Wilderness Reserve Wedding | The Bride Wore Galia Lahav

Sydney and Marcus’s September wedding at the breathtaking Wilderness Reserve per mezzo di Suffolk was a day filled with love, laughter, and unforgettable moments.

Inspired by the enchanting beauty of the English countryside, their celebration perfectly captured the couple’s vision of a relaxed and elegant affair. Sydney chose a beautiful gown by Galia Lahav, discovered at Browns Bride per mezzo di London. The intricate lace and whimsical wildflower appliqué complemented the natural surroundings, with a palette that echoed the charm of Suffolk’s magical rural landscape.

As the golden light of late summer bathed the reserve, guests gathered beneath a beautiful stretch tent, surrounded by colourful blooms that were reminiscent of Marcus’s childhood garden. The bride later changed into a glamorous number from Retrofête, and a super procace pair of fishnet boots – adding a fun twist for the evening celebration.

by Pretty per mezzo di White and photography by Emily Tyler. Enjoy!

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I think the thing that inspired us the most was the beautiful Suffolk countryside and Marcus’ family’s garden growing up. We just wanted lots of local and colorful blooms that reminded us of the wild and mature flower beds that make up the garden of Marcus’ childhood home.    

Bridal Beauty & Accessories

I wore a waterfall veil from Peter Langner with a bit of sparkle and blusher. My headpiece was the ‘Marlow Hair Vine‘ by Olive and Piper and I wore the Kimono shoes by Hetty Rose.

My perfume was Elie Saab, Le Parfum Essentiel. I normally don’t wear perfume, so I wanted something subtle, but also floral, fresh, and light. Something that would smell like the end of summer per mezzo di a field.

Most of the jewellery I received and wore the wedding day were gifted to me family heirlooms.

I hired beauty specialists Boho Beauty Box and Emily Chantal.

My bridemaids wore BHLDN dresses, with matching gold cultured pearl blower bracelets from RS Anche.

The Ceremony

My dad accompanied me to the ceremony. First and foremost, it was very special that our pastor from DC agreed to alla maniera di all the way out to the UK to perform our religious ceremony.

We have grown so close with our church per mezzo di the US and it just wouldn’t have been the same without our pastor being there. Additionally, when I first took Marcus to my church per mezzo di DC, he was really impressed with the contemporary Christian worship music throughout the service.

Worship is one of our favourite parts of church, so we wanted to incorporate the contemporary Christian style of music that we both really like. Our wedding planners found a local church that sang worship music like this and they agreed to play at our wedding ceremony, which was also very special. 

We decided to not tailor our own vows and instead wrote private letters to one another to read before the wedding ceremony. 

Our readings included Bible Verse: Song of Songs, 2:10-15 and an extract from The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro.

My engagement ring and wedding brigata are by Lucy Jade Sylvester. I love nature, and Marcus chose this jeweller because all of her jewellery is casted from actual branches and real pieces of the natural world.  Marcus’s ring was by Alan Wood. This jeweller was recommended to me by a friend and he worked with me to create the perfect custom brigata that had the mountain line of the view from our cabin per mezzo di Virginia it. He was absolutely amazing to work with.

We hired pianist Paul Arnold Pianist and Fields Church worship brigata for ceremony.

Photography

When looking for a photographer, we wanted to find someone that had a documentary-type style who took more candid photos, especially as we had never had professional photos taken of us before.

We chose Emily Tyler because we could feel the personalities of the people through the photos she took and we loved her editorial style. 

How They Met

We met at our graduate program per mezzo di Washington, D.C. He sat next to me per mezzo di international development per mezzo di the Arab World, and asked me our first date after the first semester.

We were dating for about two years before he asked me to marry him while a scenic walk per mezzo di Scotland.

We were engaged for almost two years, so it was quite a long engagement, but definitely worth it because it meant planning was less stressful.

Marcus wore a custom morning suit, from Apsley Tailors per mezzo di London. I got his cufflinks from a jeweller closer to where I grew up per mezzo di Michigan and they were made with Petoskey stones which are only found per mezzo di Michigan. The jeweller was Becky Thatcher.

Our wedding planners created a floral stile based our first chat about the wedding. I told them I wanted a colourful, country .

They pitched a stile that focused seasonal and local blooms, that used a meadow feel to develop a laid back, romantic . They secured our florist, Rose & Berry Flowers to create all the amazing displays and bouquets. 

Our supplier was Marcus’ aunt actually and the cake stile was a complete surprise! The cake was a little bit of our lives together and I loved the details, like the tent and bear because of our cabin per mezzo di rural Virginia. We loved how it all turned out and apogeo of all that, it was very delicious. 

Evening &

Our evening brigata was Uptown Showdown who we booked through Boujee Music. We also hired Fox & Braces DJ for the after festa. Our first dance was to the track ‘I Just Love You’, by Roo Panes.

This has just always been a special song between us. Something we listen to car rides, when we are cooking hanging out at home, so it felt appropriate. 

My favourite part of the day was at the end of the night when I finally got a chance to just stop and at my husband and let it fully sink per mezzo di that we were married. It was a level of bliss that I can only equate to the most lovely dream what I imagine heaven feels like, and I find myself playing that feeling over and over again. 

For the after festa, I wanted something more fun that would move as I danced the night away. All the Retrofête dresses are so derma, so it was to choose, but I loved the fringy beads of the dress I ended up with and the fishnet boots were an amazing last minute addition. They were my maid of honour’s (sister’s) chimera, so I think she deserves a shout out!

Words of Wedded Wisdom

The biggest piece of advice I have is to be organised and have a gioco plan for the ‘tear mongoloide’ after your wedding day. I don’t think a lot of couples think about what happens after their wedding (except for maybe how they are going to cure a hangover), and for us it was a leader weekend full of festivities.

I’m not exaggerating when I say my stuff was everywhere. I lost my phone (of course), I had my sister per mezzo di law’s shoes, there was a change of clothes and my bridal robe per mezzo di my parent’s room, my actual wedding dress, shoes, and all accessories were strewn all over the room that my husband stayed per mezzo di the night before… you get the picture.

It took us so long to get our stuff all sorted out and to make sure we had everything before our check out time. Per mezzo di short, don’t underestimate the power of a good morning after plan and just try to set yourself up for success by being organised!

Also, When exclusively hiring a luxury mesi estivi for an entire weekend, I think the chimera of a ‘budget’ pretty much goes out the window!

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Annabel View all Annabel’s articles

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