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I look forward to my favourite season every year. Spring brings the luscious cherry blossoms and magnolias back in bloom after a long period of waiting. The fields are filled with bright-coloured daffodils and the beautiful English rose gardens are brimming with a plethora of pastel colours again. Thinking of spring makes me so excited to share with you this flower-filled Thicket Priory wedding editorial. This will bring you lots of inspiration so you can be on your way to planning your own spring wedding.
Thicket Priory Wedding: Setting
Anyone who sets foot on this property will immediately fall in love with its regal and luxurious look. Thicket Priory is not only one of the UK’s most beautiful wedding venues. It’s also a stunning Grade II listed Victorian masterpiece fully restored in all its glory. The owner carefully selected everything from the grand displays down to every small detail in each room. As a bonus, Thicket Priory is also staffed with the most amazing, friendly, and accommodating team of professionals. That alone makes having a wedding at this venue such an easy decision.
Set within the lush North Yorkshire countryside, this venue really is a perfect choice if you want your own intimate English destination wedding. If you read my Thicket Priory Venue Guide, I’m sure you’ll agree with me.
Thicket Priory Wedding: Inspiration and Aesthetics
Our spring wedding editorial is a modern interpretation of a timeless romantic love story – one that the historic walls of this stunning Victorian stately home have witnessed throughout the years. We focused the aesthetics to a combination of beautiful heirloom pieces, thoughtfully curated modern details, and an abundance of exquisite spring flowers all working to bring the story together. This editorial’s muted and neutral colour palette used earthy tones with soft pinks (my favourite!) to add a bit of fun.
Details play a big part in creating a visually stunning wedding. So for this editorial, our team carefully selected and styled every single detail to impress even the most discerning eye. Flowers played a major role in this spring wedding inspiration. You will see this from the bridal bouquet to the ceremony and reception decors and down to the details on the dress, cake, desserts, and stationery.
Thicket Priory Wedding: The Wedding Dress
We all know that the wedding dress is the one thing that gets the most attention on any wedding day – next to the bride and groom, of course! This classy A-line dress from Christian Alexander Bridal has the most elegant details. The A-line silhouette is versatile and looks good in any body shape, making it a classic choice among brides. This gorgeous piece is great for brides who want to emphasise or, create the illusion of a tiny waistline. The deep sweetheart neckline also provides a sultry hint while the intricate sequined flowers add a romantic touch.
Thicket Priory Wedding: Wedding Hair & Make-Up
In keeping with our editorial’s timeless theme, we’ve kept the bride’s make-up clean and fresh. Celebrity make-up artist Amanda Bell wanted to highlight the bride’s luminous skin and striking features. So she created a barely-there make-up look that shows exactly that. As a red carpet expert, Amanda has years of experience as the head makeup artist for the BAFTAs and is a veteran in creating an effortlessly beautiful celebrity look. Her secrets? She focuses on using foundation shades that perfectly match the skin, knows how to mix colours and textures, conceal imperfections, and enhance natural beauty.
Bridal hair specialist Vicky Medhurst created a delicate and relaxed wedding hairstyle for this spring editorial. She went for the classic French braid with a fun twist – loose and relaxed braids for the modern bride. I’ve worked with Vicky a number of times. So I have seen her transform catwalk trends into wearable styles a number of times. Interested to know more? Read this post to see some of the best wedding hairstyles for every bride.
Vicky polished this elegant look with a bespoke heirloom bridal tiara. The stunning headpiece by What Katy Did Next is made of gold metal flowers and leaves, Swarovski gold pearls and gold-tone crystal rhinestones hand-wired onto a gold-plated band. I don’t know about you, but I think adding that tiara makes this look a bit more whimsical and playful.
Thicket Priory Wedding: Bridal Bouquet and Wedding Flowers
I am very lucky to have worked with my dear friend and talented florist Anna for this spring inspiration. Anna who owns Flori & Fern is an expert at creating a fairytale atmosphere. She can style wedding flowers so beautifully and make your heart flutter. She put together an elegant mix of fragrant English roses in various sizes and shades of pink. Anna adorned the bouquet with sprigs of eucalyptus, dried Ruscus, and other delicate foliage to add to its charm. She then tied the bridal bouquet with luxurious naturally-dyed blush pink silk ribbons to add to its grace and elegance.
Thicket Priory Wedding: Stationery
Stationery is one important wedding detail that often gets overlooked. This is a common mistake that I see couples make when planning their wedding. As a stationery-lover myself, I’m a big believer that wedding stationery sets the tone for your wedding. It gives your guests their first peek into your wedding. It also adds excitement months in advance of the big day. Take a look at all the beautiful stationery crafted by the lovely Katie, stationery designer, and owner of Katie Sue Design Co.
