There are few wedding venues in London that offer quite the same sense of drama and beauty as Kew Gardens. For Mikayla and Nick, who moved to London from the US, it quickly became a sanctuary of beauty and calm, and ultimately, the place they would celebrate their wedding with the people they love most.
Planned with grace and intention by the wonderful Rachel Dalton Weddings, this elegant September celebration unfolded across the glorious gardens and glasshouses of Kew.
From the intimate ceremony beneath a flower-draped chuppah in the Nash Conservatory – by the ever-talented Liz at Blue Sky Flowers – to dinner and dancing in the Orangery, every element of the day was thoughtfully considered and represented a gentle, genuine reflection of the couple, the season and the setting.
Captured beautifully by photographer Lucie Watson, this wedding is a day full of inspiration for couples drawn to botanical beauty, natural elegance and timeless style. Film by 2404 Films.
Shop Items We Love
As we continued to settle in as American ex-pats, Kew Gardens was our favourite refuge. When we found out we could host a wedding that included cocktails among the lily pads, it was a no-brainer decision.
The Dress
Mark Ingram
My dress was from Mark Ingram Bridal in New York City. I had an amazing experience. My stylist Tammy made the day a pure joy. Would recommend her in a heartbeat.
I didn’t have many pre-conceived notions of how I wanted to look on my wedding day. My mom and I told her about the venue being a garden and a bit about my typical style.
The first dress she pulled ended up being the one! I loved the fact that there was a removable jacket so I could have two different looks for the ceremony and the reception and the floral lace felt like the perfect ode to Kew.
I borrowed vintage pearl earrings from a dear family friend.
I also wore a simple veil by Mark Ingram and a pair of Loeffler Randall gold shoes.
Our wedding planner recommended Liz at Blue Sky Flowers, after we stated that we wanted to include flowers that were in season that look like they were picked right from an English garden. Liz invited us to the Battersea Flower Market and we walked through and picked the in-season flowers we liked best. It was one of our favourite days of the whole planning process.
The Ceremony
Both of my parents walked me down the aisle to the sound of Canon in D, performed by the Indy String Trio, who we hired through Sternberg Clarke.
Although the ceremony was not religious, we chose to have a Chuppah to honour Mik’s Jewish heritage. The chuppah structure was wood and covered with flowers that flowed into the aisle meadows. Liz from Blue Sky Flowers did a fantastic job. Our celebrant was Tamryn Lawrence of Wild & Oak. We did a Unity Candle ceremony to pay homage to my Jewish side of the family also.
Our weddings bands were from Maya Magal. We chose them because they were created locally and we loved the sales representative who helped us. Additionally, I really wanted a band that “hugged” my engagement ring, and they had the exact style I was looking for.
We had three readings which included ‘Like a River’. by Whitney Hanson read by Mikayla’s mom and ‘Thoughts in a Garden’, by R Gerhardt read by Nick’s mom.
We actually asked our mothers to pick readings that contained wisdom that they wished to impart on us. We loved them! My grandmother, who is Catholic, also picked a Biblical verse as one of the three readings.
We wrote our own vows which we did not reveal to each other beforehand. We also had our celebrant, Tamryn, put together a “repeat after me” section.
Photography & Videography
Our photographer was Lucie Watson. We picked Lucie after meeting with a few potential photographers. We had shortlisted her because of her natural editing style.
We didn’t want our photos to look too edited. We were also particularly drawn to her black and white photos. She was a joy to work with and made us feel so at ease during the photo shoots. We absolutely love the photos from the day and will cherish them forever.
Our film was by 2408 Films – we cannot recommend them enough! They are SO talented.
How They Met
We met eight years ago while attending the University of Richmond in Virginia. We were both in the same English class called “ Politics, Social Change and Modern Drama.” It was a very small class, so our teacher was able to arrange a field trip to see a Broadway play in New York City.
We hit it off immediately and spent the whole trip talking to each other. We haven’t stopped talking since!
We got engaged while on vacation with Mikayla’s parents in Sicily, Italy. Nick proposed at the Turkish Steps at sunset and Mikayla’s mom, a photographer, captured the beautiful moment.
We were engaged for 18 months before getting married.
Nick wore a tuxedo from Cad & the Dandy and black patent leather shoes from Church’s.
The Reception
Our caterers were Caper & Berry and our cake maker was Anna Lewis Cakes. We chose Anna after she mailed us a tasting box of different flavours. All of them were so yummy, it was hard to choose!
We decided on a cake with three different flavours: carrot, vanilla with lavender and blackberry, and chocolate. We also provided her with some photos of the flowers we chose, and she recreated them as edible decoration on the cake.
The one piece of décor that we were particularly excited about was the green circular bar, which we rented from House of Furn.
Our wedding stationery was by Paige & Co. Our place cards at the wedding breakfast were made from seed paper so our guests could take them home and plant them in their gardens.
A favourite moment was entering the wedding breakfast and weaving through the tables while all guests sang ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You’ whilst waving their napkins. I remember not being able to focus on any individual person’s face but seeing a blur of smiles and salmon-colored napkins. It was pure joy!
Evening & Dancing
Our first dance was to Sunday Kind of Love by Etta James. We chose this song because we love spending Sundays together. Some of our best memories together are simple days drinking coffee, going on long walks, and cooking a nice meal.
We associate Sundays with resting and spending quality time together, and the song’s message of wanting every day in a relationship to feel like it’s Sunday is something we strive for together.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Stay true to yourselves as a couple and make choices that are authentic to you and your relationship.
Words from the Wedding Planner
Rachel Dalton
Our initial source of inspiration for the design of this wedding was Kew Gardens itself. Mikayla and Nick love to spend time exploring the gardens and glass houses around Kew, and we wanted to create a design brief that felt in keeping with the incredible garden surroundings, which were abundant with flowers in September. We chose a vibrant and fun colour palette of coral, orange and purple tones, paired with soft peaches, pinks and shades of green.
Florals were a key part of the overall design, and we worked closely with Liz at Blue Sky Flowers, whose style perfectly embodies the “garden gathered” look that we wanted to achieve. Our aim for the flowers was that, although the floral arrangements were carefully and intentionally put together, they’d look as though they could have been pulled straight from the gardens at Kew, with an effortlessness that looked perfectly undone and in keeping with the organic nature of the venue.
Late summer blooms, including dahlias and English roses, were used throughout each of the floral designs, including a statement Chuppah, whimsical floral meadows and abundant floral urns, which set the scene for Mikayla and Nick’s beautiful ceremony in the Nash Conservatory.
Inside the Orangery we created an elegant space for dining, with contemporary low centerpieces of tumbling, asymmetric floral arrangements in ceramic bowls and ivory taper candles. We selected tableware with touches of gold, paired with coral hemstitched napkins to add a fun pop of colour. The stationery was a pressed wildflower design from Paige & Co, with plantable seed paper place names, so that guests could take a small part of the garden theme home with them.
