Ellen married Lee on 26 July 2014, one of the hottest days of the year, in Bath. They had been together for eight years, and Lee proposed a year prior to their wedding on an Easter trip to Barcelona. The ceremony took place at St. John's Church and the reception was at Wick Farm, a few miles outside of Bath. 135 friends and family attended, and travelled from as far as Florida and Texas. Ellen's brother, Jamie, and sister, Nuala, organised several surprises throughout the day: cans of ice cold Pimm’s for guests on the bus journey from the church to the reception, and then right at the end of the night, a sparkler-led salute as the newlyweds left the barn to continue dancing in town.
My wedding dress was a beautifully light lace design by Lusan Mandongus that my parents bought me from Teokath in Wimbledon. I loved the combination of glamour with the traditional lace, and it was perfect in the heat.
Getting married was just an excuse to get the shoes I had been lusting after for ages – gold Jimmy Choos!
They were a wedding gift from my extremely generous aunt and godmother Angela, who herself wore Carrie Bradshaw-style hot pink Manolo Blahniks.
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My gorgeous Christopher Kane clutch was an engagement present from my parents.
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Lee wore a custom-made three-piece dark blue suit from Marc Wallace with a bespoke shirt from Dunhill. The tie was also Marc Wallace and the brown brogues were Churches.
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I wanted my bridesmaids to wear something untraditional in style, but traditional in colour. Most importantly, I wanted them to wear something that reflected their different styles and personalities.
My younger sister Nuala wore a white Maje dress we nicknamed ‘the lampshade’ and my oldest friend Annika went for a simple but stunning Theory column dress - both from Selfridges. After months of searching, we found shoes from Karen Millen that were the same muted gold colour but different styles.
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Walking up the aisle, we had a classical piece of organ music that perfectly suited the grandeur of the church.
Walking back down the aisle our choir sang All You Need Is Love - a total rip-off from Love Actually - but brilliant nonetheless and a great surprise for our guests.
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The ceremony was in St. John’s Church, an absolutely stunning building. My uncle and godfather Liam (who is a priest) officiated the ceremony, and we had readings and bidding prayers from our nearest and dearest.
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I couldn't recommend our florist highly enough: Saffy from Bath Flowers.
The bouquets, table arrangements and dramatic hanging barn decorations were more spectacular than I could ever have imagined and totally blew me away when I saw them for the first time.
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The brief was simple: seasonal flowers in natural whites, creams and greens that all had plenty of texture.
The piece de résistance was the dramatic wall of mixed flowers in mixed bottle-green glassware that had been collected from charity shops by various family members.
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We had our absolute favourite combination of pulled BBQ pork, mac and cheese, sweet potato fries and green salad all served in big sharing bowls.
Absolutely perfect for soaking up the copious amounts of alcohol that had been gifted to us by our very generous parents.
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The reception was at Wick Farm just a few miles outside of Bath, and only five minutes from my parent’s house. We had full use of the barn and its beautiful gardens overlooking the rolling Somerset hills.
We didn’t want anything too over-sentimental, and eventually decided on Emilie Sande’s Next To Me about five minutes before we played it.
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By the end of our first dance song, everyone was throwing their arms in the air on the dance floor which was an absolute joy to see - it was just what we wanted.
For us, our wedding day was about having the best party possible with the people that we love the most. It turned out to be just that and we partied until the sun came up the following morning.
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