Inside: An Effortlessly Romantic Wedding In The Cotswolds

From a decade-long Tinder connection that turned into a real-life romance to a sunset proposal in the sea in Antigua, step inside Eleanor Matthew and Max Curry’s effortlessly romantic, sun-drenched wedding in the Cotswolds.

The story so far

Max and I first met on Tinder over 10 years ago and exchanged numbers, but it wasn’t until a year later that he slid back into my DMs. I was living in Paris at the time, and we promised that when I returned to the UK, we’d finally go on a date. After four months of speaking every day, we organised to meet on St Patrick’s Day 2017 in London, and that was the start of everything. Our first year was long distance between Paris and London, before Max moved to Australia for 6 months.

Seven years later, on a special trip to Antigua (where my late father, Felix, was born), Max proposed at sunset on day seven of our ten-day holiday. We started the day with a private boat ride around the island, followed by lunch at Sheer Rocks with an amazing view. We got back to our hotel, Carlisle Bay, and had afternoon tea. Such an amazing day and STILL no ring…. I had now written off any chance of an engagement on this holiday. However, the day was not yet over, when all the other guests had gone to ready themselves for supper, Max and I sat in the sea watching the sunset till it got too cold. He “went to get our towels” aka got the ring and whilst I waited in the shallow water he got down on one knee in the sea, where we were completely alone. It was so perfect.

The ring is a beautiful diamond trilogy, set in platinum with a yellow gold band with delicate foliate scroll engraving, from Hancocks London. We had semi-designed it together with help from Guy Burton, Marcus and Eleney. I had seen the stones, but not the final ring, which made it even more special.

For our wedding bands, we chose matching 4mm gold bands, we loved the contrast of the chunky band against the delicate engagement ring. We love Hancocks for their rich history and truly unmatched service and care.

Venue

We visited three venues in the Cotswolds. The beautiful and very popular Cornwell Manor and Kin House both were stunning, but something was missing.

The moment we walked into Coombe End Manor, we both fell in love. It had been done up in such a cool, modern yet cosy way…hats off to their interior designers, and although they hadn’t hosted many weddings before, we could immediately see its potential. We were able to shape the weekend, which made it completely individual, which is exactly how we wanted it to be (even though there were some inevitable teething and logistical challenges along the way). No wedding is ever straightforward.

It must have been fate that the day we wanted was available, allowing us to get married on my father’s birthday, which made it all the more special. It was so important to make sure he was somehow involved. His birthday now has a happy meaning.

It also turned out to be their availability worked, allowing us to get married on my father’s birthday, which made it all the more special. It was so important to make sure he was somehow involved. His birthday now has a happy meaning.

The Night Before

We had some engagement photos taken by our photographer Meg. We then had our rehearsal followed by a dinner with the wedding party. I then had a sleepover with my mum, which was cute.

Fashion

For our Friday evening, I designed a spin on an Edwardian-style tea dress, paired with colourful jewellery and navy Castaner espadrilles, while Max kept it relaxed in a linen suit with socks from Ede & Ravenscroft and brown suede loafers from Crockett & Jones.

My wedding dress was designed in Madrid. After trying on dresses by Jesús Peiró in London, I realised I loved the Spanish style but wanted something completely unique. With the help of a Spanish colleague, now a close friend, I arranged appointments with two dressmakers and travelled back and forth for fittings. Despite the language barrier, I instantly connected with my designer Ines and her head seamstress Rosa. Together we created a dress with a long, cape-style coat that flowed like a veil. The whole process felt like a dream, and the trips were made even more special as I often travelled with my mum, which gave us precious time together.

For my something old, blue and borrowed, a piece of my dad’s swim trunks was sewn into the lining of my dress, alongside a blue bow added by the dressmaker. I had a pin with my dads photo put into my bouquet, so in some way he walked with me down the aisle.

I wore Jimmy Choo heels for the ceremony before changing into a Castaner x Casilda Se Casa espadrilles for the reception, as it was on grass. I also carried a fan, kindly embroidered by my mum’s friend Sarah, with each panel representing my heritage of England and Antigua.

Max wore a morning suit with a custom waistcoat from Dress2Kill, lined with Liberty silk to subtly tie in with the flower girls . He finished the look with black leather loafers from Crockett & Jones. My mum wore Amelia Wickstead, with shoes to match and her bag was bespoke, which we designed when in Madrid and we picked up after my final fitting.

Jewellery

I wore earrings and a necklace from Lulu B and I also wore traditional Caribbean silver engraved bracelets.

Max doesn’t usually wear jewellery, but on the day he wore a vintage Rolex.

Bridal party

My Bridesfriends got ready in white poplin PJs that I embroidered with their initials. They all got to choose dresses from Madrid. I wanted to avoid the usual matching bridal party style, I wanted each of them to feel comfortable and be able to wear the dress again, so each dress was from a different Spanish brand. I gifted them matching Hunza G swimsuits collaboration with Helena Christensen and curated bags for the weekend filled with little treats, including; patchology eye masks, paracetamol, lip balms, and other beauty essentials.
The Groomsmen all got matching ties.

