Elegance in the Countryside

I met the Lisney-Smith family when Hannah and her sister Amy were little. Both girls, like my own were horsey mad and enjoyed even then being outside in the fresh country air.

Over the years I kept in close contact with Hannah and Amy's parents, Chris and Jan who are two of my most wonderful friends.

When Jan got in touch to tell me Hannah and her lovely boyfriend Steve had got engaged I was thrilled. I had met Steve many times before and he is a wonderful man and they were always so happy together and full of life. When Hannah then asked me to do their wedding flowers I was delighted - what an honour! 

Hannah and Steve met back in August 2008 at a family friends 21st Birthday party. Their love for each other grew over the years and in 2013 Steve decided it was time to 'pop the question'. Steve had it all planned...Boxing day morning was the perfect time! So before his parents big Boxing day party, Hannah and Steve took the dogs for a walk in crisp morning air out the countryside surrounded by fields, trees and a light dusting of frost.

To ensure the proposal was one to remember Steve had enlisted the help of his brother Greg. Greg had the task of hiding a bottle of Champagne next to a bench in the field...the spot Steve planned on using for his proposal. With all the excitement and nerves, Steve hadn't allowed Greg enough time to get to the bench and get back unnoticed. Upon placing the Champagne in the perfect spot poor Greg had to hide in a bush to avoid being spotted by Hannah! After the question was popped and Hannah said yes (& Greg now out of hiding) they all headed back to Steve's parents house to celebrate with family. 

Hannah and Steve got married on 26th June 2015. Their ceremony was at the stunning Knebworth Barns with Lawrence Hill playing on guitar as Hannah and her dad Chris walked down the aisle. The barns are set in the grounds of the magnificent Knebworth House and overlook the amazing parkland and gardens. The barns have recently been restored and created the most wonderful setting for this graceful wedding. 

In the week leading up to the wedding we all kept our eyes on the weather with our fingers crossed - to everyone's relief the sun shone throughout the day which turned the gardens of Knebworth house into a magical wonderland for Steve and Hannah's stunning wedding photos.

Hannah's beautiful dress was from the wonderful Heritage Brides based at Hatfield House. Designed by Maria Senvo and her shoes are by Merle & Morris, also from Heritage Brides. 

To add to Hannah's elegance she wore her grandmother's diamond watch and pearl earrings. Her hair was created by a hairdresser from Toni & Guy and her beautiful make up was by the talented Natalie Sharman. 

The mother of the bride Jan, wore a fabulous dress from Cream in Royston. 

Hannah had one of her friends and wonderful sister Amy as her bridesmaids. Their dresses were from Monsoon Limited Edition. They are simply stunning and such a fantastic colour with beautiful embroidery, beads and sequins. The four adorable flower girl dresses were from John Lewis. To complete their outfits each flower girl and bridesmaid wore beautiful fresh water pearl bracelets from Not On The High Street.

Following the country style theme of the wedding Steve the handsome groom, father of the bride and groom and his grooms men were dressed in beautiful tweed suits from HRH Holmes & Son. Don't they look handsome!! 

Hannah and the wedding party were driven to the wedding in true country style... a convoy of Land Rovers! The party then began at Tewin Hill Farm which is a family friends farm. The setting was perfect for the celebrations to start! With amazing views of the countryside, a huge marque, fantastic band, and a country theme throughout, using straw bales and elegant lighting the setting was beautiful.

When Hannah explained to me their vision for a personal, country style wedding with a festival theme we got to work on the flowers creating a wonderfully natural and elegant theme throughout. 

Along with their top table, centre pieces and bouquets, I also supplied vintage bunting and large standing hearts filled with Ivy. 

