When we were planning our wedding, we found it so helpful to see what other people had done for theirs. So I’m sharing (some of) the details from our wonderful, colourful, nature-based wedding.

It was really important to me for the wedding to have as little waste as possible. It’s very easy to go overboard with favours that guests forget to take, decor that’s used once and then thrown in the bin, and cake that no one eats. But working closely with suppliers and prioritising experiences rather than stuff on the day made a big difference.

The Venue
I love an English country garden. Visiting them is one of my favourite pastimes. So when Ben said we couldn’t get married in the South of France (where I’m from), I was keen to get married in the English countryside. We did consider a marquee in a field as we wanted a dry hire venue but soon realised costs were not much cheaper than a venue, and had less personality.

So we started looking at venues with outdoor space and glasshouses (to prep for British weather). We saw everything from a former greenhouse to a farm shop. But decided to spend a large chunk of the budget on the Waterlily Pavilion and Glasshouse at RHS Wisley, which was near where we lived.

The gardens include an Alpine rock garden, woodland, kitchen garden, orchard, rose garden, exotic garden, walled gardens, lavender hill, and a glasshouse with tropical and temperate zones, and much, much more.

The benefit of Wisley in July was the abundance of flowers everywhere, which meant we spent a tiny amount on extra florals. It’s also great to know that the venue fee is supporting this horticultural learning centre.

We wanted to take our guests on an adventure, exploring different spaces throughout the day which worked really well although it did require a few logistical meetings. And Wisley has so many incredible spots for photos.

As well as exclusive use of ceremony and reception spaces, hire also included a golf buggy to take us round the extensive gardens for photos. The buggy also helped my Grandma get around, and was a thrilling way to get back to the car park at the end of the night.

We really enjoyed visiting it at different times of year while planning the wedding, and are really pleased it’s somewhere we can visit again in the future.

The Flowers

Extra flowers for the bouquets, boutonnieres and table decorations all came from Hydons Flowers in Millford. It’s a social enterprise and profits from flower sales go towards running horticulture workshops for young people. It’s also a British flower farm, so I knew the flowers would be the best of the season, and were grown only a few miles from the venue. Britain has so many amazing flowers growing each season, it really makes sense to get flowers from there.

My brief to the amazing Lara was colourful, seasonal and joyous. She delivered five buckets of loose stems in colour order which my mum, mother-in-law and I arranged into bud vases for the tables. My bouquet had dahlias, nigella, a pink rose to remembered my deceased sister, and all sorts of other colourful blooms. My bridesmaids had matching, but slightly smaller, bouquets.

The Ceremony

The Waterlily Pavilion was our ceremony space. We knew that come rain or shine, our guests would be protected from the elements. And the area was cordoned off from the public so we had some privacy.

Held in the Waterlily Pavilion, we kept decor to a minimum to save on costs and waste. Wisley supplied the gold chairs and we tied colourful ribbons on the aisle chairs. I designed a programme which we printed and set on each seat, along with a ribbon wand.

Ben’s dad played violin while guests were seated and for our grand entrance.

We surprised everyone by entering together, alongside the Waterlily Pavilion. The bridesmaids entered from the walled garden so everyone was expecting us to appear from there. The audible group surprise was such a fun moment and set the tone for the ceremony.

The ceremony included a group reading of The Owl and the Pussycat, and a hand warming, where each guest warmed our rings in their hands before we made our vows. I love this photo of my 95 year old Grandma’s hands.

The Confetti

As soon as we got engaged I started drying flowers from bouquets, collecting flowers and golden gingko leaves from the garden, and drying the petals to use as confetti. Eventually my mum, sister and Grandma joined in too, adding their dried petals on the day. It was so special, free and sustainable, to do it this way.

The confetti was perfect on the day. We’d dried just enough for 85 guests and the mix of gold gingko leaves with orange, pink, red and blue flower petals looked beautiful. We had our confetti moment on the path alongside the walled garden.

The Parade

We booked Big Smoke Brass to follow us down the confetti line and lead our parade to our reception area. The band were amazing as we’d only just met them in person and we told them to just follow us as we meandered through the gardens and woodland.

The parade was so much fun. Guests waved their ribbon wands as they followed us through the Walled Gardens, through the Oakwood, and to the Glasshouse terrace.

The Entertainment

As well as the brass band, we left out packs of cards, and a Jenga to entertain our guests during the drinks reception. We kept it simple as most people wanted to just chat and enjoy the setting.

