beautiful!
My best friend and bridesmaid Jenny made my cake! It was epic and such a wonderful thing to do for us. It had a frilly vintage look to it and was lemon and raspberry flavour. It felt really special having a friend make something for us all to share.
We used Lodge Catering which was on a supplier list provided by Kew. They did a great job of helping us select the perfect food, drinks and timings. It felt like we were in good hands!
We got lots of things from Papier, including the e-invites, the seating plan, the place cards. They have such a nice wedding range available! We chose a light pink theme and went with the squiggle place cards which were elegant and fun and matched the flowers.
We just used flowers for the decoration. Cambridge Cottage is already very beautiful and is also listed so no wall decorations are allowed.
Evening & Dancing
We had Truly Medley Deeply play for the evening. They are a band/DJ combination that had the dance floor full all night! Lots of people have commented on how good they were! We used Prelude Entertainment who were on a supplier list from Kew.
Our first dance was to ‘Everywhere’ by Fleetwood Mac. We love Fleetwood Mac and the lyrics felt like they really suited us. It got the dance floor going!
In the evening I changed into The Christy Dress in ivory from Realisation Par. It was the perfect 90s-looking mini dress! Great for a party.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“Walk slowly down the aisle and soak it all in.
Take your bouquet out of water a little while before so the water doesn’t mark your dress and hold it lower down than you think.
I would also say wear your dress around the house for an hour to see how it wears a month beforehand.
If there’s anything that bugs you it’s best to find out before the big day and you can make alterations as necessary in advance.
Don’t try to please everyone. When we were choosing the food, our caterer told us ‘you can’t please everyone but you can please yourselves!’ This was great advice and stopped us from making the decisions that weren’t us.
Try to spend time together as a couple on the day. I loved the part where we went on a golf buggy together as we got to decompress and chat about everything.
We also filmed the speeches which I am so glad
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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.
