Mon 2nd Apr, 2012

An elegant lilac, ivory and lace wedding

Now it's not often you see a groom in a tux, and I have to say, I think Andrew, his best man and ushers look fantastic in their tuxedo's.

I also really adore lace veils, particularly the one Laura is wearing. It compliments her Bruce Oldfield gown perfectly and is so delicate and feminine.

Laura and Andrew tied the knot in December last year at St Marys and St Bartholomew Church in Hampton in Arden. Their reception was then held at Hampton Manor. It was only a 5 minute walk between the two so worked out perfectly.

Thank you to Laura and Andrew for sharing their wedding story and to Stuart Cooper for his wonderful photography.

Laura and her graphic designer husband, Andrew, actually first met at school when they were both teenagers! Laura explains "Luckily both of our planned university routes took us to London and before we knew it we had been together for 7 years. I was sent to New York on a short term work secondment and we got engaged when Andrew came out to visit me. It was Thanksgiving, 2009, we had a perfect day watching the thanksgiving parade, ice skating in central park followed by a fantastic thanksgiving dinner at the St Regis. It was on the walk home at night when Andrew popped the question in central park."

The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Photography copyright 2012 Cooper Photography

"We had a lot of our own ideas and I am very lucky to have such a creative husband, I was quite anti-wedding fayre and only attended one with my mum, “the luxury wedding show” at the Saatchi gallery in London, it was very good and it was actually here that I saw a photograph of a bride with exactly the hairstyle I wanted on the day."

"Our wedding day was honestly the best day of my life. I am a bit of a nightmare making decisions and was no different with my wedding dress; it took me about 5 months to choose! I was always drawn to the very simple dresses, more evening dress than bridal but it was a shop assistant who actually sad something which helped me pick “you either have to go for Hollywood glamour or English country bride”, after much trying on I decided you only get to do this once and I should go a little more bridal (but definitely not meringue!), hopefully I think my dress was a good balance."

"A couple of things really stand out from the day; one of my best friends did the most fantastic reading. Our save the date card was a poem that Andrew and I had written about how we met and everything else up to our engagement, my friend Clare read out this poem but had then added to it with details about the run up to the day, it was fantastic."

"As a surprise our ushers had also written a song for us which they performed during the break between dinner and the evening reception, they had rewritten the verses of Fairytale in New York, printed out song sheets for everyone and there was a huge sing-a-long."

Supplier info (UK)

Dress: Bruce Oldfield

Flowers: Family friend

Photographer: Copper Photography

Caterers: Hampton Manor

Bridesmaids dresses: BCBG Max Azria, ordered them from New York as they were much cheaper

Groom’s suit: Tuxedo from Hackett

Transport: Very randomly my parents were at a vintage car show and spotted a car they knew Andrew and I would love, the owner very kindly offered to drive us for our wedding even though this was something he never normally used the car for.

Cake: Ben the Cake Man, a recommendation from Hampton Manor and he didn’t disappoint.

Hair and Make-up: All of the bridal party make up was done by Makeupby Jodie and our hair was done by a friend of mine

Music: During our drinks reception we had the Nero String Quartet playing who played lots of modern songs, everyone loved them, and in the evening we had a live band “The Swaines” who were fantastic.

Stationery: All of our stationery was done by my husband who is a graphic designer (andrew@mitchell-studios.com). He did a fantastic job of all the save the dates, invites and order of service.

Filmaker/videographer: My uncle David did the video for us

Wedding planner: N/A – a family effort!

Tue 31st Jan, 2012

An October wedding featuring conkers and pheasant feathers!

St Michael's Church was the setting for Kathryn and Thomas's beautiful October wedding.

The things I love about this wedding? The reception table decor, I'm a big fan of pheasant feathers at the moment and their reception table centrepieces are really unique. I love the conkers too. And Kathryn's beautiful vintage fur coat is perfect for their winter wedding.

"I met Tom on my second day at university (the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester) – he was two years above me and happened to live with a friend of mine from Alnwick who introduced us. We were ‘seeing each other’ from about the second week into term and have been ever since (five and a half years later)!

As soon as I finished university I moved down to Sussex to move in with Tom (in fact I even moved my horse and dog before my finals!).

We had been living together for about eighteen months when on a random Tuesday evening in September after a long day at work, (and me not in the greatest of moods!) Tom suggested that we took the dog for a walk. As I was in the middle of cooking supper I said that I didn’t want to go and he could go on his own!. He then said, ‘well lets go out for dinner’ at which point I got very cross and asked if he couldn’t see that I was already in the middle of cooking! He then started babbling nonsense before disappearing upstairs for a minute. He came back in the kitchen, I turned to put something in the bin and when I turned around again Tom was on one knee with a little velvet box! When he proposed it was so unexpected that I asked him if he was sure before saying yes!

It turned out that Tom had had an epic day, taking the day off work and driving up to Nottingham and back to ask for my father’s permission to marry me. He had planned a romantic spot where he wanted to propose but of course I wasn’t playing ball. He was worried that our housemate would come home soon, or that my dad would let slip about the imminent proposal to someone, and so Tom improvised and went down on one knee on the kitchen floor!"

