SAM & ABI
THORPE GARDENS
03.06.23
Sam & Abi approached me to partially plan their wedding day in early 2023. They had planned a lot of their wedding day themselves, sourced their photographer. musicians, venue etc, but now needed some assistance in bringing together the finer details of their day. They decided to go for a Midlands based wedding as it was half way between their home towns in the North of the UK and where they are now based in London. As soon as they saw Thorpe Gardens based in Staffordshire they were blown away with it’s versatility. With it’s options of having outdoor ceremony in it’s beautiful walled gardens, and then the use of the handcrafted wooden yurt, contemporary reception room and boutique guest house accommodation, it made perfect sense to have their wedding day here. “Thank you for everything, it looked so beautiful. We’ve loved working with you in this crazy short time, you are so talented and have an incredible eye”.
Assisting Sam and Abi with their overall wedding design, sourcing their florist, preparing their stationery and signage and sourcing all other styling elements allowed them to have a wedding day that felt cohesive, relaxed and joyful.When we first started working together, Abi explained how important the symbol of bees were to her, as her late father always signed his name in cards as a Bee. Being as he couldn’t be there on the day, I knew that part of the design scheme should be focused around pollinating flowers that are particularly popular with honey bees. They also loved travelling to Japan and felt a real connection with the traditionally minimalist yet purposeful approach to decoration. These two threads helped to form the basis of our design scheme.
Sam and Abi opted for an outdoor ceremony against the beautiful backdrop of the walled gardens. Opting for understated linen signage with a floor floral arrangement to complement. Flowers focused on a palette of creams, soft pinks, and nudes with pops of tangerine and burgandy. Including Lisianthus, Proud Mary’s Scabiosa, Smoke Bush, Quaker Grasses, Tangerine Geums and Sweet Peas to name a few. “We’ve had so many compliments on so many elements of our wedding day”
Sam & Abi loved the minimalist approach and so for table florals they opted for lots of small Ikebana arrangements dotted along the center of the reception tables with the tangerine geums and physallis fruit adding a pop of colour to an otherwise pared back neutral scheme. Linen signage continued with their Table Plan and Order of the Day, with the Order of the day, being placed over plinths that were placed in the garden area for guests to refer to throughout the day.
Off white taper candles of varying heights sat nestled in between the Ikebana arrangements adding an extra decor element to the reception tables with bespoke menus and place cards printed on textured and embossed neutral card.
“It’s been an amazing ride working with you Abi and we are so pleased to have shared it with you”.
Design & Partial Planning: AR Weddings
Photography: Rebecca Rees
Venue: Thorpe Gardens
Florals: Bunch Studio