It may be the bank holiday but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have your daily wedding dose now does it? :-) I know many of you are probably planning away for your weddings today with the extra day off. So today i have Emily and Andy’s gorgeous wedding to inspire you all.

Emily and Andy married in May at Gorcott Hall, Warwickshire. They wanted their wedding to be natural with an English country garden feel.

There had the prettiest natural florals, a rustic victoria sponge wedding cake and the girls in gorgeous coral frocks. Emily wore an elegant lace Suzanne Neville dress, while the boys wore Austin Reed traditional tails. Beautiful.

Thanks so much to the wonderful Georgi Mabee for sharing her photography with us today.

 

The Proposal… At the top of Minch Moor near Peebles in Scotland, in the middle of a bike ride in the drizzle – a complete surprise!

The Vision for the Day… Rustic, natural, English country garden.

The Planning Process… We planned the wedding over 18 months or so, sorting the big things like the venue and the dress early on. Even though we’d given ourselves a lot of time, there were a few stressful moments nearer the time!

The Venue… St Giles’ Church, Packwood – where my parents got married – and then Gorcott Hall, Redditch – a beautiful Tudor House and barn.

The Dress + Accessories… My dress was Suzanne Neville – Maiden. My headpiece was handmade by Sarah Drew – using a brooch I found in Portabello Road market. She did an incredible job.

Finding the Dress… I found the dress in Margot Raybould in Wolverhampton – Celia and the team there were fantastic – so friendly and helpful.

Groom’s Attire… Andy and the groomsmen hired suits from Austin Reed – they had grey morning suits, Andy had an ivory cravat and the groomsmen had navy cravats.

The Readings + Music… My Aunt Angela read the Gift of Love from Corinthians 13 and Andy’s sister Jen read a passage from Better Together by Jack Johnson (the song!).

In the evening we had a fantastic jazz band called Jazzbomb. They learnt our first dance, “All you need is love” by the Beatles and then played two sets that got everyone dancing.

Beautiful Bridesmaids… The bridesmaids’ dresses were from Ted Baker and then shortened from full length to make them less formal and more spring like – I loved the colour and the style suited everyone.

The Flowers… The flowers were amazing. Amy from Little A understood exactly what I was after – wild/meadow type natural flowers bound in twine and lace.

The Cake… The Cake was a three tiered Victoria sponge with strawberries and raspberries baked by Vickie from the Boutique Baking Company. It looked amazing sat on top of an old wooden crate that we’d bought and it tasted delicious. [Vickie is no longer accepting orders and has closed her shop].

Your Photographer… Georgi did a fantastic job – she was great to work with – friendly and professional. We are so pleased with the photos, she really captured the emotions of the day.

The Details + Decor… We collected different jugs and urns from all over the place to have as the centrepieces and found old glass bottles to hold table numbers in an antique shop. My mum was an amazing help, she made hessian mats with lace trims for each table and helped me wrap a lot of jam jars with hessian and lace! We used my grandad’s old suitcase to hold our cards and Andy made little flags with place names on as favours.

The Honeymoon… We had a week long mini-moon in St Ives straight after the wedding and we are embarking on a 6 month honeymoon in August!

Memorable Moments… There were so many unforgettable moments on the day. When my dad saw me in my dress for the first time it was quite emotional and seeing the look on Andy’s face when I reached the alter was amazing. Later on in the day, when we were announced as the new Mr and Mrs Pike, the guests cheered so loudly it was incredible!

In the evening, when the band were playing, everyone was dancing and then formed a big circle around Andy and I in the middle. Then in the final hour of the evening the band played a DJ set of songs we’d requested. When Coldplay’s Paradise came on, our friends lifted Andy and I up in the air, that was truly memorable – and not quite how I thought the evening would end! Fireworks at 11pm on the lawn – this was a surprise for the guests and Shockwaves did a really professional job.

Advice for Other Couples… Try not to get too hung up on the finer details – most people won’t really notice them and try and savour each moment as the day will go so quickly…

Credit Where Credit is Due…

Georgi Mabee – http://www.georgimabee.com/

Little A – http://www.littlea.co.uk/

Margot Raybould – http://www.margotraybouldbrides.co.uk/

Sarah Drew – http://sarahdrew.com/

Gorcott Hall – http://www.gorcotthall.com/

Jazzbomb – http://www.jazzbomb.com/

Fireworks – http://www.shockwavepyrotechnics.co.uk/

How utterly gorgeous. I so love the mismatched centrepieces, the watering can looks fantastic. Thanks so much to Emily and Andy for sharing their beautiful wedding with us today XOXO Lou