An Elegant Jazz-Age Inspired Wedding at Pennard House in Somerset

Laura and Will’s wedding at the glorious Pennard House in Somerset wass the kind of celebration that felt both timeless and deeply personal. Inspired by the elegance of the Jazz Age, their day was filled with soulful music, meaningful details, and the easy joy of being surrounded by the people they love most.

Laura wore a slinky, backless, halterneck dress by Grace Loves Lace – design that felt effortles yet striking, perfect for the relaxed, stylish vibe of the day.

With a thoughtfully curated gift list from The Wedding Present Company and beautiful moments captured by photographer Liz Baker, their wedding was a reflection of everything that mattered to them: love, connection, and a touch of jazz-age inspired quiet glamour. Enjoy!

We chose Pennard House because the minute we walked in there we knew that it was our dream location. We were able to have the house for the whole weekend which was so special and the church at the end of the garden for the ceremony was an added bonus.

Being able to get ready in the bridal suite whilst hearing the church bells ring was a magical experience and something I have always dreamed of doing. The coach house for the dinner and dancing is a really fun setup and we liked that it was a bit different to a marquee, it felt like a dinner party with our nearest and dearest which was exactly the vibe we were going for.

Pennard is also perfectly located between our families who live in Dorset and Somerset. So it just had everything.

Will wore a bespoke suit from Suit Supply, who were so great. Will went in and told them he was looking for a double breasted, linen, navy suit and he was then able to choose the material, cut, lining, button for them to then go off and make it bespoke. It was then ready within four weeks.
He wore black oxford shoes from Loake and an amazing pink Salvatore Ferragamo tie.

He decided to have all of his ushers in navy suits and as he wanted to stand out a bit, he decided to go for a double breasted linen suit. He looked amazing! He also gifted his ushers with the same tie from Reef Knots and they looked fab.

My bridesmaids wore Oasis dresses  – three of them wore dark green and the other two wore sage green. They chose their own shoes and earrings – I only asked that they wore neutral colours. They all looked absolutely stunning!

My Dad walked me down the aisle and my bridesmaids went in before us one by one looking gorgeous.

Music is very important to both of us so it played a central part in our day. I grew up singing in choirs in church so classical music has always been very important to me. I walked down the aisle to The Swan, by Saint Saëns played on cello and piano. This is a very meaningful piece to me because I play the cello and The Swan is also my Granny’s favourite animal. She is a very special person in my life and was able to be there for some of our day which was just amazing.

We also had beautiful music sung by the choir – made up of family and friends – including The Lord Bless You and Keep You (Rutter) and If Ye Love Me (Tallis).gb

My brother also performed in the church singing and playing Jamie Cullum’s ‘Love Is In The Picture’. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house, it was very special.

We got married in a church so had the traditional wedding vows – the in sickness and health line was especially significant to us as we have already been through some years of sickness together. I was unwell for a few years and Will was my rock throughout that time. We had the vicar of the church called Jayne Buckles who was really lovely.

Our readings included The Art of Marriage – Wilferd Arlan Paterson and Song of Solomon 2:10-13 8:6-7. Both of these readings were powerful in their own way. The Song of Solomon speaks of ‘many waters cannot quench love’ and a lot of our relationship has been long distance so this rang true for us.

The Art of Marriage is also a great reading because it doesn’t pretend that marriage is easy – I love the line ‘it is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day’ – so often one just falls into auto pilot and forgets to say these things and show appreciation for one another.

We decided to get our wedding rings from the same place that Will bought my engagement ring; S P Green & Co in Bath provide a really amazing service and beautiful jewellery.

I think, even though I was at my most nervous, walking down the aisle and seeing Will there will be a moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Will has also agreed that turning round and seeing me walking down the aisle was a magical experience, he even shed a few tears!

A family friend helped us source an amazing Silver Ghost car which we arrived to and left the church in. Such a memorable experience!

We met at school 14 years ago and after a brief romance, we then remained close friends for many years. Then, 8 years ago, we got together at a festival in Bristol fittingly called Love Saves The Day and have been together since. 

We lived in the Cayman Islands for a bit and Will planned the most incredible engagement. We flew to an island off Cayman called Little Cayman and stayed in such a romantic place called The Hideaway, right on the ocean.

One evening we kayaked out to this tiny uninhabited island, and as the sun was setting Will got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He managed to get the whole thing on film too which was amazing! This was about 16 months before we got married.

I read Love My Dress and came across the photos taken by Liz Baker and from that we then chose her as our photographer as we loved her style so much. Our videographer was Augustin Cross. He is the coolest guy and we absolutely loved having him there on our wedding day. We can’t wait to see what he has created!

We also both love jazz so this played as a theme throughout our day too. We had a jazz band playing throughout the drinks reception on the lawn.

Our florist was my friend Iona and she was helped by the lovely Dakota of Maison Fleurette. Iona does freelance floristry and I think I can speak for everyone when I say how unbelievably stunning the flowers were. I was blown away. We decided to go for peaches, light pinks, greens and whites. Lots of roses and dahlias, they were beautiful.

When it came to stationery, I created all of the designs myself for the day, which I really enjoyed! My cousin also did a drawing of Pennard House for our invitations which was incredible and we now have it framed on our wall.

We decided not to do favours as we provided a free bar for the whole day/night and did delicious cheese toasties and brownies later in the evening for everyone.

We opted for a madagascan vanilla and raspberry semi naked cake, from The Natural Cake Company, which was delicious! We got it from Faye at the natural cake company and she drove it all the way from Cornwall!

We had canopy lighting outside from a company called Stylist Entertainment which looked really pretty and we hired gorgeous vintage vases,  candlesticks and glass tealight holders for the tables from Bramble & Wild in Frome.

We actually had dance lessons in the months leading up to our wedding which we absolutely loved. I am a big fan of Strictly Come Dancing so always wanted to learn to dance and this was a good excuse.

We had Rumba and Tango lessons which were so fun and did a little Rumba routine for our first dance to Let’s Stay Together, by Al Green.

We hired jazz band ‘Neon Blue’, via Encore Musicians. My brother, Adam, also DJ’d in the evening.

One thing I would definitely advise is to take it slow with the planning. I am so pleased we had sixteen months to plan the wedding and didn’t try and turn it around in ten to twelve. This meant that I could really stagger everything and never felt too overwhelmed.

I’d also definitely recommend having a timeline of when you aim to have each thing done by. This just helps to know what to focus on when and it is so satisfying to tick things off the list!

I loved visiting Love My Dress and got so much amazing inspiration. I love how the site is laid out as it makes it really easy to find exactly what you’re looking for. I read lots of stories on Love My Dress – it was so helpful to read about what other couples had done, especially as I was the first of my friends to get married so I didn’t really have anyone I could ask questions. 

Finally, try and enjoy the process! I’ve spoken to so many couples who have found it stressful but it really doesn’t need to be. The day itself will go in a flash so try and make the buildup fun and then, on the day, be present and drink it all in! Everyone there loves you, there’s not a feeling quite like it.