The week before their rustic summer wedding in the New Forest, Jane & Dylan had their registry office ceremony, which meant that their garden wedding in the forest, could be as informal as they wanted it to be…and that it was! When I arrived at The Little White House, their families were decorating the garden with colourful lanterns and putting the finishing touches to the tentipi where Jane & Dylan exchanged their vows, with Jane’s sister Emma, from New York, leading the ceremony. I absolutely loved how relaxed the entire day was and how beautifully it all came together!
I always feel it’s so important not to lose sight of what weddings are all about – to me it’s about the promise a bride & groom make to each other and the wonderful opportunity to celebrate this decision with family & friends. Yes, the details are very important and a lot of hard work goes into making a wedding successful, but when you strip all of that away, it all comes down to love, relationships and happiness! I kept seeing these three elements over and over again in Jane & Dylan’s day, from their friends staying over for the wedding – camping in the field next door to the entire family pitching in to get everything ready. The amount of DIY that went into making their day special, was inspirational – colorful lanterns strung up to decorate the garden and Jane’s gorgeous vintage Edwardian wedding dress, lovingly restored by her mum all the way through to the colorful paper cut-outs to decorate the tentipi. I also loved the colourful butterfly cards which guests could write little messages on for Jane & Dylan to read later – “Fly away in love” was my favourite!
Jane was my first ‘Edwardian bride’ and she was an absolute vision in her vintage Edwardian wedding dress (dating back from 1910) which had been restored & customised by her mum, after Jane found it on an American website and had it sent back to the UK. Now that’s what I call motherly love!
I had a great time shooting this wedding and by the looks of the photos below, so did Jane & Dylan and their guests – from playing Rounders in the garden, to chatting around the bonfire to dancing the night away inside the tentipi. Jane & Dylan planned their wedding to ensure’ maximum enjoyment’ for themselves and their guests and that’s exactly the way it should be!
Without further ado, here are some of my favourite photos from the day and as always, if your’e stopping by, please show your appreciation for the happy couple!
* Jane & Dylan’s wedding was featured on gorgeous wedding blog – Love My Dress. Read the full feature here.*
Don’t you just love the light and the long evenings in Summer?
Wedding suppliers:
Jane’s Dress: Sourced from an American website and restored by her mum
Jane’s shoes: Second hand from eBay. They are Diane Hassall Shoes “Liliana”
Bridesmaid Dresses: Jigsaw
Hair stylist: Friend of the bride’s – Emma Southerden
Make up: The bride!
Dylan’s suit: A Suit that Fits (tailormade)
Flowers: The Real Cut Flower Garden – couriered to the house the day before the wedding and arranged into tissue-paper wrapped jam jars on the morning. The flowers are grown sustainably and so you receive whatever is in season. They really wanted the flowers and bouquets to be as relaxed and natural as possible, and they were perfect.
Catering: Estelle & Vincent.