Pretty Spring Pastel Staffordshire Country Estate Wedding

Dan and Jess’ utterly beautiful Staffordshire country estate wedding, held at Alrewas Hayes is gracing our pages today! What a treat I have in store for you.

Their day was just the prettiest spring wedding ever, with an abundance of spring wedding flowers and pastel tones. The flowers don’t stop there as Jess wore a floral embroidered wedding gown and the bridesmaids wore mismatched floral print frocks. So darling!

Just wait until you see all the smiles and of course, the love.

I can’t thank Jo Hastings Photography enough for sharing with us these extraordinary shots of Dan and Jess’ very beautiful celebration in Staffordshire.

Staffordshire Country Estate Wedding

The Proposal

We got engaged during lockdown in March 2021, and so the proposal happened at our home that we had just bought together a few months before.

I was fed up of the cold weather so Dan told me he was going to throw a surprise evening to cheer me up. He told me to dress like I was going out for an evening on holiday, turned the heating up full blast, and decorated the house like a Mexican fiesta.

We ate tacos, drank margaritas and then he got down on one knee while our favourite song played. We then celebrated with champagne into the early hours of the morning and nursed well-worth-it hangovers for the next two days.

The Vision

We wanted an elegant wedding with all of our friends and family.

The priorities were good food, fun entertainment and lots of seasonal flowers. We wanted this to carry through to our colour scheme with mixed pastel shades.

The Venue

We fell in love with Alrewas Hayes as soon as we saw it. It felt luxurious yet modest, with lots of beautiful details. The moment we walked into the light yet cosy orangery, we knew that was the room in which we wanted to get married.

Your Outfits

Dan wore a custom suit from Clements & Church. He wears suits to work and wanted to find something that felt different to his day-to-day wear. The lightweight fabric and checked pattern took it out of workwear while the pale blue waistcoat and buttons tied in beautifully with the groomsmen’s suits. He wore shoes from Crockett & Jones.

My dress was by Hermione de Paula. I’d admired her dresses on Pinterest for a long time and fell in love with my dress the moment I saw it. I loved the flattering, form-fitting shape with a deep v back and the gorgeous floral hand embroidery.

It was important to me to feel comfortable and like myself, I didn’t want to feel like I was dressing up like a bride. It was the perfect blend of simplicity and detail and I felt amazing in it all day. My shoes were Jimmy Choo.

The Ceremony & Music

Our ceremony took place in the orangery at Alrewas Hayes. We had music played by Nero String Quartet. I walked down the aisle to Time After Time.

We asked two of our closest friends to choose and perform readings during the ceremony and we wrote our own vows to each other. A lot of people commented on how brave we were to write our own and say them in front of everyone, but while I was reading them it felt like Dan and I were the only people in the room. I love that it added something so personal to the ceremony.

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

Our filmmaker was Firewood Film and our photographer was Jo Hastings Photography.

The Honeymoon

We decided to go on a bit of an adventure for our honeymoon and drive to Spain. We set off the day after the wedding and worked our way down to the South of France where we stayed for a few days. From there, we drove down to Barcelona followed by a few days in Zaragoza, San Sebastian and Abalos where we indulged in amazing food and delicious cava.

I’d never been to Spain before so it was extra special to be there on our honeymoon. We’re now planning a second honeymoon next year in Mexico.

The Styling & Decor

Our cake was made by Ruby Lou’s Cakes. The bottom tier was rose water and pistachio, the middle tier was treacle and custard and the top layer was lemon meringue. It was absolutely delicious!

Flowers were by Poppy Scout. The theme was organic seasonal wildflowers, and Hattie really nailed it. We had a beautiful flower arch at the end of the aisle that filled the room with a gorgeous floral scent, the bridesmaids carried bouquets of sweat peas, which were my late grandmother’s favourite flower, and my bouquet was a beautiful mix of seasonal blooms.

For the reception room, we had bud vases scattered along all of the tables.

Memorable Moments

For me, the most memorable moments were seeing Dan as I walked down the aisle, the amazing smell of flowers that hugged me as I walked into the orangery for the first time and seeing the reception room all set up just as I had imagined it. With the flowers, candles and photos of our parents and grandparents on each table.

It was amazing to see everything we had planned come together.