The flower girls wore white puffed-sleeve poplin dresses with sashes made by my wonderful mother-in-law in Liberty fabric. They paired these with white canvas shoes by Hamptons, frilly socks, and white bow headbands, all from Trotters.

For our family we had canvas bags embroidered with our wedding crest. We wanted to give them something that they could remember the weekend by. All our guests staying also got a copy of a magazine we designed which gave the itinerary of the weekend along with some fun trivia games about us as a couple.

Transportation

We weren’t able to have people park at the venue so hired vintage buses. We had a slight disaster in that the week of the wedding a major road was due to be closed… Not a problem if you’re a car, but as there are many low hanging branches and narrow roads they were not suitable for the busses. Between us and the bus company we managed to get special permission to have someone meet us to open the A road….which meant I very much had to be on time and the service had to run on time. However when our bus guests got to the road there was no one to meet them. Our guests took matters into their own hands…. They moved the barriers themselves. We had one of our photographers Meg on the bus who got some amazing shots, it was quintessentially British. The highways controllers finally came and helped the busses through, but it was a bit touch and go.

Max and his dad came to the church in a convertible 1950’s Jaguar XK140 which we drove away in.

Tablescape

When my father passed away we buried his ashes into the roots of a horsechesnut tree, so on every table was a leaf from his tree. It was a special way for him to be with everyone. We became very involved in our wedding stationery and actually designed all our on-the-day stationary; Order of services, Guest Book, Table Names and Menus. We had tall tapered candles in stands as well as pretty tea lights. We had rustic tables with a muslin table runner. We had terracotta plant pots with greenery along the middle along with little bud vases with seasonal flowers. We wanted the inside to feel like an English meadow in summer. To bring a pop of colour We had rhubarb linen napkins which were folded to hold our menu. Atop the napkins were mini maracas which we had painted our M & E crest on, our guests were encouraged to shake these when we were welcomed into the marquee…. We wanted something different to the usual napkin helicopter. We had multi coloured water glasses and delicate engraved crystal wine glasses. Coming from the Caribbean, I love pops of colour. We put disposable cameras on each table and ended up getting so many amazing and fun pictures.

Food & drinks

During our cocktail hour when guests arrived we had canapés along with Spanish pinchos and someone slicing Iberico ham. For drinks we had Pimms, Aperol Spritz and Rosé. As I don’t drink it was important we also had interesting soft drinks too. We had homemade ice tea and an elderflower and mint drink.

For our meal we wanted something relaxed. We started with melon, prosciutto and burrata. For our main course we had bbq style sirloin steak and spatchcock chicken, with smashed roast potatoes, tomato salad, coleslaw and seasonal greens. We selected our red and white wine from a family owned vineyard in the Montsant region of Spain. Instead of a seated pudding, we wanted our guests to be able to mingle so we had a pudding table instead so our guests could go up and help themselves. This was a pavlova tower, brownies, chocolate pots and cheesecake. We essentially had a second reception where we had cocktails this time; Picantes, a signature gin based cocktail and a vodka based cocktails and beers.

We had Harriet Benton cater, who has been catering for Max’s parents for over 30 years. It was so nice to have someone who we both knew well.

Entertainment

We were introduced as Mr and Mrs Curry to Barry Can’t Swim – Sunsleeper.

Our first dance song was Stayin Alive – Bee Gees.

We had steel pan band during our cocktail hour welcoming guests. We then had a DJ for music with a saxophonist.

Beauty regime & wellness

I have problematic skin, so I had monthly facials at House of Saab Skin clinic on Chepstow Road. I always have my brows done at blink brow bar on Ledbury Road and in the lead up I had individual lashes done by Maiah. Despite being mixed race I used fake tan by Tan Luxe to give me a glow. I had my Hair and Makeup done by Harriet Cook.

Survival Party

We had a brunch the next day cooked by the chef James at Coombe End, we were only able to invite a few guests due to venue restrictions which slightly altered our plans, but we had a fun pool party followed by a tennis competition. In the evening we had a supper and games with just our family and wedding party, with most people leaving on Monday.

Favourite Wedding Gifts

We used the wedding present company for our registry. Both our parents went above and beyond in all aspects of our wedding. This day would not have been possible without their support. Our guests were also so generous, we got a camera, vouchers and lots of furniture for our house which we will have in our home forever.

Honeymoon

We did a mini moon in ibiza where we stayed at Can Domo. We brought all our wedding cards away with us and we sat around the pool reading them, it was a really special moment. Our honeymoon is not yet booked but we want to go on Safari in Kenya and then to the Maldives.

Advice

Wedding planning is stressful. When things get tough take a step back and remember the day is to celebrate two people coming together. So when something annoys you, remember one day it will be over and you will (hopefully) miss the excitement of it. Take it in.