OUR KENTISH CEREMONY
Married At Nettlestead Place
Maidstone
Vanessa and Glenn opted for a traditional wedding with candid photography and some sentimental nods to remember Vanessa’ s late father
Photography by Helen England Photography
The Venue We chose our wedding venue by researching on the internet for local wedding venues in Kent and didn’ t actually see many venues before deciding on Nettlestead Place. We fell in love with the venue for its setting; it brought back memories of loved ones that couldn’ t be with us on the day, particularly my( Vanessa’ s) father, and instantly made us feel closer to them, as though they were part of our day, too.
The Outfits Having tried on many dresses, I eventually got mine from Felicity Rose Bridal and it was totally different to what I thought I had in mind. A rainbow appeared when I tried it on, which I was sure was a sign from my late father confirming the dress was the one. To complete my look, I had a memory charm attached to my flowers. The groomsmen went to a local shop for each of their fittings and I knew I wanted a mulit-wrap dress for the bridesmaids, so I made sure they matched our colour scheme and each other.
The Ceremony I loved our day and honestly cannot pick one favourite moment, although it was lovely to have my son give me away. The doorbell ringing unexpectedly as I arrived was also very memorable though, as was Glenn’ s ring being too small and turning his finger blue!
The Reception We chose Nettlestead Caterers to cater the wedding after a food and wine tasting session with them; all of the food was delicious and we had a grazing table later on in the reception which was perfect for the evening. Iced Images Cakes designed and made our wedding cake. It was a four-tier semi-naked cake with sugar iced sunflowers. We used S & T Weddings and Event Hire for our evening DJ who we found on Facebook, and our first dance was to‘ Why I Love You’ by Major because it’ s a song that holds a lot of meaning for us.
The Decor Our overall wedding theme was sunflowers and the colours we incorporated were yellow, navy and sage. I always knew I wanted sunflowers as they are my favourite flower and yellow is my favourite colour. Flowers Everywhere, which is a company run by a family friend, did our wedding flowers and my beautiful arrangements and bouquets were made from a mix of sunflowers, eucalyptus, roses and gypsophila, I also had a blue rose in my bridal bouquet to represent my father.
The Photography We chose Helen England Photography to be our photographer having met her at a wedding fair at Hever Castle. We liked her style and hit it off straight away, so we felt we could trust her to provide the candid, natural and discreet pictures we wanted. They’ re all so good, we have too many favourites to pick just one!
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