“The wedding breakfast took place in a sailcloth marquee, so the flowers were a very important focal point of the decorations,” shares Isabel. “There were four trestle tables for a banquet-style meal so that everyone was sat close together. The centrepieces were a simple rustic style overflowing with colour and visually busy (whilst allowing room for sharing platters and lots of crockery for the meal). We had a selection of flowers, bouquets in bowls with different heights and widths and smaller bud vases with a smaller number of stems. The flowers were interspersed with candles that I painted patterns onto to add another pop of colour and jazz up inexpensive tapered candles.” Isabel continues, “Our wonderful florist Juliet did an incredible job with the flowers at the wedding. Right from our very first meeting back in 2019 she understood exactly what we were after, and the flowers were one of the real highlights for me. We had stunning bouquets and buttonholes, an incredible wildflower display in the church, the beautiful arrangements in the marquee and wildflower displays around the entrance were exactly what we imagined.” The cake, was a delicious lemon polenta cake that was decorated beautifully with flowers from Isabel’s own garden and leftover blooms from the bouquets. “I was on maternity leave when we got married so had a little more time to add some personal, handmade touches than I would have otherwise. I provided the confetti which was a mixture of petals I’d saved and dried from bouquets sent when my son was born last autumn, and rose petals collected on my daily dog walks at home in the month before, dried and turned into a beautiful array of confetti in pinks, oranges and yellows.” In addition to the standard drinks reception bubbles, the couple wanted some tipple that they really enjoyed, Isabel loves Aperol and it’s beer for Jack. “We were lucky enough to win a competition with Aperol whereby they supplied Aperol Spritzs on the day,” shares Isabel. “With Adnams Brewery just up the road it would have been rude not to have several of their kegs there throughout the day! We worked closely with Peter Harrison to come up with a delicious menu that we felt was perfect for the day. The canapés were an assortment of crowd-pleasers and light summery flavours, similarly with the main meal – each course used as much local produce as possible – meat and organic vegetables, and the dessert included something from Pump Street Bakery from just down the road in Orford, a favourite of ours. In the evening we had cheese for the guests, picking a selection of our favourites.” LOOKING THE PART Isabel wore a beautiful 3D floral appliqué dress by Donatella Piccarreta called 705315. “I wanted a dress that would be both modern and contemporary with a nod to a traditional long white dress as I knew this would make me feel special on the day – I’ve never worn a floor-length dress!” shares Isabel. The dress was decorated in hundreds of handmade flowers and had a very subtle glittery undercoat that added an extra element of fun when it caught the light. “The dress had a beautiful low back, and I had the neckline customised to make it into a square neckline, modernising (from the original scoop) and adding a bit of glamour. The dress itself was very busy so I kept things very simple on the accessories front, wearing just my rings, some old gold and diamond hoops, and a pair of Loeffler Randall Camellia heels in blue for a pop of colour.” Jack wore a brilliant navy tweed three-piece suit, the colour and texture was far more exciting than a standard wool/cotton blend suit and he teamed his look with a navy and maroon REAL WEDDINGS 33
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