The Wedding of Catherine & Stuart

A classic-look wedding theme with Essense of Australia gown, delicate florals and a pink gin bar for Catherine’s spring-time wedding

Catherine and Stuart, from London, opted for an indoor ceremony here at Tower Hill Barns in the springtime, with a classic wedding theme that enhanced the natural elegance of the barn and featured a firm nod to their love for good food and drink.

With a 1 pm ceremony, this couple spent their day focusing on the good things: spending time with their guests, enjoying good food and drink (including the bride’s fave Martin Miller’s gin) and dancing well into the evening. Having chosen Tower Hill Barns after falling in love with the venue when attending a friend’s wedding here years earlier, the pair went with a classic all-white look and a stunning Essense of Australia dress, photography by Richard Miller, and a chilled-out approach to wedding planning (knowing our wedding coordinators had everything in-hand).

On choosing their venue:

When we got engaged we’d booked a few venues to have a look at, and Tower Hill Barns was first on the list. I had attended a wedding at Tower Hill in the summer of 2015. It would have been one of the first weddings since opening, and I fell in love with the place then!

I knew from the very beginning that Tower Hill Barns was where I wanted to get married, as when you first arrive the whole place is so beautiful with amazing surroundings.

We provisionally booked a date in the diary on our first viewing, and after looking at some other venues that didn’t even come close to what Tower Hill could offer, Stu agreed that it was the right place – so we confirmed the date! Will and Katie, whose THB wedding I attended in 2015, were guests at our wedding too, so it was really nice for them to come back and experience the venue as guests.

Catherine and Stuart were married in the Old Barn (our indoor ceremony room) and loved the intimate feel of the setting. Catherine says it was a nice touch that she could see their guests in the mirror as they exchanged their vows, and as the room was so beautiful (especially with the feature aisle) they felt it didn’t need too much more decoration, opting for some astilbe as the aisle ends.

The theme:

The couple went with a delicate, less is more approach to wedding decoration, with soft-coloured (and totally stunning) flower arrangements on the table centrepieces to round out their classic look. Rose gold and silver accessories perfectly complemented the lily green bridesmaid dresses (from ASOS). And bride, Catherine, wore mint green heels by Rachel Simpson – all matching the stationery and decor for a spring wedding that was very on theme.

Florals:

Ranunculus, spray roses, tulips, lisianthus, hydrangea and lily of the valley all in cream for the bride’s bouquet. And some added astilbe for the bridesmaids’ bouquets. For the table centrepieces, we alternated between cream hydrangea heads on some tables, with bigger arrangements of roses, tulips, hydrangea, astilbe in creams and pale pinks on others. The effect was beautiful. Catherine says she cannot recommend Laura, of Regent House Flowers in Wrexham, enough! Having described the type of flowers she wanted, and shared a couple of pictures, Laura pulled it all together perfectly.

As the venue is stunning on its own, with amazing surroundings, we felt less was more with regards to decoration – the delicate combination of flowers complimented it all beautifully.

The vibe:

Everything seemed really straightforward with our planning, so much so that I was worried in case we had forgotten something! But as we’d done our research and organising early, we trusted our suppliers and everyone at THB and it all came together perfectly on the day.

I would also say to focus on the aspects of a wedding that are important and personal to you and try not to sweat the small stuff. Tower Hill is such a beautiful venue, we felt that keeping decorations and table pieces simple so as to not hide what is already there was the best way for us. We’d also decided against table favours, making a donation to charity instead.

Behind the scenes with Catherine & Stuart for their spring wedding:

My day started at 8 am when my Mum, my two bridesmaids and I arrived to get ready in the makeup room. It’s great to get ready on-site as it takes any stress of cars and traffic away and meant I could relax with some fizz and breakfast sandwiches as we got ready together. I’d been a little worried about the logistics and whether we’d have time to all get ready for our 1 o’clock indoor ceremony, but as soon as I’d arrived and spoken with the wedding coordinators, I could see everything was in hand and all that was left was to get excited for the day and to see our guests.

Stu’s morning was a little less busy, he even managed to fit in a run around Chester racecourse in the morning! He arrived about 11.30 am, with enough time to greet our guests (who also arrived early) and to enjoy a drink before the ceremony.

Wedding Food & Drink:

Catherine, who loves a gin cocktail, says the food & drink was a really important part of their wedding day and was a major part of their planning process. The pair treated their guests to Martin Miller’s Gin with strawberry and basil and bottles of Peroni for their arrival drinks, accompanied by canapes of Mini Yorkshire Puddings with beef, vegetable spring rolls and deep-fried halloumi bites.

Whilst their wedding menu consisted of chorizo and manchego cheese croquettes to start, followed by a braised blade of beef with mustard mash and green vegetables and a lemon meringue tart for dessert. The vegetarians were served a crispy hen’s egg with spring vegetables to start, followed by a vegan pie with mash and green vegetables. And fish goujons, garlic bread, chips and ice cream were served for the children’s meals.

We really enjoyed the whole process of attending the tasting evening and then meeting with Sally to talk through the various options. We had guests with some specific dietary requirements, but Sally and the Chefs were really flexible, tailoring specific meals for them right through the day from the wedding breakfast, evening food and breakfast the next morning. All of our guests really enjoyed the food and one even commented that it was like the fanciest restaurant she had ever been to!

Wedding photos:

We booked Richard Miller for our wedding photos quite early on in the planning process. We liked the photos on his website and felt his photos really appealed to our style (more than others we’d seen). He was so easy to deal with at all stages and was great throughout the day; easy going but also direct enough to make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be. We’d spoken in advance about some specific family groups and then the type of style shot that we’d seen and liked on his website, but other than that we were happy to go with his recommendations. The photos that we’ve got are beautiful and would highly recommend Richard as a photographer, as he really knows the shots that work for Tower Hill Barns.

Little LOLs:

Unfortunately, our wedding day was also the day Stu’s football team got relegated from the championship, and so will be a day he always remembers for two very different reasons. But it didn’t dampen our celebrations too much! The best man’s speech was also pretty innovative, in that he had printed A3 photos of Stu in various embarrassing situations that the Ushers displayed around the room. Think that was just one example of how much everyone involved in the wedding really put thought and effort into making our day so special.

The back story:

We got engaged on my birthday in 2017, after being together for 3.5 years. We’d been out for dinner to the Hawksmoor Seven Dials, and as it was December, had decided to go for a walk down Regent’s street to see the Christmas lights.

Stu had bought the ring a few weeks before but said he hadn’t decided when he was going to ask me. But as we’d had such a lovely day for my birthday, he said when we’d got home, it felt like the right moment. It was a total surprise to me, I wasn’t quite sure what was happening. Once I realised that he was proposing, I said yes, immediately! We then spent the next day video calling all our family to tell them the news.

A word of advice:

If you’re having children at your wedding, think of things that will keep them entertained through the day [not just the adult guests], says Catherine.

With it being the week before Easter, we put out some mini-eggs and sweets for them. As well as little gifts (soft toys for the younger ones and colouring books and magazines for the older children) on their table setting.

More wedding inspo: a pastel spring wedding with all-white bouquets and designer Caroline Castigliano Gown and Claire’s elegant barn wedding (in the spring) with Morilee designer gown

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