Our favourite gifts were practical items, such as our glassware, china and cutlery. Although as a guest they might not be the most exciting present to buy, they are the items that we use every day so it’s a lovely daily reminder of a very happy time! In particular, we love our Royal Scot cut glass tumblers and our Schott white wine glasses. There’s something incredibly spoiling about drinking out of top quality glasses!

Our ceremony was held at my local church in West Clandon, Surrey. Amazingly, the church is situated next door to where Doug’s parent’s held their wedding reception - complete coincidence but a lovely touch. Being a tiny church, it was full to the brim with our guests, even the choir pews were full. I walked into the church to Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ and we walked walked out to ‘Milanollo’ by The Coldstream Guards’ Band – a nod to Doug’s military career. During the signing of the register my cousin and friend played acoustic versions of ‘Ho Hey’ and ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’, two songs with very personal meanings to us.

Our reception was held in a traditional marquee in my parent’s garden, a short drive away from the church. The weather was so glorious that the champagne reception was enjoyed outside in the garden, before guests moved into the marquee for speeches, the wedding breakfast and dancing.

Our traditional marquee was supplied by Alresford Marquees – they were absolutely amazing and helped us to achieve a classic wedding marquee with a twist! We had a dream of suspending flowers from the ceiling over the tables, and Oli at Alresford Marquees went above and beyond to find a way to make it happen and it looked amazing! Alresford organised everything from furniture, loos, lighting and even helped source a bar – arguably the most important feature of the wedding marquee!

We opted for 4 long rows of trestle tables to create a relaxed, Mediterranean feast feeling, and decorated these with poseys of flowers and lots of little personal details. We collected Champagne corks over the course of our engagement and used these as placeholders for each guest with a hand-calligraphered place name by Palepress London. 

We used local florist Rosie Orr, who was simply incredible. Rosie instantly understood the look I was hoping for (wild, romantic and loose) and provided the most beautiful floral arrangements. She took care of everything, from the church to the marquee to the bridal party. My vision was lots of classic whites, creams and green, with a small hint of country colour from some daisies and sweetpeas. There wasn’t one tight, formal arrangement here; everything was beautifully arranged in a soft and romantic formation. 

I chose the London based dress designer Louise Selby for my wedding dress. Based in Kew, Louise offers a bespoke and relaxing environment, something that I loved after the hecticness of other larger bridal designers. No lukewarm prosecco here, and no pushy sales assistants, Louise makes every bride instantly feel at home with her charming and honest expertise and stunning dresses. Her studio is based in her family home, so you instantly feel relaxed and at ease, knowing that no one else will be there trying dresses on, it’s a totally stress-free experience.

I chose the ‘Delphinium’ dress – a classic, beautifully cut dress with a stunning tuxedo back detail. Having always thought I would go for a lace wedding dress, Louise and I worked together to add some elements of lace into the design, making my dress truly bespoke and one of a kind. Every single Louise Selby dress is made to measure by Louise herself, ensuring the perfect fit every time. I had such fun creating my dress with Louise - we are still in touch today, and regularly see each other for drinks and dinner!

My veil was also from Louise Selby. It was a very simple cathedral length veil and complimented my dress perfectly. 

Not being the best heel wearer, I opted for a classic pair of white court shoes from Rainbow Club. Fully padded inside and available in half sizes Rainbow Club specialise in bridal shoes that are comfortable without compromising on style. I chose a style with a subtle lace pattern and delicate sequins for a tiny bit of shimmer. For the dance floor, I defaulted back to my trustworthy Converse and had a bespoke pair made especially for the wedding with various shades of blue and with my new surname on the back.

I chose Amanda White for my hair and make up. Amanda created a a natural look for my make-up, and a soft up do for my hair, which remarkably stayed in all day, despite being flipped upside down on the dancefloor numerous times! Amanda also did my bridesmaid’s hair. It was important for me to find someone who could do both hair and make up, as it involved less admin! 

