WPC Real Wedding: Poppy & Freddie's Beautiful Botanical Wedding

It was my birthday weekend and I had been told my sister had arranged a birthday lunch for me in Wiltshire where she lived. We planned to go there Friday night after I arrived back from a week away with work. A delayed flight after a busy week, I pulled a tantrum and said I didn’t want to go. Freddie was so adamant we would be going he came and picked me up from Gatwick and drove me down, tantrum and all.

Saturday morning, we woke up in preparation for this ‘lunch’ and as normal, we were all running late. Freddie suggested we took the dogs on a walk to help out, and 15 mins later I stubbled across a large hamper which contained bubbles and strawberry’s and he got down on one knee. He had then booked a long weekend in the Pig (Bath) for myself and my sisters and their partners. With a bonus Monday off work, it was perfect!

Coming to the showroom was a great experience. It was so helpful to see the presents from our gift list in person, and we found the advice from our list advisor so helpful. We also loved that they work with brands that we hadn't seen available with other gift list companies, it makes our list feel so much more unique and special. 

We got married in a church in West Lavington, Wiltshire. This was the easiest decision of our wedding as the church holds a very special place in my heart as it's in the village that I grew up in.

We then needed to find a venue nearby for our reception. We came across Syrencot online and first went to visit it in November 2018. At this point, it was a pile of mud and the definition of a work in progress. Syrencot is a beautiful country house, and they were building a brand new barn on the grounds, complete with a bar and fully functional kitchen. The plans looked amazing and the house and grounds were stunning (the walled garden was a particular favourite), so we said yes on the spot. It also really helped that their outdoor pizza oven had just been installed and the freshly baked pizza was free-flowing! 

Syrencot is such a beautiful venue and has been so well designed that we really didn't need to do much in terms of decoration. The attention to detail in their design is amazing, we really loved the statement lights suspended from the ceiling of the barn. We mainly used flowers and foliage to create a soft botanical feeling, and then let the grounds of Syrencot do the rest of the work!

We also rented the house for the weekend and filled it with our family and bridal party - it was so lovely to wake up with everyone around us the next morning.

We used Sophie from With Wild Abandon and she was absolutely amazing. We picked her for her wild, untouched aesthetic. She did all the amazing flowers in the urns as you came into the church, all of the bridal party and all our flower decorations at Syrencot. I couldn't recommend her highly enough. 

I have worked in fashion my entire career, so this was a key part of the planning process for me! My dress was the Alcazar dress from Margaux Tarditis, from The Mews in Notting Hill. I loved the delicate embroidery on the long sleeves and the chiffon skirt was so romantic and moved beautifully. It was so comfortable to wear and I felt it really complimented the botanical feeling of the day. My veil was my something borrowed from my sister's wedding 5 years ago. 

My shoes were a pair of white court heels from Prada, a treat to myself! My jewellery was all from my mother's beautiful collection, it was a sentimental way to have her with me there on the day. 

My hair crown was by Debbie Carlisle, purchased from Carina Baverstock Bridal Boutique in Bradford on Avon the day before the wedding! For such a last minute purchase I was so happy with it and felt it brought the look together really well. 

My hair was done by Nicola Beddoes from NNB Make Up. Nicola was brilliant at helping me to work out what would be best for me on the day, and we had a lovely trial in London ahead of the wedding itself. 

My make up was done by Louisa Fleming, a very close family friend who also happens to be a brilliant make up artist! I picked her because I was nervous about the make up and knew that she would know exactly what I wanted, and she did! 

Freddie and his ushers all wore traditional morning suits. Freddie's suit was from Favourbrook and his tie was from Hermes. 

We ended up getting the girls' dresses from Oasis as they had the 'tie as you want' option. This was perfect as one of my bridesmaids was heavily pregnant and another one was breastfeeding, so I wanted to make sure everyone felt comfortable. 

We chose Galloping Gourmet who have a relationship with Syrencot so it was super easy. We had delicious canapés followed by a Salmon starter and a Pork main course. Dessert was served on sharing boards. We had prosecco, wine and a bespoke gin bar featuring some of our favourite gins and specially matched tonics and garnishes. We had late night pizzas served out of Syrencot's outdoor pizza oven as our late night snacks. 

Andrew Brannan came highly recommended by a friend, and we couldn't have been happier. We absolutely loved his style and he was so charming on the day and totally put us at ease. 

For the drinks reception, we had Aymee Weir who I found when strolling along the South Bank. She was amazing and performed beautiful acoustic covers of well-loved songs. It created the perfect atmosphere for the reception. 

For the evening we had Co Stars, another recommendation from a friend. They were great at playing firm favourites to get the whole wedding party on the dancefloor!

Chloe Esmee was absolutely brilliant and sorted everything for us, from invites to order of service to place names. She totally understood the look we were after and delivered far above and beyond what we were expecting. 

Venue: Syrencot

Flowers: With Wild Abandon

Wedding Dress: Margaux Tarditis, from The Mews in Notting Hill

Wedding Shoes: Prada

Hair Crown: Debbie Carlisle from Carina Baverstock Bridal Boutique

Hair: NNB Make Up

Make Up: Louisa Fleming

Groom's Fashion: Favourbrook and Hermes

Bridesmaids: Oasis

Caterer: Galloping Gourmet

Photographer: Andrew Brannan

Stationery: Chloe Esmee