AMY & SAM - AN ELEGANT EXTRAVAGANZA

Hi all,

Next up on the blog is this beauty of a wedding. It was elegant and sophisticated, decadent and stylish. But then I would say that, I am slightly biased. It was my sister’s wedding after all! Being an accountant, Amy has been invaluable while setting up and running this little business of mine, and so when she got engaged, it was my turn to return the favour. And seeing as she has no creativity or vision herself (as she readily admits), she was grateful for a guiding hand from her big sister.

After many hours of going through venues, I finally suggested one that both Amy and Sam agreed upon; The Wentworth Club. Home of the annual PGA Championships, it had the sense of grandeur they were after without being a stately home. The ballroom was stunning and the food was delicious.

The decision was made.

To set the tone, we wanted the stationery to reflect the style of the wedding. We decided that Jinder from The Finer Details was the perfect person. Her designs were classic and elegant and having met her numerous times before, I knew she could deliver exactly what Amy and Sam were after. Her customer service skills are second to none.

The next big thing was photography. After many more hours introducing them to hundreds of wonderful photographers work, Amy and Sam were struck by that of the brilliant, Michelle Lindsell. Her style and laid back attitude was exactly what they wanted and her approach suited them. She was amazing on the day and got some stunning shots.

We searched high and low for Amy’s dream dress. She tried on over 100 gowns in practically every shop in the south east! She knew she wanted a big dress but was adamant she didn’t want lace. How wrong she was! In the end she fell in love with Dabra by Enzoani Blue. Unfortunately she wasn’t too impressed with the bridal shop so decided to get alterations done elsewhere. With only a few weeks to go until the big day, Federica from Federica Bruno Couture stepped in to save the day. She did an AMAZING job on Amy’s two dresses (she had a vintage style 50’s dress from Vivenne of Holloway for the evening too) and was simply a star.

The wonderful Hayley and Bex from Flair Beauty did our hair and make up. They were fantastic at calming Amy down during the morning and were super flexible when we had to swap all the schedules around 10 minutes before they were due to arrive as Amy had only JUST managed to fall asleep. Yet despite only having had a few hours kip, they still managed to make her look as fresh as a daisy and did an awesome job on us bridesmaids too.

The ceremony took place at St Jude’s Church in Englefield Green. It was a gorgeous church.

As bridesmaids, we were treated to Two Birds dresses so we could choose which way to tie them. Sam’s sister, Holly, and Amy’s best friend, Cat, both opted for the shorter dresses while I chose the longer version. We loved the flexibility and all changed our style throughout the day. I have also worn mine a number of times since – bonus!

Following the church ceremony, we headed back to Wentworth for a drinks reception on the terrace. The sun was shining and the drinks were flowing.

The day went beautifully, despite our mum adding some unnecessary drama and being rushed to hospital half way through the wedding breakfast! Bless her! (She’s totally fine now but was in hospital for about a week afterwards, poor thing!) Luckily she was there for the photos and the remainder of the day was captured by Martin of I Do Productions so mum was able to catch up on the parts she missed.

The flowers were provided by Rebecca at Lily’s Flowers, one of the venue’s recommended suppliers. During one of their visits to the venue in the lead up, they saw Rebecca’s displays all set up ready for a wedding and they happened to be exactly what Amy was after.

The ballroom at Wentworth is stunning. With its high ceilings, grand chandeliers and adorned walls it was the perfect backdrop for their celebrations. Catriona from Enchanted Piano entertained us for the drinks reception on the terrace and then on the grand piano in the ballroom. She has a fantastic repertoire and was brilliant to work with.

And the food…… what can I say! I didn’t get to savour it quite as much as I would have liked, what with running upstairs to check on mum, but it was DIVINE, even reheated! And I didn’t even get to try the dessert, presented on a bed of dry ice. I am however, told it was simply breathtaking.

During the speeches, Sam’s best man, Luke used a projector to display numerous hilarious images of them growing up. He told stories of them being on bike rides together as kids and all the adventures they used to get up to. He then wheeled this out……….

… a tandem! The idea being that now Amy would be Sam’s constant companion on his bike. Needless to say, it has remained in the garage ever since :o)

The cake was also a major talking point. With such a grand room, we needed a grand cake. Amy deliberated about having fake tiers, separate cutting cakes and all sorts of combinations but in the end decided on a 5 tier, real cake, with lace detailing and pillars from Jackie at

Cakes and Drapes. It was beautifully detailed and yummy too!