The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Photography copyright 2012 Rachel Rose

"I was really calm on the morning of the wedding, despite the definite threat of rain. The hairdressers opened early for me and the bridesmaids and it was so special all of us walking there in our pyjamas whilst the town was still quiet, singing songs such as ‘going to the chapel’."

"I got very emotional when we walked to the church and lots of people had come to see us going in. This included the mums of some of my friends from primary school who I hadn’t seen for years and the grandparents of one of my bridesmaids – it was the only thing all day that nearly had me on the verge of tears.

When I walked into church it was just amazing to see all of my friends and family, and apparently I just grinned the whole way down the aisle. Our vicar from the village where we live, the Reverend Tim Mill, had come all of the way up from Sussex to marry us. This made the service even more special to us."

"My very favourite bit of the day was after the service when everyone lined up outside the church and made a tunnel for us to walk through whilst they threw confetti over us. I remember just feeling so filled with joy whilst clinging on to Tom’s hand and trying to focus on all of the faces of everyone around us."

"We did so much of the wedding ourselves. From designing the invitations with some help from our artist friend Katie Hough, to my mum skinning 150 pheasants for the meal. Tom and one of his ushers, Pete, did all of the table displays (logs that Peter had cut as he is a tree surgeon, with autumnal pot pourri and candles).

The week before the wedding was like a military operation with a team of bridesmaids, ushers family and friends on hand to help with the setting up. We decorated the whole of the marquee ourselves, which involved threading 150 conkers on to strings and tying these onto folded napkins, so that they could double up as a decoration and a game for later. The place names doubled up as favours - we sprayed apples gold and then pinned little envelopes to them with the guest’s names on them. In the envelopes we wrote the origin and meaning of each guest’s name and then wrote a little fact or story about their name too, as well as putting in some random facts, as well as putting in a few love hearts."

"As we were getting married on Halloween weekend, and as Chillingham Castle is famously haunted, we wanted to add a little splash of a theme without going over the top. So we carved some pumpkins to act as lanterns on the steps to the castle and had some little squashes (mini-pumpkins) to decorate the top table. We also had a Halloween themed tiered wedding cake with Pumpkin Jack and the Corpse Bride acting as figurines on top.

As a nod to our meeting at agricultural college, we named the tables after different cow and sheep breeds. Again, we made our table plan and table names all ourselves."

"We had planned that the Oxford Claerks would sing our first dance song (In the Still of the Night) and then we would go straight into the disco. The boys surprised us by breaking into Take That’s Rule The World and our best man Jim, who had come all of the way from Hong Kong, even joined in surprising us with a fantastic solo!"

Thank you to Kathryn and Thomas for sharing their day and to Rachel Rose for sending their wedding my way, and of course for her beautiful photography!

Supplier info:

Dress: Mallory by Augusta Jones, from the Bridal Room at Oxford St House of Fraser.

Flowers: The Flower Room, Berwick (we only had bouquets for myself and the bridesmaids and buttonholes. We did the table displays ourselves without flowers) Church Flowers were done by the church’s own ‘flower ladies’ (one of whom used to be a primary school teacher of mine!).

Photographer: Rachel Rose

Caterers: We did a lot of it ourselves and with the help of a fantastic local caterer (and friend) Victoria Bell. Puddings were from Proof of the Pudding(again family friends)

Bridesmaids dresses: Laura Ashley (with some slight alterations by a local seamstress at Specially for You, Bow Alley, Alnwick). Vintage fur coats from various sources.

Groom’s suit: Pakeman Catto and Carter (accessorised with umbrellas, ties and handkerchiefs from the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester)

Transport: We walked to the church and then had Vintage Dreadnought Buses to take us and the guests to the castle

Cake: A Halloween wedding cake specially designed by our family friend Sandy Milne at Fisher and Donaldson

Hair and Make-up: Salon 2 and Bodyzone

Music: The Oxford Clerks (Tom’s brother’s group) for the church and first dance followed by a disco

Stationery: Raymond Huntley, Alnwick with personalised artwork designed by Katie Hough (a friend from university)

Marquee: Alnwick Marquees

Mon 23rd Jan, 2012

Lauren and Chris's DIY Chiswick wedding

It's not about how big your budget is when it comes to getting married. It's just about the two of you, the commitment you're making and the memories you want to create.

Lauren and Chris did just this. An intimate wedding, a truly beautiful dress from Monsoon and Lauren even bought her own flowers and did her own make-up.

Thank you to Lauren and Chris for sharing their wedding day with us and to the super talented wedding photographer Nick Tucker for the beautiful photographs.

Lauren and Chris were married in August at Our Lady of Grace and St Edward Catholic church in Chiswick followed by an intimate reception at Chiswick House Conservatory, in the grounds Chiswick House.

