Marina & Will

Who would like to hear the details of this marquee wedding at home in Northamptonshire? To tell the story, I need to start with Marina, my bride. Don't get me wrong, Will is the loveliest guy you'll ever meet, but to see the true beauty behind this wedding, you need to know who Marina is. So, in short: she's kind, smart, funny, bold and bright in her clothes and her jewellery and her art, but utterly sweet and intuitive in her interactions with people and animals. And when you're all those things, you deserve a wedding that celebrates all the facets of the jewel that you are. 

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Marina and Will knew all along that they wanted to have a wedding at home in the garden, in Northamptonshire, where Marina grew up. They both consider this to be home, and a wedding at home is exactly what they were after. As it happens, Marina's mother is a garden designer, so a beautiful setting was already delivered. The only hiccup there was that the lawn between the orchard and the formal garden, the best place for a marquee, had a less than desirable slope, but Philippa sorted that quickly enough with the help of a mini digger.

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So the theme emerged fairly organically: An English country garden wedding, in a marquee at home, in beautiful rural Northamptonshire. But to make it fully Marina, it had to be bold, and it had to be bright. 

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With September chosen as their wedding month, and Philippa in charge of flowers, dahlias were always going to be the star of the [flower] show. Perfectly lending themselves with their bright colours and snazzy shapes and forms, they were tucked in bud vases of various shapes and sizes and paired with other soft and whimsical garden greenery and flowers and used in a statement halo over the bar, along with a suspended ladder in the middle of the tables. Marina borrowed oversized candelabras from her friend (a previous wedding of mine - see this Christmas wedding here!), spray painted them gold and stuck colourful taper candles from our favourite Ester & Erik in them. 

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While Marina knew exactly what she wanted to do with stationery, and spent numerous hours and days painting incredible portraits of her guests in her signature style, that would act as place card and memento to take home, further portraits of significant family pets that were the table names, with illustrated menus  and hymn sheets to match. But the tablescape still remained unfinished. In the end, we figured that Northfield's Linen's 'natural range' would work perfectly with the setting, while still lending that extra colour needed in the shade 'Natural Fire'. Perfectly complemented by Wren Ark's Loretta Rattan Placemats, gold cutlery and coloured tumblers. And the results were indeed on fire and so perfectly Marina (and Will)!

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I could not talk you through this English garden wedding without mentioning two other stars of the show: Marina & Will's poodle Radish, and Philippa's poodle Minnie. Both were meant to stay tucked away in their den in the mud room, but they soon escaped the kitchen and decided to join in the celebrations - big time! And the day was all the better for it.

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Two other highlights of the day came in the shape of the Orleans-style brass band that played Marina & Will out of the church and led all the guests - post-confetti-throwing - back to the wedding garden. A more joyful walk from church to reception has never been seen! And on arrival, guests were not only greeted by welcome glasses of ice cold Champagne, handily stored in the neighbour's vintage Piaggeo, but roaming and oyster-shucking by the fabulous Oyster Meister. 

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The evening brought amazing tunes from DJ Gentleman George, an amazing dress change by Marina, and the first dance did of course feature an insane amount of colourful confetti canons. 

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To read Marina's first hand account of her incredible English garden marquee wedding, at home in Northamptonshire, and to find out all the details of her dresses, accessories and dress shopping experience, hop right on over to Love My Dress! ​​​

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