Fans of abundant blooms are going to be in heaven today with Caroline and Frankie’s wedding, which was held on the 23rd June 2018. They chose the grounds of Brewerstreet Farmhouse for a marquee ceremony and reception and both were a real flower fest! From the striking blossom trees on the reception tables to the floral hoop which Caroline crafted herself, it really is so special. In fact, Caroline put together nearly all of the florals herself, very impressive!
Caroline chose a classic dress to fit the theme of the day, doesn’t she look gorgeous in that fishtail number? I’m loving her locks too, will you look at those waves.
Caroline and Frankie had a mariachi band, which I’m totally a fan of. It sounds like they really kept guests entertained and were part of a really special father and daughter dance too.
Caroline mentions how much she loved Danielle Smith Photography and it’s easy to see why. Thank you for sharing these beautiful images with us Danielle.
The Proposal
Christmas Day 2016, he put the ring box at the bottom of the bag of gifts and asked me to sort them all out under the tree, when I turned around with the box in my hand he was down on one knee!!
The Cake
Made by Lizzie Cope. She makes the best and most beautiful vegan cakes in town. She really got my vision spot on and once I gave her the little cherub pillars I had found on ebay the enchanted theme really came together beautifully.
The Vision
My Vision was LOTS of flowers, blossom trees or some kind of trees on every table and all down the aisle, I wanted chandeliers and crystal votives everywhere, mostly white and creams and light pinks. A very classic floral theme. I know how expensive this could be so just had to work within my budget.
The Planning Process
I wanted a marquee wedding in the summer so the first step was to find a venue that was cost effective. We found a great venue, a beautiful country house with amazing gardens big enough to house our reception and ceremony marquees. Catering and drinks came in the package so was a perfect solution for us to have everything all in one place. Once venue was booked and we were one step closer to the vision I looked for centrepieces and decorations for the bare marquee. I found a great company that had beautiful trees that they called ‘enchanted woodland’, I decided to go with this sort of theme for the wedding, I loved the flowers and the colours and the crystal chandeliers and how it all tied in. I bought some very similar coloured artificial flowers on eBay and made a floral hoop for the ‘altar’ and we tied small bouquets of flowers on every other chair with organza ribbon.
Budget
We wanted to save £8-10k each so in total around £20k but we didn’t really know how much was spent..because I kept on getting extra things here and there and everywhere..
Your Outfits & Accessories
Enzoani dress called Jodie. Bought at Helena Fortley Bridal Boutique in Caterham. The veil was bought there too. Shoes were Dune (something borrowed from a friend). Tiara a bargain from Amazon, earrings from a costume jewellery shop in Finsbury Park and my bracelet was a Tiffany bracelet given to me as a gift from my groom on the morning of the wedding.
The Venue
Brewerstreet Farmouse, Bletchingley.
Beauty
Hair from a girl called Alka from the Ambreen Makeup team.
Make up by Duha
The Details & Décor
Essential Couture. This is where I found my beautiful chandeliers and centre floral hoop for ceiling and all of the amazing centrepieces for the tables. They threw in acrylic plinths for the ceremony marquee where we had six of the trees and at the front my homemade floral hoop. I scattered the edges of the aisle runner with ivory petals and made sure the marquee looked as floral as possible. Name places on the table in the reception marquee added a nice touch as each person got a flower and baby’s breath or some kind of foliage in a small vase (from ginger ray) and I had stamped each name on handcut cards. Gift favours were small pearlised boxes with two packs of love hearts inside, personalised with our name and all sweets saying just married. The cake stand was from Etsy (a shop called Crystal Wedding UK), it was a beautiful mirrored stand filled with ivory foam roses, went beautifully with my cake and gave it the height I desired. We got a white taxi photobooth to sit just outside the marquee (from Megabooth), number plates saying ‘just married’, a lovely touch tying in the ‘British’ of his side to my Colombian side. W had mariachis play at the wedding, a very traditional latin American celebration band (Mariachi el Mexicano).
Groomsmen
Groom’s three piece suit was French Connection, the shirt from Moss Bros and the tie was from eBay.
The groomsmen’s three piece suits hired from Moss Bros, their ties from eBay.
All shoes were from ASOS.
Bridesmaids
Dresses made by Rene K Couture.
Your Photographer
Danielle Smith. A great photographer to work with, would choose her one hundred times over, I am so happy with my photos and the way she worked up until the day and on the day itself.
The Readings & Music
No readings. The music was ‘All you need is love’ by the Beatles for the bridesmaid and groomsmen entrances thena string quartet recording of ‘Here comes the bride by Wagner’ by Stringspace. Signing the register music was ‘All you need is love’ by the beatles again. Exit music was ‘ Mendelssohn’s Wedding March’ by Stringspace.
The Flowers
I went to Vauxhall Flower market the day before the wedding and got all the flowers I might need for bouquets, boutonnieres and table decorations. The night before the wedding I made all bouquets and boutonnieres by myself, added some real flowers to my floral hoop and made a small flower arrangement for each individual persons name place.
Your Filmmaker
My mum and dad took turns with the home video camera, no professional videos but home videos warm my heart.
The Honeymoon
We went the day after the wedding! Bali, Started off in Seminyak stayed in Seminyak Beach & Resort with private plunge pool, which was heavenly. We enjoyed the great food, night life and beach. After three to four days we went to Ubud, stayed at Padma Resort in the most beautiful surroundings and with the most amazing heated pool we’ve ever seen, it was like Jurassic park. We went to the rice terraces, went to the bali swings and climbed Mount Batur volcano to see the sunrise, not as romantic as I imagined but I loved every second, Frankie was about to kill me haha.
After four days we went to Gili Trawangan for a night, such a nice chilled island will definitely return to explore more. After this went to Jimbaran, stayed in Ayana Resort, this is where we mostly relaxed and chilled and ate all the delicious food. Got back home to open all our wedding cards and gifts :)
Memorable Moments
Our first dance was a mix of ‘At last’ by Etta James and ‘Stand by Me’ by Prince Royce. We had never practised this before so basically made it up on the spot. Bearing in mind the second half of the song (prince Royce) is bachata so calls for a special dance, we tried our best haha but it wasn’t the best first dance in the world.
One of my favourite moments was having the dance with my dad, it was to a special song played by the mariachis which we also danced to on my 15th birthday (coming of age in latin American culture), it brought back memories and made me think how lucky I am to still have my dad with me on such a special day.
The groom’s favourite moment was after the ceremony and walking out to see all our beloved guests for the first time properly. The confetti cannon shot was pretty special and so well captured by our photographer, such a cherished moment.
Advice For Other Couples
Groom’s advice: SET A BUDGET
Bride’s advice: You only get married once so enjoy it!!!! Nobody is actually going to remember what chairs or tablecloths you had but what a beautiful day it all was and the effort you made to make it happen!
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Photographer
Danielle Smith Photography
Decorations
Essential Event Group
Marquee & Catering
Super Event
Cake
Lizzie Cope, Heart Of Cake
Musicians
Mariachi El Mexicano
Bridesmaids
Rene K Couture
Venue
Brewerstreet Farmhouse
Taxi Photobooth
Megabooth
Wedding Directory member – Wedding Photo Booths
Dance Floor
Simon P
DJ
Daniel Molano
Hair
Alka from the Ambreen Team
Make Up
Make Up by Duha
So, so beautiful. Your hard work with the florals really paid off! Thank you Caroline and Frankie for sharing your wedding with us today. Rachel x