Colourful Fun Floral & Boho Flaxbourne Gardens Wedding

LOTR fan? Well, you are going to love WWW readers Sam and Jess’ fun Flaxbourne Gardens wedding in Bedfordshire. Their day had a wonderful floral boho vibe in all the colours, with quirky Lord of the Rings touches. Think gold thrones, a sword cake cutting and a special song choice… yes!

I really love the colourful summer wedding flowers, Jess’ gorgeous gown, the flower cake and of course, all the smiles.

Thanks ever so much to Lorna Newman Wedding Photography for sending over these totally beautiful images of such a happy celebration at Flaxbourne Gardens.

Sam and Jess on WWW

I was during our wedding planning and still can’t resist looking after the wedding – I’m still an avid Instagram follower. It’s so creative and a wonderful place to get ideas and supplier details from like minded couples, or to get inspiration on ideas you would never get from traditional wedding blogs or pages.

Flaxbourne Gardens Wedding

The Proposal

One day Sam messaged me saying he had booked for us to go to Venice for a week – which was a completely expected surprise!

After we’d had lunch one day, we decided to go for a walk I assumed we would head back towards our hotel, but Sam insisted on taking charge of directions. I’d only had a glass of wine with lunch and knew we were heading in the opposite direction of the train station. I thought the drinks were impairing his sense of direction and kept trying to redirect him.

He then decided to stop on a bridge overlooking the water, I was enjoying the view then I turned around to see him down on one knee. I know he tried to say something lovely but all I kept saying was “OH MY GOD, ARE YOU SERIOUS?! THIS BETTER NOT BE A PRANK” before taking the ring out of the box and putting on my finger before he even got a chance.

Which was risky given we were on an old bridge by the ocean and I am known for being very clumsy, but in the moment, I didn’t care!

The Vision

Our main wish for the wedding was for it to be an event where everyone could have fun and enjoy themselves after the last two hellish years.

Aesthetically, we wanted to create something that was a collaboration between our love for vintage furniture/items, boho style, and the beautiful scenery at Flaxbourne Gardens.

The Venue

The stunning Flaxbourne Gardens, Apsley Guise.

The Ceremony & Music

I walked down the aisle (it’s a long one) to Michael Buble’s “Feeling Good”. It’s an unusual choice, but it felt right to have something dramatic and over the top given how long we’ve waited!

We had a civil ceremony, and due to Covid restrictions we weren’t able have our own vows. However, it was still just perfect. We had the “Concerning Hobbits” instrumental playing during as a tip to Sam’s love of Lord of the Rings.

After the ceremony, we danced out to “Everybody Needs Someone to Love” by The Blues Brothers which was really special as it was one of Sam’s Dad’s favourite songs.

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

Our photographer was the absolutely amazing Lorna Newman, she’s an incredible person and photographer. We tried to make the photos a bit crazy by using smoke bombs and the thrones we’d rented, they couldn’t have possibly turned out any better.

Your Outfits

The Groom – After a couple of failed attempts to get what we were looking for online (due to covid restrictions) Sam ended up waiting and going to Next where him and his best man picked a gorgeous navy three-piece blue suit with a subtle check through it. It had a quirky liner which added some additional personality.

I got my Gino Cerruti dress from the wonderful “What Alice Wore” bridal shop in St Albans in 2019 before we had to postpone. Luckily, I found “the one”. It was a gorgeous A-line dress, with a sheer back and buttons, lace body, and a train just the right length – I was ready to go home in it there and then.

I worked with an amazing seamstress to add pearls and flower appliqués to the bodice to emphasise the beautiful lace. I also had the flowers added to the back of the skirt and train in a waterfall fashion, which again tied in with our boho/floral vibe.

The Styling & Decor

Although we provided some of our own decorations, our stylist Gemma at The White Emporium combined this with some of the beautiful items available she has available to create the vision we were looking for. She worked alongside Becky and Slyvia from Flower at 58 to bring the place to life.

We had hanging macrame plants above our table, a moss table runner, wildflowers in vintage bottles and railway lanterns – which I’d decorated with the help of two lovely friends. We used Persian rugs to create our aisle with rustic benches.

We had vintage teacups and saucers dotted around with tea lights in them, brass candle sticks and vintage cameras, all on upturned crates. We used a steamer trunk for our gifts/cards which was really handy the next day when transporting them home!

To bring an element of fun, we rented two huge thrones for us to sit on in the middle of our long table, Sam wore a crown, I had a flower crown, and we cut our cake with a sword. We put carnival-style drink tokens in little glass jars, with glitter and dried petals, which we hid around the venue the day before. They went down really well.

To top off we had Star Wars figurines holding our favours, which were pins from a number of different charities to represent those who couldn’t be with us on the day. Also, I couldn’t not mention the incredible cake which was the centrepiece, made by my fabulous good friend and surrogate sister Catherine!

The Honeymoon

Unfortunately due to the uncertainty around Covid, we didn’t book a honeymoon and haven’t yet managed to get away. We’re hoping to holiday in the UK with our little dog at some point in the future to make up for it!

Memorable Moments

We were set to have rain on the day which was a constant worry, but as my Dad and I pulled into the venue in the wedding car, the rain stopped, the clouds opened and the sun came out. I knew from that moment it was going to be the best day ever.

There was an impromptu relay race between guests on the beautiful lawn, started by my adorable little sister!

Advice For Other Couples

Don’t sweat the small stuff – I know it sounds like a cliché but it’s true. You can be so wrapped up in the detail that you don’t take a minute to appreciate everything you’ve achieved in organising such a wonderful day.

If you can’t step back from the details and you have a really specific vision in mind. Make sure you double and triple-check with your suppliers that they are on the same page and can achieve what you’re after. Unfortunately for us planning weddings, suppliers aren’t mind readers and stressed brides/grooms aren’t always the best at articulating what we want!