LOOKING THE PART When it came to choosing her dream dress, Charlotte knew immediately when she found the one. “It was the only dress I tried on and I fell in love with it straight away, which was a relief considering all the shops having to close during the pandemic,” she recalls. It had lace and pearl details, a small train, flowing sleeves and she completed the look with earrings and a necklace from Oliver Bonas and a gold and pearl bracelet passed down through the family. The bridesmaids, Charlotte’s sisters Jess and Anni, wore dusky pink dresses while James looked dashing in a navy tail suit with the two bestmen, his brother Elliot and best friend Jacob, and both dads in suits to match. As an extra personal touch, they provided a selection of homegrown floral handmade buttonholes or corsages for people to choose from as they arrived at the church. Their wedding rings were especially meaningful as they made them themselves at the Woodbridge Jewellery Workshop using gold from rings inherited from James’ great grandmother. Charlotte recalls, “We had such a wonderful time and learnt so much from both Rick and Maggie, who run it. We loved the romance of creating each other’s rings and enjoyed it so much that we booked in again and James made my engagement ring while I made cufflinks for him to wear on the big day.” SETTING THE SCENE “The theme for the wedding centred around my love of growing flowers, with dahlias being a firm favourite of mine. I grew most of the blooms at home, which we then arranged in large clusters for the table centrepieces and also used for the buttonholes, bouquets and to decorate the altar,” explains Charlotte. The windowsills and entrance of the church were decorated with baskets of living herbs including fennel, mint, rosemary, thyme and myrtle, a traditional favourite for weddings. Drawing inspiration from their Mediterranean holidays, the aisle was also lined with olive trees. “We felt this suited the atmosphere of St Peter’s Church with its rustic brick flooring, white-washed walls and wooden seating inside,” adds Charlotte. The trees were later given as gifts to members of the main wedding party. In keeping with family tradition, they lit a unity candle during the ceremony, as Charlotte’s parents had done at their wedding. “They lit their family candle, and we then took the flame from that to light ours,” TIME TO CELEBRATE The reception was held on a neighbour’s plot of land, just a short walk away from the church. A long, banquet-style table was set up in the centre surrounded by festoon lighting, paper lanterns, tall arches and the olive trees which had been transported from the church. Through their links with scouting, the couple were able to borrow marquees as a wet-weather backup, but luckily the rain held off so they could dine outside. Charlotte says, “To complement the relaxed, boho-style feel we opted for woodblock-printed tablecloths and napkins, which my mum and I made, wicker placemats and bottle baskets, coloured glass goblets and big jars of homegrown flowers. The festoon lighting and an array of coloured candles added to the ambience during the evening.” The food was a delicious mix of Mediterranean and Greek influences with sharing platters of local meats and cheeses, homemade bread, chutneys and an Eton Mess buffet for dessert with homemade meringues, chocolate brownie torte, fresh seasonal fruit and cream. In the evening they had a Greek barbecue of marinaded lamb and spatchcock chicken served with salads and flatbreads. Charlotte adds, “Our family friend REAL WEDDINGS 39
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