Enchanting Old-World Garden Wedding

April & John

I simply cannot stop looking at these amazing images from April and John’s enchanting old-world garden wedding, so beautifully captured by Kate Drennan Photography. The couple wanted a floral, vintage, garden theme, and I have to say they absolutely nailed it! It was important to them that their day feel very relaxed, and not too fancy, and so almost every element from their day was DIY, with the help from their amazing family and friends. The fact that it hailed on their wedding day did nothing to discourage the couple from enjoying every moment of the day.

The bride remembers how they came to be. “We met in high school. John was trying to get into my friend’s party, and I was trying to stop him from getting in because we didn’t know him. John managed to sweet talk his way in and the rest is history. That was over 10 years ago!”

The groom wore a grey, textured suit from Pierre Cardin, purchased from Myer. “The grey was my choice to fit in with the vintage style,” says John. “I thought that grey was the most classic style. My pocket square was a fabric off cut of April’s dress, which mum gave to me the morning of the wedding. It was really exciting to get a little glimpse of April’s dress without knowing at all what it would look like. My blue, floral bow tie was from a cool online store Grand Frank, which I came across by chance when looking for vintage wedding things. My groomsmen and I wore vintage Casio watches, which I bought for them as a gift. I love their timepieces; always have, and thought they would go perfectly with the theme of the day.”

April wore her mother’s wedding dress, which she had designed in 1981 for her own wedding. “I loved it when I was little, and love it still now,” gushes the bride. “Nothing about it was changed for our wedding. It is such a beautiful dress, with a classic and simple design, that it really needed no improvement. I felt beautiful and elegant in the gown, and it was made even more special knowing that my mum felt the same on her wedding day.”

The bride also made her own bouquet, as well as the floral buttonholes for the groom and groomsmen. The jewellery worn by herself, her sisters and cousin (who were her bridesmaids) were all made by the bride’s friend, Caroline McWhinnie. Her bridesmaids wore gowns from Portmans, and adorned stunning floral belts from Nash and Willo w.

The couple were married in the garden at April’s parent’s home, both saying that it was a no brainer for them to choose it as their ceremony venue. “we have always loved it, and have spent a huge amount of time in it with family and friends,” tells the bride. “My parents have always maintained a beautiful garden, and we really wanted to get married in a place that was not only lovely, but meant something to us as well. My parents worked tirelessly on it before the wedding, and then had a small team of friends arrive to help set up the day before.”

April walked down the garden aisle to Sam Smith’s “Make it to Me” to meet her dashing groom in the marquee from Marquee Magic, and beautifully decorated by the bride, her parents and her sisters. “We wanted our ceremony to have a bit of everything,” she says. “It was really important to John to have aspects from his Scottish heritage included, and for I wanted to be married by the Catholic priest, Father Michael McMahon, who I had known since school. We wrote our own vows and, literally “tied the knot” while John’s aunt spoke about the symbolism of the knot. We also had two close family friends pick their own readings for us. It was nice to have a surprise on our wedding day, and also to hear what other people felt for us. It was really lovely.”

“Our photographer, Kate Drennan, was absolute perfection. She has given us the most wonderful photos, and has captured, so beautifully, intimate photos of not only us, but of our friends and family too. She was incredibly relaxed all day, and most of the time we didn’t actually notice she was there. We were very lucky to have had her for our day, and would highly recommend her to anyone else after someone to capture their wedding. Due to the rainy weather on the day, the photos were amazing. They say it’s good luck for it to rain on your wedding day, well, John and I have enough luck for eternity.”

April and John chose The Roleystone Country Club to hold their reception, as it is very near where John grew up, and they wanted to have their reception somewhere they could revisit whenever they wanted. “We’ve already been back to the club a few times with friends, and love that it is already becoming a place where we can go and remember our perfect day,” gushes the bride. “The staff let us do whatever we wanted to the function room on they day, so it was our own blank canvas and we made the most of it!”

The reception decor was set up by a team of friends and family. All the lights at the reception were set up by John, and all the flowers were arranged by April, and some friends and relatives. The vases on each table were hand painted, and the bunting that hung from the ceiling was made by the bride’s sister. The invites and place cards were also all made by the bride, who admits that all the work to create their perfect wedding theme was tiring, but that seeing all of their hard work and ideas come together was truly special.