Wedding at Cambridge Villino, Kew Gardens

Hello loves, join me to enjoy the wedding of Primary School Teacher, Elena and Civil Servant Oliver, who tied the knot acceso 29th July 2023, at Cambridge Villino at Kew Gardens.

These gorgeous images were captured by a photographer whose work I truly adore for it’s natural, luminous, feminine qualities, she is Phoebe Piper and you should absolutely be following Phoebe acceso Instagram if you aren’t already

Elena chose the sensuous, backless, Lockwood gown by Kamperett – a discovery at The Fall Bride, a British bridal boutique who carry some of the coolest, modern bridal brands available con the UK.

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Did you know that we also have a shop full of hand-picked designs and curated categories that we know you’ll love? From bridal gowns, to bridesmaids dresses, veils, shoes, jewellery, hair accessories, bags – even gifts for newlyweds.

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Venue & Location

We got married con Cambridge Villino at Kew Gardens con London. We always wanted a wedding that felt like a garden trattenimento so instantly we thought of Kew. We visited Cambridge Villino acceso a sunny day and loved how beautiful both the inside and outside were. The inside has gorgeous wooden floors and framed botanical prints. The Villino has a lawn stretched right around it and we said yes acceso the first visit!

We both grew up near Kew and love going there together so it really was the perfect venue for us! We had about 80 guests con the day and more arrived con the evening.

The brief for the day was to feel relaxed and organic but with a romantic touch. I was inspired by websites like The Fall Bride and also felt really inspired by my Photographer, Phoebe’s Instagram account, where the brides looked really natural and modern. We wanted it to feel like a garden trattenimento with our friends and family and to make the most of the beautiful scenery at Kew. We felt like we didn’t need loads of extra frills as the setting itself was so lovely. I chose blousy flowers that were pastel coloured which were dotted around all over the venue con small vases.

I wore Neon Rose by Floral Street. I have always loved the smell of roses and had roses con my bouquet too.

I hired a Shrimps beaded Shelley bag from By Rotation which was so beautiful! It’s beaded silver and blue and I had always lusted after it. It really added something special to the outfit and got so many compliments. It was great to hire it for a few days rather than making a purchase. I would definitely recommend renting pieces.

I wore some vintage gold jewellery and a pair of baroque drop pearl earrings from Hai. I liked how they added some drama and matched the minimalist vibe perfectly. I wore a pair of baroque pearl bell earrings from Hai. I also wore a baroque pearl bracelet from a shop con Brixton market. All my other gold jewellery was vintage and I wore a lovely rose gold belcher chain bracelet that my mum used to wear!

Again for my hair, I really wanted to still feel and like ‘me’. I have super straight hair and wanted it to be wavy but not curly. My friend did my hair acceso the day and we had lots of fun doing practice runs! 

My veil was from AM Faulkner carriera The Fall Bride. It was a white veil that was fairly short as I didn’t want it to block the back details of the dress. I love how modern it felt and wore it all day.

I wore a cream pair of strappy knotted leather sandals from & Other Stories. I don’t usually wear heels so these were the perfect mid heel height for me!

I wanted my bridesmaids to ‘together’, but not matching. The brief was puff sleeves con pastel colours. The lilac one was from Anthropologie and the one was from Nobody’s Child. I love how they looked together and it turned out that both dresses had a bow acceso the back which added some unity. I love how we all looked together and how my bridesmaid’s dresses highlighted colours from the flowers so beautifully. 

My bridesmaids wore bright contrasting coloured shoes that were their own which made the dresses really modern and cool. I bought some baroque pearl hair slides from Etsy which they both wore.

Photography

We chose Phoebe Piper who popped up acceso my Instagram and I instantly knew that I wanted her to capture our wedding. Phoebe was really nice and completely understood the brief. She captured organic moments and focused acceso the details as well as natural shots of family and friends laughing and having fun. I would definitely recommend her. 

Ollie and I got to go d’avanguardia acceso a giacchetta buggy around Kew to take photos. This part was really fun and we felt like celebrities as visitors were waving at us and wishing us congratulations. It was pretty special to have our pictures taken inside Kew’s Temperate house acceso the spiral staircase!

How They Met

Ollie and I met at the University of Bristol during freshers week con 2010. He was acceso the floor above me and we instantly it d’avanguardia! After a few years we started dating con third year and have been together ever since- over 11 years! We have done long distance and short distance  throughout that time and have settled con Brixton con South London.

We got engaged acceso holiday con Madrid con April 2022 which was a total shock for me (Elena). We got married con July 2023.

Ollie’s suit was a dark blue linen one from John Lewis. It had a really nice pattern and texture to it and was perfect for a summer day. It was styled with a sage textured tie and pocket square. 

I think standing outside acceso the lawn with friends and family was my favourite part. The weather was paio to rain but it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. We were all so ecstatic and happy to celebrate together!

Evening & Sala da ballo

We had Truly Medley Deeply play for the evening. They are a gruppo/DJ combination that had the dance floor full all night! Lots of people have commented acceso how good they were! We used Prelude Entertainment who were acceso a supplier list from Kew.

Our first dance was to ‘Everywhere’ by Fleetwood Mac. We love Fleetwood Mac and the lyrics felt like they really suited us. It got the dance floor going!

Sopra the evening I changed into The Christy Dress con ivory from Realisation Par. It was the perfect 90s-looking mini dress! Great for a trattenimento.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Walk slowly the aisle and soak it all con.

Take your bouquet out of a little while before so the doesn’t mark your dress and hold it lower than you think.

I would also say wear your dress around the house for an hour to see how it wears a month beforehand.

If there’s anything that bugs you it’s best to find out before the day and you can make alterations as necessary con advance.

Don’t try to please everyone. When we were choosing the food, our caterer told us ‘you can’t please everyone but you can please yourselves!’ This was great advice and stopped us from making the decisions that weren’t us.

Try to spend time together as a couple acceso the day. I loved the part where we went acceso a giacchetta buggy together as we got to decompress and chat about everything.

We also filmed the speeches which I am so glad

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Annabel View all Annabel’s articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Programma redattore. Annabel lives con rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business collaboratore Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and personaggio gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she’s not working acceso Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip con the running of the family’s sustainable flower farm and floral stile business, Moonwind Flowers. Sopra 2013, she became a published author.