WWW readers Jenna and Lee tied the knot back in July. They envisioned a a relaxed 50s style bright tea party wedding day, which they held at Wilton Castle, Herefordshire.

I so love all of the fun yellow details, from the yellow roses to the 1950s feel bridesmaid dresses and gingham fabric. Their wedding décor looked so pretty and the lampshades added a fun touch.

Jenna wore an Essence of Australia dress with Cathedral length veil and yellow shoes, while Lee opted for a Next suit in blue with bow tie. Such a joyful day.

Thanks so much to the fabulous Gemma Williams for sharing her photographs with us today.

 

The Proposal… We booked to go on a ski holiday to Kitzbuhl Austria. I didn’t know but Lee had already designed my engagement ring and was going to ask me around Christmas time- due to the ski holiday he managed to get the ring made earlier to take away with us. We, arrived on the Saturday and Lee didn’t propose until the Wednesday. He had spent the first few days trying to decide where to ask me. On the Wednesday he had decided to ‘pop the question’ on our favourite slope however, the weather changed and the run got shut! We therefore had to make our way down a run we had never done before. This was the famous mens downhill the ‘Hahnenkamm’. As we were making our way down Lee ‘fell over’. I went over to help him and ended up falling over too. As lee stood up he came over to me and took my goggles off and kissed me. He then went down on one knee whilst taking my ski glove off and asked me to marry him with a shiny diamond ring. It was perfect and magical. .

The Vision for the Day… We wanted a relaxed 50s style bright tea party/festival.

The Planning Process… We began planning 19 months before the big day. We looked at wedding reception venues first and then checked for the dates with the church. Within the 19 months we also had a baby. Therefore, during the pregnancy we tried to organise as much as we could. However, after the baby arrived everything went on hold until the date was fast approaching. This was extremely difficult.

Budget… Our budget was £15,000 and this increased to close to £20,000 as we got closer to the day.

The Venue… We were married at Lees family church of St Pauls in Hereford- We then chose to have our wedding reception to be at the beautiful Wilton Castle in Wilton ross-on-Wye. We had a marquee and were able to plan and design the day ourselves.

The Dress + Accessories… My dress was purchased from White Minx Hereford. My dress was made by Essence of Australia and cost £1400 but had 10% off if I bought it in August. It is trumpet/mermaid shape with a chapel train. It had lace trimmed shoulder straps and a keyhole back. Features included intricate lace and jewel embellishments over a rich Dolce Satin underlay. During my alterations I customized it and added button all the way down the back (as I wanted it to match my mums wedding dress). I also had the lace trimmed shoulders altered to sit in a different place and had the shape altered to fit around the bottom and down my legs. I wore a cathedral length tamsin Chantilly lace wedding veil from www.ukweddingveils.co.uk. My shoes were bought from elegant steps www.elegantsteps.co.uk and were dyed yellow to match my yellow bridesmaids. My jewellery was kindly borrowed from HE Phillips in Ross-0n-Wye. The owners had known my family for years and I went in there looking for some ear rings to buy. The ones I looked at were really expensive and had a matching necklace. They dated back to the early 1900s and were diamond and blue sapphires.- they were beautiful. Kindly they said I could wear them as my something borrowed and my something blue. I was overwhelmed. On the day of the wedding Lee also gave me a gift of a beautiful pearl and diamond bracelet to wear.

Finding the Dress… I had seen a few dresses I liked so I went dress shopping with my mum, mother in law to be and sister. Here I tired on every shape and style of dress. I did end up finding my perfect dress but it was extremely expensive. I then went to a local bride shop and found my perfect dress at a fraction of the cost.

Groom’s Attire… Lee wore a skinny fitted navy 3 piece suit bought from Next. He matched this up with a large Navy Dixie bow and pale yellow fitted shirt and yellow socks. As a present to Lee I bought him a Rotary Pocket watch in Gold which he wore in his waistcoat. Lee wore brown brogues with his suit.

The Readings + Music… In the church ceremony we invited our guests to sing the bridesmaids in to The Turtles ‘Happy Together’. The bride arrived to the traditional Wagnor Bridal Chorus and left the church to M79 by Vampire Weekend. Readings were Corinthians 13- The Gift of Love and ‘Love’ by Roy Croft.

Beautiful Bridesmaids… I had 5 Adult Bridesmaids- My 3 sister Vikki, Alana and Sally- my Best friend Clare and my brother in laws girlfriend Becky. I wanted my bridesmaid to have a 50s feel to their dresses. They wore New Style A-Line One-Shoulder Sleeveless dresses inspired by a 50s style. In Satin daffodil. I had seen this dress in a shop and managed to buy them at www.tidebuy.com for a fraction of the price. They then wore a net skirt underneath to give a 50s feel and ivory shoes from Debenhams and I made birdcage veils for each of them.

I had 3 flower girls- My 2 nieces Imogen and Ava and our god daughter Poppy- Flower girls- A-line Scoop floor length Satin Organza flower girl dress bought from www.lightinthebox.com – However, I had these dresses cut to above the knee to copy the adults length. They were ivory with a daffodil sash. They then wore flat shoes from Debenhams and a real flower wreath headband. We had 3 baby flower girls- Our daughter Isla and my twin nieces Hatty and Effy.- Baby flower girls- sleeveless Taffeta Dress in bright yellow and an ivory sash- ballet shoes from next and real flower wreath headband.

The Flowers… We had our bouquet and button holes made by Hillmans in Hereford. Which consisted of yellow, ivory and pink roses.

The Cake… I didn’t really want a cake for our day but a family member offered to make some sugar flowers for us. They were amazing so therefore we bought 3 ivory cakes from Marks and Spencers.

Your Photographer… Our photographer was the amazing Gemma Williams. We attended a friends wedding and her photographs were incredible. Then when we searched for our wedding venue we noticed Gemma had done a couple of weddings there and again her photographs were amazing. Therefore, Gemma was the 2nd thing we booked for our big day! Your photographer is the key to your wedding memories therefore they have to be exactly what you want.

The Details + Decor… We decorated the marquee using vintage crockery from www.vintagehire.com. Lesley from the company was fantastic and we used lace table cloths over bright yellow table cloths. We used books and pearls as our centre pieces with flowers in jars and silver pots. Lesley gave fantastic ideas and was with us the day before the wedding setting up with us. We filled the ceiling of the marquee with charity shop collected frilly fringed lampshades which I collected for months before. Our Wedding favours were small jam jars filled with sherbet lemons and covered with yellow gingham. Lee created wedding signs out of wood and painted quirky directions on them.

The Honeymoon… Due to having a 6month old baby we decided to go on a family moon. We went to Agidir in Morroco and stayed at the Riu Palace. We had a fantastic time.

Memorable Moments… Lee turning and watching me walk down the aisle. Listening to all our guests sing as loudly as they could in the church. The speeches and the bride and groom singing with the band at the end of the night.

Advice for Other Couples… Delegate- I did too much myself as I wanted everything to be a surprise. That was very hard work. Ensure you work as a couple and share out roles. Do things earlier rather later. Set your budget and add more to it! Or.. stick to your budget and don’t let family dictate. Search for the best deal everywhere.

Credit Where Credit is Due…

Photography: Gemma Williams photography

Marquee: Sean Harrison Marquees

Dress Shop: White minx

The vintage crockery: The Vintage Hire

Venue: Wilton castle

Wedding Veil: UK Wedding Veils

Shoes: Elegant Steps

Flowers: Hillmans

 

So gorgeous, I do love a bright, fresh yellow wedding :-)

Thanks so much to Jenna and Lee for sharing their beautiful wedding with us today XOXO Lou