Olivia & Sam’s Tissington Hall Wedding

O & S married on a gorgeous summer’s day last July at Tissington Hall in a wild and beautiful homage to the English countryside. Olivia describes their venue as breathtaking, and you can see why… a village church, formal gardens, a rustic Carriage House and glorious views galore! This beautiful venue is also a family home, and the personal service and advice that comes with this is second-to-none.

Over to Olivia…

Olivia says…

Tissington Hall and its grounds are breathtaking. The countryside and all things outdoor are very important to me and Sam, so having a venue that epitomised those things was essential. The hall is surrounded by iconic countryside and landscapes and encompasses a charming village church in which we could have our dream ceremony within walking distance of the reception. When I spoke to Lady Fitzherbert, I realised she was the best person to have helping to plan the perfect day within her perfect home. It was the easiest decision of the entire wedding journey to choose Tissington Hall.

I found my dream dress at Rosa Clara in London. All of their dresses have such a classic and ethereal style, so I knew I would find ‘the one’ there. I thought I would want a V-neck, cap sleeved gown, but as soon as I wore my long sleeved, high necked dress, I knew it was the right one. I wanted the dress and my beautiful engagement ring to be the centre of attention, so I kept other jewellery simple – just a subtly sparkling tiara and earrings. Very important was a piece of vintage lace as my ‘something old’, which was pinned to my skirt. It belonged to my great great aunt and was part of her wedding veil, so this was a special touch.

My hair stylist was Natalie of Max it Up Hair. She understood exactly the wavy half-up, half-down look I was going for and recreated it perfectly. Make-up was by Sigita of Sigita Makeup. She was so talented in finding the balance between a natural and glamorous make-up look. Sigita and Natalie choreographed the wedding morning wonderfully and kept everything so calm. I don’t usually go all out with hair and make-up, so I wanted to feel like myself, but with the look still reflecting the importance of the occasion.

The bridesmaids had floaty sage green dresses, and the groomsmen wore morning suits with sage green ties and pocket squares. I didn’t particularly want a colour scheme, so chose a natural colour in keeping with the bucolic venue. There wasn’t much to organise for Sam’s look – the suit was sorted and he already had some black shoes! It was just a matter of making sure he’d had a haircut recently, had some cufflinks, and wore matching socks (bright orange). On the whole, a far more chilled approach than mine!

I felt the venue spoke enough for itself, but a vague theme was that of a carefree and idyllic summer day, for which the venue and time of year did all the work. I wanted to honour the English countryside and wildflowers, so we had locally grown flowers within the bouquets and buttonholes. Natural and whimsical flower arrangements decorated the church entrance and Carriage House, where we had the wedding breakfast. I felt this approach worked in harmony with the venue, in particular the hall’s beautiful gardens. Our wonderful stationer, Maddy of Rose & Beau, encapsulated this vibe perfectly with her elegant floral designs on our invitations, and running through into our welcome signs and orders of service.

I cannot go without mentioning our band called Bamboleo Band. Along with many of our guests, Sam and I had enjoyed their annual performances at a university summer garden party, the epitome of carefree summer joy and highly anticipated each year. To transport that atmosphere to such a perfect venue on our wedding day was magical and I will never forget it.

Maria of The Flower Patch is such a talented florist who grows all of her flowers. She has such a tasteful and natural touch, and I very much trusted Maria to work her magic and pick beautiful flowers to create stunning arrangements. She transformed the Carriage House into a wildflower dream. I had a sneak peek of the room whilst getting ready, and seeing how fantastic it looked completely quelled my nerves.

Rachel Maher baked our wonderful wedding cake. I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted in a cake, and all I managed was to send Rachel a number of photographs of wildly different cakes. Despite my disorganisation, Rachel managed to cohere my disjointed ideas into a beautiful wedding cake. Rachel and Maria worked together to perfect the cake with some of the wedding flowers, to pull everything together. And most importantly, it was so delicious and exactly what everybody needed to refuel after an evening of dancing. I also ordered a macaron tower from Rhonda of Macaron Bliss. Their beautiful colours looked fantastic within the Carriage House amongst all of the flowers, and of course they tasted wonderful.

Mark Hadfield, one of Tissington Hall’s select caterers, organised our drinks, canapés and meal. Mark, his waiting staff and of course the chefs did a wonderful job and were so professional throughout the day.

Chris Smith came highly recommended and knows Tissington Hall like the back of his hand. I was so envious of all of the couples who had previously had their weddings captured by Chris, so when we discovered he was available for our second planned date (a Covid push back), after having been booked up for our initial date, we were overjoyed, and took it as fate. The day ran so smoothly with Chris’s choreography. He knew exactly the best spots to be in at exactly the right times of day – his wonderful photographs are a testament to this skill and experience. I cannot put into words how impressed we were by Chris’s talent, but his photographs certainly do the talking.

Best part of the day

A stand out moment was taking a step back during the reception and soaking everything in. All of our closest family and friends were dancing to Bamboleo in the evening sun of Tissington’s beautiful gardens with the Peak District landscape as a backdrop. It truly epitomised ‘carefree summer day’.

The day had gone perfectly and I was finally married to my best friend after a year of looming Covid restrictions – we were filled with every happy emotion and it was an unbeatable moment of an exceptional day.

We were also extremely privileged to have had our close friend Jack, a very accomplished organist, play for our ceremony. It’s the kind of personal touch that cannot be surpassed – Sam and I couldn’t be more grateful or proud.

From one couple to another…

Spend lots of time researching (aka trawling Pinterest) and deciding what you do and don’t like. Don’t make any rash decisions, but once you know you like something, absolutely go for it. And don’t forget to soak up the happy memories on the day. Failing that, get an exceptional photographer who will immortalise your day for you (thank you Chris!).