Kate and James were married at Sandhole Oak Barn near Congleton in Cheshire. We’d been there a few days earlier for the wedding of Gemma and Paul, but the look and feel of this celebration was totally different – a good example of what can be done at a venue like this.
Kate had chosen a stunning lace dress from Michelle at Timeless Bride in Poynton, and wanted the simplicity and elegance of a pure white colour scheme for the flowers. So if we’re talking elegant, glamorous and white, there’s only one real option – phalaenopsis orchids. Kate had seen this style of bouquet from a previous wedding we’d done, and knew it was the one for her.
When the flowers are this perfect, there’s no need to over-complicate things, so we just used phalaenopsis orchid ‘Red Lip’ on their natural stems and finished it off with a pure white satin ribbon handle.
The bridesmaids were in stylish ice blue dresses, so we chose to keep things simple again with bouquets of pure white hydrangea, finished with delicate silver bullion wire threaded with tiny silver and pearl beads to match the detail on Kate’s dress.
James sported a beautiful single ‘Red Lip’ phalaenopsis orchid head finished with a silver bullion wire ball for his buttonhole, while the other men in the bridal party had small clusters of white hydrangea to match the bridesmaids. The mums had simple but glamorous phalaenopsis orchid corsages.
The entrance to the barn was dressed with swags of seasonal white flowers, including roses, alliums, agapanthus and stocks, finished with trailing ivy.
For the ceremony, we lined the aisle with fresh white rose petals, and provided confetti cones of petals for the guests to throw. We had also dressed the chairs with white covers and white bows to give a classic, elegant look to the room.
We placed two huge ‘Red Lip’ phalaenopsis orchid plants in white pots dressed with twigs and moss at the top of the aisle. The lucky mums got to take these home as thankyou gifts.
The reception tables were decorated with our elegant tall conical vases which we topped with massed white hydrangea heads finished with fountains of steelgrass.
We wanted to make a more dramatic statement with the top table arrangement, so used a selection of seasonal white flowers such as alliums, stocks, roses, phlox and poppy seedheads interspersed with chunky church candles. This was all finished with a flamboyant waterfall of trailing foliages including asparagus fern and ivy, with a final touch of silver wire threaded with perfumed stephanotis heads.
The three tier cake was simply decorated with white hydrangea to match the bridesmaids’ bouquets and table centres.
All in all, a hugely stylish, elegant wedding day, which we were very proud to be a part of. Thanks to Chris Hanley for sending these fantastic images through – you can see the full gallery over on his blog. Kate and James’ wedding has also been featured on English Wedding – many thanks to Claire for the lovely write-up.
And last, but not least, thankyou to Kate and James – we hope you enjoyed your day and wish you all the best for the future…
