We were transported to Italy on the day of Abi & Matt's wedding at Compton Acres. We had the Italian sunshine, music & food and it all felt truly authentic. Abi looked stunning in her Vera Wang wedding dress and the boys went for a relaxed suit with no jackets and I am pleased to report they did not miss them!

The Medici Suite was decorated with blush roses, orchids, pearls and candles by Simply Flowers, who did a fantastic job and Abi handmade the seating plan & stationary. I loved Abi & Matt's wedding cake, decorated with buttons, made by the talented, Lisa Notley. Following the speeches, we headed to Sandbanks Beach to catch the last of the evening sun.

Abi & Matt are such a bubbly, fun and relaxed couple as I'm sure you can see! They shared their day with their closest friends and family, many of whom had traveled from Derby to celebrate. 

Yesterday a copy of the latest Wedding Magazine popped through the letterbox! I was so excited to see Catherine & James' wedding at The Larmer Tree Gardens, which we photographed last Summer inside.

It's a good start to the new year and after all the hard work Catherine put in to planning their day & making their wedding stationary it is a lovely memento to see their wedding in print!

Elly & Michael's wedding was our last wedding this year and what a beautiful wedding to end on! Elly & Michael live in Australia and most people they spoke to thought they were crazy to marry back on home turf in England and in November; But Elly & Michael love everything about England, the colder temperatures, log fires, rainy days and local home cooked food and I can't argue with that! 

Elly & Michael's ceremony took place at Highcliffe Castle, just down the road from Elly's family home. Following their ceremony everyone made their way across The New Forest to The Pig Hotel in Brockenhurst.

The Pig Hotel is set amongst woodland and is all based around a walled garden, it focuses on local food, either home grown in the kitchen garden, foraged or from within a 25 mile radius of the hotel. The interior is rustic and homely but very stylish! As you can see it was the perfect spot for Elly & Michael's wedding!

Dessert table & cake: Lisa Notley Wedding Cakes, Dorset

Flowers: Corbins Florists, Brockenhurst

Katie & Antony had a relaxed wedding in their home village in Dorset.  You could see the church where they got married from their gorgeous cottage. In the morning Katie showed me her ruffled Ian Stewart dress; I couldn't wait to see her in it!

The ceremony was full of  laughter and following their ceremony guests made their way to Bishops Court manor house by the river in Shapwick. Everyone enjoyed drinks by the river, whilst looking out over the water meadows. The speeches took place outside, under the trees and come the evening the sun set over the water.

In the evening a magician entertained guests, Katie & Antony danced with family & friends and handmade wood fired pizzas were served from Jalopy Pizza vintage van.

Julie & Thibaut held their DIY garden wedding in Thibaut's father's backyard on the 28th July.  We travelled from Dorset down to Dole, breaking the journey in Paris with our Photobooth in tow. We couldn't wait to meet Julie & Thibaut! We met them the day before the wedding for their engagement session, with their newborn daughter, Eleanor.

Julie and Thibaut are such a lovely couple and they made us feel very welcome, along with their family and friends! Their day was so relaxed, fun and full of beautiful details and the food was as delicious to look at as it was to eat!  Julie & Thibaut's wedding ceremony was intimate with friends and family gathered around the couple and lot's of laughter. Following the ceremony Julie & Thibaut made their exit under an archway of water polo balls as Thibaut plays professionally for Marseilles and guests blew bubbles before Thibaut drove his dad's VW beetle to their family home.  I especially loved Julie's bespoke wedding dress, designed by Paris designer Rime Arodaky.

Tables of sweet canapés, an ice cream cart and candy floss awaited the guests as they arrived and everyone spent the afternoon relaxing in the garden. Later after a short break for everyone to refresh guests arrived back at the garden for the evening party. Many guests had a change of dress and dancing shoes ready for hitting the dance floor.  As guests arrived savoury canapés were served, with freshly cooked scallops, sushi and mini burgers complete with mini burger baps ( as New York is a special place for Julie & Thibaut!)

