Beautiful Ashridge House Wedding with Bride in a Stunning Eliza Jane Howell Dress: Rachel & Danny

We married at Ashridge House and had a planner from the venue – she was brilliant and helped us think about all the different things we could do, all the different weddings they’d had there before and gave advice about what they’d done. She suggested having the singer come down the stairs and into the great hall to lead us through for our first dance. She also recommended some of our suppliers and helped to set up everything on the day.

Words by Rachel. Images by Hannah Larkin Photography.

I had initially looked on Eliza Jane Howell’s Instagram and seen this incredible beaded wedding dress but it was from a couple of years ago. I went in and the lady there pulled some dresses from their collection which I tried on, and then I asked if they had the one I’d seen. She found it in the back and it was actually one that they were discontinuing, but they had one left – I tried it on and fell in love.

They said if I wanted it, I needed to tell her today because of all the beading work that they had to get it made in India. So, my mum and my sister and I went to the pub and tried to calm down a little bit from the pressure of buying the dress right then and there, but I’d fallen in love with it and knew it was what I’d wanted because I’d seen it before, so I went back and said yes! It was a little bit touch and go as to whether they could pull it off in time but thank goodness they did.

I wanted seasonal British flowers so I went round the local flower warehouse with Maria from At Last Floristy and we looked at what would be in season. She showed me different colours and ideas and pulled a few bits out to show what they would look like together. She put together a little bouquet to show the idea of what we could have. I wanted orange, gold, green and white – they all went very well with the venue – in particular the dining room which was all gold with an ornate painted ceiling. The flower colours really pulled out the room colours and complemented it very well.

I walked down the staircase for the ceremony with my dad. My bridesmaid’s came down to Eva Cassidy’s Songbird and then my dad walked me down to Eva Cassidy’s You Take My Breath Away. We love Eva Cassidy!

I found my wedding photographer Hannah Larkin via Instagram – someone who knew her had shared her images and I liked them & looked at her profile and saw that she had done photographs of cathedrals – and with Ashridge in mind, this felt like it would be a really good fit.

We found Hannah very accommodating. We really appreciated that she came to the venue beforehand for us to do our engagement shoot there, so we could get to grips with the venue and the grounds. We loved doing that with her. We felt very relaxed in front of her and her camera, and she made us feel comfortable to be able to pose – it’s not our natural thing, especially for Dan – but he warmed up and felt comfortable with her and relaxed to have our photos done.