I wore my stepmother’s diamond and sapphire stud earrings, and a vintage diamond and sapphire bracelet that belonged to Doug’s late-mother. It was so important for me to wear something of hers, as I felt she was with us the whole day. I also wore my everyday bracelets given to me by Doug, created by our friend and incredible jewellery designer Davina Combe.

Doug wore a traditional Morning Suit from Gieves & Hawkes, inherited from his grandfather. His waistcoat was a pale blue Harvie & Hudson purchase, and his tie was a dusky blue and pink elephant print from Beaufort & Blake, a Christmas present from me. New shoes were from Loake and were a 30th birthday present from my parents.

I had 4 gorgeous bridesmaids; a school friend, two university friends and a London friend. They all wore dresses from ASOS in a beautiful shade of lilac called ‘Lavender Fog’, teamed with their own choice of shoes. I gave them a Monica Vinada ‘Riva’ bracelet as a thank you gift which they all wore on the day.

Something Old: Doug’s mother’s diamond and sapphire bracelet

Something New: My engagement ring by Kinvara Law

Something Borrowed and Something Blue: My stepmother’s diamond and sapphire stud earrings

When it came to the caterer there was never anyone else in the running other than Two Many Cooks. Specialists in wedding and party catering, our family have years of connections with Emily and her amazing team at TMC, from numerous family parties to weddings – I even worked for them during school and university holidays! Emily designed a stunning food menu that guests still rave about today.

Canapés

Salt & Pepper Calamari with Chilli Dip

Rosemary & Paprika Pancetta Prawns with Romesco Dip

Honey & Mustard Cocktail Sausages

Duck Pancakes with Mint, Basil, Spring Onions & Cucumber, peashoot

Cherry Tomato Tarte Tatin with Fresh Basil Pesto

Fillet of Beef Skewers with Dijon & Fresh Horseradish Dip

Pea Puree, Goat’s Cheese & Mint Seeded Ficelle

Bang Bang Chicken in Filo Cups with Spring Onion

Main Course

Charred Lamb Rump with Aubergine & Tomato Caponata, Salsa Verde

with Bowls of Parmentier Rosemary Potatoes

Crisp Green Salad with Garlicky Dressing, Toasted Seeds & Green Beans

Pudding

Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart with Crème Fraiche, Raspberries & Edible Flowers

Champagne: Rasselet – with a very special bespoke Coldstream Guards label. When Doug was in The Coldstream Guards he was in charge of the regimental champagne and sourced this bespoke champagne directly from Mr Rasselet, so it was a no brainer for us to choose this.

Wine: Doug's father used to own a wine business and did an excellent job choosing our wedding wine for us:

Red: Porta 6, 2013

White: Cave de Turckheim, Alsace Pinot Blanc, 2015

Rose: Mirabeau Pure Provence Rose, 2016. Meeting Stephen and Jeany Cronk at Taste of London was an absolute pleasure. We had started to read lots about Mirabeau's amazing journey online and reached out to them to see if they would supply our wedding rosé. They were so accommodating and have become firm friends, so much so we recently went to visit them in their gorgeous village, Cotignac. It's everything you could ever dream of. Their delicious Provençal rosé was the absolute star of our show, and every single bottle was drunk! It is now our go to whenever rosé is on the menu! 

Cocktails: We are renowned for serving espresso martinis at dinner parties, so we really wanted to incorporate them into our wedding in a fun and unique way. We selected 10 guests to be a designated cocktail connoisseur, and delivered them a tray with a giant cocktail shaker full of ice, pre-measured espresso martini ingredients and 10 martini glasses for them to shake and serve to the table! “Doug’s DIY Espresso Martini”! It was absolute carnage but seriously good fun. 

Tom Greenly from Richard Greenly Photography captured our happy day. We know Tom personally and love his vibrant style of photography and the way he captures colour, delivering beautiful and timeless photos. The current trend for filtered photography is something we wanted to avoid, opting for a more classic approach. Tom is great fun and is brilliant at getting the formal snaps done as quickly as possible, ensuring we had maximum time with our guests! He also dresses the part, ensuring that he blends in perfectly with your guests, there’s nothing worse than an obtrusive photographer shoving a camera in your face every 2 seconds!