"Chris and I met 10 years ago in New Zealand when we were both finishing university and I was interning at the firm he just started working with. I decided to go back to graduate school and requalify in a completely different profession, and we decided to stay together (despite three years long distance). Chris totally surprised me in June 2010 when we went out for a lovely summer evening and he took me to the outdoor theatre playing at Chiswick House. Over a glass of champagne he proposed with a beautiful ring. Then he made me sit quietly through the movie (Mama Mia) which was tough. I had really given up hope after so long together. We then decided to have our reception in the grounds and I must say Jenny Bond from Company of Cooks was brilliant in organising this for us."

The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Photography copyright 2012 Nick Tucker

"On the day of the wedding I had a very relaxing morning, and went for a run before a lovely breakfast and time to get ready. Chris, on the other hand was heading to his family’s hotel to get ready and the trains went down due to an accident, so he ended up having to walk about 8 miles with his suit in hand. He still made it to the church on time (phew!)"

"The nicest part of the day was when Chris saw me and at the altar the first thing he said was ‘you look beautiful’. Although, he later admitted that he had been concerned about what I might turn up in as he knows I do not a have conventional dressing style and I had mentioned feathers to him which caused him to worry about some outlandish creation."

"I asked the organist to play ‘Let it Be’ by the Beatles as my entrance song into the church – my Dad loved it as it was one of his favourite songs and was a surprise."

"There was a lot of DIY from day one. I found my dress very quickly as I was just trying on styles in the high street shops to see what suited, and quite by accident I found my dress in Monsoon for a very reasonable price. I had it fitted properly by the Dressingroom in Putney. I was very lucky to find the feather cape in a perfect colour to match at House of Fraser. The bridesmaids dresses were also a brilliant find – I was walking through Marks and Spencer's one day and found them in the perfect colour to compliment my dress. I also had these fitted by the Dressingroom in Putney"

Chris found his own suit about 5 days before the wedding (causing Lauren considerable stress). The two best men did not fly into the country until three days before the wedding, and they also needed to find suits. It was bank holiday Monday so there was one day to get it all sorted before the wedding on Wednesday (again, Lauren's strategy was to leave the groom to sort it out).

Supplier info:

Dress: Monsoon

Cape: BIBA Marabou Feather Cape

Flowers: Local Stall

Photographer: Nick Tucker

Caterers: Company of Cooks

Bridesmaids dresses: Marks and Spencer

Transport: black cab to church, then we walked from the church to the reception, then to home (it’s very close)

Cake: Dessert did not turn up – bespoke cupcakes were not delivered in time which was a bit frustrating.

Hair and Make-up: Make up – self, Hair – my neighbour Gary Odenhal (he is also a hairdresser)

Music: Bryden String Quartet

Stationery: Self designed on Vistaprint

Wedding planner: Jenny Bond, Company of Cooks

Mon 16th Jan, 2012

Jenny and Nick's Brighton wedding

Jenny and Nick celebrated their September wedding at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Full of fun, laughter, love and a healthy dose of emotion, their wedding day was a dashing affair. With one of the most incredible backdrops for a wedding ceremony in the country, this suitably chic couple certainly know how to celebrate in style.

Jenny tells up how they met...

"Five years ago this month we were both living independently in Australia, hanging out in the same circle of friends but having never met. Then one night per chance I was at my friend’s house in Tamarama, next to Bondi Beach and the door went. In bowled Nick’s dog, Birch the weimaraner of which I was instantly wow over and then Nick and I thought that he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen in my life. We hit it off and started hanging out round Bondi. We used to meet up half way on Bondi Beach, croggy around on his bike, go for pizza at Gelbison’s and hang out on the rocks at Tamarama with Birch. Then one day we got it on and have never looked back since!...

A big thank you to Stuart Cooper for sending Jenny and Nick's wedding to me and of course for his amazing photography! And thank you too, to Jenny, for her lovely story of their engagement and wedding day.

The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Photography copyright 2012 Cooper Photography

"Our engagement was a funny affair. We were over in the UK visiting for my dear friend Ben’s wedding. I was at my mum’s in Plymouth with my sister and nephew Jack and Nick flew down from Newcastle (his home town) to spend a few days with my family. I thought that he was making the effort to simply ask my mum for her approval however I had no idea what was in store. On the said day it was such a funny one as it was horrible weather and we went on the moors and got soaked to the bone, went for lunch, then went to get a DVD and I got really annoyed as I had flown all the way over from the other side of the world and was not allowed to choose it! After watching Eragon, Nick suggested going out for a walk. Disgruntled I agreed, donned the cagoule I had been wearing all week and we walk in the mist round Stonehouse. Nick suggested that I show him the beach that my mum goes to all the time but upon arrival it was all washed away, misty and we couldn’t see anything. That’s when Nick said that it looks like the perfect place to propose and got down on one knee!! I was bowled over, accepted and we all went to the nearest pub and drank pints of San Miguel as they had run out of champagne. We then went on to the Walrus and did the pub quiz – perfection!"

"The lead up to the event was hectic. Nick and I had moved back from Sydney, had to find jobs, a flat and organise our wedding all within the space of a few months. I had already got the dress made in Sydney by the wonderful couture designer Nina. It ended up a culmination of her ideas, mine and my dear friend Sharon’s (she had the idea of the gun metal grey lace trim). I found Cooper’s photography online and thought that their photo’s were the most incredible wedding photos I had ever seen. I loved their reportage style and the natural way they portrayed weddings. I also loved the fact that they were a husband and wife team, making the day extra special as it was like having additional guests."

