Modern Summer Garden Wedding Editorial at The Orangery in Holland Park

Steeped in history, this venue provided the perfect backdrop for reimagining the English garden wedding with a contemporary, playful vibe. Hand-drawn tablecloth details, adorable shrimp-shaped place cards (seriously, I want one), fresh fruit and veggies, and a show-stopping slab cake as table centrepiece clearly demonstrate that modern doesn’t necessarily mean minimalist. 

The Chamberlins‘ approach reinforces something we firmly believe: choose a venue that aligns with your vision, and it’ll handle a LOT of the aesthetic heavy lifting. Sometimes the smartest styling decision is simply knowing when to let natural beauty shine…

We have always found The Orangery in Holland Park to be an underrated yet stunning wedding venue for Londoners, especially those with an affinity for all things botanical, like us. We envisioned putting a modern spin on the ‘English garden’ wedding and adding some fresh editorial flair, and Holland Park felt like the perfect setting for it. We were overjoyed when Holland Park said yes to our concept and are over the moon with how it’s all come together.

The vision was for a modern, summer garden aesthetic that diverged from a typical ‘English Garden’ look, instead having a contemporary yet playful feel. The mixture of fresh, colourful fruits and the borderline eccentric designs on the tablecloth and stationery was intended to evoke a sense of playfulness while still giving everything an editorial flair. We loved the idea of a big sharing cake set on the wedding table as a way to bring people together, keep the atmosphere relaxed and take a different approach to formal meals during wedding receptions.

Late spring/summer-focused, with a predominantly white, butter-yellow, and green colour palette, featuring pops of colour throughout the cake, stationery, and table design. The concept also focused on having friends round for a joyful, relaxed celebration, all sharing a fresh slice of light cake on a warm day!

We wanted a modern and sophisticated look for both the bride and the groom, yet still relaxed, to be in keeping with the overall vibe of the editorial. The groom wore a cream M&S suit with some Doc Martens for an element of edginess. We opted for a bold and contemporary mini-dress from Angelica Bridal, paired with a beautiful bespoke veil from Tabitha Textiles, which was specifically created with large daisies, just like the floral displays. Veils sometimes get a reputation for being old-school or traditional; however, we wanted to showcase how gorgeous they can look in parallel with modern bridal wear and really elevate a bridal look. The ever-talented Sabina Mahendran created a glowy, sun-kissed makeup look, while Mary of Ford & Ivy gave our bride gorgeous, soft, and relaxed waves.

When it comes to styling, we feel that Nicola of Abstract Events truly understands every concept that comes to mind, and we’re so glad we got to work together with her on this editorial.

The floral elements featured a soft colour palette of white, a touch of butter yellow, and green, allowing the cake, tableware, and hand-drawn tablecloth—made by Chloë of Pin Paper Studio—to bring colourful and playful elements into the more eclectic editorial. Fruits are still having quite a moment for wedding tablescapes, so we wanted to take it a step further and incorporate them into the actual tablecloth, as well as other summer elements like olives, tomatoes, and peaches. We were also so impressed not just by the tablecloth, but the craftsmanship that came from Chloë’s name cards, in the shape of a shrimp! The mechanics of it, as well as the quirky nature of all the stationery, added the playful and colourful element we were looking for.

Lea of Custom Cakes by Lea absolutely outdid herself when it came to creating both the sheet cake and the sharing slab cake. Working alongside both Blaise and Nicola to create the decorative elements on the cake, we’re obsessed with how colourful, joyful and creative the cakes came out! (Can vouch that it also tasted incredible).

We also explored photographing our couple in a more stylised way, in front of a cloth backdrop and vintage sofa as a way of adding a further editorial feel to the day. We love the parallel between the studio feel of the backdrop, surrounded by the outdoors and floral arrangements, and would love to see more couples incorporate this into their own weddings.

We had the joy of working with Blaise of Blaise Flowers, who created gorgeous arrangements filled with curly alliums and giant daisies. We deeply value working with her as she is always incredibly detailed and thorough in her search for the perfect floral combo!

We hope that people come away from reading this understanding that choosing a venue aligned with your personal taste and vision will serve you well and has the potential to do much of the legwork in terms of décor and vibe. Wanting something modern but still infused with pockets of colour is totally doable and a creative way to approach that could be by exploring colour through your food and even your tablescape. Also, sometimes things don’t need to be exaggerated or over-the-top to make an impact!