Nicola kept her mum’s pyrography kit when she passed and used it to create special keepsakes and decorative pieces in her memory. These included the favours, which were wooden tags with guests’ names and a personalised quote burnt into them. These were attached to key rings for the gents and little wish jars for the ladies. The latter contained magical wishes and sparkles, plus a single word to represent the guest, such as ‘beautiful,’ ‘believe’ and ‘strong.’ These were then placed into little gift bags along with a token for a drink. Sadly, the oak tree outside Nicola’s window had to be cut down, but she was able to save slices of it and utilise in the wedding décor. She used them to make pyrography signs such as a welcome tree of life. Each was placed on the grass alongside the winding path and dressed with candle lanterns and scattered flowers and foliage. Nicola created the table plan herself using textured, handmade paper backed with sheet music. She did her own calligraphy and placed it all into a decorative frame. The place names were made to complement the plan using the same paper, plus faux flowers and moss. “People’s reactions to our venue styling will always be a vivid memory. They had no idea what to expect and thought it would be a crazy, goth wedding, but soon realised it was something truly special. They loved how chilled and relaxed it was. Watching them embrace the parts of our day like jumping the broomstick and tying wishes to the tree meant a lot to me,” Nicola shares. FOOD FOR THOUGHT Nicola and Andrew weren’t after a standard cake, it needed to represent elements of them as well as the theme of the wedding. It had three tiers, each bearing different textures and colour with a sleeping dragon draped around it. The base tier was vanilla sponge with salted caramel, topped with a lemon sponge. “Our incredible food from Flying Pig was absolutely delicious,” Nicola shares. Canapés included mini steak and ale pies with chips, mini fish and chips, mini lamb and apricot kofta, butternut squash risotto balls, and honey and mustard sticky sausages. For the main event, everyone enjoyed a barbecue with eight-hour slow-cooked beef brisket, Kentish butcher’s sausages, barbecue sticky chicken wings, piri piri chicken, vegetarian platters and an array of delicious sides. Finally, a trio of mini desserts were served: chocolate brownie, summer fruit pavlova, and lemon posset. LOOKING THE PART The beautiful bride wore a bespoke Victoria Kay gown, Enchanted, in ivory champagne with a dusky pink lining. “This was the ultimate dream dress and it found me,” Nicola says. “It was the first dress that caught my eye. I knew if the weather was kind I could run free in the grounds of Dode and if it rained, well, I’d just have to dance in the rain! This dress was everything. I feel so lucky to have experienced that feeling of finding the one.” Andrew wore a slim fit, three-piece Remus Uomo dusky plum suit with an ivory shirt. His bride had cufflinks made with photos of his late grandparents in them as a surprise. The groomsmen were Andrew’s three boys. The eldest and youngest wore matching suits of soft, textured oatmeal taupe, while his middle son was dressed in a suit to match his dad’s as he was giving Nicola away. The gents’ look was finished with soft plum ties and matching handkerchiefs. The eldest bridesmaid, Andrew’s daughter, wore a mink/taupe off-the-shoulder, tulle maxi dress with a subtle sequin finish REAL WEDDINGS 35
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