From Naomi, the bride:
“We are lucky enough to live very close to Constable Country, on the southern border of Suffolk in the east of England. The area is awash with beautiful vistas, mature trees, and gorgeous old properties. Quite unbelievably, it wasn’t our first choice of location. We actually had our hearts set on the North Norfolk coast but weren’t able to find a venue which offered an intimate, relaxed dinner party for 30 of our family and closest friends.
Our venue had the most wonderful bones so we simply filled it with things special to us – greenery to reflect our love of the outdoors, our favorite flowers to reflect our love of gardening, and pebbles from one of our favorite Norfolk beaches. It was a happy coincidence that these were all very natural elements which sat together perfectly.
The run-up to our day was very calm and relaxed. Many people commented on how chilled out we were! Alex’s mother and grandmother were the talented ladies behind all the interior styling – most notably the glorious mantelpiece decoration and the handmade foliage decorations over the picture frames, not to mention the painstakingly dried (in the oven!) rose petal confetti. One of our most enjoyable wedding planning sessions was spent at the wholesale florists, deciding which flowers we wanted to incorporate into our day.
My dress and Alex’s suit were both ‘off the peg’ from local, independent shops. Alex knew he wanted a waistcoat and I fell in love with the glass droplets on my veil. Our accessories were all high street finds which gave a very coherent ‘look’ without being prohibitively expensive.
To keep costs down further, we re-purposed decorative accessories we already owned; old terracotta pots, festoon lights, mason jars, and various baskets. Pleasingly, these made for a very lived-in atmosphere which blended in perfectly with the venue and added to the home from home vibe.
On the day everything went to plan; our vows and readings were perfect, our speeches were heartfelt and everybody had the best time, ourselves included!”