"The day itself was magical. Everything ran smoothly and everyone said that they had such a wonderful time. The ceremony was beautiful. Our registrar Dendy made it really personal and we were both really emotional when saying our vows. Having our photos then taken in the music room of the Royal Pavilion was really special as we were still so emotional and it was such an honour being able to be in such opulent surroundings to share it with!"

"The guests then all headed to Hotel Du Vin on foot while we travelled in the Rolls Royce Phantom! The hotel really looked after us and we had amazing food and wine. The speeches were brilliantly executed, heart felt and went on for quite a while so everyone was slightly legless at the end of the meal. We then partied the night away with the incredible Funk Federation band till the early hours of the morning – an incredible day and one that we will remember till the end of our days."

Supplier info:

Dress:  Petal Bridal Sydney

Flowers: At venue Steve Oakes Bouquet and button holes Gunn Florists

Photographer: Cooper Photography

Caterers: Hotel Du Vin

Bridesmaids dresses: Cynthia Steffe

Groom’s suit: Mr. Start, Shoreditch

Cake: Choccywoccydoodah

Hair and Make-up: Electric for hair and Rachel for make-up

Music: The Funk Federation

Stationery: Friend illustrated the image printed Mount Street Printers

Tue 3rd Jan, 2012

A Damsel in a Dress bride, a dapper groom and a Hackney Town Hall wedding

Welcome back to The Ebury Collection wedding blog! I hope you've all had time to relax over Christmas and the New Year and enjoy the season.

Our first real wedding feature for 2012 is absolutely stunning, and was sent over by the fabulous wedding photographer Martin Beddall. Bride Mary didn't choose the usual route for her wedding dress, but needless to say, her choice was a complete success. Mary also offers one of the nest pieces of advice from a bride that I've heard in a long time!

Mary and Lewis celebrated their wedding on 29 October last  year. They met in 2005, getting together after Lewis DJed at a mutual friend’s houseparty. "I admired his record collection and we spent the next 18 months clocking up the miles on First Great Western trains (Lewis lived in Cardiff; I lived in London) before Lewis relocated to London. He proposed in March 2011 at one of our favourite places, a hill overlooking a beautiful beach on Cardigan Bay called Mwnt."

Now, this is my kind of wedding... "All we knew when we started was that we wanted a civil ceremony, in London, with a relaxed feel, and we didn’t want to spend too long organising it or send ourselves mad in the process. What we ended up with was a sort of East End knees-up with a Welsh influence (Lewis is Welsh, as is my mother’s side of my family). At the ceremony Lewis’s brother read a poem by R.S. Thomas and our talented friend Felicity sang Calon Lan, a cappella, while we signed the register. I walked in to Elvis Presley and we walked out to Primal Scream. We drank champagne and ate homemade Welsh Cakes while we drove around on two Routemaster buses before heading to the Peasant, a beautiful Victorian gin palace, for dinner and dancing. This was followed at 1am by a special karaoke afterparty at my favourite wine bar, the less said about which the better…

After the venues, our photographer was the first thing we booked. We vaguely knew what we wanted – natural, documentary style, with no faux-vintage gimmicks – and after a bit of internet searching I chanced upon Martin Beddall. His credentials were good, we immediately admired his eye for a shot and he seemed like a nice chap on the phone so we just booked him. A bit of a gut instinct decision but it worked out brilliantly, as you can tell from the photos."

And the best piece of advice I've heard from a bride in a long time... "I couldn’t choose a best bit. On the day, you barely notice the details. You just walk around grinning. My advice? Invest in a good photographer and a decent pair of shoes. Everything after that is optional."

The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Wedding photography copyright 2012 Martin Beddall

"I struggled initially with my outfit: I knew I didn’t want a traditional-style wedding dress, and couldn’t face visiting any ‘proper’ wedding dress shops, but several months later I was still without a dress. I was about to make do with something vaguely suitable when I found the ‘Kate’ dress on the John Lewis website. I loved the shape and the material but didn’t love the beaded waist. After a flash of inspiration I bought some Chantilly lace from a haberdasher and found a tailor to remodel the dress for me. The end result turned out to be exactly what I had been looking for. I teamed it with my grandmother’s pearls and a big hair comb rather than a veil. I also picked up a faux fur wrap (plus one for my Best Woman) but the weather was so (unexpectedly) nice that we barely needed them. They’ll be going on eBay next week…"

"I ordered the flowers two weeks before the big day with the rather vague brief of ‘cream and green and natural looking’ and they turned out to be beautiful."

"Lewis took the opportunity to buy a sharp made-to-measure suit which looked fantastic and we provided the Best Man and ushers with co-ordinating ties to wear with their own suits."

"I spent an afternoon printing and cutting out place cards and table plans but otherwise I left the DIY to Lewis’s mam who made us an amazing cake and managed to drive it up the M4 unscathed."

