Alice in Wonderland & The Greatest Showman Inspired Wedding

Well well well, what do you know, I’ve only gone and had the total pleasure to share WWW readers Hannah and Lee’s The Greatest Showman inspired wedding complete with an Alice in Wonderland, fairytale theme.

If a wedding ever was a whimsical wonderland, it would be this one. Swoon! Their day really had it all; romance, stylish attire, pretty blooms and so much fun, all held at Preston Court in Kent.

Kerry Ann Duffy I can’t thank you enough for sharing with us these absolutely gorgeous images. From the autumnal tones to the gorgeous calligraphy and magical carousel ride, I urge you to take in every little detail and moment.

The Greatest Showman Wedding

The Proposal

After the pandemic cancelled our original summer plans, we were lucky enough that when travel opened back up, we made it on a very last minute, impromptu trip that took us to beautiful Santorini. On the first day of our travels, we spent the day on the empty beaches taking in the beautiful views and enjoying the privilege of having such a serene spot all to ourselves.

On our way to dinner that evening, we stopped for a stroll along the beach to watch the sun set over the still sea. We expected to be the only ones there but many of the locals appeared to have had the same idea and so our little walk took us right to the furthest inches of the end of the beach in search for a quiet spot.

On the little strip of black sand, we enjoyed a private, romantic moment to ourselves as we watched the sky flush pink. Before I knew it, Lee had one knee in the sand and had asked me to marry him. I can’t recall exactly what he said – just my teary “yes!” and him proceeding to try and put the ring on my wrong hand which still makes me laugh!

The giant moon rose high in the sky, and it was like nothing we had ever seen before. I’m a huge moon-gazer and so it seemed like it was there especially for us to mark the occasion. It turned out that on this night there was a rare supermoon which is why the locals were all out with their evening picnics!

It wasn’t planned but it was a magical and beautiful coincidence that we will always remember. We had been together nine summers, and this one topped them all. It was such a special moment for the both of us that we’ll treasure forever.

The Vision

We knew we wanted a romantic outdoor ceremony and once we picked our wow-venue, everything fell into place. We wanted a subtle fairy-tale theme, and so we wanted to incorporate elements of Alice in Wonderland and other story book motifs into our wedding.

We wanted wild florals, cosy fairy lights, lots of greenery and an autumnal colour palette. We really wanted to take time making the details “us” and so we spend an impractical amount of time on elements such as the wedding invites and the table settings…

For example, our save the dates were little vintage keys with a riddle on them – ‘keep me safe, hold me tight, you will need me to open your invite…’. The key could then unlock the formal invites that followed which were hand painted “books” with our names and date stamped on the front in gold ink.

Inside each book box were our beautiful Alice in Wonderland invites, an ‘admit one’ fun fair token, a mini carousel charm (to hint at the secret carousel we had planned!) and a small bottle of pink shimmery gin with a ‘drink me’ tag tied to it with twine. We actually used one as our ring box during the ceremony!

The Venue

We nearly didn’t visit Preston Court as we were looking for a woodland wedding originally but after visiting another venue in the area, we were shown Preston and I remember falling head over heels for it after seeing the too-beautiful-for-words Juliana’s Island that I was genuinely nervous that Lee might not feel the same… One look at him and his jaw was on the floor – we had only viewed two venues but we were entirely smitten!

You have to see it in real life to truly appreciate it’s magic, but Preston Court really is something so special. It has everything – a fairy tale pagoda on a little island under a beautiful willow tree with a little bridge as the “aisle.” A fairy tale estate house with roses climbing its walls, a panoramic lush green lawn and a secret garden – all wrapped up with a beautiful, pristine lake (topped with a quaint blue, bobbing boat). There are even subtle mermaid statues in the garden and around the lake… It was pure magic.

On top of all that, the barn area features a romantic fairy light maypole – under which we had our first dance under the stars. Oh, and then there’s the reception barn which looks like it’s straight out of a festival thanks to the light up vintage organ backdrops.

Then to top it all off, there’s the vintage carousel, original showman’s caravan, a horse box turned pizza truck and a one of it’s kind “Giggle Box” diary room where family and friends can submit video entries throughout the night.

All of our guests had wondered why we were getting married nearly two hours away from home but when they arrived, they all told us that they understood exactly why! We wanted a venue that was the difficult mix of stylish, beautiful and somewhat traditional but still playful, laidback and utterly unique and we found just that with Preston Court. I truly believe it’s the best wedding venue in the world.

Your Outfits

I was lucky in that I found my dress just as quickly as we found the venue! In fact, my wedding dress was the second wedding dress I ever tried on. Although, that didn’t stop me from trying on many more and still browsing dresses online, but nothing ever came close. Even with the pandemic shutting shops for four months, I didn’t waiver and just couldn’t wait to go back and order it.

Strangely, it wasn’t until afterwards that I found an old image of a wedding dress that I had saved on my vision board which was practically identical in every way! I was sure that I would go for something very different but there was something really ‘fairy tale’ about the image and so I saved it and forgot about it… It’s funny how it found its way back to me!

Everyone expected me to wear a mermaid style and so I loved the surprise element of wearing something completely different… In fact, my best friend gifted me with a painting of us all at the venue on the wedding day and although my mum had dropped hints that my dress was A-line, she still painted me in a mermaid because she just didn’t believe it!

