Inside: An Al Fresco Wedding At Cornwell Manor The Wedding Edition

The Story

The journey of this al fresco Cornwell Manor wedding began when Saul and Hannah met when they were sixteen as a GCSE revision camp. They kept in touch over the years of school and university via Facebook Messenger and bumping into one another on the odd night out, but their contact fizzled out – despite Saul’s efforts.

At 26, after a walk with a mutual friend, Saul asked Hannah out on a first date to a wine bar (68 and Boston, now closed) in Soho.

Saul proposed to Hannah in The Cotswolds, in a beautiful lockhouse on the water that they had rented in one of those pandemic staycation periods, with french bulldog Luna at their side.They were sat by a fire pit. He surprised Hannah with their four best friends coming out for a boozy, chef cooked dinner party the following day. The ring is a pear cut diamond, on a diamond band (platinum) from De Beers.

Venue

We got married at Cornwell Manor. We’d made it inches up the driveway and instantly fell in love with the gardens and the stunning, ivy covered house frontage. It was gorgeous and breathtaking whilst still feeling paired back and warm. We fell in love with the idea of marrying opposite the house, at the fountain, with stunning views facing in all directions. We only needed to pray for the weather (which turned out beautiful on our wedding day).

On Friday, we had the whole bridal squad (12 bridesmaids and 8 groomsmen) come to the house for a rehearsal and lots of bubbles, and then got taxis to the Kingham Plough pub nearby for a drinks and canape food warm up party.

All the bridesmaids and their other halves stayed with me (Hannah) at Cornwell Manor, whilst the groomsmen stayed at the pub.

On Sunday, we hosted a pool party for all guests at Cornwell Manor.

Fashion

I (Hannah) wore a Vivienne Westwood dress and Lloeffler Randal wedding shoes. I wanted a dress that was simple in silk (nothing embroidered or lace) and felt subtly sexy and classic but with a little bit of edge and who does that better that Vivienne Westwood. The dress had a lazy strap and I loved the slightly undone look. It actually broke off the first time I hugged anyone, but I didn’t care, itt looked just as good with one shoulder and I was having too much fun.

At just before midnight, I changed into a last minute decision party dress. A very short number with wide feathered sleeves from De LaVali.

Saul had a bespoke suit made from Thom Sweeney in Saville Row, with shoes from Harry’s.

Jewellery

I kept everything super simple, wearing a solitaire diamond necklace given to me that day from my brother, and two diamond earrings and a little pearl in each lobe, all of which belonged to my mum.

Bridal Party

All 12 girls chose their own dresses in a broad palette. I personally prefer this fresher approach to bridesmaid dressing, having never loved the typical bridesmaid look. You can see from the photos, they worked beautifully together. The groomsmen then wore navy suits.

Transportation

We organised shuttle buses on the hour, every hour stopping at all guest’s hotels and Air Bnbs from 11pm on the wedding evening. Everyone said it was fantastic and it meant that everyone could really relax into the evening and know they’d be home safely.

Tablescape

Each chair had a tiny blue ribbon tied around the outside, in memory of my (Hannah’s) mum, and a nod to a poem she had written about a blue seat.

We then had candles, flowers and herb pots all in the same wedding palette – ranging from champagnes, to blushy pinks, to yellows and greens.

Food & Drink

Food was exceptional and from the caterers Quince and Clover. We wanted to do something light but vibrant and colourful and in a large Ottolenghi feast style – with middle eastern flavours.

Entertainment

Our aisle music was Paolo Nutini, Better Man. With a couple of huge crescendos towards the end, it was perfect for such a huge procession of bridesmaids and the rather long aisle or “runway” was we referred to it as.

Stay Together by Al Green was our first dance and we had the most incredible eight piece band, Fortune.

After our wedding ceremony and confetti moment, we followed The Brass Junkies band over to the rest of the gardens for our drinks reception. It felt like the perfect British Garden party vibe.

DJ Francis then DJ’ed our pool party.

Beauty Regime & Wellness

I used Cat Parnell for hair and make up and she was absolutely incredible.

I didn’t do loads pre wedding. I’d been going to the gym, running or doing pilates three or four times a week and I’d had some reflexology and a facial at Heckfield Place the weekend before our wedding.

Favourite Wedding Gifts

We are in the midst of moving currently, so we asked for beautiful pieces for our (touch wood) future home. We won’t open any of them until we have moved into our first home together, and are so excited for that moment.

Honeymoon

We mini mooned in Deia, Mallorca straight after the wedding. It’s our third trip there, so a very special and easy place for us after all of the planning (we had our London registry weekend the weekend before – so it felt like a lot). Here’s hoping to a honeymoon in Mexico in 2024.

Advice

Make it all about the FUN for you and guests – the most important elements are the booze and the music (and then the food). These things will be what truly make your guests the most happy as you celebrate together.
Make it about you and find a way to create exactly what you want. Our ceremony was incredibly personal and we put lots of thought into our music. Then, as the bride, I knew flowers would be very important to me, so I refused to compromise on what I wanted. Lastly, as we are both “foodies”, finding and choosing beautiful food was also more important than we initially thought it would be.
Have fun with it. We barely stressed throughout the process (thanks hugely to our amazing planners and the suppliers) and spent the entire weekend laughing, screaming with joy, singing and dancing.
Rest up the week before and don’t go out or plan too much ahead of the weekend. Something we failed to do, as we couldn’t stop having fun and celebrating our build up.