We take a look inside Abbie Scott Roden Sandbach and William George Lister Sandbach‘s romantic whimsical wedding in Oxfordshire full of incredible details, florals and of course … delicious wine! Abbie and William meet through mutual friends in NYC in 2017 at an old West Village institution – The Rusty Knot. Abbie, originally from Lexington, Kentucky, along with Will, run RODEN, a social media and content agency, VIND, the wine tourism platform and their very own wine brand, amie. We take a look inside- Abbie Roden Autumn Wedding in Oxfordshire
The best part of our day was….
Ohh this is such a hard one to answer! It was all incredible. I especially loved: my Downton Abbey moment while riding with my dad to the church in an old MG car from 1920, seeing Will at the altar, walking into our reception to Wake Me Up by Avicii, our dinner party, and all of the songs that we sang during the dinner — including My Old Kentucky Home, which is the state song for my home state, Kentucky. And obviously the dance floor – we had lots of cowboy hats!
We choose to get married at…
Originally we were supposed to get married in Kentucky, where I’m from, on October 24th, 2020. We had to push our wedding to October 23, 2021 because of Covid, but we had still planned to have it in Kentucky. In July, the border was still closed, and we had to make the decision to move our wedding to Longworth (Oxfordshire) , the village where Will is from. The family who own Longworth Manor VERY kindly and generously allowed us to put a marquee up in their backyard; we rented the Manor for my 30th back in 2019, so it was very special having all of our best friends back to the manor for our special day.
I knew I found ‘The One’ when….
My dress was one of the first ones that I tried on. I went to many shops and tried on many others but I just kept thinking about this one. I felt so good in it and I loved how it fit me. I loved the whimsical, flowiness of it, and the deep V.
The most enjoyable moments of planning were…
We planned our romantic whimsical wedding in 2.5 months due to our last minute change! I really loved planning our menu with Doggart & Squash; they were incredible! I wanted to incorporate southern flavours into our menu, and they NAILED it.
The hardest part of planning was…
Replanning our entire wedding in just 2.5 months! But it really isn’t that difficult – once you have your vendors lined up, and locked in, the rest is pretty easy, just be sure you are organized.
The best accounts to follow on Instagram for big-day inspo are…
I honestly got most of my inspo through wedding photographers’ Instagram accounts. They capture all of the greatest details of our romantic whimsical wedding, and their photos are where a lot of great inspo comes from. @bwigglerweddings (of course!) and @alexmarksphotography are two that I love. And obviously there’s so much great inspo on @theweddingedition and @vogueweddings!
My top three tips for any couple would be…
- Incorporate little details that make it special to YOU. For example, I am a photographer and love constantly taking photos with friends and family, so we printed little polaroid style photos that were each of our guests’ seats. We brought in songs from Kentucky, England and Sweden (we have a lot of Swedish friends). My grandparents picked out one of our readings, and it was read from my other grandmother’s Bible. Just little things that mean a lot and are unique to you; they are so special, and also, people really notice these things!
- Go with vendors who are nice, accommodating and excited to be working with you. We spoke with many suppliers who really rubbed us the wrong way, and we are so glad that we didn’t go with them in the end.
- Think about introductions in advance. There were several people who I thought would really enjoy meeting each other and speaking to each other, but I never got around to introducing them, and they weren’t seated right next to each other at dinner, so sadly they never got to meet. I wish that I’d taken time to think about this more before the busy day.
- LISTEN during your ceremony and speeches. Really be present, and take it all in.
If I was able to do it all over again, the one thing I would change is…
I would have taken a drone photo of Will and me in front of the Manor House, with the old car from 1920 parked out front!
Supplier list:
Venue: Longworth Manor
Caterer: Doggart & Squash
Dress: Savin // I had my seamstress make the sleeves for me and we added them to the original, sleeveless dress. I got the dress at Gillian Million.
Bridesmaids: they all picked their own based off of my colour palette – a mix of solids, prints, fabrics and textures in rich Autumnal colours
Groom outfit: Waistcoat from Sirplus
Florist: Sage & Co.
Tableware: Doggart & Squash
Stationery: Sophie Mantell Illustration
Wedding website: www.willandabbie.coom
Photographer: We had two: Ben Wigglesworth & Alaina Mullin
Videographer: Paul Van
Wedding rings: Delaval Knight
Makeup: Keeley Wilson
Hair: Aga Drozdowska
Gift list: The Wedding Shop
Bridesmaid gifts: I got them several gifts: a framed print by Jessica Yolanda Kaye (our amie label artist!), The Pig: Tales and Recipes from the Kitchen Garden cookbook, a hand painted ‘Longworth’ Christmas ornament from Cotswold Christmas Shop and handmade ceramic bowls from George Bronwin Pottery
