Enchanted & Relaxed Wedding with Personal Touches

Welcome to WWW readers James and Abby’s stunning Abbey House Gardens wedding held in the summer in Wiltshire. Their day was totally enchanting, with relaxed vibes and personal touches.

Some of the stand-out elements from their day have to be the burnt orange silk bridesmaid dresses by WWW wedding supplier Rewritten, the stunning pressed flower cake and the gorgeously styled reception.

Then there were the stylish outfits, greenery florals and all the joy-filled moments. Thanks to Lyra and Moth for sharing these tremendous images of such a wonderful celebration.

Abbey House Gardens Wedding

The Proposal

We were in Abby’s hometown of Bude in Cornwall and as the sun set James proposed at the end of the lockgates, a special place where we often sit and watch the sea.

The Vision

Enchanted fairytale filled with personal touches.

Budget

We wanted to keep our spending to a minimum without missing out on things that mattered to us, Abby and family did the décor, we chose locally grown flowers, paella for the main meal and cake for pudding!

We were fortunate enough that Abbey House Gardens let us hire the venue and arrange everything else separately so we weren’t tied into expensive catering packages.

The Venue

Abbey House Gardens, Malmesbury.

The Ceremony & Music

James’s brother in law Tom played acoustic guitar for Abby as she walked down the aisle to the theme of The Local Hero.

We wrote our own vows and promises to one another and had readings from the writings of Bob Marley and Winnie the Pooh.

In the evening we had a brass band performing pop covers, they were brilliant and got everyone up dancing.

Your Outfits

Abby’s dress is Martina Liana and bought from LJ Bridal that specialises in sample dresses, it was half the price and still in season and fitted like a glove. James’s suit was from Slaters and tailored by them.

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

Sarah from Lyra and Moth Photography captured our day perfectly, she focused on the raw emotion we were looking for and we’re in awe of the result. Some incredibly special moments we can now keep forever.

CV Visual Films recorded our video and every time we watch it back we shed a little happy tear, Craig and Lizzie captured our vows and readings so beautifully.

The Styling & Decor

Our cake was from the wonderful Mrs F, she hand pressed all of the edible flowers to create our vision. Each flavour was spectacular too, we had chocolate orange, lemon and raspberry and marble cake.

The flowers and foliage were done by YoungBlooms who grows loads of her own flowers herself. We stuck with simple soft ruscus and eucalyptus garlands on the tables, the bridesmaids had greenery bouquets, James’s button hole and Abby’s bouquet comprised a mixture of dried grasses, flowers and foliage to give a rustic feel.

Abby hired trestle tables, cross back chairs and tealights from Richardson’s Event Hire and bought metres and metres of white muslin to use as table runners. We didn’t want anything too pristine, we liked the natural feel of the fabric and bare wood on the tables.

Charlotte Bergmann designed the table plan and signs, personalising each illustration to a place we had visited. Her artwork was absolutely stunning.

When it came to colours Abby loves burnt orange and we originally wanted to get married in autumn so her bridesmaids wore beautiful satin Rewritten dresses and the flowers in her bouquet picked out a few of those colours.

James’s ginger locks really pop against navy blue so that was always a given for his suit. As for the décor we decided to keep it very neutral so not to overwhelm the colour palette. White muslin, green foliage and metallic tealight holders.

The wooden order of the day sign was made out of half of an old gate we had in the garden and a local artist Danksy Murals painted the text.

The Honeymoon

We spent two nights in Bath, enjoying the Thermae Spa, afternoon tea at the Ivy and an amazing tapas restaurant called Ole Tapas.

We then drove up to Conwy in North Wales and stayed in a stunning cabin called Hinterland. It came with a hot tub overlooking the mountains, it was the perfect escape.

Memorable Moments

The paella at our wedding is something we will never forget and it seems neither have our guests! Adrian from Pepperpot Catering took our budget and made magic happen. He provided delicious food and an incredible display, live cooking the paella outside.

James and I also snuck away for a few minutes with a drink each just to soak it all in, we sat in the tranquillity garden listening to our guests having an amazing time and just went woooow. Aren’t we lucky. James did then have to run and get my trainers because my heels already hurt and the walk back up wasn’t easy!

Advice For Other Couples

Make decisions because they’re for the both of you, not because it’s what is expected. We ditched the three course meal and had paella as it’s our favourite, we had our cake as our dessert as we wanted to make sure it was enjoyed and not left on the side, Abby kept her bouquet and had it pressed instead of throwing it.

Also, don’t sweat the small stuff, on the day we didn’t notice nor care about a million things we’d have been frantic about in the run up! Candles blowing out, crying babies, we didn’t give a monkeys.

Well, wasn’t that all just ruddy well gorgeous?!

James and Abby thank you so much for sharing your Abbey House Gardens wedding story with us.