Suzanne Neville for a Hollywood Glamour Inspired Wedding at Hampton Court House Wedding

Sophie and Guy’s glamorous, fun and relaxed Summer wedding took place on 9th July 2022 at Hampton Court House in Surrey.

The bride and groom set out to create a wedding that brought the outside in and was full of beautiful, seasonal blooms. And we’re delighted that the bride discovered both her venue and her shoe designer, the wonderful Harriet Wilde Shoes, through Love My Dress.

A Suzanne Neville Dress

My first/day dress was a Suzanne Neville design, and my second/evening dress, was a vintage find from Etsy.

I purchased my wedding dress second hand through a second hand/pre loved site. I really fell in love with my Suzanne Neville dress when I tried it on in a bridal boutique but the cost to buy it new was twice my budget which broke my heart! However, I was so lucky to find it in my size and in my budget on a second hand dress website. I have always loved vintage clothes and it actually felt really special to be giving the dress another spin down the aisle.

The lady I purchased the dress from, Anne, was so lovely and helpful and gave me lots of good tips for the day. I kept in touch with Anne afterwards and sent her a few photos from the big day. I also changed into a vintage Charleson flapper dress for dancing, which I purchased on etsy.

I have always loved watching old Hollywood movies and so I knew I wanted some elements of Hollywood glamour in my make-up and dress. The Suzanne Neville Sapphire dress made me feel incredible and I knew it was ‘the dress’ from the moment I tried it on. The built-in corset made me feel really confident and I loved that the dress had pockets.

My bridesmaids dresses were from Coast.

Shoes, Veil & Accessories

Those who know me know I have a headband for all occasions! I had the most beautiful handmade celestial headpiece from TheHandmadeTiara on Etsy.

My veil was my ‘something borrowed’, as it is my mother’s from my parents wedding. I wore the Hetty Midnight mid heel from Harriet Wilde Shoes – my something blue.

I wore the celestial pearl earrings and necklace from Thomas Sabo, to match my headpiece. The aquamarine bracelet I wore is vintage – I wore this as it belonged to my Grandmother who passed away during the pandemic – it felt like she was with me on the day.

I wore Gucci Bloom perfume – for no special reason except that I love the smell of Jasmine.

Venue & Location

We chose Hampton Court House as our venue, as it overlooks Bushy Park which is special to us as we walk there every day with our dog Teddy.

We also loved the romantic architecture of the house – the beautiful rooms, tropical patio garden, the heart shaped lake plus the quirky shell grotto!

How They Met

We met eight years ago throwing shapes on the dancefloor in a nightclub (Clapham Grand) and hit it off straight away. We became engaged in October 2020 on holiday in Salcombe in Devon, which is a very special place for us as it’s where we became official, when we first started dating.

We had been out on a cold rainy walk along the coast and when we got home Guy put on the fire, made me a cup of tea and asked me to be his wife – what a hero!

Ceremony

My father, John, walked me down the aisle and my mother, Julie, walked my sister Jess (my maid of honour) down the aisle. We were accompanied by the sound of an acoustic version of A-Ha’s ‘Take on Me’.

Neither of us are deeply religious and so we used the civil marriage script. My sister Jess read an extract from ‘How Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog’, by Taylor Mali, which was very apt as we own a very naughty cocker spaniel!

We chose a local family jewellers, Gregory & Co Jewellers, to make both our rings. Sophie’s had to be custom made to fit around the unusual shaped engagement ring.

Discover more readings here

Photography

We found Tash of Tash Busta on Instagram and adored her documentary style photography. We both hate posing to have our photos taken and loved how natural her style was and how she clearly captured the special moments and fun from the day.

On the day Tash was brilliant at capturing special moments without us feeling like we were fish in a bowl and she kept us moving along when necessary to get all the shots we wanted. She blended in so well with our friends and family and everyone said how fantastic she was at putting them at ease. We absolutely adore our photos and wish we could print every one.

The Inspiration

We were really keen to bring the outside in to our venue with our styling. We wanted to keep things simple and let the house and the flowers speak for themselves.

We wanted a few statement floral arrangements which would feel wild, whimsical and full of colours and the smell of summer. Zita Elze was our florist and we found her through Instagram. We both adored her wild and whimsical styling and her shop in Kew is just magical!

A few days before the wedding, she filled the shop in my colour palette and let me choose the flowers for my bouquet, which felt so personal and special and is one of my highlights of planning the wedding. I was so excited to see the flower arch and aisle borders on the day and they just took my breath away!

Favourite Moments

It sounds cliché but the moment we became husband and wife! We also went for a drive around the park in the wedding car after the ceremony and had a few precious moments to ourselves which was a special moment together in the busy day!

We also have to mention the band as they were incredible and the line dancing was so much fun for our guests.

Evening & Dancing

We had a country band complete with line dancing caller and a DJ set afterwards.

Our very talented country band learned Timber by Kesha for us, as this was the song we were dancing to when we met in a nightclub. A couple of days before the wedding we decided to put together a little dance routine to surprise our guests – it was chaos, but good fun!

Words of Wedded Wisdom

Make a list of responsibilities and deadlines and stick to it. Make sure you delegate roles and responsibilities on the day too so that you don’t have to worry about anything on the day. Try not to worry too much about the small details as you don’t even have time to notice them on the day!

We should have definitely stated learning the dance routine more than a couple of days before the wedding!!

Our original budget was £35k (including the honeymoon) and our honeymoon caused us to go a bit over budget but we had the safari of a lifetime in Tanzania!

I found Love my Dress so helpful during the early stages of planning the wedding as it gave me lots of inspiration for the type of day we wanted to create but also helped me to make a list of the jobs that needed to be done and trusted suppliers. Reading about other people’s weddings was also so helpful to get tips and ideas to make the process run smoother.

Find suppliers and venues in our wedding directory

Credits & Thanks

Annabel View all Annabel’s articles

Annabel is the founder of Love My Dress. She has a passion for photography, walking, yoga, nature, and loves to support talented artists and creative businesses. In 2013, she became a published author. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters Eska and Leanora and menagerie of furry hounds. Annabel supports Philip in the running of the family flower farm at at Moonwind Flowers. She is also co-founder of What About Weddings.

This article was originally published by Lovemydress.net. Read the original article here.