Ben and Abi’s Upwey House wedding in Dorset was the sweetest! They had a really cosy and social day with a lot of sentiment.
First up, their wedding day vibe was very much akin to a house party which sounded immense. Then there was the sunny crisp winter weather, the gorgeous autumn wedding colours and the stunning flowers. From their gorgeous outfits (hello sequin gown and dapper navy suit) to the sparklers at the end of the night, you’re sure to fall for this stunning celebration.
WWW wedding supplier Lola Rose Photography was on hand to capture these sensational images. Thanks, Kelly for sharing them with us today.
Upwey House Wedding
The Proposal
Take one very fine misty rainy Christmas Day 2018, walking our pooch to our local beach. As we passed the building momentarily sheltering us from the rain that was soon to direct us in the face I sarcastically remarked “oh god don’t propose to me today will you, what awful weather!”.
Just before we left Ben had thrown his bundled thick walking socks at my head, jokingly I said “Oooooh is that where you have been hiding my engagement ring?!” It was strange because although sarcasm is a huge part of our nature I was seriously playing about that day.
So to my surprise after one length of the beach, Ben stops and I turn to wait I see him knelt down with a ring box. I genuinely thought it was a huge joke whilst proclaiming “You’re joking! You’re JOKING!”. Ben still knelt with a now wet knee convincing me it wasn’t a joke and could I answer him now as he was pretty wet and cold!! Of course, I gladly accepted and that was it, we were engaged!!
The Vision
We always knew that we wanted to get married as close to our anniversary (5th December) as we could, budget depending! We had been to a friend’s winter wedding and just loved how crisp it was, sun was shining and just had that lovely autumnal feel.
It had to be relaxed, it had to be social, and of course, after Covid had kept us all apart for so long we were determined for it to be connected and social with our close family and friends We called it the ‘Wedding House Party’ there were no formal expectations.
The Venue
Upwey House – Weymouth, Dorset.
Your Outfits
I had found my dress on ASOS. I hadn’t been to bridal stores, I knew I wasn’t into anything big and lavish and simply wanted it to be a mixture of what I fancied. So to my surprise finding a full sequin dress, with sleeves and a fishtail train I snapped that dress up immediately!
Ben really wanted for his suit to be deep and autumnal, he chose a tweed checked suit from Marc Darcy for both him and our son Sennan.
The Ceremony & Music
The ceremony was at 1pm so asked for our guests to be there any time from 12:30 grab a drink and hang out.
The ceremony was held in the lounge area of the house and our guests all sat on some nice rustic fold-out wooden chairs. I walked into Piano Lounge Theme by Juggernoud1, remember the scene from Pretty Woman when Edward tries to find Vivien in the bar, she turns around in the black lace cocktail dress and blows him away!
I was walked down the aisle by our son Sennan, we followed our daughters Ephie, Roux and niece Olivia. We married in front of the Christmas Tree in the bay window, it was beautiful! We exited to Shelter from the Storm by Bob Dylan, leading out to a beautiful petal shower from Polly’s Petals.
Your Photographer & Filmmaker
We were very lucky to have booked Lola Rose Photography for our wedding. We had previously had a family shoot with Kelly the previous summer, she is an incredible photographer who has a beautiful natural style to her work.
Kelly made us feel so comfortable and most of the time we hadn’t noticed she was around! This for us is what makes the perfect photographer!
The Styling & Decor
We hadn’t decorated as such, as our wedding was in December the house was already decorated ready for the season, so actually we didn’t need to do anything!
We did have a bouquet on the console table alongside photos of my nan and Ben’s father who had both recently left earth side in August, it was so important for them to be with us.
We had deep reds, oranges, greens and hints of pink in a British-grown bouquet by Tulip and Cactus. We incorporated some flowers on the cake made by Georgie Porgies cakes London, we had a beautiful lemon layer with a white chocolate and raspberry layer, semi-naked with Italian meringue buttercream, it was incredible!
It really was such a simply decorated wedding but actually, I think less on this occasion was the best idea.
The Honeymoon
We are saving our honeymoon until June 2022 as we head off to NY and will attend our friends’ wedding whilst there.
Both were so pleased that we booked 2 nights away at The Pig in Padstow, oh my this place was heaven and was grateful for the storm. We didn’t feel so lazy being unable to do much outside! The break was so needed!
Memorable Moments
Definitely waiting for Ben to turn around to see me walking down the aisle, which he didn’t, whilst George his sister the best woman was giving him the nudge to turn he had frozen! He couldn’t remember if he was allowed to or not ha!
Sennan and Ephie had written a beautiful and heartfelt speech with one another. Sennan read this out, to the room of 35, he was so emotional already, he stood proud, whilst crying and finished the whole speech. I stood with him for support and looked up to see every single person in the room sobbing, even our 6’5” friend Al who we didn’t think would have the tears in him!
Advice For Other Couples
Get as much as you can prepared well in advance, lists lists lists!!! I felt really unorganised leading up to the wedding. I hadn’t fully prepared and hadn’t thought about finer details like a cake stand… I know with the pandemic that you feel that you can’t fully prepare just in case, I’d say just do it, get it done as it will go ahead at some point!
Enjoy it, the day is about you, don’t worry about everyone else, this is your day, breath, relax and enjoy!!! It goes so so quickly, just have fun!!
How very beautiful, does it get any more romantic than a winter wedding?
Ben and Abi, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your incredible Upwey House wedding story with us.
Further Reading
The post Cosy Intimate & Crisp Winter House Party Wedding first appeared on Whimsical Wonderland Weddings.