Holly and Sylvain's Laid Back Oxfordshire Wedding on a Hill by OXI Photography

Hello Friday!!! Well what a busy week it has been and with only one more week before the schools break up for the summer, next week looks to be super busy as well! This weekends activities consist of a visit to the theatre to watch Dirty Dancing on Saturday night which I am really looking forward to. Then Sunday is Dexter’s ‘Rock Project’ end of year concert, where he is playing electric guitar. What about you? Back to weddings and I am finishing the week with another fabulous wedding to share with you. Today is the turn of Holly and Sylvain, who held their outdoor ceremony on a HUGE hill in Oxfordshire. The pictures look stunning, what a unique venue! They were then lucky enough to hold the reception in a marquee in Holly’s parent’s garden. They kept the day laid back and chilled, which was perfect for them as a couple. OXI Photography was there to capture the day for us.

Laid back, unconventional, full of love

Holly and Sylvain were married on 3rd September 2022 at White Horse Hill, Uffington in Oxfordshire, with the reception at their Parents house in Goosey. ‘Holly grew up very close by and found the site very special to her. There is an aura to it. We had 100 guests and it took 8 months to plan.’

How they met
We met at an art event in London and have been together for 5 years.

The proposal
Sylvain proposed in the Japanese garden in Kew Gardens in London. A place where we had one of our first dates and a very special place to Holly.

How did you allocate your budget?
We prioritised which aspects of the day were important to us and worked back from there.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
Music was very important to us so we had a live band. We saved on decorations as Holly did them herself.

How did you choose your photographer?
A lot of Googling and then going through portfolios and finally meeting over zoom to see who we had the best vibe with and who was on our same page!

The dress
Dress by Margaux Tardits, shoes were vintage Valentino.

The bridesmaids
Bridesmaids were Hope and Ivy

Theme or colour scheme
I was inspired by the Primavera painting by Botticelli.

Flowers
Wild, bright coloured flowers with some Holly branches and also some Mediterranean Olive branches to represent Sylvain (who is from the Mediterranean).

Decoration
We have colourful paper lanterns & mini Moss hills in the centre of each table with flowers coming out of them.

Food
Beef wellington

Wedding cake
It was a multi-tiered cake of different flower pots with us at the top as we both love gardening!

Entertainment
We had a live band

Who supplied the stationery?
Holly did the stationary herself as she is an artist.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We went on a road trip around Scotland, a lot of it unplanned just seeing where the wind took us! The only planned part was to visit the Isle of Gigha.

Personal touches
Holly made everyone ceramic sake cup each (for the Sake toast) for everyone to take home, Sylvain made origami boxes to put the French heart favours inside & we had personalised wild flower wedding seeds which we gave to everyone.

Special moments
Arriving on the hill dancing down the aisle to Sister Sledge with my father and my bridesmaids and seeing Sylvain’s face at the end!

Advice for other couples
Stick to what you would like to do! There may be ways you can compromise but try to keep it inline with what matters to you!

Biggest surprise
My dad created a massive banner for us both as a surprise! With some photos of us to guide people to the reception area!