An über cool, vintage tea party wedding with a touch of festival and a dash of theatricality!!

One of the many things I LOVE about this real wedding is the fact the gorgeous couple met through Guardian Soulmates! This is of course very close to my heart as my husband and I {he will kill me for saying} met on Soulmates too! Kumari and Matthew {like Chris and I} are so CLEARLY destined to be together, it’s written in the stars…

They put their hearts and souls into their wedding day and that’s exactly what Want That Wedding is all about! You can see the reflection of their lives together woven throughout the day. From the laid back festival vibe to the afternoon tea party, reminiscent of their early courting days… even their shared love of literature and music. And ducks… yes ducks! Kumari looks beautifully radiant in the prettiest lace vintage dress, so adorable! Matthew looks incredibly cool and dapper in his Military apparel. I swear, I could blather on for England abpout how much I love this wedding and I haven’t even mentioned the photography backdrop yet! Well, that too deserves biggin’ up to the max!! Their photographer Anushe Low is one incredibly talented lady, her work just leaves you going WOW! She has such a natural ability for capturing the beauty of life {just what you need on your big day…} *sigh

So in the brides own melodic and wistful words, I share an über cool, vintage tea party wedding with a touch of festival and a dash of theatricality!! Enjoy XxX

© Anushe Low Photography 2011

‘We met through Guardian Soul Mates! Our first date was at the Old Shoreditch Station bar, which was just 5 minutes down the road from where I lived at the time, but I was still very late!’

‘Matthew was almost Victorian in his politeness at our first meeting and when I apologised for my lateness (for which I had no excuse other than taking my time to attach a fascinator to my head!) he pronounced that it was a woman’s prerogative to be late!’

‘We proceeded to get on famously and I was astounded at how similar we were….here was a boy who had read almost as much Virginia Woolf as I had! I was attracted by his Victorian quirkiness, his shimmering wit and intellect, his creativeness and his old fashioned manners’

‘At the end of our date he shyly slipped me a copy of his latest album by his band ‘Gilbert’. When I went home and listened to the sublime ethereal sounds I texted him to tell him that he had moved me, and he said he was glad as I had great hair!!’

‘Shortly after our first meeting I went to Australia to visit family over Christmas and we feverishly kept in contact throughout. We pretty much became a couple when I got back’

‘I lived in an apartment on the Kingsland Basin and we would spend hours on the wharf watching a little family of coots on the regents canal and drinking tea from china teacups. We often reminisce about falling in love on the wharf to an audience of coots’

‘We dated for almost two years before he proposed on the 17^th October 2010′

‘We had been to Tiffany’s the week before for me to choose my ring so I knew a proposal was imminent’

‘We went for a walk and had a picnic on the banks of the river Kennett in Berkshire. It was the one day of glorious sunshine that month’

‘Whilst we were on our walk Matthew got down on bended knee under a tree that was bowed over the riverside path making a natural alcove just outside Kintbury. It was magical’

‘I obviously said yes and was so happy I could not contain myself from telling the next pair or walkers who happened to pass us who were an elderly couple who stopped to kiss and congratulate us!’

‘The blessing was under a floral arch in the gardens of Symondsbury Manor. We created vows by amalgamating poetry and lines from a traditional Bahai ceremony. We lit a Sri Lankan Buddhist lamp’

‘Matthew’s friend Brian played an Irish folk song on his violin, our 8 year old niece Maisie composed and read a poem, our 17 year of niece Molly read a blessing from the Great Plains Indians and our sister in law Jacqui read an extract from Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse’

Massive congratulations to the lovely Kumari and Matthew, thank you so much for sharing your amazing wedding day with WTW ~ Also a massive thanks to Anushe, who clearly possesses talent in abundance!

So what do you think peeps? The most beautiful wedding or what? I would love to hear your thoughts and comments! Please do leave some blog la la la love for this ultra cool couple and pop back tomorrow for a whole heep more….

{Credits}

We had a very simple registry office affair the day before at Bridport registry office with just our families present but then had an outdoor blessing ceremony where we exchanged rings, wrote our own vows and had all our friends and family present at Symondsbury Manor in Dorset.  

Matthew’s Dad’s partner Pat is a vicar, so we asked her to do our blessing ceremony.
I walked down to a song called ‘Sigh’, written by Matthew, and played by his band Gilbert.  Where was your reception held?

We had afternoon tea in a marquee  in the gardens of Symondsbury Manor followed by an evening BBQ. We were staying in the house so the reception was in the marquee, the grounds, and the panelled ballroom of the manor.

Linda from Vintage Dorset provided vintage crockery, the afternoon tea, flowers for the tables and bunting, went beyond the call of duty and also helped with some of the minutia such as reminding me to get napkins, organising bar staff etc.  

I found my dress at a vintage wedding fair which was held in Shepherd’s Bush town hall at the end of last year. I saw somebody else trying it on and was devastated because it was so beautiful….luckily she was just there to support her friend and was trying dresses on for fun. When I worked this out I asked if I could try on the dress and the moment I donned it I knew it was right. I’m quite small, 5’3 and a size 8, so the length of the dress, just above the knee was perfect, as it didn’t engulf me. I wanted a short, lace, vintage dress and the dress I found at the fair was actually the dress I had in my head….that never usually works out…but this time it did.

I went to the vintage wedding fair with my friends Anushe (who was also our wedding photographer extraordinaire) and Jess and they agreed that the dress was the one the moment I put it on.

Fuchsia stappy sandals from Kurt Geiger with pearl brooches from Accessorize

What jewellery did you wear or buy for the occasion and where were they from?

A diamond necklace that my parents had made for me in Sri Lanka, a Swarovski crystal bracelet and of course my Tiffany’s engagement ring.

My beautiful vintage inspired feather headpiece was made by Karin Andreasson at .
I first bought a headpiece from Karin a few years ago from her stall at Broadway market. She incorporates vintage French lace and jewels into her pieces so she came straight to mind when I was considering what would go with my vintage wedding dress.
I attached a birdcage veil from to Karin’s the headpiece by Karin.

By blue beaded vintage bag was my something blue and something borrowed from
my Friend Lauren. It was her Grandmother’s.

A vintage military jacket from the 1920s which he wears when he is performing with his band Gilbert. It’s from Portebello  Road Market. Shirt and tweed trousers from Aubin and Wills and vintage braces, shoes and bow tie from Brick Lane.

My sister Samantha was my bridesmaid and her pale blue, floral cocktail dress was from https://www.wheelsanddollbaby.com/. Maisie, Leonie, Darcy and Lucy were our little flower girls and their dresses and the page boy’s Milen and Will’s shirts were from https://www.tulipandnettle.com/

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