The Story
Taking it back to a time before our winter wedding, my husband and I met on the women-first dating app, Bumble, over 7 years ago, which is also where I work as VP of Marketing for EMEA & APAC. People always ask, but I met him before I started working at Bumble.
My husband had been giving hints for a number of months and gave one big hint that he would propose by the end of the year. He, of course, decided to wait until New Year’s Eve. My husband proposed on Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire at midnight, he is from North Yorkshire, and Sutton Bank holds so many memories for us, and even more so now.
He proposed with a custom-made proposal ring made by Bar Jewellery, engraved with the date of our first date. I had met the Founder, Sophie, a few years before and loved her jewellery, so it was special that he had remembered those details. We designed my engagement ring together with the talented Jessie Harris. I wanted my engagement ring to be slightly different, so it’s a pear-shaped diamond slanted to the right. Jessie is so talented, and it was a special experience to do it together.
Venue
We got married nearly five years ago in December at St Michael & All Angels, followed by the reception at Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds. We had spent so much time there, and both love the Cotswolds so it’s seemed like the perfect place to hold our wedding. On the evening before our wedding, the bridal party had dinner at Soho Farmhouse, followed by drinks at the local pub for all our guests, The White Horse in Duns Tew.
As we got married in the winter, it was such a cosy evening in the pub with the fire on. On the day after our wedding, we hosted a Sunday Lunch at Soho Farmhouse for our guests.
Fashion
Dress – My dress was custom made by Atelier Colpani who specialise in bespoke tailoring and evening wear. I have always wanted to get my dress made so that I could have my input on the design and be involved in the process. The designer, Valli, is a family friend, and it was an easy decision to work with her company and extra special that she was involved. The process took nine months from start to finish To ensure it wasn’t rushed but also allowed Valli and her team to perfect the dress and showcase their brilliant craftsmanship.
My something blue was a garter made by Valli and the team at Atelier Colpani and my husband wore a Hackett Herringbone Weave Suit in Navy, with Yorkshire Rose Cufflinks from a small family of jewellers in York.
Jewellery
I kept my jewellery classic and minimal – custom gold hoops (I’m always in hoops) and a necklace gifted from my Mother made in Dubai, and a beautiful gold bracelet (my “something new” from one of my bridesmaids Charlotte).
Bridal Party
All of my five bridesmaids wore dresses from Rewritten. I also gave them each a handmade sterling silver pendant and necklace made by Jessie Harris as a thank-you. Our groomsmen all wore their own navy suits.
Transportation
For guest transfers, we had a Vintage red bus pick guests up to and from the ceremony.
Tablescape
I had a strong idea of exactly what I wanted for the ceremony and reception – lots of candles, foliage and greenery. In the ceremony we had:
Bunches of Gypsophila with string hanging from the pews, eucalyptus displayed with lanterns and candles down the aisle, eucalyptus and olive foliage and pillar candles on windowsills and a Christmas tree at the back.
At the reception: a selection of glass bottles of white hellebores, white anemones, white hypericum and Rose garden Keiras. We also had garlands hanging around the lights at the top of the barn, with mistletoe dropping down to add a little Christmas touch.
Food & Drink
The food was amazing and our menu was done by the chefs at Soho Farmhouse. For canapes, we had a selection of Smoked Salmon, Guinea Fowl and Beef Carpaccio. For starters, we had the Farmhouse smoked salmon watercress, celeriac and the vegetarian option was Salt baked celeriac, walnut apple salad. The mains were the favourite part of the menu as it was feel-good winter food. We had lamb rump, pear barley, butternut, and rosemary and then the vegetarian option was spiced aubergine, grilled tender stem broccoli, butternut puree toasted grains. For puddings, we wanted to serve this feast style and had a mix of forest fruit cobbler, cinnamon creme fraiche, roasted hazelnut cheesecake, chocolate swiss roll, toffee ice-cream and marshmallows for people to roast at the end of the evening.
Richard chose the cake, wanting it to be as chocolatey as possible and letting the incredible Soho Farmhouse chefs work their magic! The cake was chocolate, brownie chunks, salted caramel, and chocolate fudge.
Entertainment
One of the most important aspects of the wedding to us was music. We put a lot of time into planning it for the entire day. I want to make sure that we had amazing music from start to finish.
For the Church service, we had an organist play my entrance music and all the hymns. My entrance music at the Church was Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy – it’s a beautiful piece of music.
For the reception, I always wanted to have a saxophonist and a brilliant DJ, sowe had both! Our saxophonist was Matt Demetriou and our DJ was Chris Hawker. Ahead of the wedding, we made a Spotify playlist of our favourite songs to ensure they were played on the night . We had a mixture of Nigerian/ afrobeats music as well as English music to suit both cultures, it worked amazingly well!
For our first dance, we wanted to do something different. We began with ‘If I ain’t got you’ by Alicia Keys which was played on the saxophone by Matt. After a minute of the traditional slow dance, it was then remixed into one of our favourite songs Jubel my Klingande to get people dancing (again played by Matt and supported by the DJ).
Throughout the evening we had hit after hit which made for such a fun evening! I don’t think all our guests have done that much dancing for years – at one point, Richard and I were lifted onto chairs with Pjanoo playing on the saxophone.
Beauty Regime & Wellness
I went to Skinworks for 6 months leading up to our wedding and had the Signature Facial and regular peels, it made a difference. I had my hair done the day before by Mimi et Mina based in Notting Hill – I really want to ensure my hair was simple and natural so I had simple and loose waves and some extra added length with hair extensions. On the day my hair was then freshened up and styled by the Senior Stylist at Farmhouse Parlour at Soho Farmhouse.
My makeup was done by Bobbi Brown and I worked with Aimee Morrison who is one of their Bobbi Brown Pro Makeup Artists.
Favourite Wedding Gifts
We used Prezola and the majority of our wedding list was honey-moon related gifts for e.g. dinner for two, or new suitcases from AWAY.
Honeymoon
The summer after our wedding we went to The Balkans – Montenegro, Albania, and Slovenia. My husband planned it all, and it was a great trip – lots of activities but also time for nice meals and wine tasting!
With Thanks…
Bride / Groom: @naomiwalkland / @richardwalkland
Venue: @sohohouse
Caterer: @sohohouse
Dress: Atelier Colpani
Bridesmaids: @rewrittenbridesmaids
Groom outfit: @hackettlondon
Florist: @sohohouse
Tableware: @sohohouse
Stationery: @sohohouse
Photographer: @benjaminwheeler
Wedding rings: @jessieharrislondon
Makeup: @bbpro_aimeemorrison
Hair: @mimi_et_mina
Gift list: @prezola
Bridesmaid gifts: @jessieharrislondon
Wedding Planner: @sohohouse
Music: @mattd.sax
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