Laid Back & Stylish Historic House & Sperry Tent Autumn Wedding

We’re headed to Dorfold Hall in Cheshire today for the absolutely gorgeous wedding day of Hannah and Josh who were married on the 22^nd September 2018. Their wedding had a laid back, yet really special atmosphere, with cosy Autumnal vibes and a lot of love all round. Their main priority was finding a venue with character and Dorfold Hall totally encapsulated their vision; from there their wedding style emerged perfectly.

Following a ceremony in the barn, guests spilled into the beautifully decorated Sperry Tent. The tent was decked in origami paper cranes (250 to be precise) and hundreds of stems of eucalyptus was suspended from the ceiling. The results were just splendid, especially teamed with the meadow style table flowers and bold graphic stationery. Other decoration highlights for me have to be the pretty flower arch as a backdrop to their vows and the floral frame seating plan. Wow.

There is just so much to be inspired by, from the stylish attire to the sparkler send off. You really will fall for this stunning celebration. Kate McCarthy Photography, thank you ever so much for sharing with us these fabulous photographs.

The Proposal

Josh proposed to me whilst we were walking our dog. I sort of knew it was coming because we had been together 9 years and it was something we both wanted – and he was also being overly organised about a dog walk!

The Vision

For us it was about finding the right venue with lots of character and history and building our day around that.

The Planning Process

Despite running a business together, we aren’t really planners! We had picked suppliers that we had complete trust in, and were excited to work with, and had a great venue – so that was the hardest bit done! The rest was mostly about keeping lists of all the little details that needed doing and gradually ticking them off. There is a lot to remember, so it is important to make sure you have a good method for keeping track of everything.

The Venue

Dorfold Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire

Your Outfits & Accessories

Savannah Miller Dress, Elle. From Love Bridal in Altrincham.

Lena Hairpins by Eden B Studio.

Beauty

Makeup – Maxine Smith

Hair – Holly Lander

The Readings & Music

We got married in the coach house at Dorfold so it was not a religious ceremony but it was important to us it still felt like a service. My Auntie is an Author so she wrote her own reading and my Twin Sister also read “Tell me the truth about Love” by WH Auden.

The music was something we really wanted to get right. I was really nervous about the ceremony, as I don’t enjoy being centre of attention, so the music was really to help calm our nerves.

I walked down the aisle to “I love you till the end” by the Pogues.

In the ceremony my sister sang Time after Time by Cyndi Lauper (influenced by the Iron and wine cover) and Can’t Help Falling in Love with you by Elvis Presley.

We walked out to The Beatles love is all you need.

Groomsmen

Blue Tweed suits from Groom in Chester.

Bridesmaids

Dresses from Monsoon.

Your Photographer

The absolutely magnificent Kate McCarthy.

Your Filmmaker

We didn’t have a filmmaker although Kate put together wonderful montage of our day.

The Cake

The sweet cake was beautifully made by our friend Holly.

The cheese cake was done by our local Deli in Sandbach.

The Flowers

We knew what we wanted colour wise – lots of green with hints of claret and copper. We have always enjoyed having eucalyptus around the house so that is something we thought would be nice to incorporate.

We were having tapas for our meals so we didn’t want too much on the tables, so we opted for hanging flowers and had 200 hundred eucalyptus stems alongside 250 origami cranes hanging from the roof of the Sperry tent.

The Honeymoon

The honeymoon was kept as a surprise. I had done a lot of the planning myself, so it felt good to pass that job onto Josh and keeping it a surprise meant I couldn’t get involved with the planning!

We spent ten days in Bali, six days in a private beach front villa at @sooribali followed by four days in the jungle where we rented scooters and explored the coffee plantations.

Advice For Other Couples

It is easy to get caught up planning a day to please everyone else. Before you start the process of planning make sure you get to the roots of what kind of day you and your partner want for yourselves.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

How very beautiful. Do take a look at our top tips for a wedding sparkler send off if you love the idea of one at the end of your celebrations.

Hannah and Josh, thank you both ever so much for sharing your wonderful wedding story with us xo Lou