Lydia + Josh | July 2024
“Sarah was absolutely amazing!!! We loved her from the first video call and she was a great support in the run up to the day.”
When people ask “What is the swankiest wedding you’ve done? The most elegant? The most splendid?!” I’m pretty sure I’ll picture Lydia and Josh’s day.
For starters there was a swimming pool in the estate grounds. Now, this probably shouldn’t have been a huge surprise to me (if I’d done a little more googling on the venue Findon Place) but, as it’s me, I was relatively ungoogled and pleasantly shooketh. A pool! How beautiful!
The whole set up was stunning. I was pleased I’d rented a high-neck silk dress for the occasion.
The day was coordinated by Kate at Katrina Otter Weddings and, as I was there nice and early as is my geeky way, I helped Kate with laying out the reserved seating signs, as well as chatting to the string quartet, the lovely women of Quattro. It’s fun how many different suppliers you meet in this job - everything from musicians to magicians, and from florists to pet chaperones.
It was the most beautiful of wedding entrances as first the guests, then the bridesmaids, then Lydia and her dad, approached the ceremony from the ornamental garden path, under an arch in the hedge and round the glistening pool.
I wouldn’t say I was nervous for this wedding - any nerves I get are always happy/excited/labradoodle ones - but I felt the weight of the occasion. This was a stylish, elegant wedding and I wanted to do a stylish, elegant job.
Photos by Chloë Lowe Photography
There were lots of sweetly moving moments in the ceremony. In fact before it even began, before Lydia arrived, Josh, the groom, was in tears and I love that in a man. Forget raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, my favourite thing is when the groom gets teary. And to make it even sweeter, one of his friends was at hand with a tissue and a reassuring hug.
It was important for Lydia for her much-missed mum, Lindsay, to be a big part of the day and there was a bouquet placed on the mother of the bride’s seat in her honour.
Then, near the conclusion of the ceremony, friend Emma came and sang a heartfelt rendition of Make Me Feel Your Love as a tribute to the pair on their wedding day.
The elegance of this wedding
This was a wedding where - had I not had an afternoon train home booked - I’d have loved to have hung around. For the beauty, for the elegance, but mainly to see if anyone had jumped in the pool by the end of the night.
“Sarah made our ceremony so special and personal to us, she also really helped my husband relax whilst he was waiting for me to walk down the aisle!”