A Quintessentially English Editorial at Holywell Hall

There is no one better to introduce this venue than their in-house Wedding Planner Katrina Otter Weddings. “I first visited Holywell Hall in 2015 and the emotions that I first felt of pure excitement and awe as I drove through the main gates, past the lakes and up to the house itself are the same emotions that I still feel today and each and every time that I visit. Holywell Hall is an undeniably beautiful and uniquely charming venue full of immense possibilities and quite frankly, one of the most spectacular places in England to say your vows. From the beautifully maintained grounds and gardens to the light-filled Orangery, the Stable block accommodation and private bowling alley to the chandelier adorned Grand Hall, Holywell really does have it all. If you’re dreaming of a quintessential English and classic country garden wedding, then Holywell is the perfect setting.”

To tell the story of the venue we really wanted to show couples how their weekend wedding could look – from the beautiful accommodation on offer, to their intimate church blessing, through to the delicious setting for their Wedding Breakfast and ending their day with cocktails in the Garden Room. Holywell Hall is perfect for pre-wedding dinners and post-wedding brunches too and the team can be flexible to suit your unique plans!

Our wedding day started in the bridal accommodation with a delicious breakfast of pancakes, yogurt and fresh blueberries! Prezola kindly helped us create this intimate scene with a selection of brands, such as Ali & Co and The Linen Works, available on their Gift List. Our bride wore a pretty lingerie set from Rigby & Peller and we absolutely love the simplicity of this wedding morning style, plus we think the cami can be worn again with jeans!

We asked the amazingly talented Tanya, from Bureau Design, to create a stationery suite to set the scene. With raw paper, wax seals galore, envelopes in perfect Holywell hues and the most incredible Order of the Day on striking green linen, well we were smitten. We decided to name our couple Milly & Monty, after the owners two beautiful King Charles Cavaliers. If you hit play on our gorgeous film by Baxter and Ted, you’ll spot them hanging out together on the front porch looking glorious!

Our shoot took place in Spring, so we looked to this beautiful season for all the inspiration – think pale blossom, freshly foraged foliage and delicate pink roses. Our florists, Liz from Blue Sky Flowers and Brigitte from Moss & Stone Floral Design, created the most beautiful flowers for us.

Brigitte says “Using seasonal flowers brings a freshness, vitality, integrity and transient beauty to my designs. Echoing the natural world and reflecting seasonal changes allows my work to shift and change through the year celebrating the beauty of nature. It brings my work to life.”

We partnered with The Wedding Gallery for ALL the fashion and boy did we have fun. This super romantic venue needed a super romantic dress and the Posey gown by Susanne Neville hit the spot. This stunning strapless number has delicate applique flowers which created a fresh and youthful look. We accesorised with the matching veil for the ceremony which we then replaced with the Celestial Headdress by Rene Walrus. We kept the jewellery to a minimum so that all the focus was on the incredible diamond rings by Cellini. Jo Adams, The Hair & Makeup Atelier, kept the makeup fresh and dewy, with the softest of nudes and pinks.

Brigitte created a pretty organic bouquet to complete this look; “Some of the flowers used were picked directly from Holywell gardens whilst on a little wander through the arboretum – these were amelanchier blossom, viburnum burkwoodii and various fruit tree blossoms. Other flowers used were – hellebore, jasmine, cloni ranunculus, butterfly ranunculus, majolica rose, david austin roses and quicksand rose.”

At Holywell Hall they have their very own private Church, St Wilfrid’s, which is the perfect spot for an intimate blessing. To frame the old oak doors, our florists created a seasonal spring archway. It perfectly complimented the beauty of the historic church. Inside we dressed the pews with draped ivy and delicate canterbury bells. Candles peppered the aisle and lead to a dramatic asymmetric centerpiece of cherry blossom, foxgloves, jasmine and birch branches.

