Good morning and happy Friday!
Are you ready for a beautiful Jenny Packham bride, a delicate jade, pale blue and pink colour scheme, a dreamy rose and peony bouquet and some darling DIY details? Jodie and Mike's wedding has all of the above and a whole lot more. Their day was filled with love, laughter…and children ~ there were 17 present on the day!
In Jodie's words: although friends said we were mad…it added an element of fun to the day and admittedly it felt pretty good to be called a princess by quite a few of the little girls in attendance! Many thanks have to go to my sister who had boxes of activities for them!
Jodie's write up is such a lovely read bursting with insight into their special day…
We had simple, pretty décor with pink and jade green colours, including vases of peonies and roses around our lovely, light country venue. We hoped for an inclusive and informal wedding day and our decisions were all very much based on our hope for a relaxed day that we could both enjoy with our friends and families. I tried to add some pretty personal touches to the table and room décor and it definitely adds to my memories of it now that ‘I did that'.
The Bride’s Style:
My dress was Francesca by Jenny Packham – it was one of the first that I tried on and I felt so glamorous, nothing else I tried matched it. The Jenny Packham Acacia 2 headpiece matched the beading detail on the back of my dress so well that it was pretty easy to decide on that too. It was lovely to hear so many nice comments about the dress on the day. My bouquet included peonies, pink roses and mimi-eden spray roses. The bridesmaids’ posies were simple peonies and the buttonholes were pink roses.
The Groom’s Style:
Mike was adamant that he didn’t want to look like a ‘businessman’ on his wedding day, but neither did he want a traditional ‘groom’s outfit’. He had bought a suit in Selfridges just prior to us getting engaged and we both concluded after a number of shopping trips that the suit he already had fitted the bill better than any we had seen. Luckily, the matching waistcoat was still in stock, so we bought it and the suit decision was made.
The Bridal Party’s Attire:
My sister Laura and Mike’s sister Julie were bridesmaids and they wore silk dresses from LK Bennett in ‘Jade’ (ordered online to locations 200 miles apart…) My niece Lola, who walked me down the aisle, wore an ivory flowergirl dress from Dessy with a jade coloured band.
Décor & Details:
We had a beautiful country venue and I wanted simple, pretty décor. My mum’s friend’s auntie (who I have never met) made the bunting and I found little vintage lemonade bottles on ebay, which became small vases with help from some ribbon. There were aqua tea light holders on each table and favours were bags of sweets in small glassine bags from Etsy with hand stamped labels.
I made the table plan and menu cards with Mike’s help, but my real labour of love were my luggage tag place cards, I hand stamped each letter of 115 names… I was really pleased with the result and most people took them home – I’ve since seen them on a few fridges and notice boards at friends’ houses!
The Wedding Music & Entertainment:
I walked down the aisle to Adele’s ‘Make you feel my love’, walked out to the Beatles ‘All you need is love’ and our first dance was the Ramones, ‘Baby I love you’.
My Mum’s friend Diane and a guitarist from a band that she sings with performed after the ceremony. I’ve known Diane since I was about 7 and she put together a playlist just for the occasion – apparently the guitarist wasn’t too impressed to be playing A Million Love Songs, but it was lovely and two of my friends asked if she’d perform at their wedding (neither are engaged…)
Photography:
We didn’t have a massive photography budget, but we were very clear about what we did and didn’t want. We didn’t want to leave the party for hours to have photos taken and we are both pretty camera shy, so were clear that posed pictures weren’t for us. We were looking for simple reportage shots from a relaxed photographer who would capture, but not interrupt our day. Richard was just what we were looking for, his communication was always polite, his advice helpful and we were really pleased with the results.
The Refreshments:
We served Pimms or sparkling elderflower cordial and canapés after the ceremony (with the stripy paper straws for the Pimms that my Mum thought were a very odd purchase). Later on there was a barbeque, which because of the weather wasn’t served directly from the grill, but we had an array of lovely fish, meat and a veggie option with lots of fresh salads and breads. It helped to add the informality that we wanted from our wedding day.
We had amazing fresh summer desserts made my friend Kate’s mum and Mike’s auntie Pauline made our beautiful cake, which caused much stress in its journey from Cambridgeshire, but tasted great. We supplied all drinks, so they were free flowing throughout the day and evening…
Advice for other brides/couples:
We live 160 miles from our wedding venue and finding suppliers that understood what we were looking for (and having a Mum who was happy to be ‘middle-man’) was great. I never met the florist who did such a great job – it was all down to my Mum and an array of random pictures forwarded from wedding blogs. The distance was a surprising help; although there were some stressful weekend visits to Shropshire fitting in venue trips, hairdressers and dress fittings, when back in London, we could relax.
We wanted a relaxed, fun wedding day and the finer details were pretty much planned around our desire to make it informal, including: the menu; the entertainment (Mike got his indie disco); guests free to bring their children (there were 17!); and the free drinks all day (thank goodness for no corkage charge and supermarket offers!). Weddings are so personal, but we both look back and feel pleased with all of those decisions. As well as the obvious amazing things about your wedding day, seeing so many of your closest friends and family enjoying a day that you’ve put together is pretty rewarding.
Many congratulations Jodie and Mike! Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful wedding and wise words with us. Thanks also to Richard Harris for these gorgeous images.
Bride’s Dress: Jenny Packham dress and headpiece from Margot Raybould Bridal in House of Fraser, Wolverhampton | Accessories: Glitzy Secrets | Groom’s Suit, Shirt & Shoes: Ted Baker | Tie: Paul Smith | Bridesmaid Dresses: LK Bennett | Flower Girl Dress: Dessy | Photographer: Richard Harris | Venue: Delbury Hall | Flowers: Four Seasons Florist in Wellington, Telford | Catering: Ludlow Catering (with desserts by my friend Kate’s mum and cupcakes for children made by me), Entertainment – Diane Drummond singing during the afternoon reception (my mum’s long time friend! She was great.) | Cake: Mike’s Auntie Pauline | Paper Goods: Home made by me…
