Jess & Alex’s Broadfield Wedding

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Jess says…

I grew up a few miles down the road from Broadfield and we wanted to get married at the local church in Bodenham. We work in London and live in Surrey now, so it was really important to me for our wedding to soak up as much of home as possible.

Broadfield’s setting with beautiful views over the countryside that is so familiar to me was so special, and we were incredibly lucky to have it on our doorstep. I’ve always wanted a marquee wedding, which Broadfield offered, and we were also able to make use of the house and grounds. The best bit about Broadfield for us was that there are so many different areas to use both inside and out, so even if it had rained all day it wouldn’t really have impacted the wedding.

Some of the best memories of the day for me were wandering around with our fabulous photographers in the evening; hearing the music and singing blast out from the marquee, whilst seeing other guests gathered round the firepits outside toasting marshmallows and chatting in big groups at the bar.

I wanted a wedding dress that was simple but still made me feel like a princess for the day. I knew exactly what I wanted from the outset, and after trawling around seeing nothing like the dress that was in my head, I found a beautiful A-line skirt, corset and satin jacket at Sassi Holford which could be combined together to perfectly match what I wanted.

Three months before the wedding however, I found out I was pregnant, so at my fittings before the wedding my body had already started to change. Sassi adjusted my dress for me as much as possible, but two days before the wedding (I was 14 weeks’ pregnant at this stage) I realised the dress I had originally tried on now looked completely different on me, and I felt incredibly self-conscious and uncomfortable in it. It sounds silly as at the end of the day it is only a dress (!) but I was devastated as there was so little time before the wedding  and couldn’t imagine myself walking down the aisle feeling totally unlike myself. Unfortunately due to it being so last minute Sassi Holford were unable to do anything more with the dress, so at 4pm on the Wednesday before the wedding I was stood in tears at the side of the road in Chelsea, dress in hand, not knowing what to do.

Full credit goes to my friend Charlotte at this point, the ‘Queen of Weddings, Events and Organisation’, who took charge and marched me along Fulham Road until we found a bridal shop that was open and willing to let us in without an appointment. It only took a few minutes because almost straight away we knocked on the door of Emma Victoria Payne’s boutique – Emma herself answered the door, took one look at my face, and ushered us inside. This is where things became amazing; Emma’s dresses are bespoke and most are made from separate skirts, bodices and jackets, so she had an array of jackets that I could try on with my dress. I found a beautiful, plain lace jacket with tiny polkadots speckled all over it which completely transformed how I felt and I ended up with a dress that was better than the one I had originally wanted.

Emma’s seamstress got straight to work, and Emma gave up hours of her time late into the evening the next day helping me at such short notice, and making sure the jacket was sewn and perfectly fitted to my Sassi Holford dress. I cannot thank her enough for this; she was incredibly kind, creative, and up for the challenge. I don’t know what I would have done had she not answered her door that day, and I can only think that it was fate giving me the dress I should have had from the beginning.

I wanted flowers that looked as wild and natural as possible, and the girls at Herefordshire Flower Studio took the most vague idea from my head and created exactly what I wanted without me even having to meet with them. We had milk churns outside the church and simple, tiny flower arrangements on the tables in jars and old bottles.

A to Zest did the catering and the food was amazing. We wanted homely, filling food so chose British classics for our canapés (which doubled as the starter) – mini fish and chips, miniature Yorkshire pudding with Herefordshire beef, etc. For the mains we had giant pies on each table with mash and veg, and for the pudding we had a simple chocolate delice. Later on in the evening we ate sausage sandwiches and the cheese cake was laid out with crackers and chutneys.

Marta May and her husband Artur were incredible. We met back in April 2019 for our engagement shoot – I wasn’t keen on this initially as I thought it was a bit cringeworthy, but Marta said it would be a good opportunity to practice having our photos taken so I wasn’t feeling too awkward on the big day. This was a brilliant idea; we had a great time and not only ended up with some amazing photos of the two of us to celebrate our engagement, but Marta was right and on our wedding day we felt totally at ease with Marta and Artur.

Their photos are magical – Marta has the ability to get an incredible photo no matter what. I was drawn to her initially as I saw some photos of a wedding she had done in the rain. The photos were spectacular, with everyone having a great time, and I thought if she can make this weather look so good then she is the best person for our big day!

Best part of the day

Difficult to choose but I think driving with Alex from the church to Broadfield as a married couple, and walking round in the evening watching everyone have such a good time were the top two best bits. My dad’s speech was pretty incredible too!

From one bride to another…

Don’t leave everything until the last minute (I booked my hair stylist two weeks before the wedding…) but do relax – I personally think a wedding is special for the overall vibe and company rather than the minute detail. I also think booking a venue like Broadfield which offers so much support and help with the organisation in the run up is a massive benefit and makes the whole process so much less stressful

Venue Broadfield

Photography Marta May Photography

Bridal Shop Emma Victoria Payne

Dress Sassi Holford

Caterer A to Zest

Cheese Cake Mousetrap Cheese

Flowers Herefordshire Flower Studio

Marquee Burgoynes Marquees