Heather & Matt: Stylish Summer Black Tie Wedding at Pennard House

Secondly, I absolutely adore this black-tie wedding. Pennard House is pure magic—the garden ceremony is divine, the group shots are effortlessly chic, like something straight out of Vanity Fair, and their joint speech in the garden is simply inspired. But before you rush to check out more about Somerset’s hidden gem, you must scroll down and soak up this big day in all its glory.

The Venue

When we visited Pennard House, they made us feel so welcome, listening to our ideas and answering all our questions thoughtfully. The homemade tea and cake were also a great bonus! We loved the old, elegant style of the house, but it still felt homely and comfortable, somewhere that could be ‘ours’ for the weekend. It had a stunning terrace but also great wet weather spaces – essential for an English wedding – and options to stay the day before or after and corkage for bringing our own wine. We felt at ease there, and the team were incredible, anticipating everything we needed and making things run like clockwork.

The Fashion

Matt’s suit was from 40 Colori in Holborn, London. It was a classic design with a midnight blue dinner jacket. The groomsmen wore classic black tuxes from Moss – tying proper bow ties created a great photo opportunity! The bridesmaids wore deep navy satin slip dresses with black shoes, matching the groom and fitting with the black-tie dress code.

My dress was from Love Spell Bridal in London. Finding a wedding dress was daunting, but as soon as I put this one on, the choice was obvious as I felt like myself wearing it. The fit-and-flare silhouette worked perfectly for our black-tie theme, with appliqué petals adding romance and fun to the design, along with the ruffle-cuffed sleeves and slit skirt. The sleeves and bodice were removable to provide a change for the evening, turning the dress into a spaghetti-strap slip design with a bustle sewn in for hitting the dance floor.

I wore a diamond, flower-shaped gold necklace I was given for my 21st birthday, along with Mejuri crystal petal earrings and diamond studs. Our gold wedding rings were from Taylor & Hart, who also made my pear-shaped engagement ring.

I wanted an elevated version of my usual ‘look’ for hair and makeup – hair down, wavy, slightly smoky eyes and a natural face. I did have a couple of trials to get the look right, with Alyson Peacock managing to fit me in twice before the day itself. She and her assistant created a fun atmosphere in the bridal suite in the morning, with the bridesmaids having half-up, half-down hair and fresh, dewy makeup.

The Flowers & Styling

From fairly early on, we talked about having a black-tie wedding. We both loved the formal look and the fun atmosphere it creates when everyone dresses up. We leant into the venue’s and gardens’ existing beauty and went minimalist on our paper design, using gold accents for things like candlesticks and menu cards. For a personal touch, we printed Polaroid-style prints of photos from our relationship, including family and friends, and laid them out on the tables for the wedding breakfast. For making new memories, we also had a couple of instant Polaroids, which were popular with our guests, especially the little ones!

It was important to us to have a local florist, using British blooms to minimise the environmental impact and support local businesses. We found Flowers by Imogen and loved her modern, whimsical bouquets and her focus on seasonal flowers, and her work on the day surpassed all our expectations. Imogen created a stunning palette of peaches and creams, accented with smaller pops of brighter colours for depth and variety, to go with the dark blues of the bridesmaid dresses and Matt’s suit. Pennard House also helped us make the most of the flowers, ensuring that the bouquets were used in vases during the afternoon reception when not needed for photographs and then putting them in water overnight so our guests could take them home the next day.

The Food & Drink

We wanted the catering to reflect our planned honeymoon and our long-time love for Italian food. Pennard House had recently launched its own in-house catering, and their sharing style ‘barbecue’ menu was perfect for a summer wedding. We had plenty of canapés on the terrace before heading into a main course of steak, fish and various sides. We had two desserts: a fruit pavlova with local strawberries and a rich chocolate mousse. With such decadent desserts, we swapped a wedding cake for a round of espresso martinis after dinner – a huge hit. Choosing our wine was a lot of fun, with a good friend in the wine industry arranging a tasting at Uncorked in London, where we selected an Italian white and red and their terrific house champagne. After a couple of hours of dancing, the Pennard Pizza truck fired up at the perfect time to keep us going.

The Photographer

We found Dominika’s photos when searching for a venue. We initially saw an entire album of a London-based wedding and told each other that even if we didn’t go for that venue, we found our photographer at least! When we did finally choose our venue, happily she was still available. We loved her style and that she took a personal approach, including an ‘engagement’ shoot in our selected package. Even though we’d been engaged for a while, it was a great idea, as we got to meet her and get a little more comfortable in front of the camera ahead of the wedding day. Dom was easygoing, creative, and discreet – putting us and our guests at ease and helping us to have fun while capturing amazing photos. She was everywhere, all the time, and perfectly captured the day.

From one couple to another

It’s hard to choose just one part of the day that we loved, but we had a fantastic band—Truly Medley Deeply—who kept people on the dance floor all night. It was the perfect end to the day, dancing and celebrating with our friends and family on a beautiful, warm summer evening.

Our only advice is to find some time in the day for just the two of you—it’s nice to take a moment together.