Beautiful Naval Wedding - a wonderful mix of formal and relaxed
All the beautiful photographs taken in this blog were shot by Nicky Hill Photography unless marked.
07949 834933 / enquiries@nickyhillphotography.com /
This looked as if it was going to be our first forecast dry wedding of the year and the sun was shining when Oakleaf Marquees arrived to put up their tipis on the main lawn.
01258 520345 / info@oakleafmarquees.co.uk / oakleafmarquees.co.uk
Friday brought friends and relations to finish off the decorating the couple had started the day before.
The Table theme was Festival and the table names were Festival Stage Names. A friend of the bride and groom had made a poster showing guests which table they were on.
The bride used silk flowers, feathers and eucalyptus for her decorations with just a few real flowers added. The napkins were beautifully folded to enclose a sprig of lavender and then wrapped in garden twine.
A post box was put ready for cards and good wishes and pairs of the increasingly popular heart shaped sun glasses arranged for guests to use - see the wonderful pictures of the bride and her bridesmaids later in the blog!
Outside a crisp wall was put ready for arriving guests and a pallet notice board showing guests where to go.
To the side of the Tepee a “Coffee/tea cart was pulled into place - hired from the family run Pops’ Props - to be filled with our vintage china and an urn the following day.
popsprops00@gmail.com / popsprops.co.uk
A load of haybales for guests to relax on were delivered - also provided by Pop’s Props
Tall silver vases, belonging to the Bride, were filled with real white roses and gysophila by the groom’s sister ready to be put out down the aisle the following day, along with the stacked chairs.
Rolling Bars from Bournemouth turned up to set up their bar and Burbs Kitchen very speedily put up a black tent in the field to house their kitchen. Wayne asked if he could spend the night in the tent as he had to start the Pork cooking early in the morning -
burb@burbskitchen.co.uk / burbskitchen.co.uk / 07498 742588
Therollingbars.co.uk / info@therollingbars.co.uk
The wedding day arrived - the bride had, very efficiently, allotted tasks for the morning and most of these were achieved! All the silver pots of flowers were placed down the aisle plus two arrangements of white feathers.
The bride’s stepmother arrived with the most beautiful tiered, perfectly iced, wedding cake that she had made herself. Very plain but very chic.
Some of the bride’s naval friends arrived quite early and had a quick practise at creating a sword arch.
With the groom having been in to see the Registrars, we were ready for the arrival of the bride.
She looked absolutely beautiful in an off the shoulder lace dress with a wide lace frill across her shoulders. Her long hair was loose and unadorned although her bridesmaids added a simple white veil for the ceremony. When she lifted her dress, the smartest of shoes peeped out.
Her four adult bridesmaids were dressed in dresses of burnt orange in a similar style to the bride and looked lovely.
Having seen the registrars, the bridal party gathered by the Catalpa Tree before making their way past the formal line of Naval personnel, to the gazebo where a nervous bridegroom awaited them.
The Ceremony had two readings during the ceremony one of whom was also witnessed the signing of the register.
Guests were asked to line up to throw their confetti at the newlyweds as they came back down the aisle. First, however, they had to go under the arch of swords made by the bride’s fellow Naval Officers. Not totally straightforward as they were stopped before the end with a lowered sword and a request for the couple to kiss! The confetti turned into bubbles by the end of the line to the delight of the bride!
After a few informal photographs, the couple joined their guest on the upper lawn where Pimms was being served by the waitressing staff from Event Temps - / 07540398644 / eventtemps.co.uk / info@eventtemps.co.uk
A few more informal shots were taken with their bridesmaids and groomsmen before they were whisked away to the gardens for photographs on their own before making their grand entrance into the marquee as a married couple.
A delicious wedding breakfast was served by Burb’s Kitchen, a family run company from Bournemouth - not an easy task for the waitresses who had to negotiate several steep steps to get to the tipi.
Speeches followed and then as the light began to fade, the bride and groom went off to have some even more informal photographs - beautiful shoes cast aside - which really captured the feel of the day.
Before the evening meal - a delicous Hog Roast, again produced by Wayne from Burb’s Kitchen - the navy officers changed from their Number One into Number Twos Mess Dress.
While the guests were exploring the grounds or chatting on the lawns, the band, Kickback, had set up their equipment in the tipi and soon it was time to cut the cake before taking to the floor for the first dance.
Kickback - available through Hire a Band - https://hireaband.co.uk/kickback/ 0141 413 4060 / info@hireaband.co.uk
The band continued to play until Midnight when guests began to wend their way to their beds. The end of a fantastic, laughter-filled day.