THE PROPOSAL | Trevor proposed to Jilly outside the house they were in the middle of buying together. Funnily enough that house fell through! He re-enacted the proposal once we had actually bought the house we are in now with a beautiful ring he chose himself!

THE VISION | We knew exactly how we wanted the day to be – relaxed and fun, vintage rustic garden party meets fete/festival and we hope we managed it!

THE PLANNING PROCESS | We started planning the day a year ahead. We immediately booked our photographer, florist, the registry office and a marquee – we had always wanted to get married in our garden ever since we had moved in 2 years ago, so the venue was easy! We spent the year trawling through charity shops and auctions, our mission being to buy as little new as possible.

Every tablecloth, napkin and bunting was sewn from curtains, duvets, sheets, anything that looked faded and floral, the best bit being that it was sewn on my mother’s old sewing machine so that she was definitely there in spirit. About six months in we booked a jazz band that meant a lot to us as we have watched them play for 10 years, a mariachi trio that we found on line and a band we had danced to many times in a pub near us, so a lovely combination of different music.

Food wise, a great company from Brighton came and cooked us amazing Paella for our wedding breakfast and we sourced the evening food from all over the place, including a small patisserie company that made us amazing savoury and fruit tartlets that went down a storm.

BUDGET | The budget went out of the window pretty quickly – that’s all we can say, but the day was worth every penny, so many memories of our families that we will keep forever.

THE VENUE | The service was held in Bromley Registry Office, the reception in our back garden.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | My dress came from a little London based designer called Belle & Bunty. I loved it the minute I tried it on. All their dresses have a modern, vintage inspired feel, simple, smooth, elegant lines – exactly what I was looking for. The draped sleeves, fullish skirt, low back and glowing chartreuse colour were perfect for the day and the hem at the back was cut a little longer so it hung beautifully as I walked. I thought choosing the dress would be the hardest thing, but with the help of my two daughters and granddaughter (of course) it was the easiest thing! I bought flat sandals with a little sparkle and accessorised with handmade drop earrings I found on line.

FINDING THE DRESS  | I knew I didn’t want a traditional white dress and had searched in magazines and on line. I came across Belle & Bunty in a magazine advertising wedding dresses, and although they were white I loved the cut and flow of them all and felt sure they were the designers for me. I had a chat with them and made an appointment. An hour in I had found the perfect dress and surprised myself my choosing the colour – not something I normally wear at all, but the Belle & Bunty team and my daughters all assured me it was perfect!

GROOM’S ATTIRE  | Trevor and his son as Best Man both wore blue three piece suits from Ted Baker, made more relaxed with tan coloured belts and shoes.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | We chose our own music at the ceremony, Nat King Coles’s ‘Let There Be Love’ as I walked in, Ed Sheeran ‘Thinking Out Loud’ as we signed the register and Frank Sinatra ‘The Best is Yet To Come’ as we walked out. All songs that had perfect words and a laid back, relaxed feel.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | The bridesmaids had full length floaty summer dresses, each were a different colour, but they were all similar in style, with small, pretty prints and soft colours. Our granddaughter was our Flower Girl and she wore a pretty flowered dress from Monsoon.

THE FLOWERS | We kept to the country theme for the flowers, with my bouquet looking like a freshly picked bunch with beautiful peonies and daisies and the bridesmaids the same, but with a nod to their different colour dresses. We filled the marquee with hundreds of jam jars full of cottage flowers.

THE CAKE | We loved our cake – it was made up of five layers of the most delicious cheese, decorated with little wooden mice, raffia ties and heart shaped slates with the names of each cheese, all sitting on an old flowered pink flat plate bought at a local auction.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | This was soo easy! We booked James Grist – the same photographer as my daughter had the year before. We loved his photo’s and just as importantly, we loved him. If anyone can get a great, relaxed shot of someone, he can! It felt like having a friend at our wedding, he blended in so well and I think the photos say it all.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | Our main aim was for the whole day to look effortless, with no real colour theme and certainly no formality at all. Candles, twinkly festoon lights, bunting, old lace and vintage finds were dotted everywhere and with jam jars sprinkled around all the tables with cottage flowers it looked fresh and pretty. The bar made everyone smile, two old leather chairs, foot stools, a fireplace and of course barrels of local ale! My Father’s old desk was used as a place for guests to sit and write in the guest book and bales of hay were dotted everywhere, adding to the country theme.

THE HONEYMOON | Of course not, we spent most of the next week washing up! The perils of having a reception in your own garden.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | We loved every minute of our day and hope our guests did too. So many amazing memories, watching friends and family in the sunshine, sunglasses on, drinking glasses of Pimms and dancing on the lawn to the little Jazz Bank, seeing everyone’s surprise and then laughter at the hilarious Mariachi band, cutting our cake made of delicious cheese, our first dance, watching family and friends blend and chat and laugh and dance … the list is endless, and when everyone had gone home, in that huge marquee, with the music on, just the two of us dancing until it got light – our perfect day.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Plan, plan, then plan some more. Have a real vision of exactly how you imagine it all to look and don’t waiver. Everything is do-able, even on a budget, and most importantly enjoy the preparation as much as the day – we certainly did.

Photographer | James Grist Photography 

Film | Jon Cook

Dress | Belle & Bunty 

Band | Beat Banditos 

Caterer | Vamos Paella 

Savouries | Dulce’s Patisserie

Band | The Bay Jazz Band

Flowers |Dora Kovacs 

Simply perfect.

Thanks so much to Jilly and Trevor for sharing their wonderful celebration with us today xo Lou