Lucie and John-Paul married in April and held their reception at St Michael’s Manor, Hertfordshire. They wanted a romantic pink and green wedding with lace and pearl touches.

There were rose bouquets, gypsophila, hessian and pretty tea cup candles. They added many personal touches they DIY’d themselves too.

Lucie looked stunning in lace with her in a natural up do while John-Paul went for traditional tails. Such a lovely couple.

Thanks so much to the brilliant Milkbottle Photography for sharing their photographs with us today.

 

The Proposal… On the Spanish Steps in Rome. JP had been before and loved it so we decided to go on a City break there. On arrival at the Spanish Steps we sat down near the top and clearly all plans of a romantic proposal went out the window as JP tapped me on the shoulder, mumbled something incoherent and thrust a ring at me. Bless!

The Vision for the Day… I love all things lace, vintage and shabby chic, and with JP only holding strong views on the stag do, honeymoon and whether or not they could get enough ale in, I was free to plan the day with minimal approval.

The Planning Process… We got engaged in September 2001 and due to the fact we already had 7 weddings to attend in 2012, including JP’s brother’s, we decided to opt for 2013, and more importantly April as our anniversary is April 23rd.

Initially I just sat and stared at wedding magazine not having a clue where to begin. How on earth do you start planning a wedding, and what the hell are Banns?! After attending a ton of wedding fairs, cutting and sticking images from magazines in to a scrapbook like a crazed Blue Peter presenter and getting my hands on my friend’s wedding spreadsheet, I finally got the hang of it.

I owe everything to my wedding spreadsheet (all 19 tabs of heavenly planning – no one was allowed to mess with this baby!). I discovered planning a wedding was a military operation, or at least for a perfectionist like me that’s how it felt. We did everything little by little, ticking things off along the way so that it wasn’t a mad rush at the end and despite it looking like we were moving house with all the boxes in the final week, and JP learning his true calling was responding to my cries of “more wine”, we got there!

Budget… We spent a lot of the budget on the venue, dress and suppliers- photography and videography were hugely important to us and booking Rideout Films and Milkbottle Photography were two of the best decisions we ever made! Likewise my dress was an absolute dream and I even got to meet  Sassi Holford, the designer of my dress, who helped me design the lace shrugette, and change the lace and structure of the dress, making it 100% unique to me.

When it came to décor and favours though, it was very much handmade and second hand bargains. I’m obsessed with eBay and love the handmade look of shabby chic, so I set about teaching myself to make teacup candles as favours for the guests at the wedding, as well as decorating jam jars, buying vintage suitcases to line and making luggage tags to tie to all the favours. I bought all the table centrepiece birdcages, sweetie holders and lanterns from eBay and made the most of all the great free printables online. My biggest secret was that he pearl bracelet I wore on my wedding day cost me £2.50 from a vintage shop in the Cotswolds!

The Venue… We’d never heard of St Michaels Manor, so when we were recommended it we thought we’d have a quick look and move on. As soon as we went there though we fell in love and knew it was the perfect venue for us. From the stunning vintage décor, to the gorgeous grounds and enough rooms for lots of friends and family to stay over, it had it all and we were sold.

The Dress + Accessories… I tried on A LOT of dresses. I knew I didn’t want a big Princess meringue but the shop assistants of the places I went didn’t seem to accept that. “You must understand it’s your only chance to wear a big Princess dress!” I absolutely understood so politely declined and continued my quest with the trusty Mothership (mum) in tow. We went to the National Wedding Show in London and came across the stand for Ellie Sanderson where I made a quick appointment while we were waiting for the fashion show to start. At my appointment I discovered the dresses I’d been looking for and fell in love with the one, Elizabeth. They told me that if I came to their Oxford shop in a few weeks’ time the designer, Ellie Sanderson, would be there- plus they were offering 10% off so I was sold! Meeting Sassi was amazing- there was something I couldn’t put my finger on that wasn’t perfect about the dress and she took me through it from top to toe, ending up with the perfect dress on her notepad. I returned over a year later to try on my dress and it was PERFECT! I’d always planned to sell the dress after the wedding, that plan is well and truly out the window as I don’t think anyone else would appreciate just how special the dress is.

Groom’s Attire… JP wore a grey tails suit from Moss with ivory waistcoat and cravat- a very classic look that perfectly complemented the vintage shades of the ushers (pistachio green) and bridesmaids (dusky pink).

The Readings + Music… We asked one of my friends Kate, as well as JP’s dad, John to do a reading. For JP’s dad we chose a reading from Corinthians and for Kate, we went a bit left field for a church wedding… We wanted something that was personal to use and both being big rock music fans we wanted some sing lyrics that would relate to the music we love. We scoured the internet for songs, but most rock songs seem to be about lost love and therefore not suitable for our day! Then we found it…’Nothing else Matters’ by Metallica. The lyrics are beautiful and it was brilliant watching the realisation on friend’s faces as they began to recognise the lyrics during the ceremony. Even the vicar loved how different it was !