I bought the gold frame from a charity shop and printed off signs for use throughout the day such as the cocktail menu and Jenga guestbook instructions.

And the brass band struck up again as we paraded through the glasshouses to dinner. It was a great way to bring the energy up and let people discover the wonderful exotic glasshouses, from tropical to arid and temperate.

The Table settings

This was the trickiest part of the wedding planning in my opinion as we were hiring different elements of the table settings from different suppliers. But I was so pleased when it all came together!

We hired extra wide wooden trestle tables so there would be plenty of space for dishes and decor. Cutlery, glassware and crockery were hired from Options Great Hire.

And after a lot of consideration, I decided to forgo tablecloths completely and rent beautiful napkins from Truffle Tablescapes.

We added bud vases with stems of different colours and textures to add interest and colour as the Glasshouse mainly had green-leafed plants.

The Food

A decade earlier, Ben and I became official over cocktails at The Shrub and Shutter in Brixton. After looking at several catering options, we asked them whether they could do the drinks and food. One of the owners Chris, whose company is called Salts of the Earth, took up the challenge. Over several months we designed the menu together.

We wanted guests to be fed and watered as soon as they arrived, so had some nibbles and tipples before the ceremony. Followed by a sharing feast on long tables so friends and family would mix.

All the dishes had a lick of flame to them, using bbq as the main cooking method. We picked seasonal ingredients to create summery dishes, inspired by our travels to San Sebastian, Italy, France, and of course the UK. And plenty of baguette and butter!

The Drinks

We go to France a lot and have explored too many vineyards to count. So we really wanted to showcase some good French wine. Driving to France and bringing enough back for the wedding ended up being too tricky. But we ended up visiting Les Vins de Sylvain in South London on a random Wednesday evening for a tasting.

Sylvain was very knowledgeable and responsive to our eclectic wine tastes. He described our final selection as “weird, but cool”. It was definitely unusual – a Riesling from Alsace, a Beaujolais and a Cremant de Bourgogne as bubbles – but we loved it! The rose was from Cotes de Provence (where I’m from).

As well as amazing pre-ceremony cocktails, we also created a menu of post-dinner cocktails, all prepared by Chris and his team. They definitely helped fuel the party!

The Cake

I absolutely love cake and was adamant we were going to have one, and that people would eat it! In France, wedding cake is traditionally a croquembouche, a tower of choux buns filled with creme patissiere and stuck together with caramel. Ben loves profiteroles and when I told him the cake is traditionally cut with a sword, he was very on board.

We ordered one from Chocolatician in Worthing. Filled with dark chocolate and pistachio creme pat, it was decorated with violas from our garden. We really made the cutting of the cake a highlight, with my Dad explaining the tradition behind it before we chopped the top off. Two of our friends caught it in a tablecloth.

The croquembouche was absolutely delicious and it all got eaten! Each person had about 2-3 choux so it wasn’t too heavy. And lots of guests have told me they still think about it, so definitely a memorable, scrumptious dessert!

The Cheese

Late night wedding food has become a big thing but we decided to have a late night cheese course. After a fun Friday morning tasting, we bought cheese from Mons who import it from France. It was served with crackers, and grilled pineapple. Ben made a sign for each cheese with tasting notes although I think by then no one was reading much.

The Party

I first partied in the Eden project geodome years ago during a leadership programme which was one of the most memorable nights of my life! I think that subconsciously made me want to get married in a glasshouse.

And honestly, dancing surrounded by lush greenery, your favourite people, tunes and colourful lights was an incredible feeling to round off a spectacular, love-filled day.

The Suppliers

We couldn’t have made any of this happen without our incredible suppliers:

• Venue: RHS Wisley
• Wedding Coordinator (and bud vase hire): Ella from Surrey Wedding Company
• Flowers: Hydons Flowers
• Wedding dress alteration: Verity Turner Sewing Studio
• Food and cocktails: Salts of the Earth
• Cheese: Mons
• Cake: Chocolitician / SheBakes
• Wine: Les Vins de Sylvain
• Photos: Tarah Coonan Photography
• Napkins: Truffle Tablescapes
• Tables: PW Event Hire
• Crockery/cutlery: Options Great Hire
• Brass band: Big Smoke Brass
• DJ: Paul Linney
• Rings: Daniel Darby Jewellery
• Wedding invitations: Fay Creates
• Hair and makeup: Victoria Penrose Bridal makeup
• Veil and shoes: borrowed from friends