Inside: A Quintessentially English Wedding In The New Forest

The Story So Far

Matt and I first met when we were 16 years old. We grew up in the same area and since we had mutual friends, we naturally ended up at the same house parties. Since then, our lives have had a lot of ‘sliding door moments’; we both studied at university in Canterbury, we both lived in SW London in our 20s and we both work in the media – yet despite our parallel lives, we never crossed paths. The stars finally aligned in 2020 when matched on Hinge – I immediately recognised him, since we’d been Facebook friends for 12 years by this point. A year later, I moved into Matt’s flat in Tooting, and after two years of dating, Matt got down on one knee under the sparkling Christmas lights at Kew Gardens which led to our quintessentially english wedding in the New Forest.

The Venue

We married at the picture-perfect Pylewell Park in the New Forest – a stunning Grade II listed country house in Lymington, Hampshire suggested by my parents. The English Literature graduate inside me knew I had to tie the knot in a Jane Austen-esque building with gorgeous grounds.

Pylewell ticked all our boxes – it’s by the sea, offers exclusivity, and had 13 unique bedrooms for our family and bridal party to stay in, a beautiful pavilion for the wedding breakfast, and various ceremony options— both inside the house and in the gardens with sea views— to choose from.

The night before the wedding, we hosted a low-key welcome event for our bridal party with fizz and pizzas from the local pizzeria in Lymington. It was the first properly warm day of the year, so we ate outside under a sail tent and played garden games before a nightcap in the penthouse.

Our dream was always to get married outside – and the sun gods were really on our side; blue skies, sunshine, 24 degrees and a light sea breeze. We said ‘I do’ with the sea in the background, before enjoying a margarita reception in the grounds and dining on long, rustic tables, which were dressed with whimsical florals by Willow and Wisps.

The following day, my parents hosted a hungover hog-roast garden party at their home for our extended family and bridal party. They decorated our car with balloons, ribbons, cans and a ‘just married’ sign before we headed off 10 minutes down the road to stay in one of the luxury treehouses at Chewton Glen.

The Fashion

Finding ‘the dress’ was the most anxiety-inducing element of the planning process. I tried over 40 different dresses, and each one left me feeling more confused and frustrated. I wanted something feminine but modern, delicate yet timeless, figure-hugging but also floaty…

In the end, I wore a dress by the British bridal fashion designer Andrea Hawkes. As soon as I stepped into Andrea’s boutique in North London, I felt like I was in safe hands, and I knew I wanted to wear one of her designs. “The One” was a sporty-meets-girly dress called The Emily, sharing a name with two of my bridesmaids— it felt like fate!

I paired my dress with the most beautiful bespoke matching lace veil. My shoes were all from British designer Charlotte Mills— I wore them all night long and didn’t take them off until the clock struck midnight and all the guests left. I love the fact that every shoe has a sixpence embedded in the sole, and features a cute poem on the bottom, which reads; ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence in her shoe’.

And on the note of something old, borrowed and blue— my mum lent me my late grandma’s wedding band and her diamond and blue sapphire eternity ring to wear for the day. It was such a special gesture— it made me feel like she was right there with me.

Matt wanted a suit he could wear again and again, so he opted for a custom-made suit from Moss Bros with navy twill, a matching grey waistcoat, and a silver paisley tie from Hawes and Curtis. The inside of his suit jacket featured a fun floral print, with the date of our wedding stitched on the inside pocket.

The Jewellery

My engagement ring is a bespoke 2.6-carat round brilliant cut diamond ring, offset by a hexagonal white diamond halo. It’s a one-of-a-kind modern twist on a classic vintage halo ring – Matt designed it himself, and I love it.

To go with my engagement ring and my Grandma’s rings, I wore a matching silver pearl bracelet, pearl choker neckless and delicate four-pearl drop earrings from Lily & Roo. I loved how timeless and simple they looked.

The Bridal Party

The bridesmaids wore lilac dresses from Maid’s to Measure – we had such a fun day visiting their little shop in Chelsea last summer, trying on all the shapes and colours. I wanted the girls to feel beautiful, confident and comfortable— they all said how lightweight the dresses felt (perfect for an outdoor ceremony in the New Forest) not to mention super flattering. I bought each of them a matching pearl bracelet (the same as mine) from Lily & Roo, which I gave to them on the morning of our wedding, alongside a hand-written card.

