SOMERLEY

Combining modern, detail-focussed styling, grand floral displays, and warm, romantic colours, today’s feature guides couples through scenes from their perfect wedding day: from bridal prep in the stunning bridal suite to an intimate wedding ceremony in the Drawing Room and finally to a magical wedding dinner surrounded by abundant flowers and art.

You’re in for a treat with this one, folks. It’s complete with gorgeous bridal style (I’m VERY into the Kahani handmade robe), beautiful blooms, and not one but two wedding cake designs by Supplier We Love, Sugar Plum Bakes. The cakes include a traditional Italian wedding cake, millefoglie, which is made by stacking light puff pastry cakes with delicious pastry cream and topping with handfuls of fresh fruit. It’s delicious—in fact, all of it is!

Planner and photographer Joy, By Ash, is here to spill all the details…

ash says…

SOMERLEY is a collaborative effort from luxury UK wedding suppliers to capture the love story of Megan & James. Nestled within 7,000 acres of the Hampshire countryside, Somerley House was the dream venue for this editorial. Full of incredible art and details, it provided an idyllic setting for our modern, feminine and floral-focused concept.

Somerley House has no shortage of beautiful backdrops. We used the Drawing Room as our ceremony setting—the fireplace was a stunning foundation for our dramatic florals, accented with candles and delicate ribbons. The Picture Gallery, full of light and art, was used for our tablescape installation by Bloominati Florals. Finally, the gardens surrounding Somerley House provided the romantic, Italian-inspired backdrop we dreamed of.

Feminine, lavish, and modern weddings constantly inspire my co-planner Rachel (Photos By Rachel Wood) and me, Ash (Joy, By Ash). We wanted SOMERLEY to reflect this aesthetic, focussing on large floral installations and modern styling, including sumptuous textures such as linen and bamboo silk paired with luxurious embroidery and ruffled edges. Modern accents included ribbons, pearls and gold. We also incorporated unique wedding details like oysters and a millefoglie wedding cake. We wanted SOMERLEY to feel luxurious, modern and real.

The colour story reflects a fresh take on pastels, which was then guided by the season and the stunning interiors of Somerley House. With ‘pastel, but luxury’ in mind, we selected a celebration of soft, muted colours – quicksand rose and blush pink, paired with pale lilac and barely buttercup. These were blended with chic neutrals of pale nude, peachy ivory, and fresh white. The gold detailing in Somerley House brought these colours to life, leading to rich, romantic and feminine images.

We were incredibly grateful to work with some of the best bridal suppliers in the UK.

Our hair and makeup artists, Ana Vas and Amber Harlow Makeup, chose a classic, feminine, glowy makeup look alongside two hairstyles – a modern wave and a loose updo. In our bridal prep scene, Megan wore a handmade robe from Kahani (by Julita London). Each robe is unique, made from authentic silk Indian saris.

We featured two beautiful Mara Marie Bridal gowns for SOMERLEY, with Megan changing ahead of the cake-cutting to reflect a real-life bridal outfit change. The first gown was ‘Payton’, a gorgeous satin-face organza gown with a floral screen printed design. We particularly loved the hand-draped bodice and slit. We paired this with a veil from Rebecca Anne Designs, a Cara necklace from Kiri & Belle, micro moissanite hoops, and the Harper engagement ring from JUNI. The second gown, photographed in the tablescape and cake-cutting scene, was ‘Dorset’. It features 22 metres of hand-ripped satin-faced organza and a ribbon bow around the waist.

James was styled in a double-breasted tuxedo by Fallen Hero store and wore the men’s square signet from JUNI.

The details of SOMERLEY were created with modern, romantic elegance in mind. Jenna made our stationery and flowing welcome sign at Oh Blythe Design. Jenna designed floral embossed invitation cards, complemented by oval-shaped detail cards, tied together with pale nude silk ribbon. The handcrafted vow books were adorned with tiny pearls and finished with a delicate silk ribbon cascading down the spine. Jenna hand-painted a bespoke ribbon to accompany the bridal bouquet, borrowing a beautiful quote from Shahrazad al-Khalij, “If someday the moon calls you by your name don’t be surprised, Because every night I tell her about you.”

The grand tablescape was one of the core scenes for SOMERLEY. It was floral-focused and accented with ornate, classical tableware with a modern twist, including decorative cabbage-pattern plates, rippled glassware, and vintage-style cutlery. Ribbons adorned the minimalist candles, and loose pearls decorated the table.

SOMERLEY incorporated two cakes Vaani (Sugar Plum Bakes) created—first, the Millefoglie, a traditional Italian wedding cake. Vaani’s take on this was an irresistible combination of layers of crisp puff pastry, filled with sumptuous creme patisserie and decorated with fresh berries and delicate mini meringue kisses. The three-tier cake was decorated with lashings of buttercream and embellished with edible pearls (a nod to some of the other pearl details in the styling) and delicate handcrafted sugar flowers in shades of pale pink and pale blue. The cake table was draped with intricate fabric designs by Mia Sylvia.

We worked with Gemma from Bloominati Florals, who was the perfect fit for SOMERLEY. Gemma told a story of refined spring elegance with contemporary twists. When constructing the floral recipe, Gemma chose ruffley Ranunculus, sumptuous Quicksand, and Vendela Roses as the centre-stage florals, with a base of blush Waxflower, which ensured longevity and enhanced the colour palette in the absence of foliage.

For SOMERLEY, our priority was to reuse as many flowers as possible to reduce waste and show real couples the possibilities of repurposing on their wedding day. Gemma created multiple impactful floral moments across the day, moving floral runners and columns from scene to scene. Gemma and her spectacular floral designs displayed such versatility throughout the day, for which we are very grateful.