Hannah and Steve are 'foodies' and part of their check list for the perfect wedding was something a bit different. They didn't want a sit down 3-course meal as rightly that wouldn't have worked with their theme. Therefore they had hampers on each table with pies, salads, cold meats, and various other yummies. One person on each table had to open the hamper and pass the food round the table. Everyone absolutely loved it and it was a great conversation starter for people that didn't know each other. After the meal the hampers were taken away and lanterns with foliage and flowers were placed on each table which completely transformed the marquee, the candles in the lanterns were then lit ready for the evening. To keep hunger at bay they then had a delicious hog roast in the evening.

The party was taken into full swing with Soul Funk Secret a 7-piece band who played into the night and introduced Hannah and Steve's first dance.

When I asked Hannah about their day she said "Overall, it was even more perfect than we could have imagined, and everything went to plan. There isn't anything I would have changed."

I am so delighted to have been part of their day and to have been there to celebrate with Hannah, Steve and their wonderful families. I wish you both many years of happiness, filed with love, laughter and wonderful memories.  

Thank you to all the suppliers of the day:

All photo credits to - www.jacksonandcophotography.com

Flowers/ Venue Décor - www.bettyandbearflowers.co.uk

Venues - Knebworth Barns & Tewin Farm

Dress - Maria Senvo from Heritage Brides

Shoes - Merle & Morris from Heritage Brides
Bridesmaid dresses - Monsoon (Limited Edition.)
Flower girl dresses - John Lewis.
Grooms wear - HRH Holmes & Son. All the Groomsmen wore tweed.
Mother of the Bride - Cream in Royston.
Rings - Cool Rocks.
Jewellery - Not On The High Street (bridesmaids & flower girls)

Hair - Toni & Guy
Make up - Natalie Sharman.
Cake - Naked wedding cake made by family friend
Entertainment - Lawrence Hill & Soul Funk Secret
Transport – Family Land Drovers
Wedding Stationary - designed by Amy Lisney-Smith

Anne x

Bohemian-chic Wedding

A favourite wedding theme that was seen in 2014 is making a huge appearance in 2015. It has been said that bohemian-chic/country or rustic style will be this year’s number one wedding theme.

The aim behind these weddings is to create a warm, intimate atmosphere for the guests and the bride and groom. You may have long wooden tables instead of round ones and tea lights hanging delicately from trees or twigs.

Lots of brides come to me and say they would like a rustic/country style wedding, that is simple and elegant and with no fuss – therefore they will be doing their own flowers...

Although your wedding day is the most amazing day of your life you will be stressed and at times you will panic. It isn't uncommon for people to want save money and do their own flowers but I wouldn't always advise it.

However, I am all for money saving ideas so if you do want to create your own flowers for your rustic wedding here are a few simple tips for your day:

Jam jars may get you in a sticky mess

Although we all love a jam jar and they look fabulous with tea lights in them, they are not great for flowers.

To make a jam jar look good it will take nearly as many flowers as it does on a normal centre piece. Due to the jam jar being rather wide it takes a lot of filling to make them look pretty. If you don’t use enough flowers they can look sparse and scruffy.

If you want simple yet effective, buy a few milk bottles (these can be bought from IKEA), you then only need three or four per table and one flower in each - simple and elegant! You can also get different coloured bottles to add some more colours to your table.

Tea light elegance

The light from a tea light adds so much warmth to a room with its soft glow and flicker. Add two or three tea lights in glass holders to your tables for a cost effective natural elegance. 

Baby’s breath

...Also known as gipsofila is a small white flower where each stalk looks like its very own tree. This is a great low cost flower which adds sophistication to any wedding. This can be used in larger milk bottles or even as your bouquet.

Table numbers

Everyone loves to have unique table numbers. Some great ideas I have made for my brides include – painted pumpkins or gourds and numbers made of moss.

Mary had a little lamb

Shepherds hooks with hanging jars filled with colourful flowers set in large buckets and covered in moss are perfect for any reception venue.

