Beautiful DIY Vintage Railway Station Wedding

It’s just wonderful to have WWW readers Hatti and Teddy with us today to share their gorgeous vintage railway station wedding. Their day is so filled with joy and love throughout, with live music, DIY décor and relaxed vibes all round. They were married on the 22nd June 2019 at Horsebridge Station in Hampshire with their ceremony on the platform, followed by a marquee reception. How special is that?

There are so many touches I love such as the greenery hoops suspended in the marquee to the clay place names and the cute photo booth beneath the tree. The evening band was provided by WWW Supplier Love members Tailored Entertainment and the band kept the dance floor filled all night.

Do also keep your eyes peeled for super stylish attire, gorgeous florals and a spectacular sparkler send off come evening. Emily Grace Photography, thank you ever so much for sharing these gorgeous captures, so very lovely.

The Proposal

Richmond Park has always held great memories for us so Teddy planned his proposal in the park over a Champagne picnic.

Being an English summer day, it rained all morning brightening up just enough for him to get down on one knee in the mud. After a resounding “Yes” the heavens opened, forcing us to shelter from the hail under a tree only to see we were in the company of a giant stag. It’s was an amazing moment and certainly a day I will never forget.

The Vision

We wanted our wedding to be a reflection of us. It was important for us that there was a fun and relaxed atmosphere and so the vision was really around creating an environment where our friends and family could have a great time.

The Planning Process

It’s so easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of things that go into wedding planning. From the beginning we were clear about what was important to us; great food, having friends and family involved and throwing a brilliant party. This helped us focus and use our budget on what mattered.

We are both foodies so food was at the top of the list. The Little Kitchen Company were the first supplier we booked. Cait took the time to really understand what we wanted, advising us on so much more than just the food. Her team created an amazing bespoke menu reflecting our food memories together.

A giant spreadsheet helped us keep organised and manage the to-do list.

The Venue

We wanted to get married close to where both our families live and where we met in Winchester. It’s a beautiful area and meant that I could get ready at my parent’s house the morning of the wedding.

We spent a weekend venue viewing and fell in love with Horsebridge Station as soon as we set foot there. Horsebridge Station is an incredible restored Victorian railway station. It’s beautiful gardens and rich history made it feel like no other venue we had been to. We also loved the fact that we weren’t restricted to any suppliers and could find people to work with who we really loved.

They only do a limited number of weddings over the summer and so it felt really special that we were able to get married there.

Your Outfits & Accessories

Teddy wore a dark blue Tux by Paul Smith with black shirt studs from Links of London.

My dress was ‘Milan’ by St Patrick, which I found at Carina Rose bridal run by Carina and her daughter Zinnia. They bent over backwards to make the dress shopping experience so wonderful for my mum and I. We both fell in love with the simplicity of the dress as soon as I put it on. My earrings were a wedding present from Teddy.

Beauty

Sarah was nothing short of wonderful. She helped make the morning of the wedding so special and felt like part of the wedding party. For women who freely admit to being absolutely useless at hair and make-up, she made each of us feel beautiful.

The Readings & Music

One of our friends from school is a fantastic musician. Fraz kindly agreed to play me down the aisle and created an amazing mash up of ‘Only You’ by Joshua Radin and Elvis’s ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love.’ It was the perfect accompaniment to such a special moment.

We had two readings. The first, ‘He Always Leaves the Seat Up’, was read by my two nieces Kristin and Harriet and the second, ‘Wild Awake’ by Hilary T. Smith, read by Teddy’s childhood friend Harry.

During reception drinks we had the lovely Sandy from Sticky Toffee Jazz singing. Sandy was a joy to work with and the music was a perfect complement to the backdrop of a vintage railway station. The evening music was provided by the four-piece band Decade, the guys read the room perfectly playing great oldies and modern crowd pleasers that had the dance floor filled all night.

Bridesmaids

My gorgeous bridesmaids were my sister Jess and Teddy’s sister Jenny and two of my closest friends Hollie and Mariclaire. I knew I wanted the bridesmaids in grey and we eventually found gorgeous pewter grey dresses from Oasis.

