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How would you describe your Eleganza Experience?
Upon arrival at the shop I felt special and attended to from start to finish. The store was stunning and seeing a selection of dresses hung on the rail as we waited gave a taste of the different styles Eleganza had to offer. Rachel was beyond helpful and went the extra mile to ensure that I had the best possible experience. She was knowledgeable and with my responses to certain gowns she was able to tailor the rest of my appointment accordingly, nothing was any trouble.
Would you like to share with us your proposal moment, favourite part of planning your wedding or what you have planned for your honeymoon?
My proposal was two weeks into a month travelling around Italy. We checked into a box room B&B in Cinque Terre, nothing special until we walked out onto the balcony where the view was breathtaking. My husband wasn’t planning to propose here but upon seeing the view which felt as if you were right about the sea he said that he just had to. He got down on one knee over takeaway pizza and local wine, no fuss or audience, it was very us.
We returned to this same place and even the same room for our honeymoon as well as going to Greece and road tripping around the South of France.
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Tell us more about your Eleganza Iconica gown!
I had been to a handful of wedding dress shops closer to home before visiting Eleganza. I was able to try on designers that I had became familiar with and put on my ‘love list but what stood out for me was their own range which weren’t similar to anything else that I had tried on previously. When I put the ‘Florence’ gown on I immediately felt like a bride, this was the first of their collection I tried and it made me instantly know that I wanted an Eleganza dress. I tried on a few more Iconica dresses but was drawn back to ‘Florence’. However, I felt that the cups stood out a little too much for my skin tone, upon mentioning this Rachel assured me the colour could be changed without hesitation. The gown had a detachable skirt that allowed me to have two looks in one day, although when it came to it, I didn’t take it off until very late into the evening as I loved it so much! Going back to the appointment, when trying the skirt on, my maid of honour had the idea of moving the skirt so that the slit was more obvious, something that my mum and I felt suited me better too. Rachel pinned it to show me what it could look like and it was that point in which I knew this was my dress. From the 3D flowers, to the pearls on the gown/veil and the slit, I absolutely loved it. The team at Eleganza showed my mum how to fasten the dress which meant that on the day it looked just as it did when I had it tied by the ladies in the shop.
What was your inspiration for your wedding? Did you follow a specific theme or colour palette?
I felt that the ‘little things’ were important as well as showing the barn off with complimenting natural muted colours. Our flowers were pretty much a surprise on the day, I gave our overall theme but nothing much more. I always knew I wanted British grown flowers that didn’t have the environmental impact of being flown from half way across the world. I was more than happy for Michelle from Floralistas to be creative with whatever was in season at the time. My godmother also kindly let me bring pampas grass from her garden which again I let the florist use as she wished.
Our ceremony was much more personalised due to the lovely Becky reading out the ‘story of us’, helping Declan and I write our own vows as well as hand-tying. in terms of making the reception personal I brought along our scrap book that we’ve been doing since we got together as well as other sentimental pieces from our house. There was also a memory table which I held in great value, tipis to sit outside when the band played, dog treat bags for all our dogs’ furry friends and flip flops galore (these were a big hit!). Sophie from North and Wild helped to display all of these beautifully on the day.
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Tell us more about your Big Day!
Declan and I stayed on site at Hidden River Cabins 3 days prior to the wedding, it gave us a chance to relax and enjoy the facilities with our dogs before the wedding rush began. We also had our legal ceremony nearby with only our parents present, this again was a lovely way to start off the wedding week. We were lucky to have Robyn from Hidden River Cabins on hand to answer any questions during this time too, she was then there on the day and made sure everything ran smoothly.
The day before the wedding, close family/friends who were staying over arrived and this meant that everyone on-site was here for our wedding, it was so special driving from cabin to cabin welcoming everyone. In the evening, we had a BBQ get together, it allowed people to informally chat before the big day as well as enjoying the boozy bingo that three of my bridesmaids hosted brilliantly.
On the morning of the big day, Declan left our cabin at 5:30am ready for my hairdresser and MUAs arrival, true love haha! After feeling super stressed in the lead up to the day the morning was really chilled. My mum, mother in law and bridesmaids were so thoughtful and I honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more. From personalised gestures, a scrap book of hen party memories, ‘letters to the bride’, music playlists to the breakfast of dreams, I felt very lucky.
Declan had left me with a box of items to open when I was getting ready. Within this, he had wrote that he had booked a surprise car to take me to the ceremony, I spent the rest of the morning eagerly anticipating it driving by.
After over a week of rain, the sun shone and I arrived at the barn in the classic Fiat 500 with both my parents walking me down the aisle. Our ceremony was so personalised with the help of our celebrant, the dogs bought the rings down the aisle, readings from those close to us and hand-tying. The rest of the day went at lightning speed! From confetti, to champagne spraying, to the most amazing speeches to saxophonists to late-night pizza; it was everything I ever envisioned for our day.
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What was the most memorable moment?
As above, we just loved having all the people close to us on the venue site at the same time, it’s probably something we won’t ever experience again. Greeting guests as they arrived with their bags really made it feel that the wedding was actually about to happen.
Do you have a favourite picture from your wedding day? Why is this image so special to you?
This is such a hard question as I don’t think I could truly, honestly choose one. I knew that I wanted Jo to photograph my wedding before we had even booked the date and she still exceeded any expectations. There was only a small snippet of the wedding day taken up by group shots, something that was important to us and allowed everyone to ‘be in the moment’ and still get incredible natural photos.
If I HAD to choose one it would probably be the champagne spray photo in the car as it epitomises how happy we were throughout the day as well as the car feeling personal as it was the only part of the day that I didn’t plan myself.
Photographer: Jo Greenfield | Florist: Floralistas | Venue: Hidden River Cabins | Makeup: The Costa Chic | Cake: Sally Cooper Cake Artist | Stylist - North and Wild Events | Bell Tents: Bohemia Bell Tents | Hair: Society Club Salon | Bridesmaid Dresses: Bridesmaids by JB | Celebrant: Celebrant ceremonies by Becky