Set in the Wiltshire countryside, Tora and Guy's beautiful marquee wedding, was full of personal touches, gorgeous foliage and incredible DIY elements from the bride. Join us as we hear all about their fun-filled wedding and how they made their visions come to life for this pinterest-worthy wedding.
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We got married in the local church near my parent's house in Bishopstrow, Wiltshire. We were lucky enough to be granted the use of the cricket pitch next door to the church for our reception, meaning that none of our guests had to travel far between the service and reception!
Our wedding marquee was provided by DP Marquees. They are a local company with marquees for hire in Wiltshire who had come highly recommended to us. They were incredibly helpful in the planning of the wedding and in the run-up to the day itself. If we ever mentioned anything they didn't supply, they would do their best to source it. We used their incredible fern print lining for the interior which totally transformed the marquee. We suspended vintage ladders from the ceiling of the marquee and adorned them with hanging filament light bulbs to create a cosy and inviting atmosphere in the marquee. We had trestle tables arranged in four long rows, reminiscent of big Italian feasts, which turned into four teams for the ultimate waterfall drinking game during our wedding breakfast!
We didn't have a specific theme, but we definitely wanted that relaxed rustic wedding feel that is synonymous with an English marquee wedding. Our table names were named after beaches we have been to, and each place name was a hand-written pebble. We got engaged on Lulworth Cove, so this was a very personal detail for us. We used lots of foliage and the marquee interior was mainly green and white.
We decorated the marquee poles with huge silver birch trees which really made a big impact as you entered the marquee. We also used wooden wine boxes to create a floral display outside the marquee, full of glass jars and fairy lights.
We also created an array of homemade signs, including our wedding hashtag and key locations for the wedding such as the loos, church etc.
We worked with Stephanie Jevons to create our floral visions. Stephanie is based locally in Blandford and she managed to take my vision and transform it into something even better than I could have imagined. My mother also did a lot of the flowers herself, including all the posy arrangements on our tables, our cheese cake and the wine box display outside the marquee.
I chose 'Beauregard' by Laure de Sagazan from The Mews in Notting Hill. Having spent a year living in Paris I love the laid-back vibe of the french style and had fallen in love with the relaxed, comfortable style of Laure de Sagazan's dresses. I felt the shape totally suited the vibe of our wedding and I wanted something I would feel comfortable in all day. The quality of the lace and material used on the dress was breathtaking and I loved it! I accessorised it with our family veil, a stunning lace catherdral veil that has been worn by three generations of our family. My shoes were white espradrilles from LK Bennett, I wanted something I could wear all day and dance in comfortably and these were perfect. They were also a great addition to my honeymoon wardrobe!
A family friend did my hair, my bridesmaid's hair and my mother's hair. It was lovely having someone I knew do this, she put us all at ease. My make up was done by a local girl called Beth Cox who has her own salon in Shaftesbury. Beth really understood my vision for a very natural and relaxed look and made it a reality.
I wore a pair of antique pearl and diamond drop earrings that were a very similar design to my vintage engagement ring (from Gray's Antiques, London). My bridesmaid, Georgie, also gave me a beautiful pale blue tiny stud from Otiumberg for my 'something blue'. My wedding ring is an 18ct gold band made by a local designer called Virginia De Chenecey.
Guy chose traditional morning dress and wore grey houndstooth trousers from Sir Plus and a morning coat from Oliver Brown. He bought a beautiful raspberry coloured waistcoat from Neal & Palmer which stood out brilliantly on the day - you couldn't miss him!
I had 4 bridesmaids; my sister, a school friend, a university friend and a London friend. They all wore navy dresses from ASOS which were incredibly flattering, they all looked amazing. My gift to them on the day was a personalised bottle of Jo Malone perfume, engraved with our wedding date on the lid.
Something Old and Something Borrowed: My vintage veil
Something Blue: A pale blue earring stud from Otiumberg
Something New: My wedding dress and shoes
We wanted our food to reflect the relaxed vibe of our wedding. We used a friend's mother, Pippa Schofield, who runs her own catering business for our canapés and our starter; smoked trout.
For our main course we had pizza from London based company The Pizza Project. We set up long wooden boards on our tables, propped up on recycled tomato tins from our local pizzeria for the pizzas to be served on.
Pudding was homemade brownies and chocolate biscuit cake made by my mother.
We had a lot of fun doing various wine tastings in the run up to the wedding! We decided on Nicholas Courtin Champagne and Macon de Villages White Wine from Majestic. Our red wine came from a local wine supplier, Corney and Barrow.
After dinner we also served bottled beers, Moscow Mules and Gin & Elderflower spritzs to really get the party going.
When it came to choosing our photographer we immediately reached out to the amazing Andrew Brannan. Andrew had photographed my friend's wedding the year before and we loved his pictures. He is genuinely one of the hardest working photographers I have ever come across, and he manages to capture the most beautfiul moments from the day; things you don't even remember happening. His shots are very natural and candid, fun and relaxed - which was exactly what we wanted. We couldn't recommend him enough!
I designed our save the dates myself, using a lovely blue pattern and printed them through a local stationer.
Our invites and order of service were designed by a school friend and graphic designer, Anya Da Costa.
My bridesmaid, Alicia, painted the image of our church on the front of the order of service.
My whole career has been in the music industry, so music was really important to us - it played a huge part in our day.
I walked down the aisle with my father to a classical version of Fleetwood Mac's 'Everywhere' - this was a really emotional moment as it's my father's favourite song.
Guy and I danced out the church with our bridal party to Kool & the Gang's 'Celebration' - it felt very fitting to the moment and set the tone for the rest of the day!
Our band was the amazing Co-Stars who had the dance-floor going all night - there wasn't a moment where it wasn't full! They played our first dance for us, 'Paradise' by George Ezra.
Try to enjoy the planning as much as possible. Organising suppliers and logistics can sometimes feel incredibly overwhelming, especially when coupled with trying to hold down a day job. By taking the time to enjoy the ‘more fun’ plans, however, such as the order of service or the food, can definitely help to take the pressure off. We would always make sure we made a thing of it – so sitting down with some bubbles and making the decisions together, trying to make it as fun as possible.
Marquee: DP Marquees
Dress: Laure de Sagazan, The Mews Bridal
Shoes: LK Bennett
Jewellery: Gray's Antiques, Otiumberg, Virginia De Chenecey
Groom's Outfit: Neal & Palmer, Sir Plus, Oliver Brown
Catering: The Pizza Project
Wine: Majestic, Corney & Barrow
Bridesmaids Dresses: ASOS
Make Up: Beth Cox
Florist: Stephanie Jevons
Photographer: Andrew Brannan
Band: The Co-Stars