Danielle & James' Real Life Wedding

Danielle & James - Summer Wedding

James was aware of the church Greensted Church, which is the oldest wooden church in the world and took Danielle to see it. She fell in love with it immediately and was delighted that the people were so friendly. It was a beautiful intimate church which could just about accommodate their 70 guests so they decided to make it their parish church.

They had seen an advert for the Gaynes Park Open Day on their way home from the weekend away and promptly went to see it. They both fell in love with it as soon as they made their way up the driveway; it fitted their theme and felt right. "The staff were very accommodating and it fulfilled all our requirements - very difficult being an event organiser and a chef! Plus it was only 4 miles from the church we wanted - Greensted Church."

Danielle's 2 best friends Sarah and Amy wore palomino coloured dresses from Dessy. They looked so elegant and the dress complimented Danielle's dress and the boys' suits perfectly. Ed, the Best Man, and Dean and Jake, the ushers, all wore tailor-made suits to match the groom but had palomino cravats to match the bridesmaids.

Danielle's dress was a Fabulous Ian Stuart - Arabesque in ivory blush from the 2008 catwalk collection. It was a very soft design with a detailed back and Danielle loved the tiny buttons on the back and the roses cascading down the train. For accessories Danielle chose a tiara, full-length veil, bespoke earrings, a necklace and a bracelet.

Danielle had a shower bouquet of antique ranunculus roses and peonies in cream and ivory. The ranunculus matched the roses on her dress perfectly. The bridesmaids had loosely hand tied bouquets made with the same flowers as Danielle's, but with a slight blush to them.

The ushers and the Father of the bride had large ranunculus rose buttonholes in blush to match the bridesmaids' flowers and James had an ivory buttonhole to match Danielle's bouquet. A small sprig of fresia was included in James' because it was his Nan's favourite flower. Both Danielle and James' Mums and Danielle's Nan had wrist corsages consisting of miniature antique roses in cream on an ivory pearl bracelet.

Danielle arrived at the church in a Brandwith Laudette Saloon and Danielle's Mum, Nan and the bridesmaids arrived in an Austin Princess in cream and black. The guests travelled in a red double decker bus.

The Church arch, the 2 pedestals and the 2 rounds were decorated in mainly foliage with the ranunculus, peonies and roses scattered throughout and the pew ends had informal bunches tied with ivory organza.

The venue was beautiful and only needed minimal decoration. They used lots of different foliage in differing shades of green to create the country garden effect. This was complemented by trailing ivy and willow branches. A huge heart wreath was tied to the door of the main barn packed with flowers to match the bouquets and flower garlands were tied around the main pillars of the barn. There were photos of James and Danielle taken over the years they had been together and also as babies strung around the room.

Large martini shaped vases standing on round middles decorated the centre of each table. They were full of the same flowers they had used in the bouquets with trailing ivy and willow grass. Danielle and James didn't offer conventional favours but each table was named after a herb and they put a sprig of it on each place setting which created a fabulous aroma in the barn with bubbles, tea lights and a chocolate for everyone. A heart-shaped sparkler was placed in each dessert as they were served to the tables.

The wedding cake was square in 3 tiers with ivory icing and scroll details, very narrow sage ribbon and pearl edging with fresh flowers cascading down to match the back of Danielle's dress. The layers were fruit, carrot and chocolate.

"It's very difficult to choose the best part of the day - it was all very special. Walking down the aisle and saying I do in front of friends and family, but the whole day was fantastic! I loved the Chinese lanterns at the end of the night."

When asked if she had any tips for future wedding couples Danielle says; "Do plenty of research, book everything as early as possible. Have a rehersal, keep it simple and make it as personal as possible because it created such wonderful memories. We also did the speeches before the meal which made it more enjoyable for James and my Dad who wanted to enjoy the meal and have a drink. It was much less formal and my Mum said a peom too. I was glad we did it that way!"

Images courtesy of Paul Brandwood

Suppliers:

Bride's dress - Ian Stuart at London Bride Couture
Bride's accessories (veil, tiara, shoes) - London Bride Couture (Veil), Kiss Kiss Divine (Tiara & Earrings), Bonita (Necklace and Bracelet) Filippa Scott (Shoes) at Bespoke Wardrobe
Groom's suit - King & Allen tailors
Bridesmaid's dresses - Dessy 2054 in Palomino from Matchmaker Bride
Other outfits - King and Allen (Ushers)
Wedding rings - Melvin, Friend of the family
Wedding cake - Nikki, Friend of the family
Flowers - Feast of flowers
Cars - Essex Wedding Cars and Imperial Bus Company
Invitations - Dizzi Dezine Australia
Wedding gift - Contributions towards travelling - money and currency
Disco/DJ - Sound Response
Wedding favours - Herbs, Chocolates, Bubbles
Photographer - Paul Brandwood