Classic & Stately – Edmondsham House

Finding wedding venues that people haven't heard of is quite rare, but on this occasion, I think I found one...

Visiting Edmondsham House in Cranborne, nr. Wimborne was an absolute treat. When I met with Julia who owns this wonderful stately home I was met with open arms (not literally due to social distancing!) and made to feel so welcome. Julia hires her stunning grounds out to couples looking for an outdoor DIY wedding venue with the added bonus of a gorgeous little church that you can legally get married in within its grounds. 

With the most perfect marquee lawn and everything you could wish for in an outdoor wedding venue you are extremely lucky if you have booked Edmondsham House as your wedding venue. With the magnificent Tudor House as the backdrop to your wedding and the perfectly kept gardens to celebrate in...

Whilst chatting with Julia as she showed me around her grounds, I was so excited when she said she would be happy for me to organise and co-ordinate a styled photoshoot here. This is something Julia had never done before so she was putting all her faith in me and I felt very privileged.

The style was obvious and didn't take much thinking about, it had to be classic and stately to fit with the house!

With more and more couples going for the boho look we thought it would be nice to bring back the traditional black tux on Jack, our groom model. Jack’s suit was from Cameron Ross and supplied by Minster Bridal Design who also supplied the beautiful Martina Liana dress for our bride model Katy. Having a real couple as our models made this shoot possible due to the social distancing restrictions and actually made the images seem more ‘real’...

Katy’s make-up was by Charlee Hulbert Make-Up Artist who wanted to reflect the traditional but modern bride. With glowing natural skin and delicate contouring, Charlee added a pop of colour to the cheeks. On Katy’s eyes a warm neutral palette emphasised the deep brown of her eyes and an effortless yet sharp winged liner completed the look with two lashings of mascara.

With the glorious sunshine we needed to keep our model cool especially with Katy’s super long hair!

Mel from Bournemouth Bridal Hair & Make-Up decided on a classic bridal updo which would keep any bride’s hair neat and tidy on their wedding day. A stylish and elegant low twisted bun finished off beautifully with a delicate flowercomb from Dorset Flowers was perfect for our styling and showed of the back of Katy’s dress beautifully.

If you are going to get married you have to have jewellery and more importantly rings!

Look at these sparkly beauties from Allum & Sidaway!

You can never have too many diamonds so we decided to show off a second set of jewellery.

We were so lucky to have Florence and her team join us from Fab Falconry. Only expecting Florence to bring one owl we were totally spoilt for choice when she brought a variety with her to feature in our photoshoot.

Having spent the day with Florence and her family team I can totally understand why they fell in love with owls and rescued so many of these majestic birds of prey...

Posing for the camera each owl looked the part and even the little kestrel Pascal did a bit of modelling for us!

Flowers can be as big or as small as you like on your wedding day. We decided to go BIG with this amazing deconstructed flower arch created and arranged by Dorset Flowers. Surrounding the doors of the quaint little church with beautiful delphiniums, luscious garden roses, ivy, eucalyptus and lots of other beautiful foliage really made this an archway that any couple would love to walk through.

The beauty of this deconstructed arch is it can be moved, so if you wanted to move it to the entrance of your marquee or somewhere else once your ceremony is over...you can! 

Bouquets and Buttonholes by Dorset Flowers...I am going to let these stunning images do the talking for these delicate bundles of floral gorgeousness!

Showcasing the beautiful grounds was particularly important so Laurel Designs set up a small table under the beautiful old cedar tree overlooking the east side of the house. With soft dusky blue draping, gold edged plates with gold cutlery, mini terracotta pots of floral beauty, a glistening chandelier and of course an owl to finish of the look ...

Oh, and we can’t forget Laurel Designs sophisticated and contemporary stone coloured table numbers, menus and place settings dressed with soft bunny tails. Not only that but the elegant table-plan which hung so perfectly from a low branch of the cedar tree. The overall feeling from this whole setting just made us all smile.

The all important cake, Helen Jane Cake Design made this absolute beauty! 

A classic three tier white wedding cake textured with edible lace and shimmery gold leaf, pale pink and white handmade sugar roses, grey leaves and soft bunny tails to match the place settings. Matched with sweet little mini side cakes and pretty little biscuits, if any cake screams English country elegance then this one does!

Its always good to arrive and leave in style on your wedding day. What better way than in this classic and cute convertible Morris Minor from Morris Minor Hire...

Capturing our shoot on film was Pointhouse Studios. With the owls flying and the car driving off it felt essential to capture the motion and feeling of the whole day. This is the one thing that sometimes couples decide against on their wedding day due to their budget, but I can’t recommend it highly enough. In years to come it’s so lovely to watch your big day back and to see and hear all of your friends and family.

Hopefully this styled shoot has made you think twice about steering away from tradition. Some may see this style as boring and old fashioned but with a few modern twists it really can look as WOW as you want it to...

If you are planning a DIY wedding in a venue such as Edmondsham House then you may want to consider an ‘On the Day’ wedding co-ordinator to do all those jobs that need doing. If so, then get in touch to chat through your requirements and let me take all those stresses away on your big day!