CLAIRE AND GEORGINA’S ART DECO WEDDING AT ELTHAM PALACE

Something totally different today! Claire and Georgina got married in gorgeous Eltham Palace. Thanks to Jeff Oliver Photography team for sharing it with us.

HOW DID YOU MEET?

We both work in the food industry which is pretty small, you will always know someone that knows someone, and in fact Georgina was one of Claire’s customers. In our case Claire was working at a company producing sauces, dressings and chutney for both food manufacturing & retail businesses. Back in April 2009 Georgina joined the company and our eyes met over a chutney pan…. We had our first date within 10 days of meeting and the rest, as they say, is history.

After a few months of dating Claire moved to London for work in September 2009, but we stayed strong & Georgina followed in January 2010 when we moved in together.

By 2014 we had brought our first house in South East London & Georgina proposed in front of the Greenwich Royal Naval Collage in January 2015

THEME

Theme was the ‘Black Tie & Sparkle’

INSPIRATION

Overall we were going for stripped back and classy, Pintrest was an invaluable source of information.

Georgina had always dreamed of having a winter wedding with lots of candles & fairy lights, Claire was happy to go along for the ride!

Food is a passion for us both & a huge part of our lives due to our jobs, so our tables were all named after sandwiches, obviously!

MOST IMPORTANT AND FUN PARTS

Food – menu planning with our wonderful and very patient caterer. Our professional personalities kicked in at this point and menu tasting was very honest & directional – we knew what we wanted!

Flowers – Georgina is very passionate about flowers so she was in her element when working with the florist to create a truly breathtaking winter wonderland.

Dresses – the secrecy and planning around our individual dresses for the big day. Claire’s dad acted as the go between to make sure that we did not end up with the same dress and that they complimented each other and the wedding theme.

CATERING

Hand Made Food

We met the lovely Sam from Hand Made at a wedding show held at our venue, they are local to us based a few miles away in Blackheath. Their style of food is locally sourced & seasonal produce transformed into something amazing. We went for sharing platters over the traditional courses, this suited us best as we wanted it to be relaxed and interactive for our guests.

FLOWERS

We met the fantastic Sam of Violets & Velvet also at the wedding showcase and we were instantly drawn to her individual & stunning display within the Tudor Hall. This really was the creative arm of our wedding and Sam stepped up to the challenge to bring our understated yet majestic displays to life.

Seasonal flowers & foliage made up the majority of our venue decorations, some of which was very locally sourced from Oxleas Woods (but we won’t incriminate ourselves by telling you what that was). The striking contorted willow took center stage, lining the edges of the hall filled with fairy lights.

DRESSES

Claire wore a Susanne Neville Dress (Fitzrovia) through an independent and award winning boutique in Bradford on Avon – Carina Baverstock Couture.

Claire had no idea of what style or designer she wanted to go for but she needn’t have worried. Carina Bavistock was a master, she narrowed the choices down based on Claire’s likes and personal style. Claire tried on a total of five dresses and in the end chose the first one she tried on. The cathedral veil, vintage head piece and shoes were also matched and sourced by Carina perfectly.

Georgina wore a San Patrick gown also sourced through an independent & award winning boutique in Leeds – Abigail’s Bridal Boutique.

Unlike Claire, Georgina had already tried on and dismissed 39 contenders before she found the San Patrick. Her choice was made easy by the wonderful Abigail’s team and fell in love with the intricate satin bodice and full skirt for the true princess look. Georgina’s cathedral veil was from Abigail’s and the head piece was from Mirror Mirror – it was the perfect pearl wrap around to compliment her dress. Accessories from Karen Millen completed the look.

HAIR AND MAKE UP

Claire & her sister, Joanna, grew up in Wilshire, when Joanna was married in 2014 she used a local Wilshire hair & makeup artist Katie Pfeiffer.

Katie also did Claire & George’s hair & makeup for Joanna’s wedding, the finish was flawless and there was no other artist in the running.

For our day day Katie didn’t disappoint, both of us chose classic looks, individually reflecting our personalities. Katy’s colleague Leah Toomy created our coiffured vintage styles.

VENUE

We were looking for a striking venue which could host and, stand up to, our winter wedding theme. We found it two miles from where we live at the stunning Eltham Palace.

One of the main reasons we chose the venue was due to the contrasting locations for the ceremony and the reception.

We were married in the 1920’s art deco style entrance & eventing hall to the palace and the reception was held in the original Tudor feasting hall which was at one point frequented by King Henry IIIV.

One of the other big draws was the two staircases in the main hall so we could both enter the room at the same time down the individual stair cases and come together at the bottom in front of our guests.

The team at English heritage were fantastic at balancing our creative personalities and demands with the regulations in place to preserve the beauty of the palace. They were on hand to help ahead of the wedding and navigated us and our guests flawlessly through the big day. We could not have achieved it all without them!

CAKE

We are both big fans of cake which caused some creative clashes! In the end we compromised on a three tiers, made up of the classic carrot cake, red velvet & rich fruit cake.

We used a local Wiltshire baker Sugar Me Icing, who created our beautiful cakes with a vintage look. Claire has Scottish heritage on the Whitfield side and as an Aude to her paternal grandmother, the Campbell Clan tartan was displayed as a final flourish on ribbons around the cake.

PHOTOGRAPHY

From the minute we met Jeff and Sarah, of Jeff Oliver Photography at the Eltham palace wedding showcase, we felt totally at ease with them, choosing them to be our photographers was one of the easiest wedding decisions we had to make.

The photos totally captured the magic of our day, they are absolutely beautiful and really reflected our personalities. We can’t stop watching our video! Their knowledge of the venue meant they photographed both the spectacular dramatic shots and the intimate moments in the most natural way.

Jeff and Sarah are both a joy to work with and created such a relaxed, fun atmosphere every time we met them, the pre-wedding shoot definitely helped us feel more comfortable ahead of the big day.

They captured such special memories that we’ll cherish a lifetime, we can’t recommend the highly enough.

MUSIC

We found our wonderfully talented band through Prelude Entertainment who we met at the Eltham Palace wedding showcase. They have numerous artists listed on their books and it didn’t take us long to find Ruby & The Rhythms.

We heard them play through a link on the Prelude website, originally from London, they play small and intimate occasions as well as large events in the UK & Europe. Their unique sound lead by their front woman (Ruby) suited us and our style perfectly. They also offered us an acoustic set for the ceremony which was one of our must haves!

Just to say a huge thank you to all of the help that our suppliers, friends and family gave us. The day was everything we wanted it to be and we wouldn’t have changed a thing!

CREDITS
Photography: Jeff Oliver Photography
Venue: Eltham Palace
Make Up and Hair: Katie Pfeiffer
Dress – Claire: Susanne Neville Dress (Fitzrovia), shoes, veil and head piece from Carina Baverstock Couture
Dress – Georgina: San Patrick dress and veil from Abigail’s Bridal Boutique
Head piece – Georgina: Mirror Mirror
Accesories: Karen Millen
Best Women dresses: Strapless Burgundy Maxi Dresses also from Debenhams
Bridesmaids: Dusky Pink Jenny Packham dresses from Debenhams
Cake: Sugar Me Icing
Flowers: Violets & Velvet
Food: Hand Made Food
Band: Ruby And The Rhythms via Prelude Entertainment

 

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