Jeremy is one of the coolest grooms I’ve seen this year in his tailor made suit by Cad and the Dandy, London. Wiz is just beautiful from head to toe with her wonderful beaded hair accessory which complements her Jenny Packham wedding dress like a dream. Her red patent leather shoes are fab — and both bride and groom wear the most infectious smiles! This is bliss. You’ll love it!
Congratulations to Jeremy and Wiz, and thanks for being so fantastic, for sharing your wedding report and for featuring on the English Wedding Blog today. Huge thanks also to wedding photographer Kristian Leven for submitting the images of today’s wedding blog. It’s ace! Everyone — enjoy! Claire xxx
A beautiful English garden party wedding blog — Wiz and Jeremy
Wedding venue: A friend’s garden in Yoxford, Suffolk
Wedding photographer: Kristian Leven
How would you describe your wedding style?
English Garden Party
A little about the wedding ceremony:
We had a Humanist ceremony on the day and had the “legal” ceremony the week before at Hackney Town Hall followed by our Hen and Stag parties.
My Dad walked me down the aisle and it was very emotional. Neither of us could look at each other as we both had tears in our eyes.
We had two readings, one from my Mum and one from Jeremy’s Mum. My Mum read a poem and Jeremy’s Mum read a section of the Bob Dylan song “Forever Young”.
Tell us a little about your wedding venue styling and details:
We decorated the marquee with bunting hired from The Bunting Queen. It was floral English Country Garden bunting and arrived a bit late but looked absolutely fabulous. We had flowers on each table in large glass vases and had simple white table cloths which our guests could draw and write on using the crayons we provided.
The garden was decorated with plain white bunting and we had tea light candles in glass jars for the evening.
The majority of the flowers were provided by Nursery Fresh Ltd and were delivered to the house the day before the wedding. My wonderful sister, Sarah, also collected local wildflowers and grasses and made up all the table decorations, my bouquet and the bridesmaids’ bouquets.
We had a “cheese” cake which consisted of three large wheels of cheese stacked on top of one another alongside mini deserts including chocolate eclairs and scones with jam and cream.
Garden party wedding invitations and reception stationery:
Jeremy designed our wedding invites and table plans and we had them printed by Overnight Prints.
Wedding music and entertainment:
We had a local band who were absolutely brilliant — Will Rogers. They really got the party started and everyone was disappointed when their set was over. Luckily we had worked on a playlist to keep everyone going once the band had left. We also provided garden games including bocce and thankfully the weather held out to allow for a few rounds between lunch and dessert.
What did you wear?
My first dress was called Eve and was silk with gorgeous beaded capped sleeves and a simple columnar full length gown with a small train.
I then found out I was pregnant and had to change dress! I chose the Petra gown from Jenny Packham’s London boutique which was also silk with beaded detail around the bust. It was very flattering and comfortable to wear. I felt very elegant and the bump wasn’t too obvious!
I wore a gorgeous beaded hair piece from Emmy Shoes, complemented by beaded earrings that my parents bought for me from the London Silver Vaults on Chancery Lane.
My shoes were red patent leather wedges which were extremely comfortable and were from Hobbs.
Jeremy had a gorgeous suit made at The Cad and the Dandy in the City, London. The color was charcoal with tiny white “eyes” all over it, the material was 100% wool with a silk lining and the style was a 1940s slim cut.
He wore thin braces under his jacket and a woolen and silk woven sky blue tie that matched his socks and the Suffolk summer sky! It was held in place with a simple silver tie clip
Memorable wedding day moments:
- Saying our vows and exchanging our rings in front of all our wonderful family and friends.
- The relaxed atmosphere and large smiles that seemed to be on everyone’s faces.
- Saying farewell to all our guests and then running off the dance floor underneath a human tunnel that they formed.
Wedding day advice:
Wiz:
- Make sure you are happy with the food that’s being served. Be clear with the caterers in the organization about exactly what you want
- Wear appropriate shoes and make sure your bridesmaids do too! Grass and high heels don’t mix.
Jeremy:
- Help organize. It’s a pretty stressful thing to arrange for two people, let alone one person, even if you are going for a low-key wedding.
- Find little details that can tie the groomsmen’s and your outfit together. Asking the groomsmen to buy a suit that will probably not fit them is expensive and impractical. Instead, give them a shade guide (eg charcoal) that they all have and use pocket handkerchiefs, socks, tie clips, braces etc to tie you all together. It’s cheaper and shows that you’ve paid attention to detail and you won’t notice hat the suits are different shades with other things for the eye to be drawn to.
- If you are getting your own suit, consider getting one made bespoke, rather than off the rack. The cost difference is negligible and it is cut just for you so it fits perfectly. You can then choose every little detail. Go with a cut that isn’t a traditional wedding suit so that you can wear it again.
- Go fishing a week or so before. If it isn’t organized then, it probably won’t be, so give yourself some time away from the stress! (I’d advise probably clearing this with your wife-to-be beforehand though…)
Finally from both of us, don’t forget to relax and enjoy the day. You are lucky to be surrounded by your closest family and friends and it will be one of the most memorable and fun days of your life! Also, remember that there’s a fine line between relaxed and lazy. An informal, relaxed day takes a lot of meticulous planning in the lead up to it to ensure it feels relaxed, rather than disorganized.
Recommended wedding suppliers:
Kristian Leven Photography — We found Kristian through a friend who had him shoot their wedding and we immediately loved his style of photography. We were looking for a less traditional approach to wedding photography, with a reportage style rather than more conventional staged photos. As a couple who have both worked as photographers, we were very particular with how we wanted our wedding covered.
On the day, Kristian was exceptional. His presence was light, only making himself known when it was appropriate. Otherwise, he was in the background, capturing how the day unfolded. Amazingly though, upon reviewing his photos, we were blown away with his attention to detail and the capturing of the most important formal and informal moments of the day.
From a nostalgic point of view, Kristian’s photos manage to capture the excitement and sounds of our wedding garden party in a way that makes us smile every time we look back through them.