Supplier info (UK):

Ceremony venue: Hackney Town Hall, Council Chamber (ceremony)

Reception veue: The Peasant; Tempio (afterparty)

Dress: Damsel in a Dress, customised by Alterations Boutique using materials from MacCulloch & Wallis

Flowers: Rebel Rebel

Photographer: Martin Beddall

Bridesmaids dress: Tailormade in Qingdao, China, where my Best Woman lives!

Groom’s suit: Cad & The Dandy

Transport: The London Bus Company

Cake: Handmade by Lewis’s mam!

Hair and Make-up: Hair by Yuki at Love Hair; comb from Glitzy Secrets; I did my own makeup

Music: DJ Gareth Ragg and Lewis

Stationery: E-invitations via Glosite plus printables from E M Papers

Mon 12th Dec, 2011

A rose garden bride in a lace Pronovias gown

Back in May this year, Hertingfordbury Church was the perfect venue for Amy and Jamie to exchange their wedding vows...

"Jamie and I have known each other for years. We met through mutual friends. We dated for a while and whilst I was certain I was head of heels in love, Jamie wasn’t quite ready to commit. We always remained in touch and went on the odd date. On my 21st birthday, Jamie arrived at my house with flowers and a bottle of champagne and since then we have been inseperable!

I knew Jamie was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, Jamie is very reserved and does not often show emotion and is not by any means Mr Romantic. When he proposed, I could hardly speak, the tears said it all.

Jamie designed my ring and asked my parents for their approval, taking the ring to show them. I would love to have been a fly on the wall – he didn't sleep at all the night before and I was completely oblivious to all of this.

He proposed one Sunday morning after I profusely declined his offer of breakfast in bed – little did I know his plan was to put the ring on the tray!

We had a pre-wedding shoot with Binky which was lovely. We went to the woods near my parents home and had some amazing shots taken, having a great time laughing and joking. Binky arranged for our favourite pre wedding photo to be framed at the wedding and all of our guests signed the picture at the wedding which was lovely. We have that hanging up at home; we did this instead of a gift book."

Huge thanks to Binky Nixon for her really beutiful photography (love the shot of Amy swishing her dress!) and also to Amy and Jamie for sharing their wonderful wedding day with us. Congratulations and wishing you lots of love and happiness. x

The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Wedding photography copyright 2011 Binky Nixon

Amy describes the day...

"We were both quite relaxed in the lead up to the wedding, all we ever wanted was for people to have a lovely day. I have never really been into colours and always classed myself as plain Jane. All I wanted was for the wedding to be simple yet sophiscated. I really wanted all the bridesmaids in white. At first, when people found out, I think they were quite shocked as this is not usually a colour people would expect but they all looked stunning on the day and I was so proud of all of them.

I didn't have the best experience searching for my dress but I knew for a long time I would love to get married in a pronvoias dress - something simple but floaty with ruffles. My dress was white with lace detail.

The theme we tried to carry through was diamonds and pearls. Everything was white classic and the cake had three tiers of different flavours."

"Jamie's dad designed the invitiations and after proof reading and proof reading we were so happy with the final design and wording. It was only when they were all printed and we started writing them to our guests we realised we said our wedding ceremony started at 12 noon when we had actually booked the church for 12.30pm. Instead of getting all the invitations re-printed we asked the church if we could re-arrange our time slot to 12.15pm luckily they agreed."

We had a poem on each of our tables for our guests:

Today we begin the rest of our life
Together forever as husband and wife.
Our dreams came true, with love and more -
Adventures to have and the world to explore.
We’ll share our joys, we’ll share our sorrows;
We can already see many bright tomorrows.
We’ll share our friends and family, too,
And you are part of that special crew.
Thank you for celebrating our wedding day.
As we share our vows, we just want to say:
These wedding memories will become a treasure,
And seeing you here is part of the pleasure.

"A few special moments I rememberd: I loved the first moment I saw Jamie, and when we walked out of the church and the bells were ringing, walking to the car was amazing when everyone threw confetti at us – that’s when it sunk in that we were married. We thoroughly enjoyed the speeches – even my sister the maid of honour did a speech.

Jamie had trouble with his speech - he's not one with words but it was only when he proof read his speech he realised he had not actually mentioned me!!!!"

"Our first dance was Madonna ‘Crazy for you’. Listening to that still gives me goose bumps but it was a great start to the evening entertainment and really did get everyone up and dancing.

The dance-off between the girls and boys was great – I'm not sure how it started but it was great fun everyone was on the dance floor with all girls one side and the boys the other. I thought the boys had it in the bag until I turned back round and saw my sister laying on her back on the floor being (in her white bridesmaid dress) spun round by her friend who was holding her legs - needless to say after that performance the girls won.

We also had a basket of flipflops for the ladies to change there shoes, we also had a hat line where people could hang there hats."

"If I could replay the whole day I would, we both would. To sit back and see all our family and friends laughing and dancing was amazing.

All the hard work and planning is so worth it – everything went to plan – the rain held off and it will always be one of the best days of our lives."

