Beautiful & Relaxed Summer Blush Lavender & Hessian Wedding -...

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Oh the style, oh the glamour.

Phil and Nush's utterly beautiful summer wedding was held back on the 27th June and they chose Poundon House for it's intimate and relaxed setting. They incorporated classic and vintage elements which looked stunning. With fresh pretty pink bouquets, Champagne blush frocks worn by the sweet girls and the floral reception tent. Much of the décor was hand crafted and I love the touches of hessian and lavender, the scent must have been heavenly.

Nush looked incredible in her Pronovias gown with pale blue shoes and delicate headdress. WOW. Oh and don't miss the naked black forest gateau cake... yum.

Thanks so much to the wonderful Jen Marino for sharing her imagery with us.

THE PROPOSAL | Phil and I had been together for 6 years before the proposal so I was waiting, and at times nagging!!

We have our birthdays close together in March so Phil planned a weekend away in London for the two of us.

I was taking my time to get ready thinking we were in no particular hurry as I was unaware of any concrete plans for once we arrived in London. When we did arrive we had to rush off after dropping our bags at the hotel, as Phil had booked a table at Maze for lunch. Phil kept asking if I wanted champagne but I was quite happy with my glass of wine. I remember feeling the restaurant was very posh just for a casual lunch, so wondered if he may have something up his sleeve. My suspicions grew as Phil took me on several tube rides and was very evasive about where to! We arrived in Kensington and Chelsea Borough and went for a walk through the park and he then said he wanted to show me the Japanese garden as I had never been before. Phil suggested we went over to the waterfall and the next thing I knew, he was down on one knee with a ring box in his hand. I think I then said "yes" before he had even said anything! We got a couple of stares and whispers of "I think he just proposed" from a couple who walked past us, which I think we both found embarrassing so we left to carry on with our day. It felt very surreal. In the evening we went out for dinner and whilst being shown to our table I was expecting a table for two and was then surprised to see lovely familiar faces instead! I hadn't been in touch with any of my friends since the proposal and I wasn't wearing the ring (as it didn't fit!) so there were some puzzled looks exchanged for a while until we worked out who knew what, and I came to the realisation that all my friends knew it was going to happen before I did!!

I later found out that I had messed up the original plan due to us getting to London late, as Phil planned to take me to Kyoto Gardens in the morning for the proposal (with the hope of less people being around to witness it!). Hence why he booked Maze for lunch and the repetitive suggestion of champagne! But even still, it was perfect. He now knows he should give me a time to be ready for!

THE VISION | Summer wedding in a relaxed and intimate setting with vintage styling.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | I began by looking at Pinterest to get some ideas on décor and outfits. I listed down many ideas and saved many pins. My ideas would change from time to time. Phil sat back and let me get on with it - best way, no arguments then!!

The first thing I did was look at dresses to get an idea on styles I thought would suit me and my wedding style but I waited quite a while before going to try any on. We looked at venues and then decided which ones to go and look at. We only looked at three and we chose the first one we looked at. We then booked the registrar as we wanted a civil ceremony at the house so the wedding and reception would all take place at the same place. Once we had the venue and registrar sorted we booked the caterer, bands and photographer.

BUDGET | We didn't really set a budget (not out loud anyway!).

THE VENUE | Poundon House. It had everything we wanted, a beautiful English Country House in wonderful grounds with amazing views and rooms for us, the bridal party and family to stay in the Friday and Saturday night. Poundon House is owned by the Roscoe Family who let us get on with it and stepped in where we needed them. It felt very relaxed and intimate, just what we wanted.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | I wore a beautiful Pronovias dress from the Atelier 2014 collection. My shoes were from Rachel Simpson in a pale blue colour and 1920's style. I decided I wanted a headpiece rather than a veil as I could wear it all day and evening. My jewellery was my something borrowed (Pandora bracelet, borrowed from my maid of honour) and something new (Diamond earrings from Phil).

FINDING THE DRESS | I have a family friend who works for a bridal magazine in Italy so I got in touch with her to recommend some designers. One of her recommendations was Pronovias. I looked at the website and saw many dresses I liked which was very refreshing as all the other websites I had looked at did not really inspire me. I found two dresses on the Pronovias site and one in particular which I got an excited feeling about, so I searched for a shop in my area that stocks Pronovias dresses. Luckily I found one not too far away in Stony Stratford called, Once In A Lifetime. Unfortunately they did not stock the two dresses I wanted to try on but I tried on a few others which I liked in the Pronovias range and a couple of other designers. None of the dresses gave me a feeling of "it's the one" and I knew I needed to try on the dress I loved on the Pronovias website. I thought it may be the one and I didn't want any regrets. I booked an appointment at Pronovias Bond Street store and was in luck as they stocked both dresses that I had grown a liking for. I tried on the dress I loved first and although it looked beautiful it was uncomfortable and due to the cut of the off the shoulders and long sleeves design it was very restrictive when I came to raising my arms! So I tried on my second choice... as soon as I stepped into it and looked in the mirror I had a smile on my face and had a great feeling about it. This feeling was clarified by my two bridesmaids who came with me. Their reaction when I walked out of the changing room said it all.

