We’re starting the week with a gorgeous and really personal wedding from East Sussex. Lovely couple Lizzie & Leo were married in Rye, and chose Kent wedding photographer Howling Basset to capture their day. The venue is Rye Creative Centre, and the details are stunning, from Lizzie’s Freda Bennet dress to the branches hanging from the ceiling and the artwork on the walls. A beautiful wedding day we just know you’ll love!

Wedding photographer’s website

Andy at Howling Basset https://www.howlingbasset.co.uk/

Wedding photographer review

Andy is an absolute dream – professional, friendly and a fantastic photographer! We’ve had so many compliments about our photographs and friends have since hired him since they’ve seen ours – they’re fresh, playful and spontaneous. He took charge during the formal photograph session, helping to coordinate everyone and was great at finding solutions to the wet weather, so that Leo and I were just able to get swept up in the moment and enjoy the day. Thank you so much Andy!

 

Your best wedding moment or memory

Oh gosh, so many! The ceremony was just the most fantastic 45 minutes ever…all the emotions! Meeting at the top of the aisle was so much more emotional than I think we both thought it would be. I welled up with nerves and excitement before starting our entrance and then when I reached Leo, I could see that he was feeling exactly the same. The entrance music was a piece that we’d listened to a lot when we’d first started dating so it meant a lot to us – Max Richter, Vivaldi Recomposed, Spring 1. I’d had to listen to it in the weeks before as I was driving and things, just to ensure I was exposed to it as I knew it would set me off. And then it was just such a happy moment when the Reverend pronounced us husband and wife – the cheers from our families and friends were just fabulous, as was the confetti walk! Very happy times.

Tell us anything you did differently – we love hearing about NEW traditions (or none at all!)

Our venue wasn’t a traditional wedding venue – in fact, we were their first, which meant that we had a big white room to transform ourselves from start to finish. A big job, but we got a lot of satisfaction from it. Pulling off the dried branches hanging from the ceiling was a thrill and we chose some amazing pieces from one of the resident artists at the Creative Centre as a backdrop. And we had such fun the day before with our nearest and dearest, setting it all up! They’re some of my happiest memories around the wedding…

Videographer name + review

We didn’t have a videographer but to save a few pennies, we bought a handheld camcorder and a tripod and the ushers set it up so that our vows were recorded and to film the speeches. Our beautiful photographs are the star of the show, but it’s nice to have some informal shots of everyone chatting and laughing together.

Venue name + review

St Peter and St Paul Church of England Church, Appledore, followed by Rye Creative Centre. Martin at the Creative Centre moved heaven and earth to make sure our day was a success, given they hadn’t hosted a wedding before. The hall itself, with the stage and the parquet flooring, was the perfect backdrop for our decorations, which we wanted to look dramatic, glamorous but warm and cosy, all at the same time. And our caterers – Game & Flames – were so fantastic, going above and beyond to sort hiring all the tables, cutlery etc…they were central to making the organising process as smooth as possible, and the food was so plentiful and just delicious. I would 100% recommend them.

Tell us a little about your outfits – both of you!

My dress was by Freda Bennet, bought from Morgan Davies Bridal in London. Leo got his suit during a trip to London with my Dad. His parents live abroad and his Dad wasn’t able to travel easily, so this was a really touching moment in the run up to the big day. My father knows his stuff when it comes to a well-fitting suit and they hit the shops and had a slap up meal afterwards to celebrate.

Dress or suit shop name + review

The Morgan Davies team were just wonderful – so professional, friendly and knew exactly what would work on me – and the shop itself was beautiful – just what you imagine the experience to be!

Florist name + review

Woodchurch Cottage Flowers. I loved Lin and have kept in touch with her since the wedding. She was so knowledgeable, collaborative and helpful, and completely understood what we wanted from our first conversation. Lin grows the majority of the flowers she uses herself and so we were able to plan together. Plus there’s something lovely about knowing where the flowers have come from. She arranged all the bouquets, button holes and she put together a couple of amazing pumpkin flower displays, and then she gave us buckets of flowers and we rented posy jars from her to decorate the venue tables, which my bridesmaids all got involved in the day before. It saved us some budget and meant we were able to have so many more flowers than if we’d had them arranged by Lin’s team. The flowers were a massive highlight and I even took the bouquet with me to the country hotel we went to the day after the wedding!!!

Cake maker name + review

We wanted lots of homemade touches and so my mum made the cake and did a fantastic job, getting in touch with her creative side!

Stationery maker’s name + review

My friend Lottie had recently set up her business, Rather Lovely. We really wanted her beautiful work to play a central role in our big day and so she designed everything, from our Save the Dates through to our place-cards, wedding favours and table plan. It’s those touches that end up being your keep-sakes and she did such a beautiful job that I know I’m going to look back on them for years to come with such happiness. She 100% listened to our brief, sent us loads of ideas before cracking on with our final design and had lots of clever ideas we hadn’t even thought of. The stationery just tied everything together so beautifully, from start to finish.

Any crafty projects or homemade styling touches?

A lot of our styling was homemade and crafty. But one of my favourites were our wedding favours. We love to grow vegetables and so we gave out pumpkin seeds, which we felt were appropriate for our Autumn wedding! We put them all in the envelopes and then Lottie designed some super-cute labels so that they added a beautiful finishing touch to the table settings.

Wedding readings?

Leo is from Belarus and given we weren’t able to have the wedding there, we wanted to pay tribute to his heritage throughout the day. The readings gave us one such opportunity and so our first reading was Leo Tolstoy’s Love Letter to his fiancee, Valeria Arsenev, read beautifully by our good friend Alex. And then my brother read Life Lessons from an 80 Year Old Man, which was long but has such a touching final line.

First dance song? Music recommendations?

We both love Yes Sir, I Can Boogie by Baccara and it definitely got the party started. Our band, the Soundcasters, were a triumph. Such great guys, they kept everyone on the dancefloor all night!

Hair + makeup name + review

Grace Benson Makeup. Grace did my hair and makeup and was such a calming and kind presence during the getting ready time. We had such a lovely morning and her and her colleague were friendly, professional and made me, my bridesmaids and Mum feel a million dollars!

Further reading: discover more Kent wedding venues here!