Supplier info:

Dress: Pronovias purchased from Karen Forte Bassingbourn

Flowers: Marie – Beautiful Flowers

Photographer: Binky Nixon

Reception venue: Parklands Quendon Hall

Caterers: Parklands Quendon Hall

Bridesmaids dresses: Karen Forte

Groom’s suit: Marks and Spencer

Cake: Delicia Clarke

Music: E2 Band Booked through Function Junction

Stationery: Designed and Created by Jamie's Dad

Mon 28th Nov, 2011

A custom-made Shirin Askari gown and rustic decor for this Texan wedding

A beautiful wedding for you today from across the pond. Dru and Michelle's wedding took place earlier this year in Austin, Texas.

From Michelle's stunning custom-made dress to the simple but carefully considered rustic reception decor and cake table. I really love the style to this wedding. I think you just might too...

The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Wedding photography copyright 2011 Nessa K Photography

Supplier info (US)

Hotel: HOTEL SAN JOSE (getting ready)

Ceremony and Reception Venue: MERCURY HALL

Day-of Coordinator: Lindsey Watts of Lilleypad Events plan@lilleypadevents.com

Band (ceremony and cocktail hour): SHOTGUN PARTY

DJ (dinner and reception): BYRNE ROCK

Food: HOOVER’S COOKING

Pies: FEAST GOURMAND

Flowers: AUSTIN FLOWER COMPANY (arranged by Michelle’s Mum)

Dress: custom made by SHIRIN ASKARI

Groom’s clothes: J.CREW

Hair & Make-up: Consuelo at SALON BY MILK + HONEY

Mon 14th Nov, 2011

A shimmering Jenny Packham bride and a dashing kilt-wearing groom

Today I'm so pleased to be able to share Cora and Reuben's wedding with you. And rather unusually but something I'm pretty excited about, is that this time the story is told by Reuben, the groom! You just must read it. It's the most brilliant and humorous account of their engagement...

Cora and Reuben first met each other in a bar with two groups of mutual friends. Both were in relationships with other people at the time. However, some months passed by at which point both were single again, and they started dating. Reuben continues the story... "Things seemed to be going well when one night we were in a pub (not that we always met in drinking dens) & Cora announced to me that she was moving to San Francisco forever!

So thinking that was it, when Cora moved, we parted company but always kept in touch, though the time difference did make it awkward at times. I decided to visit Cora (well why not – free accommodation and all) in San Francisco and together we had a great time. During this trip Cora announced she was going to return to London – though she made it very clear it was because she missed London and was nothing to do with me!!!!

Roll forward several years of flat sharing and house purchasing and one night I decided to take Cora to a lovely plush hotel to pop ‘the question’.

We had a lovely day in Brighton and although I kept on looking in various Jewellers’ windows at engagement rings Cora walked blissfully ahead (probably thinking about Champagne and chips on the pier).

After dinner that night we retired to the lounge where while drinking mint tea (it was a very large dinner – though I admit maybe not the drink of choice for such a moment) I sort of slipped off the sofa, pulled a £5 plastic ring bought from Claire’s accessories from my pocket and asked the love of my life, the lady that so nearly got away more than once whether she would do me the greatest pleasure and marry me.

Now at these times its always a bit nervous for us gentlemen – has he read the signals, what will she say, will she like the ring (well obviously not in my case), has he impressed her enough, WHAT WILL SHE SAY – well let’s just say that not in my wildest dreams did I expect the response that I received. I won’t repeat it but let’s just say it rhymes with ‘Duck off’.

A few moments later, after some clarification that went along the lines of... “Of course I mean it, we are in a beautiful hotel, have spent a wonderful day together and now I am on bended knee with a ring in my hand asking THE question– do you think I do this just for a joke?”

At this Cora said “yes” (Phew - thinks I) and started to phone her mother.

Apparently despite moving half way around the world for me, sorry London, living together for a few years, buying a house together, spending the day looking at ENGAGEMENT rings and being on bended knee in a glorious hotel it all came as a bit of a surprise to my darling Cora."

A big thank you goes to Stuart Cooper from Cooper photography for introducing me to Cora and Reuben. "Choosing the photographer was fun. I remember we were both feeling a little under the weather after a night of drinking wine while being served by the “World sommelier of the year”. We met Stuart in Hotel Terravina and after getting some tea he got out the big guns. His best and most beautiful albums! Needless to say we were totally smitten, and then he got out the price list.... slightly less smitten now! We did look at other photographers, but we just simply could not get past the quality and finish of the work that Stuart had shown us, in addition to his sparkling personality and how comfortable we felt with him, so that was the photographer booked."

Cora and Reuben were married at Breamore Church, near Fordingbridge, Hampshire. followed by their reception at Rhinefield House, in Brockenhurst.