For the bride’s entrance we had Pacobel’s Canon. For the exit, we had  The Arrival of The Queen of Sheba.

Beautiful Bridesmaids… I had 8 bridesmaids…yes 8! I find it so embarrassing telling people but there are a lot of girls in my family, plus JP has a sister and a girl’s got to have her friends with her! My entourage of 8 wore stunning Debenhams pink chiffon full length dresses (a nightmare to find in every size needed!), and the flowergirl wore a gorgeous ivory dress from Next with daisies printed on to match her name, Daisy.

The Flowers… My mum and I met Jackie Sharp at a wedding fair at Harpenden House Hotel. We loved her style and clicked with her instantly. She understood exactly what we wanted and was so accommodating having us round to her house on more than one occasion to discuss ideas! She put together a stunning country garden-style bouquet for me, rose buttonholes for the wedding party, gypsohila bunches for the bridesmaids and a whole array of gorgeous flowers for the venue, as well as gypsophila around the church entrance.

The Cake… My cousin Sam made my cake. We wanted a simple white cake with pearl detailing and ribbon to match the wedding colours of pink and green. Jackie made a gorgeous flower arrangement to go on top of the cake and we bought a lovely ‘Mr and Mrs’ bunting cake topper from The Wedding of my Dreams website.

Your Photographer… We met Ben and Tim at a wedding fair at Knebworth. Well actually I met them with one of my bridesmaids, and liked them so much I came straight home and dragged JP back to meet them. We loved the style of their photography and most importantly we got on with them really well- pretty important when you’re going to be spending the biggest day of your life with them!

The Details + Decor… The main feedback we get from people about the wedding is how every little detail had been thought through and how personalised it was- and thank goodness, because It was a lot of work! But so worth it!

A quick whistle-stop tour of the details: Bridesmaids has dressing gowns with ‘bridesmaid’ on the back. I made mum and dad a 100 page photobook of pictures of me with each of them from when I was born until now as a gift. We had a vintage routemaster bus (Routemasterhire.com) to transport the guests from the reception venue to the church and back. We designed and made our own Order of Service sheets. My mum’s fiancé took a vintage suitcase I bought and made it in to a suitcase to hold the guests’ cards, complete with stickers of all the destinations we were going to on our honeymoon- it was stunning! Folding screen of pictures of the bride and groom. Handmade teacup candles as favours. Activity packs for children wrapped in hessian and lace. Decorated jam jars. Secret enveloped with ‘Do not open’ stamped on them for the men to wear during the speech as JP had gallantly removed his nosering for the day at my dad’s request (brilliant surprise for my dad in the speech). Quiz about the bride and groom for guests to do during the meal. Personalised chocolates and thankyou cards for guests staying at the venue. Photo booth in the evening (Flashbox UK). Magician to entertain during the photos and meal. Bride’s uncle’s band provided the evening entertainment.

The Honeymoon… We hired a Camaro and drove from Vegas, to San Diego, LA, Pismo Beach, Monterey and San Francisco, before a relaxing week in Mexico. It was AMAZING!

Memorable Moments… The wedding cars turning up to the reception venue instead of the bride’s house! JP’s accidental innuendos in his speech- had the crowd in fits! Walking back down the aisle to see all the smiling faces of our friends and family.

Advice for Other Couples… Someone told me a great motto in the run up to the wedding and I 100% lived by it- I probably even chanted it in my sleep during the particularly trying times:

“The people who matter don’t mind, and the people who mind don’t matter”

Credit Where Credit is Due…

Ellie Sanderson Wedding dress http://www.elliesanderson.co.uk/

St Michaels Manor Reception Lauren Biffen http://www.stmichaelsmanor.com/

Milkbottle Photography Photography Ben and Tim http://www.milkbottlephotography.co.uk/

Rideout Films Videography David http://rideoutfilms.com/

Church florist Church flowers Ruth Coles -

Jackie Sharp Venue Flowers Jackie sharp

Lords Cars Wedding cars x 3 http://www.lordcars.co.uk/

Routemaster Hire Bus Jen Dee http://www.routemasterhire.com/

Sam Ellis Cake Sam Ellis (bride’s cousin)

Kathryn Deeley Invitations and table plan cards Kathryn Deeley http://www.kathryndeeley.co.uk/

Mice with Glasses Band Graham Ellis (uncle of bride) http://www.micewithglasses.com/

Dean Maudsley Magician Dean Maudsley http://www.deanmagic.com/

Flashbox Photobooth Nigel Croft http://www.flashboxuk.com/

Smooch Wedding rings http://www.smoochrings.co.uk/

Moss Morning Suits http://www.moss.co.uk/Suits

Ivory Bow Styling Hair and makeup Lauren Nicholls Ivory Bow Styling (website under construction)

Mint DJs DJ http://www.mintdjs.co.uk/

 

Soooo pretty, so romantic, and that sunlight!! Thanks so much to Lucie and John-Paul for sharing their beautiful wedding with us today XOXO Lou