Kate and Toby had a relaxed and stylish wedding at Buxted Park. Kate looks effortless glamorous in her fishtail Benjamin Roberts and Toby rocked the Reiss in style. With friends and family arriving to celebrate from all over the UK, Buxted Park offered the perfect solution for ceremony, reception and accommodation. Not to mention beautiful interiors and views.

Kate The Bride: I knew I wanted a lace dress with some sort of fishtail. The theme of the wedding was based around my choice of dress.....a mix of vintage and rustic romance! I only went to two shops, both of which stocked the Benjamin Roberts dress and I just knew it was "the one" as soon as I tried it on. As the back of the dress was so beautiful and so detailed, I felt it would be a shame to hide it with a veil, so I opted for a diamante and pearl head-piece, that sat on a headband. Again, shoes I wanted plain as the dress was so beautiful, so I chose a pair of plain ivory peep toe, from Rainbow Club. We both knew we wanted a fairly relaxed yet smart look for the men, so tails for us wasn't an option. Toby (the groom) opted for a French navy three piece suit from Reiss. He wore this with a white shirt from T.M Lewin, tan brogues from Jasper Conran and a cream silk tie. We wanted a similar look for the groomsmen, but also wanted the groom to look slightly different. We opted for Navy blue, super skinny suits for the men, also with white shirts and tan brogues. The groomsmen wore pewter colour ties to match the bridesmaids.

We chose Buxted Park as our wedding venue. We spent a long time looking at venues and struggled to find somewhere that ticked all the boxes. As well as a beautiful location, for us it was important to have somewhere where we could hold the ceremony, have the wedding breakfast and stay over. We needed a venue whereby all our friends and family to do this also, as we had guests coming from different parts of the UK. We opted for Buxted as it gave us all of the above, plus the hotel and its grounds and breathtaking. The staff at the venue are amazing - so helpful and really do go above and beyond. The colour scheme and decor was based loosely around the theme. Pinterest was my best friend at this time! I would just trawl through Pinterest making boards of what I liked. I still look at them now....not sure how it all came together! I took ideas from various magazines and also got helpful suggestions from Alice Bradley at Blossom Flowers.

Alice Bardley at Blossom Flowers, did all of our flowers - bridal bouquet, bridesmaid bouquet, centrepieces etc. Alice and I discussed the theme and chose a selection of flowers with a pastel Palette, which complemented the colour of the bridesmaid dresses. The bridesmaids bouquets were a smaller version of the brides. On the tables, we had single rose flowers in mini fishbowls, again in pastel shades (these were also applied to the cake). These sat in beautifully amongst the hurricane vases full of pearls and church candle, as well as the antique silver tea lights.
I wanted to keep the vintage/romantic feel going with the flowers and I think we achieved this. They also smelt divine!

We really struggled with the Bridesmaid dresses and spent a long time trying to find the right ones! The colour we wanted wasn't too easy to find. I also knew I didn't want a traditional bridesmaid dress - I wanted something that was lace and could draw similarities from mine. The dresses we chose I felt fitted into the theme of the wedding beautifully - they were glamorous and elegant and the girls looked beautiful. The flower girls wore traditional long ivory dresses from John Lewis. I wanted to the flowers girls to look like little flower girls and keep them looking different from the older bridesmaids. We chose a civil ceremony, which was held in the Coat of Arms room at Buxted. The registrar put us both at ease and the ceremony was relaxed and actually fun! Just what we had hoped for. Our little girl Lola was one of our flower girls, she walked down the aisle with the brides sister, which was a lovely touch and special to us.

The band (Saviours of Soul) are a ten piece band, who we had heard before at another wedding and also at music festivals in our home town of Horsham, West Sussex. They were AMAZING and kept the dance floor full all night long. I went to school with a few of the band members and it was lovely to have familiar faces play at our big day.

Once I had chosen my theme for the wedding, I knew I wanted a "naked" cake. I wanted cake that people would enjoy and most people like a Victoria sponge! It was a layered Victoria sponge, filled with jam and butter cream, topped with two love birds and fresh flowers (roses that matched my bouquet). I met and spoke with Rosie who is a family friend and discussed what I had in mind. I had seen the lovebirds on another cake - and loved them, so we incorporated that. Rosie also made handmade biscuits for all the children.

We had met a few photographers before we met Annamarie, but I wanted something a little different....I wanted someone whose photography style reflected and understood the theme I was aiming for...... I also wanted relaxed photo's that captured the fun and showed the emotion. I didn't want my guests to have to pose for lots of photo's either. As soon as I saw Annamarie's website, I knew I had to meet her. She gave us exactly what we wanted and more. It's like she read my mind! And I can treasure those beautiful images forever. She was amazing and great company on the day too!

Photography by AnnaMarie Stepney
Bridal Gown Benjamin Roberts | boutique Blessings Bridal in Westdene, Brighton | Shoes - Rainbow Club | Headband - Purchased from Blessings Bridal | Florist Alice Bradley at Blossom Flowers Venue Buxted Park Hotel | Illuminated LOVE signs Vowed & Amazed | Cake Maker - Rosie Whicher (family friend) | Favours made by Sarah Stinton (Auntie)
Caterer Buxted Park Hotel | Bridesmaid Dresses | Ariella | Flowergirl Dresses - John Lewis | Groom Reiss | Groomsmen Marks & Spencer Wedding Planner - Amy Diaper at Buxted Park Hotel | Stationery - Alice Bradley at Blossom Flowers | Entertainment Saviours of Soul