Classic Wedding Styling at Kirtlington Park in Oxfordshire
Kirtlington Park, a quintessential British Stately Home in the heart of Oxfordshire, collaborated with Blooming Haus and By Chenai Events for this classic-with-an-edge wedding day story.
You’ll find an abundance of big beautiful blooms, soft blush colours, plenty of pretty with calligraphy stationery and a ruffled cake, but the fashion provides a contemporary edge that’s the perfect juxtaposition with this elegant country house.
Notes from the Florist
Michal says…
We were seeking a classic and grand countryside manor for this shoot with certain characteristics such as a tall façade, prominent portico and a colonnade. All these elements were quite important as part of the shoot would be taking place outside – the charm and beautiful setting of Kirtlington Park won our hearts.
The overall theme for the shoot was classic and light, with a French flair. The colours and the palette were very delicate, touching on late winter/early spring.
The first dress that our model Sophia wore was the Ava dress by Rita Colson Bridal Couture. The dress has a structured, pleated piece that creates a collared look at the neck. Instead of using traditional hair accessories, Kelvin Nguyen, our brilliant hair and make-up artist continued the English garden floral theme by using blooms to create a headpiece that was placed at the nape to create a dramatic effect.
Whilst the right amount of formal for the ceremony, we wanted Sophia to have a more relaxed look for the reception so we styled her in a simple strapless figure-hugging gown. We then moved into the evening where Chenai had the vision of Sophia being the girl who wanted to dance barefoot into the night. Sophia wore wide-legged trousers from Rita’s Audrey collection, teamed with the Julia cape jacket from Rita’s Julia collection and a simple camisole. We changed Sophia’s structured hair-up do and pulled her back in a simple style, finished with a red lip for the evening.
We wanted our groom to be in a traditional tuxedo, Graham perfectly wore a classic black tuxedo.
With the beautiful views of the estate at the front of the house, we styled a wedding breakfast table on the front terrace. With a very delicate blush texture linen, supplied from Just 4 Linen, we layered elegant rose-pink chargers and gold cutlery with glass crockery to give the luxury feel, which were supplier by Duchess & Butler. We added the rose candelabras with extra-long ivory tapered dinner candles from Ester & Erik to give height to the table.
We created two large floral urn arrangements to frame the setting. The table flowers were a divine mix of Japanese roses and perfumed British roses. The blush toned blooms included striated tulips, earthy toned eustoma and wild scabiosas. Foliage of fragrant geraniums and wild ivy and touches of fruit on the table added extra interest. We used similar flowers in the bridal bouquet and in the boutonniere for our groom to keep the concept in full harmony and showcased the intended classic and light style of this shoot.
As for the cake, we wanted to show more creativity and so created a cascading design. Clare from Clare’s Cakery created a buttercream 3-tier ruffled beauty which we then adorned with similar flowers from our table arrangements. We then used a batch of dainty macarons made by Colline Bakes in vanilla and berry flavours to compliment the display.
One of the emerging wedding trends is an intent behind a design, thus limiting the number of the unnecessary design elements. Take an example from our simple and stylish table design. We have placed only the necessary elements and decluttered the normally busy space. Simply choose elements that are only necessary and give your guests space. Also, subtle colour nuances look more aesthetically pleasing than big hue jumps. Limit your colour palette to one or two colours to achieve this classic look. Lastly, go for venues that tell a story and make your wedding special!
Venue Kirtlington Park
Photography Charlotte Wise Photography
Planner & Stylist By Chenai Events
Flower Design & Stylist Blooming Haus
Bridal Designer Rita Colson Bridal Couture
Stationery & Table Plan Scritto
Hair & Make Up Kelvin Nguyen
Linens Just 4 Linen
Tablescape Duchess & Butler
Chairs & Tables Oxfordshire Event Hire
Cake Clare’s Cakery
Macarons Colline Bakes
With thanks to models Sophia & Graham and shoot assistant Margot