Relaxed Al Fresco Wedding at Matara Centre, Gloucestershire

Images by Bigeye Photography.

Louboutins, two wedding dresses, peachy pink peonies, a fairy-light backdrop and a ruffle cake to die for. That’s all before I’ve even mentioned the epic Gloucestershire wedding venue that is Matara Centre.

Settle in and enjoy James & Hannah’s story of their big day and delight in these pretty gorgeous images by Bigeye Photography…

Notes from the Bride

Hannah:

Matara is such a beautiful venue, especially in the summer when all the flowers are in bloom. The grounds are large enough for guests to wonder freely and still feel incorporated in the wedding, and there are lots of beautiful spots for photos. The house is also a beautiful venue to host your family.

We chose Matara because we could effectively get married outside, under beautiful wisteria and still have a legal marriage. We were very lucky to find a venue which incorporated the open / outside feeling (you often get at US weddings) and it still be legally binding! Both James & I have high pressure jobs in the city and we wanted the day to be the opposite of our normal lives; relaxed, authentic, free flowing and beautiful. The staff at Matara were incredible from the first visit, they couldn’t be more helpful and I wish I could do it all again there!

I had my dress made for me and took inspiration by my favourite designer Inbal Dror. The earrings I wore were my great grandmothers and I had a monogram bracelet made of my new initials, all very unique and personal to me. Shoes were always going to be Louboutins, there really is no other wedding shoe! My best friend styled my hair, she’s a hairdresser and knows the styles which suit me. The Bridesmaids wore multi-way dresses so they could be both uniformed and unique. The flower girls wore beautiful vintage style dresses from Monsoon which just looked stunning.

For the Décor, I took my inspiration from Pinterest and made a lot of the items myself. The napkins we had printed and personalised, each favour was handmade for each guest and the cake I designed and made myself with (thankfully) great success. The flowers were made by a family friend and we had pink and white peonies fitting with the vintage / bohemian theme.

We chose Marcus from Bigeye Photography as he was familiar with the venue and we liked his catalogue of work. He was very easy to be around on the day, even in a room full of women getting ready! He captured moments we weren’t able to witness and some classic moments. We were so happy when we got received the images! I would highly recommend him.

The whole day was an absolute blur; the best part I think was walking down the aisle and reaching James. Naturally I was very nervous and I was able to just relax and enjoy the day from that point on.

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

Relax and take in as much as you can, take a minute just you two to take it all in together as that’s what it’s all about. I would highly recommend everyone hire a professional photographer and videographer, the end result is just amazing and they are memories you will cherish forever.

I wish I could do it all again!