Jenna & Ollie’s Relaxed, Vintage Wedding. By Emma Boileau

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? I spent mine with very dear friends celebrating birthdays and the start to the summer holidays. If you are almost upon your summer break or honeymoon, this hot and humid weather must be really getting you in the mood. Unless of course you are going somewhere cold! Today’s wedding is just a joy! Elegant and simple with just a twist of vintage thrown in. Jenna and Ollie brought together family, traditions (including a serenade from the groom to the bride the night before their wedding) and subtle colours of blush (in Jenna’s dress), dark navy and pinks, all perfectly captured by Emma Boileau.

‘Our wedding day was the most amazing day ever! We were surrounded by people we love and cherish and we couldn’t have asked for anything more.’

Jenna and Ollie were married on 29th May at Combermere Abbey in Shropshire. “Combermere Abbey was the first place we looked at when we started our search and we just fell in love. It’s a beautiful venue and was everything we were looking for. It had cottages on site so our family and friends could stay over the night before and the night of the wedding.”

How they met
We first met at a friend’s house warming. We have been together 3 years.

The proposal
We went to Manchester to watch Muse at the Etihad and just before we went Ollie told me to pack a bag as we were staying over. We stayed in the Radisson Blue. Just before we left to go to the concert, Ollie told me he had a present and to close my eyes. When I opened them, there he was a one knee with a little pink box and a beautiful Boodles engagement ring.

How did you spend your budget?
We just kind of went with it (not the best advice I could give!)

Why did you choose your photographer?
We chose Emma after I stumbled across her blog online. I loved the style of Emma’s pictures, nothing too posed or formal. Our wedding was very relaxed and we wanted a photographer who would fit in. Ollie hates the camera so asked for ‘a ninja photographer’! We got just that, Emma is certainly a ninja. When I saw the photographers I was amazed at how much she had captured, I don’t remember seeing her!!

The dress and accessories
My dress was by Stella York, purchased at Cherish the Bride. My shoes were Carvela and my jewellery was all David M. Robinson. My necklace was my 21st birthday present off my parents and my bracelet was my something borrowed from my mum.

The suit and bridesmaids
Ollie’s suit was from Moss Bros. All the boys had suits from Moss Bros with ties from Reiss.
The bridesmaid dresses were from Dessy, purchased at Bellissima Brides.

The theme
We wanted something very vintage and relaxed. My dress was blush so we went with a pink and cream colour scheme for the flowers and table decorations etc. Ollie picked his suit jacket himself and that pretty much set the theme for the whole wedding.

The flowers
We had soft pink peonies, dusky pink and cream roses.

The decoration
We had a mixture of decorations throughout the venue. I kept the glasshouse simple as it really doesn’t need much! I put jam jars with tea lights round the edge and then a selection of miss-matched jars around the centre pole. I also hand-made the bunting which was placed around the windows.
For the pavilion, again we went for a miss-match of jars, glasses vase and wooden boxes in keeping with our vintage theme. I wanted to keep it simple and elegant.

The food and wedding cake
We gave our guests the choice of:
Starters
A taste of the Seaside (Potted shrimp, crab cake and Salmon)
Farmhouse Duck and Pork terrine, served with chilli jam and walnut loaf
Spring pea mousse served with crispy duck ham, broad bean salsa finished with shiso duck scratching
Veg Option – a crown of Formby asparagus served with goat’s cheese fondue, golden beetroot jelly and a hazelnut dressing.
Mains
Duo of corn fed chicken with a poached breast, mini chicken and leek pie, wild garlic ragout and a potato gallet
5 hour braised shin of beef served with horseradish mash, crispy bacon shallots and a red wine jus
Veg option – A parcel of sweet potato, calvo nero and manouri cheese served with fenugreek seed and a spice butter sauce
Dessert
Chocolate brownie served with caramel fudge ice cream
Bakewell tart served with cheery sorbet
Churros with chocolate and vanilla dipping sauce
Our catering was prepared by Pickled Walnut and all guests commented on how amazing the food was.
Ah, the wedding cake. We didn’t want one! We were eventually talked into having one by my parents so had a simple sponge cake from Marks & Spencer’s! Everyone tells me it was delicious!!

The entertainment
We had our wonderfully talented friend Sam McDonnell keeping our guests entertained during the cocktail hour with a few pop classics!
After the meal, we had an amazing lady called Jade Tremarco who played a brilliant acoustic set of current songs.
For the evening entertainment we had a fab band called Munch who got all our guests up on the dance floor, keeping the party going!
We had 2 Brazilian dancers kick off the entertainment at about 7 and they were fantastic!!

Buy or DIY your stationery?
We made all our own wedding stationery. We bought the paper and fabric from Abakans.

Personal or handmade touches
We made all the invites, save the dates, menus, place names, table names. I hand made the bunting and put the favours all together. We created a CD which featured songs that had been played throughout the day.

Special moments
My highlight of the day was seeing Ollie as I walked down the aisle. He had the biggest, cheesiest grin and it was hilarious!
Another highlight was our ‘Hora Loca’! We hired 2 Brazilian dancers to get the evening reception started, it was one of the best things we did. They got all our guests up dancing and people are talking about it even now! The photos are incredible.

Advice to other couples
My main bit of advice is don’t forget what your day is about, it’s about marrying the love of your life. Don’t let little things get you down, everything will be ok on the day.
The day itself, just relax and enjoy. It does fly by so take in every moment.

Biggest surprise
My biggest surprise of the day actually happened the night before the big day! It is a Colombian tradition for the groom to serenade his bride the night before the wedding so unbeknown to me Ollie was frantically practicing whilst I was enjoying the BBQ the night before! Ollie serenaded me with the help of 50 of our guests with Hey Ho by the Lumineers, which is one of my favourite songs. It was the best surprise ever and I think every groom should serenade their bride whether they are Colombian or not!

Supplier Shout Outs:

• Combermere Abbey – www.combermereabbey.co.uk – A huge thank you to Emma, Sarah, Diane and Charles at Combermere Abbey for being so helpful and patient with us! Nothing was too much trouble and thanks to them the day worked brilliantly.
• Cherish the Bride – cherishthebride.co.uk – To Carole at Cherish the Bride who made me try on a dress I wouldn’t have even looked at, it was perfect!
• Bellissima Brides – www.bellissima-brides.co.uk
• Angela Adlard – www.angelaadlardfloristry.co.uk – Angela was amazing; she really made the vision in my head a reality. She’s so talented; I would recommend her to anyone!
• Emma Boileau – www.emmaboileau.co.uk – And Emma, who gave us memories that will last a life time and kept Ollie’s soul intact!!
• Pickled Walnut – www.pickledwalnutcatering.co.uk
• Gorilla Bar Services – www.gorilla-events.co.uk
• Viva Brasil – www.viva-brasil.co.uk

For more information on Emma’s work please go to:

www.emmaboileau.co.uk
emmaboileau.wordpress.com
[email protected]
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@boileauphoto