The Tablescape

I sent my poor florist— not joking— an eight-page ‘tablescape ideas’ pdf document, where I pulled together various images from Instagram and Pinterest (yes, I was that kind of A-type personality bride). The vibe I was going for was; rustic yet chic, minimal yet covered in foliage, with lots of modern pastels.

As we’d opted for a sharing-style menu, we went for three long trestle tables. Each were dressed with a white cheesecloth runner, white tapered candles in clear boho candlestick holders, and a mix of cute bud vases and larger floral displays. Each person had their own menu, printed on cotton rag paper (which matched our invites) and a personalised lilac bow place setting.

Our florist also decorated two of the hanging chandeliers with a mixture of green foliage, roses, carnations, gypsophila, peonies and asters (all in soft whites, pinks and lilacs) with white and lilac ribbons draping down. It was a dream.

Food & Drinks

During the drinks reception, beautifully displayed canapés— which included mini Yorkshire puddings with minted lamb and pea puree and sticky pork belly skewers with crackling crumb and pickled cucumber ribbons— were circled among our guests. Our caterers put together the most incredible margarita station on a large ladder display, holding water with lemon and raspberries in one large dispenser, and sparkling elderflower with mint in another. Bottles of beer sat in a large zinc bath, and glasses of Cloudy Bay Pelorus Brut (a nod to Matt’s New Zealand family) were handed out.

For the wedding breakfast, we started with large sharing platters of beetroot hummus, sun blush cherry tomatoes, burrata, beetroot and crumbled feta salad, puffed sour grains, baby corn with seasoned butter dressing, and a selection of breads and crackers.

To follow, we served grass-fed, herb-crusted lamb racks with braised hispi cabbage and roasted apricots on huge round wooden boards. This was accompanied by rosemary roasted duck fat new potatoes, chilli and garlic sautéed tenderstem broccoli and thyme-roasted baby rainbow heritage carrots.

Our vegetarian and vegan guests also had their own plated dinner – either a pesto, spinach and mozzarella arancini ball with caponata and fresh basil or toasted gnocchi with braised charred fennel, crispy kale, noduja coconut creme fraiche with fennel crisps.

To finish, everyone helped themselves to a slab of strawberry meringue pavlova with chantilly cream, raspberry compote, fresh strawberries and wildflowers. We also served mini espresso martinis on paddle boards alongside dessert. All of that was washed down with a glass of Moet Champagne for the speeches, plus a choice of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Terrazas Malbec or Whispering Angel rosé.

Since we had a couple of evening-only guests, we also served a selection of ‘late night munchies’ including fish finger sandwiches (plus smokey pulled mushroom baps for our gluten-free and vegan guests) and skin-on fries at around 9pm— plus four different flavours of wedding cake. It’s fair to say we did not skimp on the food, or booze!

Entertainment

Music is incredibly important to both of us— Matt has a degree in music, and we both passed our grade 8 at school. The all-female Bossard String Quartet (think modern Bridgeton vibes) were performing before the ceremony as guests arrived, the bridal entrance (and exit) music and throughout the drinks reception. They played everything from Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol to Blinded By Your Gace by Stormzy— quite the vibe-starter. I walked down the aisle to the classic Pachelbel Canon D, and we exited the ceremony to Natalie Cole’s This Will Be (An Everlasting Love).

For the evening party, a five-piece band called Rewind sang all the classics; Valerie by Amy Winehouse, You Got The Love by Florence and the Machine, Dancing Queen by ABBA. All our guests raved about how incredible the lead singer Charlotte was, and the dancefloor was packed the entire evening.

We chose Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls as our first dance (since it’s Matt’s go-to karaoke song), and we asked one of my close friends from university if she’d sing it. It was such a special way to include her, and I’ll never forget being spun around in front of all our friends and family.

