My dad discovered this beautiful venue through a friend. As soon as we laid eyes on Ingatestone Hall we knew it was the place for us to get married!
The grounds are just stunning! Being a photographer myself the location was really important to me and there were so many places to take photos.
Whilst we were walking around I was welling up, I just knew it was the place I wanted to get married. And luckily for me, Jamie loved it too.
Words by Emma. Images by Danielle Smith Photography.
I knew as soon as I met with our wedding florist that she was the one for me – Jamie and I both had no idea about the flowers. Francesca was super friendly and helped us keep within budget too.
We wanted our flowers to be a little different (tripods on tables) and Francesca was so up for creating our vision, nothing was too much trouble!
The shop assistant actually picked my Ronald Joyce wedding dress out for me! It was my first time shopping for dresses and I was feeling overwhelmed and thinking of calling it a day.
She suggested I tried this one on before leaving and I instantly fell in love with it. It had beads on the back originally, which is why I think I missed it but once removed the dress was perfect for me!
I always knew I wanted a backless dress and the back of the dress was so elegant! The train was beautiful and it had just the right amount of detail on it.
As we live at riding stables I wanted to incorporate a rustic feel to our wedding, yet not be too restricted to set a theme.
We had a mixture of metallics around and my bridesmaids dresses were a mix of pastel pale blues and pale pinks!
Jaimie and I met at the stables when I was just 16 and have been together for 10 years! When I first joined there I had no idea how to put bridles on he would always tease me about it.
He told me after we got together that he used to find out which horse I had and sweep outside its stable so he could talk to me. What a cutie!
Walking down the aisle to see Jamie crying was one of the most memorable moments of the day. He said he was fine all week and wasn’t nervous at all!
I, on the other hand, was the opposite. He said it just hit him when he saw our little niece Lily, and then when I came down after, he broke down bless him. I was laughing a bit as I just couldn’t believe he went after being so calm.
Having our dog Dottie as the ring bearer at our ceremony was so special for us. She was so well behaved!
Our wedding photographer Danielle is one of my good friends so I always knew I would ask Danielle to be our photographer!
I love her style of work, she’s creative and gets such beautiful natural photographs – it was so lovely to have a familiar face on the day too, it made us feel relaxed.
The stationery, table plan, name cards and signs were all made by my lovely work colleague Laura. She’s so talented and hand wrote everyone’s name card which was such a nice touch!
Jamie made the tree stump for the cake and hand cut everyone’s mini stubs for their name cards. He also made a heart with E & J on it and a cut-out heart for guests to pose in! He made our table plan stand which was decorated with flowers from ‘Aunty Joan’.
He really put a lot of effort into the details, and I think it shows!
I used to work with Helena and had always loved her beautiful wedding cakes. Our design changed so many times! But in the end, we went for a three tier rustic iced cake with a rose gold leaf middle.
The flavours were vanilla and Oreo, Lemon and Red Velvet! The cake tasted as good as it looked.
Our first dance was ‘Far Away’ By Nickelback – Jamie chose it as he wanted something a little ‘rocky’ and we didn’t want anything too popular. I have such lovely memories every time I hear that song now :)
If we could impart any words of wisdom… It would be not to stress! I lose count of the sleepless nights and worrying over the silliest things. On the day we were just so happy, nothing else mattered.
Oh and make use of your talented friends. I did and I couldn’t be happier!
Such a gorgeous wedding and couple, congratulations Jamie and Emma.
The fact they are teenage sweethearts and their dog dottie was the cutest ring bearer ever just makes this wedding all the more adorable for me!
wedding credits / photographer: danielle smith photography / wedding venue: ingatestone hall / reception: couple’s home / brides dress: ronald joyce via amorae bridal / grooms suit: anthony formal wear / brides shoes: depop / bridesmaid dresses: asos, chi chi hair: emma lock hair / makeup: amy jane lawrence / florist: francesca anne floral design / wedding cake: neighbourhood bakes / stationery: miss laura hueto / marquee: bsw-marquees
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