I wore the Misti by Enzoani’s Blue collection. It had a beautiful sheer corset with delicate boning and a soft A-line tulle skirt that melted into a long cloud-like train. It was fringed with delicate ivory off-the-shoulder straps and finished off with a romantic heart neckline.

The entire dress was dotted in subtle 3D flowers, and it truly was the most perfect fairy-tale wedding dress that I could have ever dreamt up. Instead of a veil, my hair was loosely pulled into a mermaid braid and accessorised with delicate wildflowers. Against the backdrop of the island, lake and willow trees, it really felt like I was in a fairy-tale!

I didn’t know what Lee, the groomsmen or the ushers were wearing until the day! I loved that his suit was so different, and I was also really impressed with how well he managed to match the accessories to the bridesmaid dresses! Our whole wedding was very unusual but we just loved it and it felt so “us.” We couldn’t imagine it any other way!

The Ceremony & Music

The ceremony took place on the beautiful little island under the pagoda which was beautifully covered in the most unique autumnal wildflower arrangement. We were heart-set on getting married outside and surrounded by nature and so we felt very lucky that the weather stayed dry when it mattered!

The island was small and so we just had a few seats beside us for our closest wedding party while our wider friends and family were seated just across the lake which made the ceremony feel perfectly secret and private which is exactly what we always wanted – a really intimate and romantic moment that felt like it was just us two.

I walked across the bridge, which was our version of the aisle, to La Valse de L’Amour by Patrick Doyle which is the instrumental to Cinderella which felt like the perfect subtle touch. After the ceremony, we played ‘A Million Dreams’ which is a song that means a lot to us and really set the tone for the rest of the day in a lot of ways!

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

Our photographer was just amazing – Kerry’s style has a really romantic and fairy-tale edge that matched our vision and style perfectly. Plus, she honestly felt like a friend the whole day and it was a real shame having to say goodbye as we got to the evening!

Our videographer Charli was a total gem in the game too. I had really high expectations and she honestly beat them a hundred times over. I have probably watched our video more times than I could count, and I only love it more each time.

The Styling & Decor

Our venue was so beautiful and ready-to-go with fairy lights, vintage décor and greenery that it really didn’t need any extras, but I just couldn’t help myself! I love the little details and I really think that can add such a personal touch to a wedding.

Our table settings were one of my favourite details – for centrepieces we stacked brass woodland animals on top of old, vintage story booked. And each table was named after a fantasy world – we had Wonderland, Narnia, Hogsmead and Oz to name a few! We also had an Alice in Wonderland teapot and cake stand, little moss rabbits, and jars filled with fairy lights.

For our ‘name cards’ we had real red autumn maple leaves that were preserved and personalised with names hand-written in calligraphy style gold ink. Each leaf was specially handpicked by my mum and my now-husband and I taught myself calligraphy for the ocaasion! They couldn’t be bought anywhere at the time and so it felt very special and personal to have them for our wedding. So many of our friends and family took theirs home and some every framed them so they really made for a special wedding favour and keepsake too!

Now that were enjoying post-wedding life, I’m making my wedding leaves for my Etsy shop @decorandsetails for other bride-to-be’s! I started my small business during the pandemic and now it keeps me in the wedding world even after the wedding cake’s all gone and dress has long been packed away!

The Honeymoon

Just like with our engagement, our honeymoon was a very last minute, impromptu trip… Within 28 hours of coming home as a newly married couple for the first time we were heading off to Croatia for our honeymoon! We had never been before, and it was actually where Lee had originally planned to propose!

We hiked the beautiful lakes which had been on my bucket list for years and years and it really felt like the most fitting follow up to our fairy-tale wedding. We feel so very lucky to have been able to have both our wedding and our honeymoon this year and these days really have been the happiest days of our life so far!

Memorable Moments

The vintage carousel was truly the most fun in the world and I’m so happy we had it! Our friends and family loved it so much more than we ever expected… The dance floor and the bar were empty for the first part of the night as everyone was pilling onto the carousel for a ride!

The first dance was also one of my most favourite ever memories. Dancing under the fairy light maypole and below the stars with my new husband was truly something I’ll never forget. And turning around to see the whole place lit up with sparklers and colourful bubbles as our closest friends and family blew them into the sky around us felt so magical and surreal. Just being there in the middle of all of our favourite people having a romantic moment to themselves, dancing together just felt so special.

And of course – the euphoric moment when we officially became Mr & Mrs is maybe my favourite ever! We were just so over the moon, and I love watching back our wedding video and seeing us turn around and beam at everyone as they’re all smiling and cheering! There’s no moment quite like it.

Advice For Other Couples

Don’t leave the planning to the last minute like me (it’s not worth the stress) and on the morning – give yourself two hours more time than you think you’ll need! Oh, and if you can, do spend some of your budget on a videographer – they’re one of the few things you’ll invest in that’ll stand the test of time and you’ll never, ever regret spending the money on.

Lastly – if you have props like photo booths and keepsakes such as wedding favours and guestbooks, make sure your guests know about them! So much is going on that they can be so easily missed. Perhaps put someone in charge of letting guests know about any activities or special details or maybe even create a ‘wedding bucket list’ for guests.

SO epic!

Hannah and Lee thank you so much for sharing your joyful The Greatest Showman wedding with touches of Alice in Wonderland and fairytales. What a total treat it’s been.