Much as I love quirky weddings, I'm a traditionalist at heart, and there's nothing I like more than a classic marquee wedding, set in the beautiful English countryside. Sarah and Michael chose the stunning Longstowe Hall in Cambridge for their summer big day - it's one of my favourite wedding venues because of its stunning rose gardens, and they struck lucky with a sunny August day - perfect for their portrait pictures. Sarah was keen to create a classically elegant feel to her wedding, so picked a lace theme, and a simple colour palette of rich purple and white. With this in mind, every wedding detail is perfectly matched, from the bridesmaids' dresses, to the wedding invitations and the wedding cake. Even the confetti matched, creating a brilliantly put-together feel to the whole day! You'll find tonnes of wedding inspiration in these beautiful wedding pictures by Anna Rosell - I'm a huge fan of her work, particularly her portrait shots. Don't miss the reception pictures, in the second blog post, later today.
We celebrated our wedding at Longstowe Hall in Cambridge on 4th August 2012. We wanted a real English wedding, and felt the historical feel of Longstowe's Elizabethan architecture, and its beautiful English rose gardens was just perfect.
We had a purple and lace theme to the wedding, and also white roses, again keeping with the traditional English feel. We wanted to keep it simple and traditional yet classic. We also felt it was really important to use local suppliers and we managed to do just that.
Like most brides, my original idea for how my wedding dress would look, was not what I ended up with. After visiting many shops I finally chose a beautiful Augusta Jones lace gown from Lara B in Newmarket. I wanted to be slightly more covered up, so I re-designed the top part of the dress, but I especially loved the open back and the lace edged veil.
I couldn’t find any bridesmaids dresses I liked so I ended up designing them myself, and having them made by a local seamstress, Cheryl Stratton.
Our wedding flowers were from The Flower House in Cambridge. I don't know much about flowers, and only knew that I wanted purple and white roses in the stem of the vases, so I let the florist decide on the arrangements.
I was over the moon with her work! After the wedding I sent my flowers off to Precious Petals to be preserved, and now have my beautifully preserved bouquet framed above our bed.
We spent ages designing our wedding invitations, menus and table names, keeping with the purple and lace/white theme. We found an wonderful lady called Julie, whose local stationery company is called Little Button Nose, who handmade them for us.
My husband's suit was from Moss Bros, teamed with a cream tie. The other men in the wedding party had purple ties, to fit in with our wedding theme.
Our photographer was Anna Rosell. She was recommended by the venue, but I also loved her work and the gorgeous colours that she always manages to capture in her shots.
I spent months in the run-up to our wedding following Anna’s blog, and looking at the other weddings that she had shot, so I was very excited, as I knew she would provide us with pictures to treasure.
We celebrated our wedding at Longstowe Hall in Cambridge on 4th August 2012. We wanted a real English wedding, and felt the historical feel of Longstowe's Elizabethan architecture, and its beautiful English rose gardens was just perfect.
We had a purple and lace theme to the wedding, and also white roses, again keeping with the traditional English feel. We wanted to keep it simple and traditional yet classic. We also felt it was really important to use local suppliers and we managed to do just that.
Like most brides, my original idea for how my wedding dress would look, was not what I ended up with. After visiting many shops I finally chose a beautiful Augusta Jones lace gown from Lara B in Newmarket. I wanted to be slightly more covered up, so I re-designed the top part of the dress, but I especially loved the open back and the lace edged veil.
I couldn’t find any bridesmaids dresses I liked so I ended up designing them myself, and having them made by a local seamstress, Cheryl Stratton.
Our wedding flowers were from The Flower House in Cambridge. I don't know much about flowers, and only knew that I wanted purple and white roses in the stem of the vases, so I let the florist decide on the arrangements.
I was over the moon with her work! After the wedding I sent my flowers off to Precious Petals to be preserved, and now have my beautifully preserved bouquet framed above our bed.
We spent ages designing our wedding invitations, menus and table names, keeping with the purple and lace/white theme. We found an wonderful lady called Julie, whose local stationery company is called Little Button Nose, who handmade them for us.
Our wedding stationery was one of my favourite parts of the planning process, and I've kept a souvenir of everything that was made.
My husband's suit was from Moss Bros, teamed with a cream tie. The other men in the wedding party had purple ties, to fit in with our wedding theme.
Our photographer was Anna Rosell. She was recommended by the venue, but I also loved her work and the gorgeous colours that she always manages to capture in her shots.
I spent months in the run-up to our wedding following Anna’s blog, and looking at the other weddings that she had shot, so I was very excited, as I knew she would provide us with pictures to treasure.
♥ Want to see quintessentially English weddings? ♥ Or how about summer weddings? ♥
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