Natalie and Andrew were married late February at Ashridge House in Hertfordshire, where a love of grand English country houses, a black tie dress code and an abundance of vibrant pink flowers came together to create a wonderfully elegant winter wedding.
Working alongside wedding planner Charlotte Elise, the couple made the most of the venue’s spectacular interiors whilst embracing colour in a way that’s refreshingly unexpected for the season, proving that winter weddings needn’t be defined by evergreens, candlelight and muted palettes.
Beautifully photographed by our recommended supplier Emma-Jane Photography, this wedding brings together timeless style with plenty of thoughtful, personal decisions, from Natalie’s Lotus gown by Wona Concept to floral installations by Hanako Flowers that evolved throughout the day as they were moved from ceremony to reception.
If you’re planning a winter wedding, considering Ashridge House as your venue or searching for a photographer with Emma-Jane Photography’s vibrant editorial style, Natalie and Andrew’s wedding is full of beautiful inspiration. Enjoy!
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The Venue & Working With A Wedding Planner
Booking our wedding planner, Charlotte Elise Dodd, was the first thing we did after we got engaged, just over a year before our wedding. We knew I would find organising a wedding far too overwhelming without help.
I had no idea how to go about finding a wedding planner so I looked on Instagram and got a few quotes.
When I spoke to Charlotte for the first time she had such an air of calm confidence I knew she’s what I needed.
Andrew wanted it in winter so we didn’t have the stress of the weather dictating the day. The added bonus is that it’s also a lot cheaper in the off peak months and the suppliers have far more availability so it was a no brainer!
The Dress
Wona Concept
I wore the Lotus gown by Wona Concept, which I found at Love Bridal London. I had been to a couple of other shops by this point and knew more about what I wanted so I didn’t need lots of help choosing dresses.
They didn’t allow you to take photos of yourself in the dresses which I don’t think is fair but luckily the dress I picked was in the sample sale so they allowed me to take pictures in case I wouldn’t be able to try it on again. I’m very glad I had been to other shops before where I could take photos.
Other than that they were very friendly and professional, what I really loved is they gave me a list of trusted seamstresses for regions all across the country so I could pick one close to home.
Other shops I went to were Confetti & Lace in Leeds and Dotty’s Bridal in Holmfirth. Both were lovely and had lots of dresses.
Is it bad if I say I got fed up of trying on dresses that all looked nice? I am a very indecisive person and lots of dresses were pretty but nothing was giving me that ‘wow!’ moment that you think you’re meant to get. It just so happened that this dress incorporated all the things I loved about other dresses, princess style, beading, capped sleeves and it suited my body shape, that I found I couldn’t find a reason to say no.
I loved that it was quite different from what I’d seen anyone else wear and how light weight the dress was, it was so easy to move in!
I also wore a veil, created by my seamstress, Sue of Sue’s Sewing. I just wanted something simple so it wouldn’t take away from my Hollywood waves. She was great with all my alterations, I would definitely recommend.
My shoes were by Jimmy Choo – I really tried to find a cheaper alternative but they were just too beautiful! My compromise was that I bought gold glitter instead of white so I will wear them again. They were very comfy too.
My hair accessories were from Etsy and my perfume was Gucci Flora – the purple bottle. I decided that buying a ‘wedding fragrance’ was just adding to the list of unnecessary pressures I was putting on myself, especially when I already own quite a few perfumes. So I picked one from my collection but didn’t wear it for several months leading up to the weddings so it felt like a new perfume!
My dad sadly passed away four months before our wedding and my cousin surprised me with a picture of him on a pendant that I could attach to my bouquet, so he could still walk down the aisle with me. It was very special.
Hair and Makeup was one thing I spent a lot of research on and knew I’d be very particular. My makeup artist was Elly Jayne and my hair stylist was Ieva Genovesi. Both women are absolute masters of their trade, I could not recommend them enough. They were both so organised with planning the morning so everyone was ready on time too.
My bridesmaid wore a Dessy dress, purchased at Confetti Bridesmaid. I only had one female bridesmaid and she got her own shoes and jewellery, one less thing I needed to think about.
I didn’t have a page boy but I had a bridesman and he wore the same tuxedo and dress shirt as the groomsmen, but he had a pink bow tie to match my maid of honour’s dress.
Andrew had a Ted Baker velvet tuxedo jacket and tuxedo trousers from M&S. Dinner shirt was from Moss. Andrew’s dad passed away when he was in his teens, he and his brothers all had matching cuff links with their dad’s initials on.
The Ceremony
My eldest brother accompanied me down the aisle, to the sound of ‘Only wanna be with you’ (unplugged), by Sam Henshaw.
We used the local registry office for Ashridge house as it was a legal wedding. Hemel Hempsted registar office. This isn’t something you get to choose though.
We wrote our own vows. I had absolutely no idea how you’re meant to structure vows but I found an online resource that helped;
- Address your partner and briefly recap your love story,
- Communicate traits that you admire about your partner,
- Describe what you appreciate about your relationship,
- List three to six specific promises,
- Close with how you envision your future together.
I always think it’s really nice when you find things out about the couple and their life together in their vows, when they make each other laugh by appreciating the little things. Personal vows are always my favourite part of a ceremony and it’s been really nice to go back and read them together since.
