Inside: A Wedding With Spectacular Florals

Full names & ages:

Sheena Best (34), Esias Ferreira (35)

Occupations:

Esias Ferreira, Senior Finance Manager, Selfridges Group

Sheena Best, Senior Strategy Consultant, Selfridges Group

How we met:

We work together at Selfridges Group.

About the proposal:

Esias proposed in the Mayfair Townhouse Hotel under the guise of my birthday on 3^rd December 2021. I thought I was just going out for a birthday dinner and was taken completely by surprise in our current hometown of London. The engagement was followed by dinner at one of my favourite restaurants Lucky Cat by Gordon Ramsay and lots more celebrating with friends and family.

The best part of our day was:

The church service as a whole was amazing, the emotion, the cathedral, the music, the readings, the spectacular florals – it was perfect.

Second to that was entering the reception together, seeing all of our friends and family in one room napkins in the air, music blaring, everyone cheering – it was electric.

For the groom – one particular best part was when the bride surprised him and all the guests by singing Adele “Make You Feel My Love” at the reception, it was beautiful.

We choose to get married at:

Mount Juliet, Kilkenny. It ticked all the boxes we had in mind and was the perfect choice – proximity to Dublin for guests coming from abroad, accommodation for all guests on site, foodie aspect answered with superb food quality. We visited the venue in December 2021 and immediately fell in love with the twinkling lights and the feel of a crisp, cold morning on the grounds – perfect for a Winter Wedding.

I knew I found ‘The One’ when:

My dress was from Sassi Holford on the Fulham Road, recommended by a friend after I’d described what I was thinking for my wedding dress. My Mum, my sister and I did a two-day wedding dress shopping trip in London where we went to 5 different boutiques – all very different! Sassi Holford was by far the most enjoyable boutique and we just had the best experience there from start to finish. We visited Sassi on the first of our two days and I wanted to wait until the Jenny Packham appointment before making any decisions, but I knew I’d fallen in love with my dream dress. I felt so amazing when I tried the dress on and “The One” was written all over my face and my Mum’s face – I was so happy! From appointment to final collection, the process took about 8 months.

The groom knew he wanted a velvet jacket from the start. The groom and groomsmen visited Moss Bros and were very disappointed so we’d heard the bespoke option in Suit Supply was great and visited their shop in London. The experience was impeccable from start to finish and the groom, groomsmen and father of the bride all got bespoke tuxedos from the one tailor, John. From appointment to suit the process took about 6-8 weeks.

The most enjoyable moments of planning were:

The food tasting, we went with my parents and made a weekend out of it at the venue and it was so fun and a nice way to get excited about the big day

Seeing the florist’s mood board as it was the first glimpse I had of the theme for the big day – it was amazing and a lovely moment shared with my Mum (as let’s face it most partners aren’t too particular about those “spectacular florals”!).

Seeing Esias’ artwork for the Mass Booklet – it was stunning!

The hardest part of planning was:

Whilst it was challenging to do, we’re really glad we said no children and kept the wedding to adults only except for the flower girls and page boy, children would have added a different dimension. We took a position from the start to include polite no children wording on the invitation to avoid any ambiguity and whilst we were approached with a few queries on children we had to stand firm as a couple.

The other challenging part was engaging with hotel staff, given all guests were staying on-site there was added pressure and logistics. Its important to set out expectations from the beginning.

Bridesmaids dresses were challenging as you want your girls to feel comfortable on the day, so I tried to pick something that would flatter everyone but still tied in with the overall wedding theme.

Our wedding menu highlights were:

The his and hers cocktail theme added a nice personal touch (Hers: Margarita, His: Moscow Mule). In particular, the Moscow mule cups really added to the Winter vibe and its one thing our guests consistently commented on. The evening was finished with “our cocktail” which is an espresso martini as part of the Groom’s toast.

Our first dance song:

Billy Joel – She’s Got A Way – special touch, the song was played and sung by my two Uncles!

The best accounts to follow on Instagram for big-day inspo:

@theweddingclubofficial

All my suppliers (planner, florist, photographer etc – linked below)

The best person to follow on Pinterest for bridal inspo:

Our top three tips for any couple would be:

Don’t sweat the little things, we left the church to the wrong song but no one noticed.
Keep smiling, embrace the day and take in every minute as it goes by so quickly.
Take a break between the drinks reception and the dinner for just you and your husband, have a drink and a chat in peace and quiet as your guests are getting settled.

For our honeymoon we chose:

Mini moon – The Merrion Hotel in Dublin for 3 nights directly after the wedding

Honeymoon – Lux South Ari Atoll, Maldives

If we were able to do it all over again, the one thing we would change is:

Bride wishes we had taken more organised group photos outside with the backdrop of the Manor House at Mount Juliet, despite the photographers best efforts to snap everyone there are a lot of my close friends missing from photographs.

Groom wishes he had spoken earlier in the evening; it was difficult to balance getting speeches out of the way but also making sure guests weren’t hungry.