Groomsmen

Teddy had four groomsmen; his brother Paul and 3 of his closest friends Tom, Kristian and Mark. They all wore black Tuxes from M&S with a dark blue bow tie and evening shirt from Charles Tyrwitt.

The Flowers

The lovely Hannah Rose made the bouquets, button holes and some beautiful urns filled with flowers for the venue in soft blues, whites and purples with lots of foliage.

To help us keep cost down, Hannah ordered us additional flowers and my mum and I did the arrangements. With Hannah’s guidance, we were really pleased with the outcome and it was such a lovely experience to create the centre pieces and fill apple crates that lined the platforms.

The Details & Décor

We made much of our wedding decoration with so many of our friends and family willingly to share their time and talent.

None of our ‘wouldn’t this be great’ ideas were too much for them. From an incredible 6ft bar and wooden signs made by my brother in law, beautiful bunting, napkins, and matching espadrilles for me to wear in the evening all sown by my mother in law. To the projects my family took on when I promised this ‘shouldn’t take too long’; giant flower hoops that hung from the marquee ceiling, a table plan displaying a polaroid of each guest and handmade clay place names. Even our invitations were handmade, a wedding gift from a dear family friend Kate Bennett a local botanical artist.

These personal details, with the many laughs and memories it took to create them, really made our wedding.

The Cake

As cheese lovers, we chose to have a cheese wedding cake that doubled up as evening food that it proved more difficult to source than we first thought. We went to the cheese counter at Waitrose only 2 weeks before the day where the amazing Netty helped us design our cake. She really couldn’t have been kinder, giving us samples to try and sending us away with a lovely card and bottle of bubbly when we collected the cheese a few days before our wedding.

Your Photographer

We spoke to Emily early on in our planning and she put us instantly at ease. We loved her laid back approach and felt she really understood what we were looking for. Both being camera shy she encouraged us to have an engagement shoot in Richmond Park. It meant we not only got to know Emily before the wedding day and feel more comfortable in front of the camera but also got some wonderful pictures which we included on our wedding website.

On the day her and her husband Simon were so much fun. Making us laugh and relax.

The result is beautiful, hilarious and candid photos reflecting us and our amazing friends and family. We loved seeing some of the moments that we would have otherwise missed; the epic table football defeats, croquet battles and our guests really enjoying the day.

The Honeymoon

We spent an amazing week in sunny San Sebastian, a foodie heaven and perfect mini-moon. In November we fly to Japan for our honeymoon.

Memorable Moments

There are so many moments that we loved and our photos only reminded us of more.

Donning a comedy bow tie, someone at each table was tasked with shaking up espresso martini cocktails for the guests at their table. The marquee was filled with laughter and we loved seeing people who had never met bond over the successes or disasters made.

Teddy loves Whiskey and turned the station signal box into a ‘Whiskey Room’. He loved sharing a drink with his brother, my two brothers and dad after dinner. It’s actually one of my favourite photos from the day.

My 98-year-old super Gran refusing to leave the party as she was having too much fun and hadn’t had enough to drink. We ended up having to send her taxi away and ask him to come back a few hours later.

We ended the day walking through a procession of sparklers with everyone we love cheering us into married life. It was perfect.

Advice For Other Couples

Be clear about what is important to you and let this dictate how you spend your time and budget. Lots of people have ideas about what ‘should’ happen at a wedding. In reality there are no musts unless they matter to you both.

Though we planned the wedding ourselves we had a coordinator for the day to ensure we didn’t have to think about a thing. Our friend Charlie was brilliant and I would really recommend an on the day coordinator to anyone who has a very DIY wedding.

Even if you aren’t creative, I would really recommend doing some DIY projects. It is an amazing feeling to look around on your day and think ‘we made this’.

Take time out together just the two of you. It is so rare in life to have everyone you love and care about in one room. Take a moment to take it all in.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

We felt incredibly lucky that we had wonderful suppliers and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending everyone of them.

Such a wonderfully creative DIY wedding.

Hatti and Teddy, thank you both so much for sharing your wonderful wedding story xo Lou