Sweethearts Jessica and Jason first met when they were 17 on a night out. Nine years later, they tied the knot in a stunning flower-filled wedding at Gaynes Park, one of the most beautiful wedding venues in Essex! As bride Jessica is an interior designer, from floral arrangements to table decor, this is one seriously stylish wedding...
The Venue
The bride and groom initially couldn't decide between a city wedding in London, or a country wedding in their home county of Essex - but visiting Gaynes Park soon made up their mind. "We chose the venue because it was easy to reach for all of our guests being on the central line and M25, and it meant that the ceremony and evening reception could be in one place," says bride Jessica. "It was also stunningly beautiful, and it was clear that the venue has hosting weddings down to a T."
Jessica and Jason married in the gorgeous Orangery, which was full of light thanks to the beautiful sunny weather.Â
The Décor
"Being an interior designer, the venue and styling were super important to me," says Jessica. "I just knew that I wanted the day to be classic and beautiful but also relaxed and fun." The couple put flowers all down the aisle of the Orangery, on the chair ends, and chose two large urns filled with wild arrangements of foliage, roses, and foxgloves. The tables in The Barn, where the wedding breakfast took place, were decorated with tall floral arrangements to make the most of the vaulted ceiling. Jess hired a massive disco ball the give the room a party vibe, and had white drapes hung from the original beam.Â
The table numbers were written on brass photo frames with pressed flowers, and there were delicate bud vases with stems at the bottom of each table centre. Crafty DIY bride Jess made washed linen napkins to tie in the grey theme, and made homemade Cosmopolitan shots with pomegranate seeds for their wedding favours.Â
The Bride
Bride Jess looked incredible in a sleek sheath dress with embellished shoulders and incredible pearl and crystal back detail from Pronovias - it was only the third dress she'd tried on, but she knew it was the one. She accessorised with amazing Kurt Geiger heels to give her an extra boost of height. "At 5'1" I was adamant that my shoes needed to have as much height as I could bare, and the Kurt Geiger ones I chose were so comfortable I didn’t even need to swap in to my back up shoes!" says Jess. Her veil was a single tier cathedral length veil with satin piping, and she also wore tear drop crystals purchased online, and her nan's eternity ring as her 'something borrowed'.Â
The Men
Jason and the groomsmen wore 3-piece dark navy Reiss suits with TM Lewin white double cuffed shirts. Jason looked dapper in a grey Reiss waistcoat, Russel and Bromley black loafers, a TM Lewin blue and white polka dot tie, TM Lewin pearl cufflinks and his late grandad's silver tie pin.
The Bridesmaids
Surprisingly, the bridesmaid dresses were one of the hardest things for the couple to find! "I struggled with choosing a colour theme, but then I read a great article which suggested looking at your own wardrobe as these are obviously your favourite colours. I went with my gut and decided to have dove grey," says Jess. "We went for a bardot-style tight fitting dress with a small train - classic but glamorous."
The Food and Drink
For the drinks reception in the gardens, guests were served canapés with Pimm's, passionfruit martinis and gin and tonics whilst the string trio played covers of old school hip-hop, pop and RnB. Everyone then moved on to the Mill Barn for a 3-course sit-down meal of scallops, beef and Eton Mess. "We also added candy floss to the top of the toasting drinks for a bit of fun," says Jess. For the evening food, guests enjoyed freshly made stone-based pizzas, popcorn, a doughnut wall and beers and mini bottles of prosecco.Â
The Evening
Makeup artists Glitter Dolls arrived at 9pm to give everyone glitter makeovers, and OJ’s soulband played Disco songs for an hour including our first dance. Jessica and Jason also hired a photo booth complete with inbuilt beauty light and props.
