The bride walked down the aisle on the arm of her father to ‘Life on Mars’ by David Bowie and the couple said their romantic wedding vows in front of 100 wedding guests.
During the run up to their wedding, Emma and James had met with their Harper Wedding Planning Manager, Aly, to discuss their plans and have a menu tasting. Here, they got to pick and choose which dishes to serve their guests at the wedding reception; the couple chose a menu consisting of salmon as their starter, followed by sticky beef and a sumptuous chocolate pot for dessert.
When it came to their wedding flowers, their theme followed a rich purple, glamorous grey and winter green pallet. Their wedding floral wedding decorations were designed by Fullers Flowers and the bridal bouquet consisted of a mix between cream and purple blooms with beautiful foliage. The groom and his party wore a wintry floral mix buttonhole that mainly consisted of cream roses and the venue was decorated with floral arrangements over the fire places as well as on the wedding reception tables.
When it came to their wedding cake, Emma and James chose a woodland themed cake unlike any that the team at Notley Abbey had ever seen before. Designed by Sara Allen, the gorgeous winter wedding cake sat on a log slice and featured real flowers and no icing. The three tiered wedding cake consisted of chocolate, Victoria sandwich and carrot and had a true woodland feel to it.
The wedding reception also featured a woodland theme; lanterns sitting on slices of log, decorated with moss and fairy lights looked sensational. Each wedding reception table was named after teams from Formula 1 – a passion of both Emma and James. As a wedding favour, each guest was given a little silver animal with their name tag attached, as well as wind-up formula 1 racing car and a small bag of dried heather from the garden of James’ mother.
A further 28 guests joined the newlywed couple for their evening celebrations and everyone danced the night away to music by a brilliant band called Teenage Kicks. The couple didn’t opt to have a first dance, but instead, their wedding photographer, Wendy Aldiss, took Emma and James out to the front of Notley Abbey to enjoy a private moment away from their guests; they had a quick dance alone, surrounded by the beautiful illuminations of Notley Abbey by night. It was one of the most memorable parts of the day and the couple are delighted with their wedding photographs from that very moment.
