A Brympton wedding: then vs now!
Jeanette and Adam married at Brympton in 2014. They had a 'vintage secret garden’ theme for their day. Light and ethereal with colours of white, sage and olive. Overgrown with greenery, fresh white blooms and sparkling vintage silver candle holders - their day was nothing short of magical!
You can imagine our excitement when Jeanette got in touch with us 6 years on to arrange an anniversary shoot... but this was to be a family anniversary shoot with their two beautiful children in tow!
THE REASON FOR THE ANNIVERSARY SHOOT Our home is full of pictures of Brympton on our wedding day so we have always said how much we would love to return with our children one day. To show them around and to also have pictures of the children there. It is a very special place. It felt like only yesterday we were there the most magical day. On our wedding night we saw two shooting stars next to each other, little did we know at the time, we would one day be back with two little blessings.
WHY WE CHOSE BRYMPTON To us, Brympton is perfection. We had agreed that we wanted somewhere with beautiful gardens and a home that would make us feel as though we had stepped back in time into one of our favourite novels. We loved the romantic and natural look of the buildings. When walking into castle house we felt as though we could of been transported to a cliff top chapel in Italy. Brympton has a way of making you feel a million miles away, in your own little world for a day. However, until visiting Brympton, I had not realised how perfect the practicality was. The wedding day at Brympton just flows smoothly. It was easy for everyone to travel to and park. There were plenty of separate spaces for people to move from one space to another throughout the day. Adding a flow to the day but also avoiding guests becoming bored in one space. There was always another delight for them to move to. Most of all, having the bedrooms for guests, was brilliant. Our family/close friends loved being taken to their own room. They got to enjoy the home with us as well as having somewhere to return to throughout the day. I will never forget sitting to watch the stars with guests who were staying and waking up for breakfast with them the next day.
THE VENUE There are so many parts of Brympton that are breathtaking. The glorious avenue of trees when you arrive, the dark panelled library bar, the airy ballroom, romantic castle house, the dance floor in the stables which is the perfection size and shape to let people go crazy on the dance floor under the fairy lights! It’s not so big that people feel exposed and watched while pulling out their best dad dance moves! There is so much to choose from. But most of all, we just loved the feel of Brympton. It really is a one of a kind, special place.
FAVOURITE SPACE
The ballroom. Stepping into the room for the first time has the wow factor. So light and ethereal. I loved that we could use tall candelabras in such a grand room and there was beautiful china displayed in the cabinets, to match our afternoon tea wedding breakfast. The details of the room and the colours also gave it a modest grandeur. A room that is quietly confident in its grandness.
DECOR
We went for a ‘vintage secret garden’ theme for the day. Light and ethereal with colours of white, sage and olive. Overgrown with greenery, fresh white blooms and sparkling vintage silver candle holders. For the evening we choose “enchanted greenhouse”. Fairy lights and flowers in garden pots. We used an olive trees & hanging cards instead of a guest book. The olive tree is still in our garden growing. With the same colours as the day and an overall laid back, vintage style. We loved that we did not have to set up everything ourselves the day before the wedding. We were able to relax and enjoy the day before. Getting to experience everything coming together for the first time on the wedding day, was beyond amazing. It made the day even more special and gave us a little taste of what the guests were seeing.
Simon York Photography
OUR WEDDING DAY
Everything was taken care of and the day flowed smoothly. We were able to just enjoy ourselves. Even Simon York, our photographer, told us that he felt he was floating in bubble of pure happiness all day. That’s exactly how we felt.
BEST PART OF THE DAY
Seeing my Gran walk towards Brympton for the first time. Adam and I had been on holiday to Ravello, just before our engagement and had watched a wedding in the square. We fell in love with the wedding and had started looking into getting married in Ravello but quickly dropped the idea as my Gran would not be able to be there. My Gran had not been anywhere other than home and the closest town for years. I will never ever forget her eyes seeing Brympton. The pride she felt walking into Castle House to be our witness and how she beamed having afternoon tea in the ballroom. Now she is no longer with us, these memories are priceless to me. My friends still tell me how happy she looked at that day. I’m so very glad I have that special memory with her. The colour theme at our wedding was the colour theme of the wedding we watched in Italy! And the picture of my Gran smiling ear to ear at Brympton has never left our living room wall.
Simon York Photography
THE TEAM AT BRYMPTON
The team were wonderful. We felt like the home was ours for a day and everything was taken care of. They made us feel very special and now also, very welcomed back. They also communicated well with our band who were very pleased and my auntie who made our cake.
PHOTOGRAPHER
Simon York Photography was our wedding day photographer. We loved that his photography is natural and unposed. There is a beautiful light to his photos. He made us feel so comfortable, like we had known him for years. He also brought a second photographer with him, Adam, which meant they didn’t miss a thing.
Laura Dean Photography (instagram @laura.dean.photography @lauradeanweddings) captured our anniversary photos. We choose Laura as we love that she has a natural talent for bottling moments in time. Amelia is now 4 and William is 7 months. We wanted photos that captured the essence of this time in our lives. That we would look at and smile as we can feel Amelia’s fun spirit and William’s sweetness. I know when we are much older, those photos will make us again feel like we’re in our mid-30s with our arms full of little people.
AND FINALLY, ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES When choosing each detail of our wedding we always visualised the wedding album at the end. That helped us keep every detail tied together for an overall consistent look.
We also knew that how the guests felt would shape so much of the atmosphere of the day. We knew we loved the house so we made sure we thought about guests enjoyment and comfort in our decisions. It paid off as our guests filled the dance floor at the end of the day. Everyone was happy dancing with us and that feeling is priceless.
Most of all though, this is YOUR day. Stay true to yourself and do not overthink things. The day is a celebration of you, your love and all that you are. If we could go back in time, we would say to ourselves “don’t compromise and don’t try to tone things down. This is the day of a lifetime. Go for everything you love and enjoy every second!”.
