Kate & Sophie’s Pennard House Wedding

I love this wedding! It’s a wonderfully relaxed day that perfectly reflects Kate & Sophie.

They kick off their wedding day story with a fabulous testimonial for Pennard House in Somerset. So if you’ve looked at this beautiful country house or are yet to discover it, then keep reading because they tell you exactly why you need to be having your wedding here too.

Notes from the Couple

We had looked at a couple of different venues before we visited Pennard House that had slightly different styles, but fell in love with Pennard immediately! There was something very quintessentially British about the gardens and house that had such a lovely charm, and then the renovated stables gave it that quirky twist that we were looking for. It felt more unique than venues we had seen before with the dining area upstairs in the coach house then the dance floor in the part that would have been the stables which had been really nicely renovated.

The fact that they had the facilities for an outside ceremony under a beautiful archway was a big bonus. Our wedding planner, La, was so lovely and accommodating from the outset. She made us feel really relaxed and she and the venue were really flexible with what we wanted. A lot of places we had either seen online or visited felt like package factory line weddings which dictated too much. Pennard let us completely put our own personality on everything, from decorating to food, and letting us bring our own alcohol. We were allowed to sort our own suppliers for the evening food was great. Overall such a picture perfect venue but with a laid back personal feel.

As we are two brides we have the fun of doubling the cost of lots of things! Two dresses, two lots of hair and make up, and of course we had to have 4 bridesmaids each! We had to be a bit savvy when finding dresses for us and the bridesmaids. Myself and Sophie both kept our wedding dresses and styles a secret from each other and both ended up finding beautiful dresses that we felt complimented each other well on the day. Both of our sets of bridesmaids wore the same knee length dress which we ended up buying from a high street brand online. We felt that style suited all different shapes. We also both had best men which were our brothers. They all wore navy suits and we brought them a navy and pink flamingo tie each as that was in-keeping with our quirky theme! Our nieces and nephews wore dresses or shirts made in a lovely navy material we found, all designed and made by Sophie’s talented mum, Margaret.

The theme of the reception was ‘fruits and animals’ when we were asked why, we just said… because we liked those fruits and liked those animals! The random theme came about as we wanted our personalities to come across during the day which I think we managed. Each table was decorated with a central log with tea lights and a simple vase of flowers. Then each had its fruit or animal theme with a wedding favour in that style. The artwork for the theme on each table was designed and made by my talented mum Rachael.

Again wanting to add the personal touch to the day a friend of ours Chloé Britton designed all the flowers for the wedding. She is just getting started as a florist and did an amazing job. Chloé said to us “what’s your colour theme?” and we said “we don’t have one, can you just make them rainbow?!” And that she did! We went to the flower market together and chose all of the flowers, even helped arrange all of the practise bouquets. We went with different types and colours of flower to create a rainbow effect.

The day food was supplied by the amazing Wild Fork West catering. We chose them because of their relaxed vibe. They were really flexible with our budget and tastes and tailored the menu to exactly what we wanted. We didn’t want the more traditional 3 course dinner so instead we went for extra canapés at the drinks reception and straight into the main course for the sit down meal. We asked for ‘posh BBQ’ and that is exactly what they gave us! Delicious sharing platters of meat and veg with lovely side dishes and salads so people could build their own plates. For the desserts we asked some friends and family members to make and bring lots of different cakes and treats and had a cake table for people to just help themselves. Our food choices made it feel very relaxed which is exactly what we wanted.

For the evening food we had found this amazing taco truck when we were at the harbourside in Bristol so we decided to book them to cater the evening. Everyone said how much they loved that detail of the wedding and how great the tacos were. They were all cooked to order in the van.

For the wedding cake we wanted something non traditional so decided on a crispie cake. My mum took on the huge task of making a three tier crispie cake with rainbow ribbon, we loved it!

Best part of the day

That is a hard question! We just loved being able to have everyone we loved all together having a good time. The speeches from our family members were also a massive highlight as everyone spoke to well and were so thoughtful and funny. It really was the best day of our lives and everything just went so perfectly.

From one bride to another…

People said to us that the day would go so fast so remember to take it all in. We really tried to do that, just take little moments together to look around and just take everything in. There will be small things that may not go to plan, but the key is not to sweat the small stuff and just have THE best day!

Venue Pennard House

Photography Matt Brodie Photography

Flowers Flowers by Chloe

Catering Wild Fork West

Street Food Van The Little Tauquero