Our Wedding Day / UK Wedding 2021 / Offley Place, Hertfordshire

After a year of wedding postponements, I finally married my best friend at the beautiful Offley Place in Hertfordshire.

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All the worry and waiting was worthwhile as we had the day we always wished for and were able to spend the day with our wonderful family and friends! Weddings are supposed to be a celebration of the love a couple shares and the things that they enjoy most. For us, we wanted to create something magical, romantic and fun - and the suppliers we worked with really helped bring that vision to life.

Sarah Maylin Flowers and Fleur De Lace worked together to create a floral wonderland in the conservatory at Offley Place using dried pampas, pink English roses and gypsophila. They also created a beautiful ceiling installation using delicate chains of cherry blossom, ruscus leaves and silk wisteria which framed the aisle and trailed down towards our ‘centrepiece’ - the wedding moongate, which had been woven with yet more florals.

I actually chose my beautiful Riki Dalal gown back in December 2019 and picked it up last summer, in anticipation of our first wedding date (which was later postponed). So after hanging in my wardrobe for over a year, I was excited to be able to actually wear it! Riki Dalal are couture wedding gown designers with a focus on magical, fairytale-esque designs and after trying on many of their spectacular gowns, I fell in love with the ‘Donna’ which has a strapless bodice embellished with falling petals and pearls and multiple layers of romantic lace and tulle on the skirt. It was a really beautiful modern yet timeless design that felt very ‘me’!

I feel so very lucky to have a truly wonderful group of girls in my life who are supportive, kind and beautiful inside and out. It was amazing to have them standing beside me on the day and they all looked stunning in their ‘Candance’ gowns from babaroni.co.uk in this rich Mulberry shade.

Choosing your venue is always the first (and arguably most difficult) part of planning your wedding - however for us, we instantly fell in love with Offley Place Country House Hotel in Hertfordshire which pairs character and charm with modern elegance. The venue has two options for couples - the smaller orangery with a beautiful rustic brick wall or a much larger ballroom, with a grand glass roof. We opted to hire the venue exclusively, giving us both rooms to use on the day. Our more intimate ceremony was held in the orangery/conservatory while the ballroom played host to our reception and was the perfect place for a huge starlit dance floor and hanging lantern installation. The venue was amazing from start to finish, even in the midst of a pandemic when they were able to keep us upbeat and positive about our upcoming nuptials.

Planning a wedding can be daunting however with an events background under my belt, I figured I’d have a little experience to lean upon. I met Charlotte from La Fete while planning a bloggers event in London several years ago and we instantly clicked, fuelled by our shared love of pretty details and decadent floral displays. Charlotte has a great eye for detail and an incredibly impressive background in events so when she offered to help support my vision for the day, I took the opportunity with both hands. It turns out, planning a wedding is very different to planning an exhibition or a bloggers event and so I’m extremely grateful for her help and advice. Charlotte has been a reassuring presence throughout the wedding planning process, talking us through all the decisions and details so that we wouldn’t miss a thing - and ensuring we considered all of our options!

Cake isn’t something I’m usually able to eat at an event or a wedding but luckily the very talented Nicky was able to create an entirely vegan wedding cake which was delicious and beautiful in equal measure. Our cake featured four different flavour tiers (lemon & poppyseed, chocolate, vanilla and chocolate orange) with a white buttercream finish, gold branches twisting around the tiers, pink sugar blossoms and gold leaf flecks.

Suppliers:
Videography: https://www.russellkentnicholls.com
Venue: https://www.offleyplace.com
Wedding Planner: https://la-fete.com
Flowers: https://sarahmaylinflowers.com
Styling: http://www.fleurdelace.co.uk
Wedding Dress: https://rikidalal.co.uk
Photography: https://rebeccacarpenterphotography.com
Cake: https://www.nickysbuttercupbakery.co.uk
Bridesmaid Dresses: https://www.babaroni.co.uk
Evening Wedding Dress: https://www.chichiclothing.com
Photography: https://www.fordtographyweddings.co.uk
Jewellery: https://www.jewellerybox.co.uk
Confetti: https://www.shropshirepetals.com
Getting Ready Venue: https://www.lutonhoo.co.uk
DJ/Entertainment: https://www.roblawesentertainments.com
Hair: https://emmakimhairdressing.com
Make-Up: https://www.blushbyella.com

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Videography by Russell Kent Nicholls