Beauty Regime & Wellness

I’m not going to lie, I definitely felt the pressure to look my ‘best ever’ on my wedding day, and at times I beat myself up for not having a so-called ‘perfect’ body, ‘perfect’ glossy long hair and ‘perfect’ flawless-looking skin. I really had to work hard to silence that voice in the back of my head that said my arms were too big to wear a dress without sleeves or that I’d ruin every photo with my ever-persistent acne.

As someone who works in the fitness industry, I know all too well how brides shrink themselves with some hard-core excessive exercise regime, starving themselves of enjoying the run-up to their big day. I did not want to be that bride. So I didn’t really alter either my exercise or eating habits – I ran a couple of times per week, I strength trained regularly and got out on my bike when I could. What I did alter, however, was my skincare routine. I switched up my products (Clinisoothe’s skin purifier has been a bit of a game changer) and I invested in a couple of monthly microneedling facials at Relax.

I also bit the bullet and decided to get Invisalign. It was a 6-month process, and very expensive, but I am so glad I spent every penny. I had quite a large gap on my bottom row of teeth and it gave me such a confidence boost to be able to grin (and show every single tooth) on my big day.

Like many brides, I opted for a hair and make-up trial with both my hair stylist, Brooke, and make-up artist, Tara— which I absolutely recommend doing. It’s so important to find hair and make-up artists who will not only make you feel (and look) like a princess but also have a calm and fun energy. After all, they’re going to be with you and your bridal party getting ready all morning, so they need to be able to fit in seamlessly.

Finally, in the lead-up to the wedding, I had a couple of hair tape extensions fitted by Tatiana Karelina to help add a bit of volume and to frame my face (since it’s very fine). I opted for a half-up half-down look with Hollywood waves and a simple braid. For my makeup, the brief I gave Tara was ‘glam but not overdone’ – so, basically Charlotte Tilbury everything.

Favourite Wedding Gifts

We created a wedding wish list with The Wedding Present Company – which was such a fun day out. I love hosting, so my favourite items we chose included an incredible Amuse La Bouche lobster platter and Bordallo Pinheiro cabbage platter.

The Honeymoon

The day after our wedding, Matt and I headed to Chewton Glen—a five-star luxury country house hotel and spa in The New Forest— for a few nights. We stayed in one of the treehouses, which floats 35 feet above the ground, high in the forest canopy. It was the ultimate luxury escape; we drank champagne in our private hot tub, opened all our wedding cards wrapped in fluffy robes, and enjoyed a 90-minute couples massage together.

We didn’t go on a big honeymoon (we’re saving that for later on in the year), as we actually had another friend’s wedding just two weeks after ours. So we jetted off to Santorini for a mini-moon – spending two nights at Andronis Arcadia and two at Santo Mine. It was the perfect place to just flop and drop, decompress and treat ourselves to some incredible food and wine.

Advice

Your guest list will be your biggest stress. Some people will kick off about plus ones and others will pull out at the last minute, even after stationary has been printed. There’s literally nothing you can do about the latter – so there’s no point getting worked up about it. When it comes to the former, however, remember, it’s your day – so it’s up to you who you do and don’t invite.
Find out if your venue lets you have confetti on the dancefloor or not. We bought two amazing confetti canons from Flutter Darlings for the first dance, but they didn’t end up getting used as we found out the day before we weren’t allowed confetti on the wooden dance floor. Now we need to figure out another use for them…
Don’t leave deciding what to do with your bouquet after the big day to the last minute. If you’d like to get it pressed or framed, then this all needs to be booked and organised pre-wedding (not the day afterwards in a panic). Flori Culture Co. carefully preserved some of the flowers from my bouquet – so now I have a forever keepsake.
If you decide to buy a guest book (we got ours from Papier) and invest in a Polaroid camera, make sure your guests actually know it’s there. We did ask our groomsmen, as part of their role, to remind guests to take pics with the Instax Mini and sign the guest book, but it only got signed by a few people (we couldn’t get them off the dancefloor!)
A nice way to include siblings (if they’re not bridesmaids) is to ask them to do a reading or speech. My brother wrote a poem for our ceremony, while Matt’s younger sister read ‘Love Doesn’t Start With A Shoe’ by Donna Ashworth.