Before the decadent dining, we decided to switch up our bridal look. This stunning dress by Suzanne Neville with plunging neckline was actually very practical with a sheer modesty gauze keeping everything in place. In our view, you don’t have to be royalty to wear a crown and this golden number by Viktoria Novak at The Wedding Gallery completely stole our hearts. In fact, we created this whole look around this one piece! For the hair, Jo created a faux bob with a vintage loose wave. We added subtle golden touches to the eyes and a shimmer to the arms and décolletage.  The bouquet for this look was a blend of deep purples, lilac and peachy nudes using a mix of British foliage and the best that Covent Garden has to offer… David Austin and Real Flower Co fragrant roses, lisianthus, scabious, ranunculus, hellebore, fritillaries perspicacity, sweet peas, with jasmine, euonymus and pittosporum foliage.

We used the Orangery for our Wedding Breakfast tablescape. The Orangery is in fact licensed so you can actually marry in this space with your guests spilling out onto the terrace. This is also the location adjacent to where a marquee can be erected, so come the evening it’s a fabulous chill-out area. However, it can also serve as an intimate setting for a dinner or lunch and we loved playing with this beautiful canvas.

We were very lucky to have a brand-new table design available to us for this shoot from Wedhead. Their ‘Living Table’ has a very clever sunken middle where your florist can create a display that appears to be growing up from your table. Liz and Brigitte had some serious fun with this. Liz says “The tablescape is a glorious mix of flowers and plants designed to be a little garden growing from the centre of the amazing table. Plants such as jasmine, fritillaries and hellebore could be replanted and enjoyed for years to come.”

Our beautiful table was again created in collaboration with Prezola. The dinner plates by Vista Alegre perfectly mirrored the Holywell Hall logo and the beautiful glassware by LSA felt contemporary but worked perfectly with the raw elegance of the design. Dusky pink candles from Ester & Erik looked delicious in their gold Georg Jenson candle holders. To mark the Bride & Groom’s place setting, Liz & Brigitte reused the pew ends from the church blessing which looked gorgeous draped down the back of the Farmhouse chairs from Wedhead.

Our cake table sat within the Fishing Pavilion, close to the lake, another beautiful setting within the Holywell Hall estate. Katie from Couture Cakes created 3 beautiful cakes for us. Two had a semi-naked finish, whilst the third had a different finish on each of the 3 tiers including a desiccated coconut bottom layer.

Moving into the evening celebrations, it was time for our bride to change into her final outfit – a draped dress with a statement neckline by Suzie Turner. With art deco influences in abundance in the bar, we wanted this to be mirrored in the fashion. With bold brows, a dark eye and a berry lip our bride looks party ready. The Travelling Gin Co. also created a bespoke cocktail recipe for us with rose gin, apricot liquor and topped with Prosecco.

It wouldn’t really be a Coco & Kat styled shoot without the talented Rebecca Goddard Photography capturing the creations. Beccy has worked with us on so many shoots and we just squeal every time she delivers the gallery. I think her couples do the same! We also had Baxter and Ted with us filming the day’s activities. It was a massive tick for us to work with Caroline and Chris. They’re beyond lovely, super creative and just a pleasure to work alongside.

Creative Director Emma Hla, Coco Wedding Venues

Shoot Manager Katrina Otter, Katrina Otter Weddings

Creative Consultancy Coco & Kat

Venue Holywell Hall

Photography Rebecca Goddard Photography

Videography Baxter and Ted

Florists Blue Sky Flowers and Moss & Stone Floral Design

Bridal Dresses Suzanne Neville and Suzie Turner via The Wedding Gallery

Loungewear Rigby & Peller

StationeryBureau Design

Tableware & Lifestyle Prezola

Furniture Wedhead

Cake Couture Cakes

Hair & Make Up Jo Adams, The Hair and Make Up Atelier

Crown Viktoria Novak via The Wedding Gallery

Headpiece Rene Walrus

Rings Cellini

Shoes Charlotte Olympia via The Wedding Gallery

Vow book elmo Paperstories

Bespoke cocktail The Traveling Gin Co.

Model Dana, M+P Models