This Van Morrison song is what I think of when looking at these images from last October... Danielle and James brought together an amazing array of suppliers and I think it has to be my favourite Autumn wedding for years!
Mayfair's Dartmouth House is one of those venues where I just feel at home straight away... I know the rooms, the set ups, the places where flowers look best...and the sad fact that you aren't allowed to use real candles!!
It was their planner, Rebecca, who first contacted me about the wedding and a) I jumped at the chance to work at this lovely venue again and b) her brief was just what I like, clear, flower-heavy and lush
We started with dressing the gorgeous marble staircase with blooms and faux candles, leading to the upper level for both ceremony in the Churchill Room and the evening reception
I really don't like to waste any flowers and we aim to reuse and repurpose where possible during the wedding day... so the flower dressed fireplace which was used as the ceremony backdrop, was cleverly redesigned and moved to the slightly larger fireplace in the Long Drawing room behind the top table, where it would be admired for long into the evening rather than going straight into the back of the van
So once the guests had gone downstairs for a drink, the ceremony space was turned around for the evening party and we got to work resetting the flowers into the room next door... and they looked very different!
It still has the same colours and feel, but as the room has larger windows to the street which throw in a lot more light even on a dark Autumn afternoon, the whole set up is brighter and more colourful... the faux candles really came into their own during the evening as the light outside faded
Seasonal toning blooms decorated all the tables... burnt orange and plum dahlia, rich black scabious, nude and toffee coloured roses and the delicate tiny flowers of apricot achillea pulled it all together. We used a selection of footed and lower cream bowls which co-ordinated with the chalk Urbane linen textured cloths and the black stationery, cutlery and napkins gave the whole room a very classy edge
And how amazing do these ladies look in their olive Brooklyn satin dresses... its such a fabulous shade that seems to work with so many skin tones and hair colour
Takeaway from this wedding... Autumn weddings aren't all orange and Halloween, October weddings aren't dull and cold and lots of bridesmaids is always a good thing!! x
Photographer - martadweddings
Venue - dartmouth house
Planner - byrebeccabrennanbrown
Dress - pronovias
Bridesmaids' dresses - rewrittenbridesmaids
Make up - portraits bridal
Hair - beniamin.c
Tablecloths - just 4 linen