The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Wedding photography copyright 2011 Cooper Photography

Cora tells me how she found her perfect dress... "I first saw ‘the one’ at a wedding event in Jo Malone and thought ‘WOW! I wish I could wear a dress like that’. I fell in love with it immediately but didn't give it much thought as in the back of my mind I thought that it was more of a red carpet dress than a wedding dress. But as I was due to visit Ireland soon after, I arranged an appointment with a retailer who carries the Jenny Packham range. Joy was the first dress I tried on and I don’t think there was ever any going back after that. I was a little concerned what my Mum would think when I was putting it on as it’s not your typical traditional wedding dress. But it turns out that a couple of months beforehand, she saw it herself in a magazine and also thought ‘Wow!’ and she was the one thinking I would want more of a traditional dress. I did try on several dresses following this first visit but nothing compared to Joy. After about 4 months I arranged an appointment at the Jenny Packham shop in London and brought my Mum and a friend along. My Mum and I both were in tears when I tried on the Joy dress again and my friend immediately declared ‘that’s the dress’…. That was the dress sorted and then we had to convince my brothers, who were giving me away on the special day, to wear skirts, sorry kilts. They were both good sports and looked extremely dashing on the day."

Cora remembers her favourite moments...

"The whole week leading up to the wedding as we spent it with close friends and family who had to travel from afar, in the New Forest and we had such beautiful weather in October.

Getting ready that morning of the wedding with my Mum and 2 best bridesmaids. We were so at ease with our make up and hairdresser that it felt like a mini party.

Walking up the aisle with my 2 brothers…I felt so proud to be in between them and knew my Dad was looking down as proud as punch of us all,

Seeing Reuben in a kilt for the first time. He looked so handsome.

Saying 'I do' to Reuben….it was surreal how relaxed I was standing in the front of all our friends and family (and I hate being the centre of attention) and looking into Reuben’s eyes and giggling all the time throughout the ceremony.

My Mum’s speech… she was so nervous beforehand about standing in for Dad but she certainly did us proud and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Even my friends who hadn't yet met my Mum before kept coming up to me afterwards saying how wonderful her speech was. She is an amazing woman.

Just the complete fun of the day…it was fantastic"

Reuben’s favourite moments...

"Cora’s brothers and I plus my Groom’s party all stayed together the night before along with a few respective wives. I do remember the five of us standing in a line with my brother and me demonstrating how to get dressed. Well it’s not often most men wear a kilt.

Standing at the front of the church, having a small sip from my hip flask and just taking a moment to myself. I could hear everyone whispering, some with expectation about Cora, some giggling at me having a sneaky dram, all clearly enjoying the moment.

Turning round to see Cora enter the church, I remember the light sparkling off her dress, her hair, from everywhere. She truly was like an angel with a long flowing dress & a glow all around her.

Our mums each lighting a candle in remembrance of our dads, neither of whom could be with us in person, but both of whom were watching over us.

My speech. Now I am not bad a throwing a few words together, nor am I overly nervous at standing up and saying a few words to a group. But I had to deliver a speech sandwiched between Cora’s mother who regularly gives presentations and my best man who is a former journalist and professional speech writer – I am pleased to say it went well, but I was glad I had a chair to lean on every now and again.

The Ceilidh band. This was the one thing that I really wanted at my wedding. I lost the discussion on church bells peeling, I lost out on wedding car & didn't even bother raising a few other points as I know my place & that its Cora’s day. Anyway we got a band, but they could only play for an hour as after that we would have music “that everyone wanted”. Needless to say the band played all night; everyone was up dancing and generally having an absolute ball, including my beautiful darling wife. Hold on to that moment I said to myself, it may be the last time you get one over your new wife!"

Supplier info (UK):

Dress: Jenny Packham

Flowers: Little Lillies

Photographer: Cooper Photography

Caterers: Rhinefield House Hotel

Bridesmaids dresses: Jasmine Bridal

Groom’s suit: Kilt from Jakes

Transport: Premier Carriage

Cake: Linzi’s of Lymington

Hair: Tori Sturgess of Riot Hairdressing

Make up: Holly Belm

Music: Grainger Quartet and Murphy’s Lore

Wed 2nd Nov, 2011

A Nutfield Priory wedding follows a Glastonbury engagement

After first meeting at the Glastonbury festival in 2007. Mikey eventually proposed to Anya at midnight on New Years Eve 2010 whilst kneeling at the end of their son Leo’s cot.

They went on to celebrate their wedding on 9 October at Nutfield Priory Hotel and Spa in Surrey.

"The night before the wedding my chief bridesmaid, my sister, my best friend and I all stayed at the hotel and had a lovely meal. It was brilliant to have them around to support me and celebrate my last night. However I was so nervous the next morning I got up at 6:30am and went to the gym. I later ruined all that good work by having a big fry-up!"

I asked Anya if there were any extra special moments that she wanted to mention... "We had song lyrics during the ceremony instead of readings, my Mum did an amazing job of Stevie Wonder’s ‘For Once in my Life’." What a perfect idea...

Thank you so much to Anya and Mikey for sharing their wedding day with us and also to Martin Beddall for sending over their utterly beautiful wedding photographs!

