REAL WEDDING: Rebecca & Thomas

Inspired by their time living in California, their love for nature and the outdoors and the popular San Fransisco seafood culture, Rebecca and Tom's wedding day was filled with exquisite touches from bespoke oyster illustrations, personalised embroidered napkins, to interactive escort cards and a hand-picked wedding scent.

Rebecca and Tom approached me back in July 2022 once they had made the decision to proceed with having a large celebration, as this was initially taken away from them when the Pandemic first hit and they were forced to cancel all plans in 2020.

Having been able to legally wed in the small church of St Peter’s in Willersey in front of a handful of their closest loved ones, who witnessed the intimate occasion once restrictions eased, they still longed to celebrate with all of their friends and family and host the wedding they had always dreamt of.

Originally from the UK, both Rebecca and Tom moved to San Francisco for work. Having settled and spent a number of years in California, the couple wanted to bring a taste of their new lives to the Cotswolds countryside.

We decided it would be a good idea to start afresh and come up with a completely new vision of their wedding. The overall aesthetic was heavily influenced by Tom and Rebecca’s love for contemporary design, raw materials and their combined love for travel, culture, good food and wine. I created a soft, natural colour palette to reflect the couple’s love for nature, adventure and the outdoors, which also complimented the beautiful surroundings of their chosen wedding venue. It was also important to Rebecca and Tom to include an element of art and illustration, which we incorporated within their on-the-day stationery.

The ceremony was held at St Peter’s Church in Willserey, the same church the couple got married in, back in 2020. We felt it was important to imitate and pay homage to as much of the initial legal wedding as possible, so guests felt as if they were witnessing the marriage for the first time.

Guests were greeted by the sound of strings, which echoed beautifully throughout the heightened ceilings and cosy pews. Wild, overgrown grasses and foliage adorned the church pillars, whilst pops of white, seasonal flowers kept things fresh and timeless.

After the ceremony, guests headed back to Foxhill Manor, where the drinks reception and wedding breakfast were held. ‘His’ and ‘Hers’ cocktails were handed out on the lawn, whilst guests played garden games and enjoyed fresh oysters.

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t quite on our side, with heavy showers and light winds in the morning. However, it was important that we brought as much of the outside in and for guests to feel as though they were always surrounded by nature. Working closely with Jennie from Liberty Lane Flowers, we decided to move the large floral installation inside, which took over the grand staircase inside the manor’s striking hall.

Attached to the cascading staircase foliage were individual escort cards, hung by hand-dyed silk ribbons from Heirloom Silks, which acted as a fun interactive experience for guests before they headed into the Ballroom for dinner.

The Ballroom had been transformed into an elegant, candle-lit space, transporting guests from daytime to evening. Two rows of banquet-style tables stretched the length of the room, dressed in white linen tablecloths and contemporary wooden chairs.

At each place setting, each guest received a personalised, embroidered napkin with the wording ‘met liefde’, which translates to “with love”, along with a keepsake, which featured a poem chosen by the couple, as well as a bespoke illustration of Foxhill’s grand front door.

For Rebecca and Tom’s wedding stationery, we worked with Claire from CMO studio - A France-based stationer who specialises in contemporary wedding stationery and illustration.

Their on-the-day stationery was all centred around a beautiful oyster illustration, which represented the couple’s new home of San Francisco. It was printed onto the Order or Service booklets and Escort Cards and then elegantly debossed onto the Menu’s, in order to create a subtle yet intricate finish.

A contemporary wedding at Foxhill Manor

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