Inside: A Charming Garden Wedding In Chelsea The Wedding Edition

The Story

We first connected through the dating app Hinge on New Years Day 2022. Piers had Covid so we delayed meeting for a few weeks. Our first date was mini golf at Puttshack near our offices (co-incidentally right next to each other). The date went so well we played another round! One year later Piers planned to propose on a walk in the mountains above Franschoek in South Africa but he was so excited he proposed the moment we arrived at the beautiful room at the hotel, on one knee obviously.

Piers proposed with a stunning ring that contained the original diamond from his great grandmother’s ring. The diamond is set in gold with baguette Kashmir sapphires, it was masterfully redesigned by the amazing Delaval Knight.

Venue

We were married at the beautiful Christchurch in Chelsea, a short walk from our reception at The Chelsea Physic Garden. The gardens are a stunning location and we wanted a venue that encapsulated the countryside where I grew up but with easy access for so many London friends and family. Our wedding planner, Katie Tottenham did a masterful job of working with the venue and securing the right suppliers to ensure our day was seamless and magical from beginning to end.

Fashion

My dress by Mira Zwillinger was a lucky find at Browns Brides where I went with my mother. I knew straight away that it was THE ONE but it was way over budget. I found a website called Stillwhite and amazingly, the dress was for sale in New York for a quarter of the retail price and the bride exactly the same size as me. We took the plunge and I followed its four flights across the US and miraculously it was the perfect fit! The few alterations and addition of capped sleeves was beautifully arranged by Judy Mott in Tunbridge Wells. My beautiful suede court shoes were from Emmy London with pretty soft blue silk ribbons. In the evening I changed into a stunning halter neck Galvan London dress for dancing the night away!

Piers looked incredibly dashing in his tailcoat and ivory waistcoat from Oliver Brown

Jewellery

Delaval Knight designed my engagement ring, and in a very personal and beautiful touch, re-designed my mother’s engagement ring into a stunning bangle I wore on the day. My father died when I was young so it was incredibly special to walk down the aisle (with my stepfather) wearing this piece of jewellery to represent my father. The bangle stayed true to its original form with a sapphire in the middle surrounded by diamonds and it also served as my something blue. My earrings were stunning drop pearl and diamond from Cara in the Burlington Arcade.

Piers and I spent an afternoon making our wedding rings with the talented Fenella Watson designs at her studio which was huge fun!

Bridal Party

The children wore beautiful outfits made by Sue Hill Clothing.

Transportation

I was driven from The Goring Hotel to the church in a beautiful vintage Rolls Royce known as The Blue Baron and provided by Lords Cars. The chauffeur, Joe, was a total star and helped me with my dress in and out of the car and even into the church. He had clearly looked after many brides in his time!

Tablescape

We wanted our marquee design to flow from the gardens to the tables and Katie exceeded our wildest expectations with her styling ideas. The beautiful block printed tablecloths, place mats, cutlery and glassware were from Maison Margaux and hand written placecards, menus and table names from Laura at Embellishing the Ordinary. All our wedding florals were designed by the talented Millie Richardson who is based in the Costwolds. Everything was delicate, pretty and with a WOW factor that blew the guests away on entering the beautiful Raj Tent Club marquee. Our stunning furniture was from The House of Furn.

Food & drink

Kalm Kitchen provided the catering and they are so incredibly creative. Personal highlights were the venison croquette canape and trio of mouth watering puddings. Moscow Mules in copper tankards were a highlight for the guests! Cake is my passion and after much research we settled on Annie Sterck (Fat Anne’s). We had a triple layered cake with double chocolate, banana and chocolate and chocolate with espresso, filled with buttercream and covered with white fondant, all beautifully dressed with delicate flowers. It was without a doubt the best cake we had ever tasted and there was not a morsel left, we took all remaining slices on our mini moon!

Entertainment

We had the wonderful choir from St Luke’s and Christchurch performing Ave Verum Corpus by Mozart, and the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Nabucco by Verdi. Our fantastic trumpeter performed The Trumpet Voluntary by Jeremiah Clarke whilst I walked down the aisle. The main highlight was the incredible organist who masterfully played Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter by John Williams, much to the delight of our guests.

Dom and The Ticklers provided jazz for our drinks reception, our first dance was Jailhouse Rock and the amazing DJ, Tom Halloran got everyone onto the dance floor all night with everything from Wagon Wheel to Abba, he was accompanied by a fabulous live sax player.

Beauty Regime & Wellness

Whilst I was rather envious of Piers turning up on the day with just a haircut, I did enjoy treating myself to a few facials pre-wedding as well as a spa stay at Thyme in the Cotswolds with my mother. My hair and make up was done by Elle and Edna from Richard Ward who made me feel a million dollars whilst remaining natural and like myself. They looked after me later in the day when I changed my dress and hairpieces and generally kept me very calm!

Favourite Wedding Gift

We had a wedding list with The Wedding Shop who have a huge range of fantastic gifts and a Chelsea townhouse display room which was fun to browse. We had so many beautiful presents from both our list and off-list. Some rather special ones are a stunning set of plates from Mrs Alice, a cheeseboard, coasters and wine stoppers adorned with safari animals from Hayward and Stott’s, a handwritten and illustrated version of one of our church readings and our gorgeous wedding album from Tom Greenly.

Honeymoon

The day after our wedding we spent three nights at The Newt in Somerset which was an amazing place to unwind following a very exciting few days. Our honeymoon was spent in Tanzania expertly planned by Ben Nelson Travel. We began on safari at Chem Chem Lodge near the Tarangire National Park with its own private concession and I could not recommend more highly. We then flew to the Southern Serengeti to stay at one of the Nomad safari camps which follows the great migration, a spectacular sight. Finally we flew to Fanjove Island, part of the Songo Songo Archipelago which consists of fourteen rooms on a private island Robinson Crusoe style. We had a heavenly seven nights swimming, reading in hammocks and eating like kings!

Advice

Hire Katie Tottenham as your wedding planner – our wedding would not have been the same without her.
Make sure you take time out on the day to take it all in, it flies by in a flash so a few moments together is very special.
Take a break after the wedding or a mini moon before the main honeymoon if you can. We were on cloud nine but exhausted after the big day and our phones did not stop buzzing. We wanted a chance to wind down after the wedding before switching off from reality and technology on our honeymoon a few months later.