The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Wedding photography copyright 2011 Martin Beddall

Supplier info (UK):

Dress: Aurora Bride and hair accessory by Victoria Fergusson

Flowers: Flowers 77

Photographer: Martin Beddall

Caterers: Nutfield Priory Hotel and Spa, near Redhill, Surrey

Bridesmaids dresses: Debenhams

Groom’s suit: Ted Baker

Cake: Matt Wilding at Winterbourne Bakery

Hair and Make-up: Justina Sullivan at Beautiful Brides

Music: Times Square Duo (ceremony and drinks reception), and Jezreels Ceilidh Band (evening reception)

Stationery: Dear So and So

Mon 31st Oct, 2011

A tipi wedding and a Phillipa Lepley bride

Grace and Patrick's beautiful wedding was held at St Thomas' Church in Aboyne, followed by their tipi reception in the grounds of Kincardine Castle,

"Paddy and I met in 2004 when we both worked for Mark Warner in Meribel in France during a ski season.  After the season ended we both lived and worked in London and have been together ever since.

We got engaged on 5th November 2010, we were actually going on holiday the next day for 2 weeks to Brazil.  My last day at work had been chaotic and very busy and so I had not had any time to think about Paddy's casual request to meet him in St Paul's after work. When I arrived at the tube station, Paddy called me and as he had cycled down asked me to meet him half way to where he had parked his bike. We met outside St Paul's Cathedral, a place that we both think is very beautiful and special.  Paddy proposed on the steps.  After I said yes, he then confessed that we were not going on holiday the next day!  I had a reaction of shock, as this holiday was long overdue for us both, but he soon reassured me, that we were still going on holiday but not until Sunday. He had secretly arranged with my father for us to go and meet up in a restaurant with my mum, dad, sister and brother-in-law that evening, so that we could tell them in person and celebrate. The next day, Paddy had arranged for us to meet up with his family to tell them. It was such a magical way to do it, so we could tell everyone immediately. We then had a wonderful 2 week holiday."

Huge thanks to Grace and Patrick for sharing their wedding story and also to the lovely Blue Sky Photography for their fabulous imagery.

The Ebury Collection wedding blog. Wedding photography copyright 2011 Blue Sky Photography

"When I found my dress it was three sizes too big and needed a bit of love, as it had been a sample dress.  However, after 5 dress fittings and the magic touch of the Philippa Lepley team it was transformed into MY dress. With the addition of three truly beautiful handmade silk roses attached to the back of the dress."

"We planned our wedding over 8 months and had a lot of fun with it. Our main mantra was to not deliberate to much over decisions as there were so many to make. Despite organizing this wedding from a distance as we live in Islington in London we were very lucky to have existing excellent contacts from my sister, who got married in the area a couple of years ago.

We made a couple of trips up to Scotland but it snowed all three trips we made and so we had only seen the venue under a foot of snow?! However, we met up with our fantastic suppliers who were so supportive and pretty much said yes to anything we asked for and so we knew we were in very safe  hands."

"After the amazing success of my sisters wedding there was only one person that we wanted for our wedding catering and flowers, Val Morrison. She added all the style and wow factor we had dreamed about for our wedding. One of guests has worked in catering for many years and said that the starter was one of the best he had ever tasted.  Val is an absolute legend she is both extremely calm under pressure and a style guru."

We were so so so lucky and honored to be able to have our wedding at Kincardine Castle, not only is it a stunning venue but Andy and Nicola Bradford allowed us so much flexibility to have exactly what we wanted. They were so helpful and nothing was too much bother.

"We held our reception in the castle and then at 5pm, after the cutting of the cake, a piper lead everyone from the castle down through the beautiful walled garden to reveal the tipis! This big reveal worked perfectly as the tipis were hidden from the guests until they came out of the gardens. I hear there were a few gasps and wows when they saw it.

The tipis were supplied by Harvey and Gemma at Highland Tipis, another couples who were so accommodating and worked so hard to set it all up. The tipis were fantastic with open fires inside that added atmosphere and intimacy but still were able all our 130 guests."

"We were so keen to keep our guests entertained at all points during the wedding, as there can sometimes be a bit of standing around. So we added some extra bits which also gave some wow factor.  We put photos of us with everyone of guests in the tipis, we also got some local dancers and violinist to perform some Scottish dancing outside the tipis while the tables were cleared from the dance floor. Finally we brought out a massive bag of fancy dress during the dancing which everyone went mad for and have resulted in some brilliant photos."

"I wanted to have children at the wedding but knew how bored they get during the long dinner and speeches and so we put on a team of nannies from Think Evans Childcare to look after the children during this time. All the parents were so thankful for having a break and the children loved having a special kids tea and their own entertainment. The kids came back and joined us on the dance floor."

Suplier info (UK)

Dress: Phillipa Lepley

Flowers: Val Morrison Floristry and Food

Photographer: Blue Sky Photography

Caterers: Val Morrison Floristry and Food

Bridesmaids dresses:  Dessy Group, Alfred Sung

Groom’s suit: tailored morning suit, Waistcoat: FavourBrooks

Transport:  My Uncle Andrew's wonderful Jag

Cake: Marks and Spencer, decorated by Val Morrison

Hair and Make-up:  Julie Sangster, Riah Hair Design

Music: Soul Inferno

Stationery: The Letter Press of Cirencester. We also did quite a bit ourselves. My dad did all the art work, table plan, wedding map, etc.

Marquee: Highland Tipis

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