Whimsical & Floral Dusky Pink Elford Hall Garden Wedding

I defy you to find a prettier wedding than WWW readers Hannah and Matt’s Elford Hall Garden wedding in Staffordshire.

Their day was all wildflowers, dusky pinks and floral details. From the pressed flower cake to the whimsical outfits and personalised photo details, you are going to adore it all!

Pretty florals mixed with the DIY rustic wooden signage and bare wooden furniture really work so well. This is one stunning summer wedding! It is also great to spot WWW wedding supplier Rainbow Club’s gorgeous Margot shoes.

Wyldbee Photography, thank you ever so much for sharing these utterly divine images of Hannah and Matt’s gorgeous country garden wedding.

Hannah and Matt on WWW

WWW was one of our main sources of inspiration when planning our wedding. I loved how relatable and real the weddings you feature are and how diverse the styles and couples represented. The budgets and DIY styles of a lot of your weddings was something that also really resonated with us.

Elford Hall Garden Wedding

The Proposal

August 2021 Matt proposed at Elford Walled Gardens (where we ended up having our wedding) over pizza and Prosecco.

The bench where we got engaged is also where we had some of our wedding photos.

The Vision

We dreamed of a relaxed wedding in the walls of Elford Garden. A wedding that felt personal and where we could treat our family and friends to good food and a relaxed intimate atmosphere.

Hannah loves flowers, particularly foraged wildflower style and English country garden – so we wanted to incorporate this throughout. Being able to marry in the church next to the gardens was the perfect pairing for us.

The Venue

Elford Hall Walled Gardens – a working garden full of allotments offering a completely DIY wedding option which really suited us as we didn’t want a formula/traditional venue wedding.

The Ceremony & Music

We spent a lot of time planning our ceremony with John our Vicar. We wanted to include some personal moments, like the traditional Irish unity candles sent over by one of our bridesmaid’s parents from Ireland.

Our hymns had a sporting undertone as Matt is a passionate rugby supporter and player. I walked down the aisle to I Giorni. A song me and my dad had heard played live in a candlelight church at Christmas.

Our exit song was from the London 2012 Olympic ceremony, something that means a lot to both of us (Calibans Dream – the lyrics are magical).

For the wedding reception, we curated our own day and evening playlists and opted against a DJ.

Our friends and family RSVP’d with a song request, we loved this it gave a real mix to the playlist and got everyone up on the dancefloor. It also added to the relaxed vibe we wanted.

Your Outfits

Hannah – my dress was found at Off The Peg Bridal with my best friend from uni near where we went to uni.

I knew I wanted something with a floral theme that had a soft tulle layer and long train. It was the best bridal shop after quite a long search. I just loved every dress I tired on everywhere! Buying my dress ‘off the rail’ really suited me as I got a higher end dress in budget.

Matt – Matts’s suit was a surprise as we wanted him to feel a part of the wedding process too. He picked out the ties and pocket squares – knowing I would love the beautiful liberty wildflower style print.

Even though a lot of people thought I was mad, I LOVED Matt and the usher’s suits being a surprise. It made meeting at the end of the aisle a big moment for both of us. It also helped he did such a great job!

The Styling & Decor

All decoration, styling, signs and non-formal flowers were done by Hannah with the help of set up the day before of her bridesmaids and parents.

Like Matt said in his speech, this wedding is 90% Hannah and 10% her cricut machine!

The tent and church flowers were all gathered from the fields by our house, ours and families’ gardens. We created milk churn arrangements of cows’ parsley and delphiniums. Pew ends of ferns and ivy.

Small collected vintage jars on the tables filled with garden and wildflowers. Hannah and one of her bridesmaids hand painted the table pillar candles. Each table was named after Hannah’s favourite flowers.

Homemade sloe gin by the father of the bride on the tables in kilner jars. Hannah laser-cut polaroid photo frame place settings with a personal thank you message on the back to guests. Our guest book was postcards of all the favourite places we have travelled together.

The formal flowers (buttonholes, bouquets and flower crowns) were all put together by Maria at the FlowerPatch. She grows all her own flowers or sources them locally. We loved her style and relaxed gathered bouquets.

We didn’t want a set colour theme and instead let the flowers and garden guide the colour palette – soft pastels.

The cake tied in with the wildflower theme with a fruity lemon flavour and real pressed flowers.

Your Photographer

Wyldbee photography – Sophie is the most amazing photographer who has managed to capture our day perfectly.

She hasn’t just photographed the day but managed to show the emotion and little details that made our day special to us.

The Honeymoon

Minimoon straight after the wedding to the Scottish Highlands. Mauritius this summer.

Memorable Moments

Matt’s wedding gift – a scrapbook of every card and letter we’ve given to each other over the past 12 years (the large black book in the photos).
Bridesmaid gifts – were candles with all my favourite memoirs with them printed on the outside. It was so special to see them open on the day and relive those memories together.
Matt handmade our ring box from a piece of wood we had collected on a walk years ago. It was so special and something we will cherish as a keepsake.
The food!! Outside Kitchen are an incredible catering company that really go above and beyond in every way. We created our own wedding day menu at one of their tasting evenings. Wanting an antipasto grazing board during reception drinks, followed by a sharing dish feast and finished with our wedding cake, lotus brownies and an espresso martini shot.

Advice For Other Couples

Be yourselves and make decisions based on what is important to you.

Our day felt so personal and ‘us’ and I think that is because we scrapped any traditions that weren’t meaningful to us (e.g. first dance, cutting the cake in the evening as an event) and weren’t pressurised by other peoples opinions, which you will always have.

Spend time on the little touches that can make your day feel unique and your guests feel special. They definitely don’t have to be expensive gifts/favours, meaning, care and love is all you need.

Spend time finding suppliers who understand your vision. Our suppliers were so incredible and we really couldn’t have done the day without them, I also genuinely loved having them as part of the creative process.