Nautical Stripes For A Preppy Wedding.

Nautical Stripes For A Preppy Wedding.

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Stripes are probably my favourite print. They never fail to make me happy, so when I saw this morning's wedding, with the nautical Bridesmaids and the stationery covered in neat green and navy lines, I had a very big smile on my face.

While I LOVE a romantic, feminine wedding, sometimes it's very refreshing to see something a little more masculine, clean cut and simplistic.

Sometimes, all it takes is elegant white blooms, a pop of red lipstick and a strong stationery choice. Throw in some mini square wedding cakes, each one decorated with guests initials...and you're away. It's as simple as that people!

As you've probably guessed by now, the styling of their big day was very important to Jan and Tom and I think you'll agree that they got it bang on - preppy American meets English perfection.

Jan the Bride:No doubt all couples planning a wedding have a vision but the most important thing to Tom and I was that our wedding was our style and that our life was incorporated into everything we planned. Tom had always planned on a short engagement so after a romantic proposal in my hometown of Newcastle in December 2012 we aimed for our wedding to be at the end of summer - September 2013. Knowing exactly how we wanted it to look and the feel we wanted - we simply aimed to have only our nearest and dearest there and ensure they also had the day of their lives.

The venue was easy enough to pick - The Nevill Arms, Medbourne. A place we often frequent for lunch and drinks. I initally didn't think they would be able to hold enough people but on finding they could no other searching was necessary! The Nevill Arms provided us with the English country charm, amazing food and also allowed us to steer away from any 'corporate' affair which we could put our own spin on. An idyllic walk from St.Giles Church along the stream meant our wedding party could all be together without the need for cars.

The church ceremony was really important so we could get everyone involved and it was memorable. We had three readings, one from our Auntie Gill from the bible, one from our Uncle Phil 'The Desiderata' (A Mitford-Baberton tradition) and one from our Uncle Ant which was a quote from the film 'When Harry Met Sally'. Our Maid of Honour Ruth also sang a solo of 'I Watched The Sunrise' and we had Jeruselum which is a O'Brien tradition.

The Nevill Arms food is extremely high quality - we had canapés of mini Yorkshire puddings and salmon bellinis with rose prosecco. We went for a tasting evening for our wedding breakfast and decided we wanted to do something different. Starters were seafood sharing platters including king prawns, callamari, ciabatta and roasted vegetables - served on large slate boards in the middle of the tables.

For their main course guests could choose what they wanted, we offered pan fried chicken breast stuffed with goats cheese and red onions, fondant potatoes, braised red cabbage, red wine sauce, braised lamb shank, garlic mash, baby onions, lamb and rosemary sauce or a brie, cranberry and hazelnut wellington, crushed potatoes, baby spinach. Dessert was afternoon tea, served on large cakes stands to the centre of the table.

Throughout the planning a lot of people commented we weren't panicked or stressed - We had a vision of our style and stuck with it. Both our styles are a mix of American/English prep. Therefore the first dress I came across was from J.Crew. It wasn't your typical wedding dress - ankle length, high neck with beautiful rose detail. It allowed me wear my own pearl jewellery, do my own natural make-up and wear my hair simply up in a rough bun.

My Maid of Honour Ruth (who was the main help for the entire wedding) and 2 bridesmaids, my twin cousins, Fay and Amy, were all in custom made dresses from Dig For Victory. Based in Brighton, they custom make vintage style dresses with sustainable materials. The girls were in powder blue with a navy stripe tea dresses with petticoat to give that extra lift! As a thank you present we gave them a Kiel James Patrick anchor bracelet.

Again, Tom was aware of how he wanted himself and groomsmen to look. Top to toe in Brooks Brothers. Tom, Ben - Toms best friend and best man, Allan - my brother and Pete - Toms good friend, all wore light blue seersucker jackets, white Oxford cloth shirt, navy slim leg chinos, striped woolen ties with matching socks. All tied in with a classic Cheaney shoe.

It was really important our day was captured on and we had the photos for the rest of our lives! KRAAN wedding photography were used at a family wedding the previous year and came highly recommended. Their quality of shots and understanding of our style was key to show our wedding as intended. Both Marina and Martin kept our photos extremely classy and most importantly most of the shots were action shots so we could avoid posed photos and the wedding was captured to its full extent.

Our flowers were by No.10 Florist in Market Harborough. White roses, with a little greenery tied with navy ribbon. This also took the theme for the bridal party button holes. Except for the groomsmen, father of the bride and mother of the groom. Ruth (MOH) made them an American style buttonaire using American Psycho book pages to create a flower (our favourite book), Beatles music to make leaves all tied together with organza ribbon. This enabled Tom to write them all a personal message on the back.

Our initial choice of colour scheme and theme came from our stationery. Our cousin Megan has a very successful card and stationery company, so there was no deliberating who we would go with. Her understanding for personal style and sheer class when it comes to individualising her product meant we could simply tell her our theme and colours (navy and apple green) and she did the rest! Including our family crest, our stationery really framed the rest of the wedding - from the invitations, order of service, table plans, menu's and even cake boxes - we kept it simple and used her designs with crisp white roses to decorate the venue.

We had a jazz band in the courtyard for guests entering - Ain't That Jazz played 'Unquare Dance' on our entrance.

We individualised each cake with the initials of every guest at our wedding, had individual cake boxes made for place names which then read inside 'Have your cake and eat it too, find the initials that belong to you!'. This enabled us to use the cake for favours so nothing was wasted and included a little fun too!

For the evening, Ruth (MOH) and I made a pashmina basket 'If it gets a little colder, wrap this shawl around your shoulder' and flip flop basket 'A delightful treat for your dancing feet' for guest to get more comfy. Tom also had a cigar and bourbon table in the court yard for the gents to kick back and relax! Tom made a personal family play list for the DJ to ensure all our guests could really enjoy the evening - which included The Rolling Stones, Beatles, Fleetwood Mac etc.


Photography by KRAAN Wedding Photography
Venue The Nevill Arms | Bride J.Crew | Bridesmaids Dig For Victory | Groom & Groomsmen Brooks Brothers & Cheaney | Florist No.10 Flowers | Stationery Megan Claire | Band Ain't That Jazz | Cake Rebecca's Cakes

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