We chose Will Warr to video our day. We loved Will’s attention to detail and how brilliantly he captures all the special parts of the day and effortlessly creates a top quality video.

Save the dates were personalised magnets, invitations were classic invitations printed by Chelsea Fine Stationery. The incredible Ash from Palepress London addressed the envelopes and invites in her impeccable hand calligraphy and also did place names for every guest. I designed our Order of Service. 

Our day band was a traditional, authentic jazz band provided by Silk Street Jazz. We wanted a relaxed band that would provide the perfect amount of fun without being overbearing. Access to my father’s house is not the easiest, so guests were dropped off a short walk from the house, where they were met by Silk Street Jazz and walked up to the house. It was such a special moment to see guests walking and dancing up the road to When The Saints Come Marching In, with everyone getting involved from children to grandparents!

The evening band were the infamous 29 Fingers. They were the very first thing we booked for the wedding! Renowned for their energetic performances, and their encouragement of bad behaviour on the dancefloor it was the perfect fit for us and our guests! They sang our first dance for us, 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen. They kept the dancefloor zinging all night and by the end of the evening everyone was dancing and singing in full fancy dress, with us dancing on people’s shoulders, a sight for sore eyes!

Doug’s godfather kindly lent us two vintage buses from his personal collection! One bus transported me, my family and my bridesmaids to the church – it was such fun all travelling together! The two buses then transported all our guests back to the house. Luckily there was glorious weather otherwise the open top bus might have been a bit tricky! A small lane leading up to the house meant the buses were not able to get all the way up, so guests were greeted half way by a walking jazz band who danced them up the rest of the way!

Doug drove us back from our ceremony in his father’s beautiful vintage Morgan.

Driving back from the ceremony together was the perfect opportunity to reflect on such a special day, and driving up the road to see all our neighbours lining the road to welcome us home was lovely!

It was the Epsom Derby day, so my father surprised us all by buying every guest a £1 bet, split evenly across every horse. The betting slip was placed randomly on each place in an envelope with ‘no peeking’ written on it. During his speech, my father asked everyone to open their envelope at which point he revealed the winning horse – we had 6 winners who won at 40/1!

We played snippets of specially chosen songs for each of the speeches. Watching my father dance up to the stage to 'Daddy Cool' was great fun! 

Walking around the marquee after food to say hello to all our guests, we came across my father and his friends having a sing off with a group of our friends to ‘Sweet Caroline’ – it was such fun!

Cutting our beautiful cake, which was lovingly made by my stepmother. It was gin & tonic flavoured and featured a bride and groom giraffe topper (our favourite animal!). 

Make sure you look up when you’re walking through the confetti!!

Make sure you take some time throughout the day for the two of you together. It whizzes by in a flash! We made sure we went for a small walk around the garden a couple of times together to take it all in. Seeing all your friends and family dancing and enjoying themselves is a really special moment.

If budget allows, get a videographer!

We made a last minute decision to have an on-the-day wedding coordinator and it was the best decision we made. Dee from Splendid Occasions was our wedding fairy godmother and made sure the day ran like clockwork. It meant that we could all truly enjoy the day without worrying about timings or the finer details. 

Marquee: Alresford Marquees 

Dress: Louise Selby

Shoes: Rainbow Club

Jewellery: Kinvara Law, Cry For The Moon

Groom's Outfit: Gieves & Hawkes, Beaufort & Blake, Loake, Harvie & Hudson

Catering: Two Many Cooks, Godminster

Wine: Mirabeau, Majestic

Bridesmaids Dresses: ASOS

Hair & Make Up: Amanda White

Florist: Rosie Orr

Stationery: Chelsea Fine Stationery, Palepress London 

Photographer: Tom Greenly

Videographer: Will Warr

Music: Silk Street Jazz, 29 Fingers, Discowed

Wedding Coordinator: Splendid Occasions