Intimate & Beautiful Bohemian Beach Elopement in Whitstable

When this beautiful beachy elopement was sent over to us, I was just over the moon. WWW readers Lucy and Ollie held their intimate and very special wedding day at The Beacon House in Whitstable, Kent, on the 18th September 2018, with just themselves and their two daughters present.

After a first look and portraits on the beach together, they then married with views of the beach, which looked so very magical. Their day was perfectly bohemian and they had a pretty pale pink, gold and white colour palette. The result was just stunning, with a glitter topped cake, floral stationery and delightful florals to name a few.

Lucy looked sensational in her floral appliqué gown with long sleeves and a gorgeous flower crown, boho beautiful. Meanwhile Ollie donned a sand linen suit and pink rose buttonhole which was really dapper. Their two daughters looked adorable in pink dresses and floral halo hair accessories. Wow.

Thanks ever so much to Rebecca Carpenter Photography for sharing these utterly wonderful photographs with us today. Enjoy it all lovely readers!

The Proposal

It was our first night in our new home and Ollie said he had a house warming present for me. So while sitting on the sofa he got down on one knee and proposed to me with the most beautiful ring I had shown him 18 months ago. I later found out that he had the ring for a year before he actually proposed and was waiting for the right moment.

The Vision

I wanted a quiet, peaceful and intimate wedding. The vision was an English boho beach wedding. I knew my colour scheme was always going to pink, white and gold.

The Planning Process

As it was an elopement we didn’t tell anybody that we was planning to do it. Part of the reason was that I wanted the planning process to run smoothly and to be excited about it the whole way along and not too stressed. We originally wanted to get married in Cornwall however on one of our trips to Whitstable we spotted Beacon House and I just knew it was perfect. We both love Whitstable and the house is right on the beach so it just fitted. After viewing Beacon House we came home and decided to go for it. Once that was booked everything else just fell into place. I spent the next months looking through Pinterest and deciding how I would decorate the venue. I’ve known my colour scheme for years so I just let the florist know that and the style I liked and let them come up with a creation. I found my photographer on Instagram and just fell in love with her style. With only 6 weeks to go until the wedding she somehow managed to fit me in and that was the last thing booked!

Budget

£5000

The Venue

Beacon House, Whitstable

Your Outfits & Accessories

My wedding dress was a bespoke dress from Velvet Birdcage in Worthing. I always knew the style of dress I wanted from a young age and I knew that finding the perfect dress would be difficult as I am quite fussy so I decided to look into bespoke dresses. I visited Velvet Birdcage where we tried on all different styles and combined the parts of different dresses into my final design which was sketched for me. I then went back for a fitting where I tried on my dress for the first time and made some changes. By the third and final fitting the dress was perfect. I went for long lace sleeves and a deep V at the front and back. Then I had it covered in 3D hand stitched petals with just a small amount of bead work. I wore Asos sandals on the day as the majority of our pictures were on Whitstable’s beach so I thought this would be most sensible! I then wore a flower crown from our florist (Jane at Graham Greener) which I didn’t see until about an hour before the ceremony!

Beauty

I styled my hair myself into loose beachy waves and then added the flower crown. My make up was done by Avril Jarrett a make up artist who was recommended to me through Instagram. I wanted a natural glow look with a pink lip.

Groom’s Attire

My husband’s outfit was a sand coloured linen 3 piece tailored suit from Moss Bros. As it was a beachy wedding I knew I wanted him in a light colour. He wore Zara loafers and a tweed tie. It was the perfect mix between smart and boho.

The Flowers

The flowers were from Jane at Graham Greener. I sent them over pictures of styles I liked and my colour scheme and they came back with my beautiful bouquet. They also created my flower crown and Ollie’s button hole.

Bridesmaids

Our 2 bridesmaids were our daughters Ruby and Libby. They wore pink Monsoon dresses, gold Next shoes and Claire’s Accessories flower crowns. I also had personalised wands made for them from a company on Etsy.

Your Photographer

Rebecca Carpenter Photography. Rebecca was the most amazing photographer and suited our style perfectly. As it was an elopement we wanted to make sure the pictures told a story of our day so that our families and friends could feel included. Rebecca achieved this perfectly and everyone has been in awe of them.

The Cake

The cake was created by the Whitstable Cake Company. It was a chocolate cake with a salted caramel filling. The icing was pink with gold glitter on top.

The Details & Décor

All of our decorations were from Ginger Ray. We went very minimalistic as the house is already decorated beautifully. We hung lanterns and paper fans from the trees in the gardens and covered them in fairy lights.

The Music

We made a wedding playlist with a mixture of our favourite songs that we played in the background throughout the day. Our chosen wedding song was Ed Sheeran, Tenerife Sea.

The Honeymoon

Yet to be taken. We stayed at Beacon House for the remainder of the week so we treated this as our mini honeymoon. We plan to take one next year.

Memorable Moments

The crazy winds as we tried to get pictures on Whitstable beach. The closer we got to the sea the stronger the winds got! It not only provided some funny moments but some beautiful windswept pictures. So was well worth it.

Advice For Other Couples

We were nervous about having an elopement as we didn’t want to upset anyone however we knew it was what we needed to do to be completely happy. Once the day was over we could not have been happier that we went with our hearts and had our the day the way we wanted to. So my piece of advice is do what makes you happy. Getting married is about the love between you and your partner and you should celebrate that however you wish to.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

So so lovely.

Lucy and Ollie I cannot thank you both enough for sharing with us your beautiful nuptials xo Lou