Shelley and George's Relaxed and Elegant Christmas Wedding at Elmore Court

A week today people it will be Christmas Eve! Because we are so close to Christmas, I am sharing with you plenty of Christmas inspiration all this week. Yesterday it was all about the Christmas DIYs, with Christmas Table Arrangements and Eco Friendly Christmas Crackers and today it’s the turn of this gorgeous Christmas wedding. Shelley and George chose the super stylish Elmore Court for their Christmas wedding and the results are this beautifully decorated festive day, filled with amazing flowers, a plethora of candles and plenty of smiles.

Our wedding was classic, relaxed and fun-filled. It was filled with memories that we’ll never forget.

Shelley and George were married on 29th December 2018 at Elmore Court in Gloucester. ‘We loved the feel the place had… ultimately the wedding breakfast and party room sold it for us! The Giillyflower is one big room for all to have fun! We had 85 to the day and then 120 in total to the evening, It took roughly 18 months, that was including having a baby in that time!’

How they met
We met at school, George was in the year above. We have now been together for almost 12 years!

The proposal
The proposal was something made of dreams. We love to travel, George surprised me to a trip away to Sorrento to for my birthday. On the evening of our second day, George had arranged a taxi to collect us from the hotel, and took us to the docks… a beautiful boat turned up for just the two of us and the driver to explore the Amalfi coast. Just over half way through the boat trip as the sun was setting, the boat stopped and the driver took photos of us at the edge and little did I know George was on one knee with a ring!!

How did you allocate your budget?
We can’t say we didn’t have one but he had an overall budget. We spoke to friends to get ideas on what was realistic for certain things.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We splurged on the flowers… it was worth every penny. It was the most breathtaking thing seeing them… from my bouquet, to the ceremony and the Gillyflower. It’s something we always talk about when we think back to our day. Saved?

How did you choose your photographer?
We chose our photographer by looking through Elmore’s recommended suppliers list. We fell in love how Eve captured previous weddings at Elmore and wanted this for ours. She was one of the first things we booked and we never had second thoughts! She was the most professional and friendly person to have around you on the day. Plus you knew she knew her stuff, we had every faith in her to get those golden moments.

The dress
My dress was by Mikaella. It was a 2 in 1 dress. It had a fitted lace dress with an over skirt with lace on the top and bottom to give the effect of one dress. Lace and Grace, the shop I brought it from we’re incredible and in fact one of the owners handmade my bolero which I wore for our ceremony. It made my dress perfect for the day we had planned. I took the bolero and overskirt off and added straps with a cross at the back just before the curtains were drawn and we had our first dance. My accessories – my diamond bracelet was from George given on the morning of our wedding. My shoes were from Carvela (one of my fave brands), I wore one of my mother in law’s diamond rings.My earrings and pearl hair pins were from Botias Accessories.

The suit and Bridesmaids
The suits were from Clifton Suits in Bristol and the bridesmaids wore dresses from a boutique shop called Rewritten in the colour Oyster.

Theme or colour scheme
We had a wintery relaxed burgundy theme.

Flowers
Our florist Amber Persia was incredible, we had seen photos online of the things we liked. We gave her these and she came back with everything we wanted and more. She took in everything and made suggestions to things that worked well on previous weddings at Elmore.

Decoration
Amber also helped with the decorations. We love candles and wanted as many as possible to fill the front of the ceremony, and the entrance to the Gillyflower. She also decorated all the tables and made the wreath of dreams for the front door of Elmore!

Food
We had canapés after our ceremony which included cod goujons, pork and leak chipolatas, deep fried mac & cheese and confit pork belly. For our wedding breakfast we opted for charcuterie followed by lamb, rosemary & garlic with potato & honey pie (with initial S & G in poppy seeds) with creamy mashed potato and buttered seasonal vegetables and ending of with sticky toffee pudding. Later on in the food we had a Fat Toni’s deliver their tyre sized pizzas! The food was the best of the best! Our guests continue to comment on the food we all had on our wedding day. We’d love to go back to eat it all again!

Wedding Cake
Our wedding cake was made by George’s Auntie. It’s one of her hobbies, but my goodness she’s a pro! We had one layer Victoria sponge, red velvet and lemon drizzle. She decorated it all too!

Entertainment
For entertainment, we had a pianist and saxophonist called dinnerjaxsax. They played before and during our ceremony and throughout our drinks reception. We had a band called Echo for our evening entertainment alongside a photo and GIF booth and The Glitter Box who provided unlimited face glitter for everyone!

Who supplied the Stationery
Our stationary was supplied by Beyond Vintage. She created our invites, table names, running of the day chalkboard and our welcome sign. We also had laser cut place names for all our guests!

Personal touches
We had all our parents and grandparents wedding pictures printed and framed to go round our wedding cake. Alongside a guestbook, we also had a large wooden ‘O’ for people to sign their names which we have up in our house now! We put together our favours, we had ‘His’ and ‘Hers’ favourite sweets in jars! I also made a little basket for the ladies toilets for all those things you may need!

Special moments
Our special moments included our vows, having photos just the two of us and seeing the Gillyflower all set up for the wedding breakfast. It was breathtaking!

Advice for other couples
Do it how you want to do it. Don’t do it to please others and if it’s goes a bit above what you expected… do it anyway. You’ll never regret it!

Biggest surprise
Our biggest surprise was how organised and free flowing the whole day went. We knew the Elmore team would deliver but that was one of our biggest worries.