Pretty Rustic

Jessica and Alistair were married on 22^nd July 2017 at Loseley Park in Guildford.

How did you meet?

We met through mutual friends at university in Oxford at the end of our first year. We became a couple at the start of our second year, and the rest is history!

How did the proposal happen?

In Mauritius on my birthday two years ago, on the last day of our holiday. Alistair had waited the whole week to propose, with the ring hiding in his suitcase! We’d been out during the day on a boat trip where we saw dolphins and snorkelled, and Alistair proposed as soon as we got back to our hotel room so I still had my wet swimming costume on! He had been planning to propose in the evening at a romantic dinner he had organised on the beach, but in the end decided he preferred the privacy of our room. We shared a bottle of champagne on the balcony in the sun whilst we called our parents to tell them the news and that is a moment I will never forget.

Where did the wedding take place?

We got married at the beautiful venue of Loseley Park in Guildford. We visited Loseley first for a wedding fair and decided straight away it was the perfect venue for us. It is set in gorgeous gardens, with a very regal Great Hall for the ceremony and stunning Tithe Barn for the reception.

What did the bride wear?

I wore a beautiful gown ‘Skyler’ by Augusta Jones, which I brought from Anna Bridal in Ringwood. I only tried on a couple of dresses before I tried Skyler and I knew instantly it was the gown for me. The process was made incredibly smooth by Anna (of Anna Bridal), I didn’t have any worries or doubts at all that my dress was going to be perfect, and I loved wearing it on the day.

What did the rest of the Bridal party wear?

I struggled a little to find bridesmaid dresses as I knew I wanted something pink, knee length and quite simple. We ended up heading to a shop called Not Another Boring Bridesmaid Dress in London, where we found the perfect dresses by Kelsey Rose. They took three months to make so we ended up receiving them three weeks before the wedding which was slightly stressful, but in the end they were exactly what I had been envisaging. Alistair and the boys went to Neal and Palmer in London where they hired navy suits with light blue waistcoats.

What was your theme?

Our theme seemed to change monthly throughout the planning process! We started off with the theme of rustic woodland, but I wouldn’t say we stuck to a strict theme as we didn’t want to restrict ourselves. Our colour theme ended up as blues and pinks and everything ended up working well together, although I wouldn’t say that was particularly planned in advance!

Describe your cake:

Our cake was by Meadow Cottage Bakery, a company run by a lady in Hampshire who specialises in naked cakes. I found her through Instagram and loved her creations. For our wedding she made us a three tier naked cake covered in fresh fruit and flowers which matched my bouquet (my flowers were also stunning – a mixture of roses, peonies and sweet peas by White Lilac Flowers). The sponge tiers were flavoured carrot, lemon, and white chocolate and raspberry, and they were absolutely delicious. I made sure I remembered to try some on the day!

Something Blue?

My something blue was the ribbon on my garter. I didn’t actually end up wearing it but I kept it with me in my handbag for luck.

What were the highlights?

For both myself and Alistair it was the ceremony. The Great Hall at Loseley is stunning and it felt very special to have our ceremony there. Waiting to walk down the aisle and knowing everyone we love were in the room waiting for me was one of the most nerve-wracking moments of my life, but as soon as I saw Alistair waiting for me I was so happy that this moment we’d been waiting for was finally here. Of course, having all of our friends and family together was also a highlight. I also loved the speeches, it was so emotional to hear the words by my dad, Alistair and our best man, Joe. I also decided to make a speech! I wanted to say a few words from my perspective, to also thank our families, my amazing maid of honour (my sister) and two bridesmaids and my new husband. Although I was nervous I loved having the chance to say those words in front of everyone.

Your best buy?

Probably my dress. For the quality and how much I loved it, it was surprisingly good value.

How did it end?

It ended as a fantastic party with our family and friends on the dance-floor! We had a Chic tribute band called Le Freak and we’d kept this as a surprise from the majority of our guests. The band was amazing and kept everyone dancing all night. We’d also hired a disco ball which we loved!

Is there anything you wish you’d done differently?

Not really! A good friend of mine told me to just go with the flow and enjoy it, even if something felt not quite right, and I kept this in mind throughout the day. It was particularly needed when we had a huge rain downpour in the middle of the day! In the end, it really didn’t matter and some of our favourite photos are of us laughing under an umbrella.

Where did you go on honeymoon?

We decided to ‘mini-moon’ firstly and the day after the wedding we headed straight to St. Ives for a week. St. Ives is a special place to us which we normally visit once a year so it was lovely to relax somewhere familiar after the whirlwind of the wedding. We decided to take our main honeymoon later on to give us something to plan now that the wedding is over, and we are excited to be visiting Australia and Thailand in 2018.