WPC Real Wedding: Lucy and James' Intimate, Locally Sourced Countryside Wedding

Dealing with the delightful Katie and her team, and visiting the beautiful showroom in London. James was extremely enthusiastic at this part of wedding planning!

The White Company - we would have liked one of everything! We also loved the smaller brands like SARAH.K for table linen and Issy Granger’s candlesticks.

You came recommended by a friend, but we loved the flexibility to be able to switch in / out any items on our list, to ensure we had the gifts we will use for many years to come in our home.

We got engaged on 16th December 2020 - a very normal Wednesday evening. I was taken completely by surprise as we had an evening walk along the river, James stopped in Battersea Park, overlooking Albert Bridge lit up. He had somehow managed to hide the most beautiful diamond ring, a bottle of champagne and 2 glasses in his coat pockets!

We spent lockdown at James’ family farm in Essex, which is where we decided to tie the knot. Four generations from his family had been married in his local village church. 2020 made us both realise what matters most, which is family & closest friends, your health, and the person you love and want to spend the rest of your life with. We wanted to get married and did not want to put our lives on hold indefinitely. So, we decided to have a small intimate wedding and wanted it to be a traditional, but relaxed day in the English countryside. Our ideas revolved around bright, locally grown flowers, amazing seasonal food & delicious wine, surrounded by our very nearest and dearest against a beautiful backdrop of the cows and the river. We were so lucky with the weather on the day, it really was the icing on the cake showing off James’ mum’s beautiful garden. 

LPM Bohemia Marquees supplied our mini orangery tent and lining. We wanted something special as it was a smaller affair. Every single person commented on how unique it was!

Our tables, chairs, bar, dancefloor, lighting and floral hoops were provided by 3 Diamond Tipi Hire (our friend George sorted us out with everything inside the marquee to ensure it looked perfect and he got to enjoy it as a guest!). 

Flowers were created by Kate Hargreaves at Tangle & Thyme. Kate is the most amazingly talented and creative lady and her team, who grow everything in their cutting garden in Essex, were just wonderful. They worked with us to come up with lots of ideas including the hanging flowers in the marquee, and the beautiful silver birches that we had in the church which are now planted in our garden. I wanted it to look like a midsummer garden and they exceeded my vision! 

Tableware and glassware were from Couvert Hire. The smaller details like the name places came from Papier. Table Signs were from Etsy and candle sticks were vintage and collected from ebay and etsy.

James' father Richard restores classic cars, and we were lucky enough to leave the church in his beautiful, red Wolesley.

My dress and veil were from Gillian Million, don't go anywhere else! She knows exactly what works for you and has the most incredible range of designers and knows so many who can make a bespoke design or tweak an existing design to suit you. Gillian and I had a Zoom appointment during lockdown, and then went to her shop where I chose a Savin dress and an embroidered veil, made by Gillian and her team. It was super easy and such fun to get a dress and married within 6 months.

My wedding and engagement ring were made by a family friend. My bracelet and earrings were something borrowed from James’ grandmother and sister. Shoes were from Steve Madden, these were high heels so I also had a pair of glittery Kate Spade trainers to change into for dancing! 

Hair was done by a friend of James' mum, Reggie. Make Up was by Georgie at Bridal Service.
 

James wore a suit he already owned as he refused to buy a new one! His shoes were from Loake, and his waistcoat was designed by Matt at Tailored Image. They tailored bespoke prints on the back of waistcoats for James, his best man and a few in the bridal party.

My sister, Ella, wore a dress from Whistles. Oscar, our pageboy, wore a Patachou shirt and shorts from Children Salon. Tilly, our flower girl, wore a Monsoon dress and a friend made her velvet sash.

A good family friend, Guy Wolley, did our catering. He is the most talented chef, so we knew we were in good hands. We told Guy we wanted a 3 course seasonal menu, with as much locally sourced produce - a challenge which he relished! Maldon Oysters is James' parents’ business, so all the canapes were seafood based and beyond delicious. To start we had locally caught sea bream on samphire, served with a chive beurre blanc. For main, we had rack of Essex lamb, served with Jersey Royal potatoes, local asparagus and salsa verde. Our desert was dark and white chocolate tart with local strawberries and cream. Then we had Suffolk and Essex cheeses with Tiptree chutneys. We didn't do wedding favours, but homemade sloe and bullace gin were at the bar, and kept those thirsty on the dancefloor going until 1am!

Poppy from The Hazelbury Kitchen made our beautiful wedding cake for us, we chose elderflower and lemon and it was devoured within hours!

We served Pol Roger champagne and New Hall sparkling rose, which is a from a vineyard located at the end of the road of our reception venue. We then followed with a delicious Sancerre and Chorey Les Beaune from Waitrose.

Amy Sanders did our photography, she is the absolute best! For two people who hate having their photo taken she did the most incredible job at capturing the love and magic of the day. We did not notice her during the day, and she captured the most special memories, which we will treasure always. 

We had DJ Steve, he used to DJ at young farmers parties and did not disappoint! Our first dance was Kygo and Whitney Houston: Higher Love, to get everyone on the dancefloor!

Made by my very clever friend's husband, who is a graphic designer.

My brother being there, having endured a 10 day hotel quarantine from Dubai, to make it to our big day! A very entertaining best man's speech. Having 10 minutes together at sunset with Lottie, Bella and Rosie (the dogs).

Finally, getting my husband to agree to do a first dance after many hours of persuasion, and from the photos I think he secretly loved it!

Enjoy the planning! Whether going to The Wedding Present Company to choose your list, or wine tasting with parents, get everyone involved as it is much more fun doing it all together! It takes an army / team to get to the day, so don't be afraid asking friends and family for help. Relax and savour every moment, it will all feel like a dream the day after, so just soak it all up as it will fly past in what feels like minutes. Go on honeymoon for a minimum of a week, ideally 10 days, any shorter and you will not come back relaxed. A 13 hour drive to Scotland was not the most relaxing honeymoon option in hindsight!

Suppliers:

Photographer: Amy Sanders 

Marquee: LPM Bohemia 

Furniture hire: 3 Diamond Tipi Hire

Caterers: Guy Wolley

Cake: The Hazlebury Kitchen

Flowers: Kate Hargreaves at Tangle & Thyme

Tableware and glassware: Couvert Hire 

Bridal fashion: Gillian Million

Bridal shoes: Steve Madden and Kate Spade

Bridesmaids fashion: Whistles.

Grooms fashion: Loake and Tailored Image.