GROOM'S ATTIRE | Phil wore a bespoke suit from Moss Bros which we enjoyed designing. We got to choose a lot of detailing to it. He wore a white shirt, pale yellow tie with a pale yellow pocket square and brown shoes. The lining of Phil's jacket and back of waistcoat was a pale blue check. My gift to Phil was a pocket watch to wear on the day which I had engraved. The Groomsmen wore a blue Ted Baker suit from Moss Hire range.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | I walked down the aisle to 'Kissing You' by Des'ree played by the String Quartet who we booked for the ceremony and drinks reception. We had a mixture of classical and pop music played. Classical for the ceremony and then some more modern music for the drinks reception.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | My three bridesmaids wore long dresses with a lovely lace and beaded bodice with a sheer back in a Champagne colour. They wore gold coloured slightly sparkly heeled sandals. I had two beautiful flower girls (our nieces) who wore champagne coloured tutu dresses with pastel coloured flowers on the bodice and a pale blue sash. They wore cute little Ballet shoes and pale pink ballet tights.

THE FLOWERS | I kept the flowers very simple. I ordered loads of lavender bunches to decorate the aisle chairs for the ceremony and to use as the centrepieces for the marquee reception. The bouquets and buttonholes were done by a florist and we chose pink lisianthus and roses with gypsophila and lavender sprigs.

THE CAKE | I wanted a naked cake to go with the vintage look and we both love Black Forest gateau so I found a cake designer that could create that for us. It was made with 4 tiers and looked and tasted fantastic. We also had a cheese tower prepared by our caterer.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | The brilliant Jen Marino Photography. I found Jen whilst looking at photos from a wedding at Poundon House. I loved how natural they were and how she managed to capture all the little details. We are so pleased we chose Jen and have so many gorgeous photos to remember our special day. We have had so many lovely comments from friends and family on how great Jen is and how she just fitted into the day so well without anyone feeling like they were being photographed and having to strike a pose! My bridesmaid who is getting married next year has since booked her up!

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | I put a lot of thought into the details and décor and bought things from eBay, Hobbycraft and from searching the internet. The ceremony décor was very simple as the house and grounds don't need tarting up at Poundon!

The aisle chairs had lavender bunches tied to them with pale pink ribbon and we had a shabby chic framed chalkboard for the 'running of the day'. Lots of wooden signs and confetti cones ready to be thrown.

The marquee décor consisted of lots of bunting and lavender. We had a vintage suitcase for cards. Our guest book was made with coloured envelopes stuck to each page and then coloured pieces of card for the guests to write a message on and post in an envelope.

I also put a small floral suitcase for toiletries in the ladies - deodorant, mints, perfume, dry shampoo, hand cream. That all disappeared pretty quick!! I put baskets of flip flops for tired dancing feet in the seating area of the marquee.

Our table plan was a shabby chic frame on a wooden easel, made with pegs, hessian and luggage tags.

The table décor was again in keeping with the vintage/shabby chic theme. Our wedding favours took me ages to make as did the lavender bunches for the place names! The wedding favours were little jars and I filled them with sugared almonds (from my parents who live in Italy) and I then put some lace netting over the top tied with jute string and a little thank you tag.

The table linen was white and I bought hessian table runners and loads of lace and crochet doilies to use as table centres. The centrepiece was a mason jar with lavender bunches inside. Smelt great and looked really pretty and simple.

I made the table numbers by buying lots of white shabby chic frames and used hessian numbers inside each frame. I also got a menu printed using Vistaprint and a photo from our engagement shoot.

THE HONEYMOON | We went to St Ives, Cornwall and stayed in a lovely boutique cottage.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | All of it!! Doing the long walk around the house with my Dad and bridesmaids and approaching the terrace marquee, hearing the string quartet and seeing Phil's face as I walked down the aisle.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Enjoy every minute, I know we did. Don't let other people tell you what to do or who you should invite, it's your day so do what you both want.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photography | Jen Marino

Venue | Poundon House

Dress | Once in a Life Time Bridalwear

Catering | Original Kitchen

Shoes | Rachel Simpson Shoes

Cake | All Cakes and Sizes

Florist | Amaris Flower Boutique

Band | BackBeat Live Band

Musician | Dmitri Quartet

Tutus | Coco Amour

Hair and make up artist | Victoria Percival