Olivia & Adam’s Summer Wedding at Thorpe Garden

Entertainment and food were highlights of the day for Olivia and Adam’s guests, with wood-fired pizza and performances by The Sons of Pitches, an acapella group. A friend made a lemon and raspberry cake, and photographers Sarah and David captured the couple’s special moments beautifully. Over to Olivia for all the details…

Olivia says…

Thorpe Garden was a recommendation from another Cripps venue we saw, and when we visited, it was just so clear that this was going to be our wedding venue. We loved the walled garden and thought about how beautiful it would be in the early summer with all the flowers and the outside games we wanted to set up during the reception. The yurt drew our attention because of its size and imagining the atmosphere inside during the food, speeches and dancing. The glass pavilion meant we could separate our ceremony but still see the outside space with all the sun shining through. Everything about it was perfection.

On the day, I wore an altered Evie Young dress, which was so simple and classic. However, I added personal details, like my mum’s wedding shoe clips, to the back of my dress. She also hand-embroidered some tiny beaded flowers on the dress sleeves to match the flowers on my veil. My shoes were metallic gold open-toe block sandals from Oasis—never underestimate the quality of a high-street brand for shoes! They added that pop of colour and were incredibly comfy for the whole day.

My husband wore a Ted Baker beige herringbone jacket, grandad collared shirt, navy braces, and beige chino trousers from Marks and Spencer’s. He wanted to keep it simple and light for the day. His groomsmen also wore the same chinos, shirt, and braces, which perfectly matched the rustic look we envisioned.

My Maids of Honour and bridesmaids wore a mixture of high-street brands from ASOS, and I had them pick out the styles they wanted. They loved that experience, and the mix of light pink and dusty pink colours matched the flowers we chose from Lilac & Barrow Flowers.

I knew I wanted my hair up and curled. It looked so princessy and layered with the pearl headpiece my mum had made me. I kept my makeup fairly simple, with a bit of a glow to match the sunny day. I also hand-dried some purple statice that the girls had in their hair, which was a really special touch.

We didn’t need to do much with the decor because the venue was so beautiful! Most of the added pieces were from our own home, and I made the signage for the day, including dried flower pieces on painted wooden boards for the table plan, order of the day and welcome signs. The colours we chose were our favourites, mine being a dusty rose and my husband’s sage green.

Our florist was local to the venue and also one of my bridesmaid’s mums, which made it extra special! A year before, we walked through her flower farm to choose the flowers we liked and the colours we wanted. We had peonies, dahlias, roses, cornflowers, ranunculus and sweet peas. They were absolutely flawless on the day. There were lots of pinks, blues, and whites of all different shapes and sizes. It was like a confectionery buffet!

I was spoiled with transport on the day. My bridesmaid drove us to the venue in her dad’s VW California, and my dad met us at the venue entrance with his Lea-Francis to drive down to the ceremony.

Their fantastic team on-site at Thorpe Garden did our catering. We chose the Garden Menu for the day, which meant lighter food choices, which everyone loved. Then we had wood-fired pizza in the evening; I’ve never seen people eat pizza so quickly! The food and venue were the biggest compliments on the day, and we must also shout out our incredible entertainers—The Sons of Pitches, an Acapella group that gave us some classic renditions of the 70s through to 00s pop and rock.

We were lucky to have a close friend make our cake. It was one tier of lemon sponge and raspberry jam with vanilla buttercream icing. Somehow, the venue cut it up for all 70 guests to enjoy a slice of heaven! We’re currently rooting for her to sign up for the Great British Bake-off, so watch this space for 2025!

I came across Sarah and David’s work on Instagram. They have a way of capturing things you’d never think of in such a subtle, wonderful way—you also don’t know they are there sometimes, so looking through our wedding album or watching our video, we’re just in awe of how many amazing moments they captured for us!