Before I got engaged I hadn’t really given much detailed thought to what I would have wanted my wedding to be like. Some girls have this really clear idea, but that just wasn’t me. Seven months later and after much discussion with anyone who will listen, it’s safe to say I have a pretty clear idea (this would be the point where Chris would roll his eyes, but I know he’s just as excited as me).
This blog isn’t a bridal blog, but it is about the things I love, and I think my wedding to my man counts as one of those things.
The minute we got home from Venice after getting engaged, we drew up a guest list so we knew how many people we wanted to invite. Then the pinning began. After countless hours, there was no recurring theme that I could see. So I decided to start with…
BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES/SHOES
After asking my three best girls if they’d be part of my special day (they said yes!), it was time to decide on the colour of their dresses. I wanted lilac, but at that point that was my only requirement, and if that didn’t work then I was open to other colours. I looked at a few websites, Coast being my first point of call. I saw a beautiful lilac/lavender dress called Lisanne which I absolutely adored, and vowed to keep an eye on it.
The more I showed my friends and family the more I liked it, but I felt like the minute I decided on that dress that would be my colour scheme. A week later it had gone down in price, not once but TWICE in the pre Christmas sales from £145 to a bargain £49 each, and it felt like fate. One checkout button and a generous Mama LL later and they were purchased. 
When they arrived, I frantically drove to two of my bridesmaids and got them to try on their dresses, my other bridesmaid was travelling so I had to guess her size (I breathed a huge sigh of relief when she returned, tried it on and it fitted PERFECTLY!). All of my bridesmaids are brunettes with an English rose complexions, so the lilac looks beautiful. The dress has lace across the décolletage and short sleeves, with piped seaming on the boned bodice and flared soft pleating, which gives it a romantic texture.
I’ve always loved grey and lilac together, they play off each other well. So for the shoes, I had a soft grey suede court shoe in mind. Very K Middy, classic and elegant.
I was conscious that I didn’t want a strappy shoe to ‘cheapen’ the dress. But I couldn’t find an affordable grey mock suede shoe, for the life of me. Then Zara answered my prayers.
Not grey suede, but a basic synthetic patent leather light grey heeled court shoe that I actually preferred. At what cost you ask? £29.99 each (and now they are in the sale, GO, GO, GO)! If this were a bargain bridal blog I’d be killing it right now!
VENUE
The next stage after picking the bridesmaid’s dresses was to pick where we were going to get married (priorities right?!). Chris and I sat down and looked at a list of Surrey venues and each made a list of five, cross referenced them with each other and then came up with a top three. One of those was Farnham Castle, which is now confirmed as our wedding venue (all images in this post are sourced from the Farnham Castle website). Whoop!
The venue does a lot to inspire the styling of the wedding I think, it also shows you what we are like as a couple because it has to be a mutually happy decision. It helped to define us, as it had a historic romantic charm. It is timeless, classic and with a throwback to the traditional from the outside, but inside it is a modern, elegant setting; far from being stuffy it is clean and simplistic.
If you are having trouble deciding on a location, I think it helps to try to visualise how you would like your day to be and find a space that fits. But also be prepared to change your vision if you fall in love with somewhere. Think about your venue checklist: does it fit with your theme? Is it big enough to fit all of your guests and can guests stay in or near the venue with ease (this was something we really wanted)? Historic or spiritual? Do you want everything in one space, does it need to be multi-functional?
The tables and chairs that are already in Farnham Castle give me a starting point to expand from, and for that I am grateful.
Part two of the blog post is on its way. Thank god, I can ramble on here to you guys!
Levanah
xoxo
