Chloë & Sam married at Pennard House, the perfect nod to their love of Glastonbury. If you didn’t know, Pennard backs onto this legendary festival site and even has its own tipi orchard. It’s a beautiful venue and we can see why it was the perfect location for this relaxed, love-filled celebration.
Chloë & Sam say…
We have been to Glastonbury festival almost every year of our relationship and made some really special memories there. When we visited Pennard House, which is a stone’s throw from the festival site, we fell in love with its country charm and thought that the Coach House, which is a converted stable, had a unique layout which meant that we could move from room to room without ever waiting for a room to be cleared. The staff at Pennard are so friendly and professional; we were extremely well looked after for the whole weekend!
My dress was called Lena by Enzoani. I chose this dress because I fell in love with the unique lace design and the long dramatic train. I accessorised with a veil that covered the length of the dress and I wore Swarovski jewellery, a dainty hair vine, and Carvela Kianni shoes to add touches of sparkle. Because my back was exposed, I had long tumbling curls down my back with half of my hair up in a fishtail braid. Abigail Constanza was my hair stylist who also styled my bridesmaids – they asked for their own unique hair dos. My makeup artist was Elle Hitchens who gave us a soft look to go with the summer feel of the wedding. Finally my bridesmaids wore blush pink Showcase dresses featuring sequins, halter necks and elasticated waists which were flattering for all of their different shapes.
I decided that if I didn’t get to see what Chloë was wearing on the big day then I should keep what I was wearing a surprise too. I wore a custom made three piece suit in light grey from Suit Supply, a Boss white shirt, and a lilac paisley tie from tieroom.co.uk. For accessories I wore my late Grandfathers gold pocket watch and the addition of gold sleeve garters and tie clip gave it a timelessness that I was really looking for. The groomsmen wore matching teal waistcoats and trousers from ASOS with silver sleeve garters. The groomsmen, my dad and I had matching colour ties in different shapes and styles.
Due to the location of the venue, we wanted nods to the festival running throughout. We created our own wedding programmes on lanyards and designed the seating plan to look like a festival lineup poster. We had a converted VW camper serving cocktails and a toastie stand outside the Coach House with festoon lighting to create a fun festival feel. The Cocktail Car was a huge hit with guests! During our reception we also had guitarist Joncan Kavlakoglu performing his unique flamenco/funk fusion which was mesmerising to watch and created a lively atmosphere.
For the tables we laboriously created cartoon versions of all our guests on polaroids as place names which provided a fun talking point for everyone. The table names were named after our favourite and most memorable restaurants with anecdotes and pictures on the back of the cards.
Honeysuckle Flower Co. worked with us to choose flowers that went with our festival themed colours. Chloë’s bouquet had soft pink roses and all other items featured a soft base palette with pops of warm and hot pinks, soft blues and gentle and bright yellows.
Due to the wind on the day we moved our ceremony inside, so the flowers that were meant to be on the arbour were placed on the windowsill in the ceremony room, which created a beautifully lush backdrop. We had a posy of wild flowers tied to the chairs down the aisle.
In the Coach House we had a gorgeous ethereal arrangement with cylinder vases holding candles decorating the windowsill, a beautiful arrangement of soft foliage and a cluster of the wedding flowers to look as if the arrangement was naturally growing at the base of the stairs.
Both of us are massive foodies, and the first question most people asked us was “what food are you having?”. We ended up serving 6 courses! We had so much fun designing the menu with our wonderful caterer, Michael at Wild Fork West, who was dedicated to making our vision come true. We served matching wines with each course by hanging tags on each bottle with a recommendation of which dish to enjoy it with. Laithwaites were great helping us with pairings!
After an amuse bouche we started with a summery dish of crispy gnocchi with tomatoes, pesto and parmesan. The fish course was actually a dish Sam had made that Michael expertly recreated. It was a take on cod & chips; cod served on a pea velouté with batter scraps, crispy shoestring fries and a tartar sauce. Following a pallet cleanser, the main dish was a duo of lamb rump and rib served with garlic and rosemary butter beans. Finally our dessert was a passionfruit tart with lemon curd and hazelnut praline. The guests raved about our food which we were delighted with!
Our delicious cake by Natural Cake Co. was finished with textured buttercream and decorated with flowers from our florist and the rose garden. The bottom tier was chocolate ganache torte, the middle was lemon and elderflower, and the top was Victoria sponge.
Chloë found Ben Cole’s work on Instagram and just loved his style. He captures moments of candid delight as well as the tenderest moments with artistic flair. We agreed with Ben to not have any organised shots with family or friends so that we never felt too stressed or distracted. Ben is such a lovely guy and he made us and our guests feel really comfortable and relaxed. He is a lot of fun to work with and is so talented.
Our videographer was Olly Wilkes who Sam actually knew from his youth. Olly has also filmed many of our friend’s weddings. He has a cinematic style and manages to showcase all of the best bits in teaser, trailer and full feature form. He really captures the essence of the day; watching it still brings back all of the emotions and excitement.
Best part of the day
This is too difficult to choose! We can’t beat the special moment we read our vows and finally became husband and wife, but seeing all of our friends and family mingling and having fun together was such a special experience.
From one couple to another…
Get creative! By making things personal and putting your own stamp on things it not only makes it memorable for you but for your guests too. We also thought it was important to have a venue that allowed the day to flow without much waiting around.
Venue Pennard House
Photography Millar Cole Photography
Videography OW Productions
Florist Honeysuckle Flower Co.
Hair Abigail Constanza
Makeup Elle Hitchens
Guitarist Joncan Kavlakoglu
Band Vital Signs
Bar The Cocktail Car
Catering Wild Fork West
Cake Natural Cake Co.
Evening Food Grate (Cheese Toasties)
Wine Laithwaites
Based on a weekday wedding in April.