Vintage is best

Vintage ribbon is a great way of adding colour and vibrancy to any party, especially your wedding. Try sourcing the ribbon from your local emporium, charity shop or on the internet. You can accessorise with different styles, widths and colours or follow a simple theme of colour. Add the ribbon to jam jars, chairs and milk bottles.

A Daughter & A Bride

It is always such an honour to be asked by a bride to create their wedding flowers. 

Even though I have been doing my job for many years there is still no feeling quite like it - I love meeting and working with new people. Creating wonderful new arrangements full of colour and life is fantastic.

I always knew that I would do my daughters wedding and I would enlist the help of my extremely talented sister but when she got engaged and reality kicked in, although it was a great feeling - a mixture of excitement but with a large spoonful of professionalism as I knew I had to create the best work I have ever created before!

I will take you back to when Emily & Nick got engaged in November 2013. Emily thought she was being taken to Cornwall for the weekend, a childhood favourite. However, she was whisked away to Venice to eat delicious Italian food and ride gondolas in the moon light where Nick proposed on a roof top terrace after a delicious meal and champagne along the Grand Canal. 

After a month or two they found the perfect venue in Nottingham called Stubton Hall and they booked their day for May 2015. Stubton Hall is a stunning manor house set in the middle of the countryside with a huge lake and amazing views. We only needed to look at this venue and both sides of the family fell in love with it immediately. 

Emily had a very exact idea about what dress, flowers and colour theme she wanted from the word go. We set straight to work and found her the perfect wedding dress by Monique Lhuillier which came all the way from America! Her veil and accessories we purchased a little later from the magical Heritage Brides set in the grounds of Hatfield House, Hertfordshire. Emily's sister Florence was her Maid of Honour and we had her dress handmaid to a design Florence had chosen and the two other bridesmaids who are very good friends of Emily's were in floor length silk grey dresses - simply stunning!

The flowers...well the the ideas were brilliant! It was just pulling it all off! Emily wanted peonies, roses and hydrangeas as her main flowers all in white and pale pink. 

Her hand tied was made of purely pale pink and white peonies and I added a vintage broach to finish off the look.

The music room at Stubton Hall is amazing! The floor and walls are painted white and over look the stunning grounds at the back of the house. We decided to have pots of hydrangeas and lupins lining the aisle along with two huge arrangements at the top by the registrars table. These were filled with an assortment of beautiful flowers in keeping with the pale pink and white theme.

Emily and Nick's beautiful niece's and nephew played a huge part of the day by walking perfectly up the aisle. We had their dresses hand made by 'Oh Sew Vintage' and Leo their nephews outfit was made by Angie, Nick's mum. The girls also wore their Christening gifts from Emily & Nick which were Tiffany Necklaces. Here is the beautiful Poppy with her headband and pink hydrangea.

Stubton Hall allows its weddings to have sole use of the venue for the day and morning after your wedding which helps make the day so special allowing guests to freely wonder the grounds, the beautiful rooms and party into the night.

The reception was held in the orangery which is a huge room with floor to ceiling windows and an amazing organza arch above the bride and groom, we placed two huge urns at the entrance of the hall and filled it with twigs, hydrangea heads and candlelit glass bulbuls.

Emily and Nick had 90 guests and 10 tables in total. In the centre of each table was a cream candelabra each with slightly different designs. Some had the flowers spiralling up the stem while others had rings of flowers through the candles or sitting at the base. Each one was individually created.

My favourite creation of the day which myself and my sister are extremely proud of was the top table. It was purely made of hydrangea and peonies and I am sure you will agree it looks fab!

It was an amazing day and all the guests had a great time enjoying the venue, celebrations and the sunshine!

Thank you to:

Claire Lau Photography

Heritage Brides

Stubton Hall

Monique Lhuillier 

Florist on the Green

Betty & Bear Flowers

Oh Sew Vintage

Angie's Cakes

Alison Jenner Hair 

We must't forgot the incredible cake! It tasted just as good as it looks!

Anne x

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