Beautiful Early Autumn Longstowe Hall Wedding

As we hurtle into the autumn, I am excited to share the beautiful early autumn nuptials of Kate and Dan. Their Longstowe Hall wedding was nothing short of spectacular, just you wait and see!

They had a country estate wedding, with elegant and classic styling. Think white, green and golds, fresh florals and a his and her cocktail hour. Wow. Then there were the sweet bird table names, the fun wedding newspaper, the stylish outfits and the cute drink-pouring moment.

I also have to say that their honeymoon sounded epic! This is one very special day, with smiles from beginning to end. Swoon.

Thanks ever so much to By Emma Olivia Photography for sharing these sensational captures with us.

Longstowe Hall Wedding

The Proposal

I proposed to Kate in October 2022, after almost 7 years together – Kate had been extremely patient! We went on an autumnal walk in our local nature reserve, and when we arrived at a clearing in the forest, I got down on one knee and Kate said yes before I could even ask the question.

You can tell she had been waiting long enough – we were married within 12 months!

The Vision

We are outdoorsy types, and as soon as we visited the beautiful grounds of Longstowe Hall, we knew it was perfect for us. The marquee has floor-to-ceiling windows around 3 sides of the room, which act as a frame for the stunning gardens and lake.

We continued the nature theme inside with our florals and hand-drawn bird table-place names (a link to one of my hobbies as a twitcher). Kate’s aunt is a trained florist, and she put together a gorgeous mix of seasonal white flowers and green leaves.

The Venue

Longstowe Hall, Cambridgeshire

Your Outfits

Kate:

Custom Natalya James Bridal strapless dress with overskirt and pearl cape.
Saphire necklace which was a 30th birthday gift from Dan (something blue), pearl earrings.
Rainbow Club pearl block heel shoes, swapped in at the last minute following a foot fracture a few weeks before the wedding!
Nadine Merabi jumpsuit (evening).

Dan:

3-piece navy suit from REISS.
William Morris Strawberry Thief print tie from Liberty London.
The corsages and buttonhole arrangements included pressed hydrangea petals I had grown in our garden.

The Ceremony and Music

We were hoping that the weather would be dry enough to have an outdoor wedding under the gazebo by the lake. It was an October wedding in England, so you can never be too sure what you will get. We loved the “Plan B” option, if it was raining, where the ceremony would have been in the Rose Ball Room. However, we had 23 degrees and gorgeous sunshine in October – it was better than we could have hoped for!

Kate walked down the aisle to Only Love by Ben Howard, performed by Joe Bailey (singer and guitarist). We exited the ceremony to L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole, to have our reception drinks and group photos in the Rose Garden, followed by wedding-themed crazy golf.

Our first dance was played by The Icono Band, who we chose after hearing Tara’s amazing vocals. The band learned a version of One Kiss (Calvin Harris ft Dua Lipa) where it started with just acoustic and vocals for our dance, then kicked into the dance track when we invited our guests on to the dance floor to join us.

Your Photographer

By Emma Olivia

The Styling & Decor

The venue styling and decoration was a team effort, all following a white, green and gold palette to complement the venue.

Kate’s Auntie Lisa created the floral décor and bouquets; Miss Carlyle & Co (venue stylist/prop hire) set up the tables and provided some items like the post box, gold frames and plinths; and a few personalised items which we created ourselves, such as the homemade table plan on a full-length mirror.

One of my hobbies is birdwatching, so we used birds for the table names which were all hand-drawn by our talented friend, and we have kept as a lovely reminder of our day.

Your Honeymoon

We spent just over 3 weeks in South Africa, taking in a packed schedule of; safari in the Kruger national park, Cape Town, the Garden Route and the amazing wineland region in Franschoek and Stellenbosch.

We highly recommend South Africa as a honeymoon destination, the food, drink and scenery are incredible! The highlight for me was a safari on Christmas day, and for Kate it was the wine tram in Franschhoek. If you haven’t heard of it, google it and you’ll see why it’s so good.

Memorable Moments

Getting the grandparents on to the dance floor.

Advice for other Couples

Our wedding ceremony wasn’t until 3 pm, so we had our couple’s photos before we got married. This allowed us to really enjoy the reception drinks without being whisked away from our guests, and helped to calm our pre-wedding nerves by seeing each other before walking down the aisle.

If you haven’t booked your photographer yet, make sure you check out By Emma Olivia.