For the centrepieces we alternated wisteria trees from the aisle with low candle centrepieces. They sat in the middle of a floral wreath, which again matched the blooms from my bouquet. We wanted lots of voluminous flowers to suit the grandeur of the venue. Our floral palette featured lots of red and pink, and arrangements included peonies and roses alongside berries and eucalyptus. Wisteria lined the aisle, and we married beneath a canopy of the same. The men all wore buttonholes and the woman had corsages to match. It’s a family tradition to have homemade Polish vodka favours. Mike’s uncle, who is Polish, made cranberry beer flavoured vodka for us, and we decanted it into little bottles. We sealed them with wax and labelled them: ‘We’ve tied the knot, now take a shot.’ My bridesmaids were all different shapes and sizes, so having customisable dresses was perfect. I really wanted them to be comfortable, so allowing them to design their own dresses even down to the embellishments allowed this. Mike says: “After the ceremony, all I could think about was my speech, so I’m really glad we did them before the meal. I went first, so that I could sit and enjoy our wedding breakfast without the speech hanging over me. This is something I’d definitely recommend to any nervous groom.” We wanted the flowers to flow throughout the venue, so we also had a large, full, floral arch placed at the entrance to the ceremony space and a large piece that covered the minstrels gallery. A lot of people commented that the flowers made the venue and that was exactly what we wanted – fulsome and grand. 41 REAL WEDDINGS
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