Real Traditional English Wedding: Sarah & Michael's Portrait Pictures

Your wedding portrait pictures will be some of the most important photographs of the day, so it's worth having a bit of a think about what you want beforehand. Consider using props to help you relax - some brides carry a parasol, or you could pose with matching bicycles or even funny hats and signs. An engagement session can also help you relax with your wedding photographer, and with posing in front of each other! In these gorgeous portrait shots from Sarah and Michael's big day, their photographer Anna Rosell took full advantage of the stunning gardens at Longstowe Hall. I love how she frames the shots with the rose arbours, and takes a mixture of informal and posed pictures. Make sure your wedding photographer knows what pictures you want, and scout out good spots at your wedding venue when you visit. Meanwhile, don't miss more gorgeous reception details from this wedding, coming soon!

We celebrated our wedding at Longstowe Hall in Cambridge on 4th August 2012. We wanted a real English wedding, and felt the historical feel of Longstowe's Elizabethan architecture, and its beautiful English rose gardens was just perfect.



Our photographer was Anna Rosell. She was recommended by the venue, but I also loved her work and the gorgeous colours that she always manages to capture in her shots. 

I spent months in the run-up to our wedding following Anna’s blog, and looking at the other weddings that she had shot, so I was very excited, as I knew she would provide us with pictures to treasure.

We had a purple and lace theme to the wedding, and also white roses, again keeping with the traditional English feel. We wanted to keep it simple and traditional yet classic. We also felt it was really important to use local suppliers and we managed to do just that.

♥ Want to see quintessentially English weddings? ♥ Or how about elegant weddings? ♥

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Real Lace-Themed English Wedding: Sarah & Michael

Much as I love quirky weddings, I'm a traditionalist at heart, and there's nothing I like more than a classic marquee wedding, set in the beautiful English countryside. Sarah and Michael chose the stunning Longstowe Hall in Cambridge for their summer big day - it's one of my favourite wedding venues because of its stunning rose gardens, and they struck lucky with a sunny August day - perfect for their portrait pictures. Sarah was keen to create a classically elegant feel to her wedding, so picked a lace theme, and a simple colour palette of rich purple and white. With this in mind, every wedding detail is perfectly matched, from the bridesmaids' dresses, to the wedding invitations and the wedding cake. Even the confetti matched, creating a brilliantly put-together feel to the whole day! You'll find tonnes of wedding inspiration in these beautiful wedding pictures by Anna Rosell - I'm a huge fan of her work, particularly her portrait shots. Don't miss the reception pictures, in the second blog post, later today.

We celebrated our wedding at Longstowe Hall in Cambridge on 4th August 2012. We wanted a real English wedding, and felt the historical feel of Longstowe's Elizabethan architecture, and its beautiful English rose gardens was just perfect.

We had a purple and lace theme to the wedding, and also white roses, again keeping with the traditional English feel. We wanted to keep it simple and traditional yet classic. We also felt it was really important to use local suppliers and we managed to do just that.

Like most brides, my original idea for how my wedding dress would look, was not what I ended up with. After visiting many shops I finally chose a beautiful Augusta Jones lace gown from Lara B in Newmarket. I wanted to be slightly more covered up, so I re-designed the top part of the dress, but I especially loved the open back and the lace edged veil.

I couldn’t find any bridesmaids dresses I liked so I ended up designing them myself, and having them made by a local seamstress, Cheryl Stratton.

Our wedding flowers were from The Flower House in Cambridge. I don't know much about flowers, and only knew that I wanted purple and white roses in the stem of the vases, so I let the florist decide on the arrangements. 



I was over the moon with her work! After the wedding I sent my flowers off to Precious Petals to be preserved, and now have my beautifully preserved bouquet framed above our bed.

We spent ages designing our wedding invitations, menus and table names, keeping with the purple and lace/white theme. We found an wonderful lady called Julie, whose local stationery company is called Little Button Nose, who handmade them for us.

Our wedding stationery was one of my favourite parts of the planning process, and I've kept a souvenir of everything that was made.

My husband's suit was from Moss Bros, teamed with a cream tie. The other men in the wedding party had purple ties, to fit in with our wedding theme.

Our photographer was Anna Rosell. She was recommended by the venue, but I also loved her work and the gorgeous colours that she always manages to capture in her shots. 

I spent months in the run-up to our wedding following Anna’s blog, and looking at the other weddings that she had shot, so I was very excited, as I knew she would provide us with pictures to treasure.

♥ Want to see quintessentially English weddings? ♥ Or how about summer weddings? ♥

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Fabulous Wedding Marquee Inspiration

When it comes to wedding venues the marquee is king. They're the perfect blank canvas for your wildest dreams, and as long as you've got a field, or a decent sized garden, they can be thrown up pretty much anywhere. I'm a huge fan, particularly because a marquee hire wedding usually means the bride and groom get to choose their own wedding vendors - so you can pick a caterer and not pay a corkage charge, saving you money in the long run. But the most exciting element is the endless decorating options! With a little bit of cash and a lot of dash, you can DIY almost any wedding theme, from vintage, to carnival or shabby chic. Just add lanterns, swags, linings, bunting, chandeliers, ribbons, and my favourite, DIY tissue pom poms!  Last summer was all about the rustic tipi, and they're still on trend for this year's weddings, but if you're looking for a more modern look, Bees Marquees supplies marquees with transparent roofs. These 'crystal' tents are hugely popular, as you can recreate the feeling of dancing under the stars, even if it rains! Here are a few of my favourite marquee looks - many more on my Pinterest board!

{Photo Credit} Matt Miller of Our Labour of Love - see the full wedding on Ruffled Blog

{Photo Credit} Unknown

{Photo Credit} 1. Red Floral |  2. Blooming Photography - see the whole wedding on Rock n' Roll Bride



{Photo Credit} Fiona's Wedding Photography and FO Photography - see the full wedding on Before the Big Day

  

{Photo Credit} 1. Unknown | 2. Paul J Andrews Photography - see the full wedding on Boho Weddings

{Photo Credit} We Love Pictures - see the full wedding on Before the Big Day

{Photo Credit} 1. Unknown | 2. Toast of Leeds - see the full wedding on Boho Weddings

{Photo Credit} 1. Victoria Phipps Photography - see the full wedding on Before the Big Day

More posts like this one:

✽ Real DIY Boho Wedding

✽ Glamorous Alice in Wonderland Wedding

♥ Want to see marquee wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about more garden weddings? ♥

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Real Country Rustic Wedding: Ruth & Pete

Wahey for the sunshine! We're not getting enough of it this spring. So in celebration, I'm featuring  a stunning English garden wedding, fresh from the portfolio of talented duo Renira & Jane Photography. Ruth and Pete celebrated their big day in Mayfield in East Sussez with a cute shabby chic floral theme. I'm totally besotted with Ruth's non-white wedding dress. It's super-classy to do your wedding in your way, and I'm loving her patterned dress and the simple daisies in her hair. There's so many other details that I've fallen for, that I'm finding it hard to choose which ones to mention first! The mismatched fabric bunting, the lanterns, the Cath Kidston-style chair-cushions, the gorgeous open-sided marquee, the hand-potted herbs on the tables and Ruth's hand-tied rustic bouquet - everything is unique and personalised. Don't miss the cute little illustrations on the place cards.

More posts like this one:

✽ Real Summer Countryside Wedding

✽ Real Tipi Church Wedding

♥ Want to see stately home weddings? ♥ Or how about more dark blue themed weddings? ♥

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