For this spring wedding editorial, Katie designed a classic stationery suite with romantic fonts and floral details printed using our muted palette of earthy tones with hints of blush pink. She then added gold details using tiny charms and tassels to mirror the heirloom feel and period features of Thicket Priory.
Katie added her modern twist to the traditional seating plan by using unconventional pieces. Her reception seat plan was then made using a clear glass box adorned with decal stickers using fonts similar to those used in the wedding invitation.
Thicket Priory Wedding: Groom Fashion
Let’s admit that the bride will always steal the show at any wedding. But there won’t be a wedding without the dashing groom, obviously! So, let’s move on to groom fashion and see what Paul of Bakers Tailoring has chosen for this editorial.
With decades of experience, Paul is an expert in tailoring and has been dressing the grooms of North East England since 1979. He chose to create a bespoke piece using English Classic Milled fabric, luxury silk lining, and high-end materials for the suit, the waistcoat, and the trimmings.
This bespoke navy blue pinstripe suit has a classic look and tailored fit. It allows the groom to move freely and enjoy the whole wedding day while looking his absolute best. This style works best for intimate destination weddings that are less formal and more relaxed. I call it a practical choice because the groom can wear it again at other formal occasions long after the wedding is done.
The First Look
While tradition forbids this practice, modern couples now prefer to have first looks at their wedding. If you’re not familiar with the term, a first look basically means that the couple can briefly meet before their wedding ceremony begins. This time is usually spent enjoying each other’s company, giving each other gifts or love letters and just having a good time.
If you ask me, the wedding first looks is the perfect chance to have some portraits taken. At this time, the bride’s hair and make-up are still perfect, the flowers are still fresh, and the groom is looking as dapper as ever. I love capturing the couple’s reactions when they see each other for the first time without the pressure of being surrounded by wedding guests.
The Wedding Ceremony
Anna (Flori & Fern) carried our fairytale theme to the stunning wedding ceremony room. She styled the altar space with an imposing floral installation on the grand fireplace along with three lovely floral centerpieces. Complementing this are hand-tied flowers and flowy silk runners on each of the wooden Tiffany chairs lining the aisle.
Luxurious English roses, lush hydrangeas, dried Ruscus and soft foliage were used to adorn the function spaces. All these flowers mirror the details on the bride’s wedding bouquet, dress, and invitations.
The Wedding Reception
Anna extended her floral paradise into the light and airy Thicket Priory grand ballroom. She styled the wedding top table with opulent floral centrepieces, antique candlestick holders, tapered candles and naturally-dyes silk table runners. Each place setting had gold-rimmed chargers, bespoke menus and name place holders printed on handmade paper.
Thicket Priory Wedding: Cake and Desserts
No celebration is complete without a cake! For this wedding editorial, luxury cake artist Sharon of Sadie May Cakes designed this four-tier fondant wedding cake. She crafted peony, roses and anemone sugar flowers in various shades of pink to reflect the spring feel of the wedding inspiration brief. Sharon also decorated the cake tiers with cameo details that separate each layer and mirror the intricate cornices and period features of Thicket Priory’s halls and rooms. She applied the same design idea to the macarons that were styled on guests’ dessert plates as surprise treats.
The After-Party
After the wedding party comes the after-party. There are no set rules for where the after-party happens and how it’s done. Therefore, it can be laid-back and relaxed or adventurous and fun. It all depends on what the couple wants. For this editorial, we wanted to create an after-party within the venue to fully utilise the beautiful grounds and gardens. Thicket Priory has a stunning bandstand in the middle of their orchard so it would be a shame not to use it. It was a romantic setting perfect for ending the day with slow dancing, some nibbles and hearty rounds of drinks with close family and friends.
You might also like:
Thicket Priory Venue Guide
Destination Wedding: Pros, Cons and Top Tips!
Autumn Wedding Ideas You’ll Want to Try
Wedding Photographer: How to Choose One
Engaged? Here’s 3 Things You Need to Do
Hedsor House Venue Guide
Creative Team Credits
Photography: Cristina Ilao Photography
Stationery: Katie Sue Design Co
Cake & desserts: Sadie May Cakes
Styling & floristry: Flori and Fern
Make-up: Amanda Bell
Hairstyling: Vicky Medhurst
Dress: Christian Alexander Bridal
Suit: Bakers Tailoring
Accessories: What Katy Did Next