As you can see the evening was lively and included some pretty crazy dance moves! Everyone made the most of the Photobooth, which was a big hit! Julie & Thibaut's cake was served around midnight and made it's own entrance with guests making a corridor of sparklers. We left in the early hours after a fantastic day!

Here are some words from Julie herself describing their wedding and how they both felt on the day, with a translation for the couple's friends and family:

"Our wedding was exactly how we imagined it would be, maybe better! We planned and created lots for our day and made a lot of the details ourselves. When we saw everything on the wedding day it was like we  had never seen them before (despite our living room being totally invaded with DIY decorations for months!). 

On the day we were relaxed (just a little worried about the weather), but we didn't get stressed during the day, or during the year of preparation. Our families are really cool, nobody tried to impose anything on us so we really had the wedding we wanted! I think the fact we had our little baby Eleanor 3 weeks before the day, helped us relax and put things in perspective. Maybe this would have made some couples more stressed, but for us it was the opposite!  The most important thing to us was to enjoy the day with all the people we love and even if  little problems did arise to realise they didn't really matter!

I (Julie) was a bit shy that everybody would be looking at me; I know it's like that at a wedding, the bride is the centre of attention, so when I left the hotel with my step father to go to the ceremony I was a bit stressed about that!  The best moment of the day was when I entered the town hall; I didn't remember how the room looked and felt a bit lost, my heart skipped a beat when I saw all the people, but as soon as I saw Thibaut I forgot everything and everybody and it was just Thibaut and I.

During the afternoon, we were both very relaxed, the weather was good, our families and friends had fun and enjoyed the day, the food was good... Everything was perfect!  There was only one problem : the day passed sooooo fast! I wish we could go back and live this day again and again...."

"Notre mariage fut exactement comme nous l'attendions, peut être même mieux! Nous avons imaginé et créé tellement de choses pour ce jour, nous avons fait beaucoup de petites choses nous même, et lorsque nous avons vu tout cela en place dans le chapiteau ou dans le jardin, c'était comme si on les découvrait pour la première fois (Pourtant notre salon a été envahis de tout cela pendant plusieurs mois!!)

Nous n'étions pas stressés du tout (juste inquiet pour la météo!), ni pendant la journée, ni durant toute l'année de préparation. Nos familles sont très cools et personne n'a essayé de nous imposer son avis. Nous avons donc vraiment fait ce que l'on voulait. Je pense aussi que le fait que notre petite fille Eleanor soit née 3 semaines avant le mariage nous a aidé à être plus détendus et à relativiser. Cela peut paraitre paradoxal car la plus part des couples auraient été doublement stressés!

Le plus important pour nous était de profiter de notre journée avec tous les gens que l'on aime auprès de nous, et même si quelques petits soucis sont arrivés cela n'était vraiment pas importants!

Julie : J'étais un peu angoissée à l'idée que tout le monde allait me regarder, je sais bien que c'est comme ça pour un mariage, la mariée est au centre de l'attention mais lorsque j'ai quittée l'hôtel avec mon beau père pour me rendre à la cérémonie mon estomac était noué.

Le meilleur moment pour moi est lorsque je suis entrée dans la mairie. Je ne me souvenais plus à quoi ressemblait la pièce et je me sentais un peu perdue, lorsque j'ai vu nos familles et amis là pour nous qui me regardait j'avais vraiment le coeur serré, mais dès que j'ai vu Thibaut j'ai tout oublié et c'était comme s'il n'y avait plus que lui et moi.

Durant l'après midi nous étions tout les deux détendus, le beau temps était au rendez-vous, nos familles et amis s'amusaient et appréciaient le goûter... tout était parfait! 

Seulement une chose à redire : la journée passe trooooooop vite ! Si seulement on pouvait retourner dans le passé et revivre ce jour encore et encore..."

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