Our rings were from Flawless in Hatton Garden. I fell in love with my engagement ring on their instagram and their service was so great we went back for both of our wedding bands. For ethical reasons, lab grown diamonds were also a non-negotiable for both of us, it was an added bonus that they are significantly cheaper too!
Our photographer was Emma-Jane. I love how vibrant and real her photos look but with a mix of editorial.
She has the perfect blend of capturing natural moments but also making you look like something from a magazine! I’m not a fan of the low contrast filters that look a little washed out, particularly as a pale person! I wanted to look back at my photos and feel like I was there again.
Emma was fantastic on the day, she really understood how to organise the day to ensure she could capture all the moments we wanted. Andrew and I are both pretty unnatural in front of a camera and Emma was fantastic at giving direction and making us feel comfortable.
Our wedding videographer was Ben of Foster Filming. I loved how natural his videos were and how he captured the emotions of everyone. We were not fans of the cinematic movie trailer style wedding videos that are fashionable at the moment. Ben really understood that and captured our day really authentically. He was also incredibly incognito! I didn’t notice myself being filmed once which makes the day feel really natural.
The Reception
Sean at Hanako flowers was such a dream to work with. When I gave him briefs like ‘stringy’ and ‘all different types’ he just got it.
I knew I always wanted bright flowers but it was so hard to find inspiration as everywhere I looked it was white or pastel wedding flowers! I found myself constantly being drawn to bright pink so I sent Sean as many pictures as I could and just trusted him.
After looking at pictures I soon realised I didn’t want a lot of greenery, just bright colour and flowers which I then learnt was the much more expensive option. Hanako were so good at suggesting ways to reduce cost and reuse flower displays throughout the day, for example the flowers on the staircase in the ceremony were then placed on the tables for the wedding breakfast.
They stayed all day to move flower displays and even packed up the bouquets in water and boxes at the end of the day so I could send them off to be dried and pressed.
Hanako flowers did everything when it came to styling. They were so great at repurposing my flowers throughout the day, the meadows at the end of the wedding breakfast tables also sat under the welcome signs at the entrance, the flowers lining the stairs in the ceremony became the flowers on the tables at the wedding breakfast. I particularly love the flowers they hung from the chandeliers in the wedding breakfast room.
The only other thing I hired were pink napkins for the tables. I looked into charger plates, gold cutlery, glassware etc but the prices were crazy! I’d rather put the money behind the bar!
I paid for bespoke invites as I knew I wanted to get them framed with my flowers. Dragonfly Couture Stationery, who we were introduced to via our planner, designed and printed them. She was fantastic and saved the day when my individual menus were printed wrong by printed.com, she got them all reprinted in two days!
I couldn’t write this without mentioning Bearded Man Cocktails. They were a pop up cocktail bar we had in the evening and the wedding wouldn’t have been the same without them. They were recommended by Ashridge as I wanted a cocktail hour to get everyone in the party mood. It ended up working out more cost effective to have them for the whole evening and I’m so glad!
Chetan was a fountain of knowledge and has a real passion for what he does. We went to his house to choose our cocktail menu and spent the evening tasting 15 cocktails at his homemade bar in his kitchen! A great evening in itself!
Their pricing is a set fee per head for unlimited cocktails and honestly I can’t believe how reasonable it was. They also truly understand how to cater for large parties, there were no queues at the bar, they were entertaining, always made sure my husband and I had a drink in our hands and even brought out shooters on the dance floor! Everyone said how much of a highlight the cocktails were.
We also hired Singing Secretro (singing waiters!) – they were the most fun way to get all our guest’s energy up after dinner! I had a moment where I looked down the dinner hall and felt so much joy seeing 100 people having so much fun waving their napkins in the air, dancing and singing!
I’m not a huge cake person so this was a good place to keep costs down. We got a macaron tower from Mademoiselle Macaron in matching colours to our flowers, I loved it.
My dad passed away from early onset dementia so we donated to Alzheimers society by purchasing their wedding favour pins, it was really special seeing everyone wearing them.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Andrew’s cousin is a seasoned wedding guest and she once told me “There are only three things guests care about, good food (not even great food just not terrible and enough of it), alcohol and good music. Everything else is for you”. I always went back to this when I found myself stressing over tiny details that no one except me is going to notice. No guest is going to know whether your centre piece was meant to have candles or you were meant to enter at a particular part of a song.
Maybe I would consider splitting the speeches up between courses, as four in a row is quite a lot for people to sit through – though I enjoyed it!
I know I was incredibly fortunate to have a wedding planner and it’s not within everyone’s budget, but having someone on the day that deals with all the decisions and logistics allowed me to fully relax and enjoy every single moment. Ashridge house and all my suppliers were fantastic and I trusted them all completely to keep the day running smoothly. My advice to whoever the main organiser of the wedding is, is to surround yourself with people you trust on the day to keep your day going smoothly – don’t lift a finger and let yourself live every moment without stress.
What will be will be.
It’s the one day in your life that you will have everyone you love in one room, nothing’s more special than that! Your happiness is far greater than how ‘perfect’ the day is.
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