end of the aisle, it was emotional and they couldn’t stop chatting to each other! “It felt incredible making our promises and vows during the service and marrying my best friend,” Frances says. “The magical feeling of walking out of the church as husband and wife with the bells ringing was something I’ll never forget! We then travelled to Danesfield House in a white Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud for our wedding reception.” The couple chose timeless pieces to style their day with, from beautiful gold-mirrored bookmarks, personalised with their guests’ names on, which doubled up as place names, to a table plan designed by Tom. “He is very creative and it was special how involved he was in creating our big day,” Frances tells us. “When our guests peeled their names off the table plan, it revealed their table number, and once all were removed it displayed our engagement photo in New York City.” For their table numbers, Frances and Tom designed and printed Polaroid-style photos of them over the years to place alongside the gold-foiled table numbers presented in gold frames.” For their invitations, Tom used Canva to design a beautiful watercolour gatefold invite of the clocktower at Danesfield House. The finishing touches included gold wax seals with their initials, and stunning gold calligraphy was added for the guest’s names. Frances carried an elegant bridal bouquet of pink and white roses, white lisianthus, gypsophila and eucalyptus, and the bridesmaids held a similar, smaller design. “We chose a mix of tall and shorter floral centrepieces for the guest tables, with the addition of floating candles on the top table,” Frances tells us. “Extra touches included adding a Grecian-style drape for the chairs complete with rose décor, and a light-up bar for the evening reception for a bit of added sparkle!” The happy couple had a four-tier round buttercream sponge cake and each layer was a different flavour. “There was lemon and elderflower, chocolate, toffee and salted caramel plus a vanilla sponge tier with raspberry jam,” Frances says. “It was decorated with pink roses to match those in my bouquet and our colour scheme. Tom says the cake tasting was one of his favourite wedding planning activities!” LOOKING THE PART “My dress was by Willowby by Watters from Ellie Sanderson in Beaconsfield and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it,” Frances tells us. “When I tried it on, I knew it was the style for me! I loved the tulle which had a romantic feel and reminded me of my school days doing ballet. It also had beautiful detailing, including embroidered flowers. I teamed it with a long veil with pearl and petal embellishments, and changed into a pearl hairband for the evening.” Tom adds, “When Frances walked down the aisle, I couldn’t hold back my tears, she looked completely breathtaking. Before the wedding, I didn’t know any details about her dress which was very hard for her to keep a secret! Looking back, I’m glad that I didn’t know anything because I loved that she saw how moved I was when seeing her for the first time, it was magical.” Tom chose a traditional morning suit with a navy jacket to modernise the look. “To stand out, I wore a double-breasted waistcoat and a white rose buttonhole with gypsophila,” he says. “The groomsmen, including our fathers wore morning suits with navy jackets and single-breasted waistcoats and they had pink rose buttonholes to match the bridesmaids’ bouquets.” Frances adds, “The bridesmaids wore blue satin dresses in a style that they felt best in – they looked beautiful and got plenty of compliments from our guests!” TIME TO CELEBRATE “We both love music so this was a big part of our day, taking time to curate what would be played throughout it, from our chosen hymns to the background music played during the wedding breakfast,” Frances 49 REAL WEDDINGS
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