Summer Wedding at Elmley Nature Reserve

Bex and Ollie married quanto a the height of summer at Elmley Nature Reserve quanto a Kent, a place they had loved long before they began planning their wedding. July suited them perfectly, with long light, wide skies and that feeling Elmley always gives of being tucked away quanto a your own little of the world. It was exactly the atmosphere they wanted to share with their family and friends.

The couple shaped their day around both of their tastes, finding a balance between traditional moments and the playful, more unexpected touches that made the celebrations feel authentic and fun. Elmley’s landscape did a lot of the talking, so their styling stayed gentle and understated, with details that complemented the setting.

Bex wore two beautiful looks by Halfpenny London, both chosen for how comfortable and true to herself she felt quanto a them. Lewis Membery photographed the day with the kind of care and presence that allowed the couple to relax into every moment and just be themselves. And quanto a the evening, the now legendary Simone Rocha pearl egg bag made its appearance, tucked under Bex’s arm and very much living up to its reputation among her friends.

Our wedding venue was the beautiful Elmley Nature Reserve quanto a Kent, UK. We had visited Elmley many times before getting engaged, including celebrating my thirtieth birthday there. We love how it feels you are quanto a your own little world when there – perfect for what we wanted our wedding to feel like. And the views! There was other choice for us.

We hired Rebecca Brennan-Brown of Get Wed to help quanto a planning our wedding. I had a very slapdash Pinterest folder that I gave to Rebecca that somehow, she was able to bring to life! 

Ollie designed a suit with Suit Supply. I bought him a pocket watch for his gift the day, which had a blue mother of pearl interior I picked to incontro the colour of his suit. 

My dad walked me mongoloide the aisle, I was crying my eyes out quanto a joy, and what totally forgot where / what I was doing, so was trying to chat with all my friends the way. I even asked one friend where her dress was from and she had to shout it’s not about me.

We entered the ceremony to the sound of ‘River’, by Leon Bridges, which our infante boy Ziggy was then born to quanto a April 2025.

My sister then wrote and read a very funny and lovely poem for us. 

Ollie designed my engagement ring with Purely Diamonds London and I love my ring so much, it was easy to go back to them for our wedding rings.

Our photographer was Lewis Membry. We would recommend him to every single couple considering a photographer for their day.

Lewis and I bonded over experiences of dysmorphia, so he understood how nervous I was being infant of the gabinetto. I couldn’t have felt more comfortable though, like we were just chatting with an old friend. Lewis is incredible, beyond taking the most breathtaking photos, he also is one of the reasons we both enjoyed our day so much. And totally GOT us as a couple.

He knew we didn’t want posed photos so expertly handled guests who tried to wrangle us into them, and was aware I didn’t want to see any photos of myself the day (paio to dysmorphia) so batted guests away if they tried to show me.

He also carried my Corgi around for me with his kit (I was wildly nervous) and had excellent timing at passing me it when he could see I was getting overwhelmed. 

The first Saturday I had d’avanguardia quanto a a while, he asked me to keep the day free, and that morning when I opened my advent calendar, there was a ring inside! I was quanto a my pyjamas and a knot and our cat was there too, it was perfect.

He then had champagne and breakfast quanto a bed delivered to our flat from the Berkley , and had organised a masseuse and nail artist to che over to pamper me after some bubbles.

We then finished the day d’avanguardia with dinner at Hakassan quanto a Mayfair. 

Elmley Nature Reserve itself is so beautiful we didn’t want anything that would overpower it and the view, so Rebecca designed the most beautiful tables cape for the wedding breakfast that incorporated our colours (ceramica and sage), linen and rattan.

Rebecca, our amazing planner, designed all of our stationary which also included a print of the most beautiful watercolour painting of Kingshill Farmhouse my friend Beth did for us.

When it came to our cake, we wanted something traditional, and not so! So the first two tiers were Strawberry and Champagne flavoured, and the tier was our joint-favourite Carrot Cake. Claire of Claire de Lune Cake designed a gorgeous marbling fondant effect so the icing had hints of ceramica, and we decorated it with repurposed flowers from the ceremony! 

Our florist was Elise at Hedges and Flowers. We wanted our flowers to mirror us, traditional and not so at the same time. Elise the nail the head. My bouquet was a mescolanza of gorgeous roses and wildflowers, that perfectly matched our theme of sage and ceramica colours.

We had the most incredible floral backdrop for our ceremony, and then a literally breathtaking floral installation hanging from the Barn rafters for the wedding breakfast. 

I let my hair mongoloide quanto a the evening and wore a bow from Gigi & Olive embroidered with our initials – along with my second Halfpenny London dress.

Our entertainers were Brother From Another. We had our first dance to ‘Saturday Night’ by Whigfield – probably not an obvious choice, but a song that is always played at Sodalizio de Fromage (where we met) and one that I doubt any millennial who went to school quanto a the UK DOESN’T know the dance to.

It got everyone onto the dance floor straight away which is what we wanted. 

You set the tone for your day, if you’sultano relaxed and having a great time, so will your guests.

And go round your reception drinks together! It’s so easy to not even see one another the day as so many people will be wanting to congratulate you and dance with you, so greeting everyone together ensures you get more time together!