I’m absolutely thrilled to be showcasing the gorgeous wedding of Agnes and Charlie who were married at the stunning Morden Hall, a magical romantic country house built in the 1770s, situated amongst idyllic gardens and surrounded by parkland in London.
.
It really was such a delight to capture all the action of their wedding day from the girls getting ready in the morning, their Chinese tea ceremony, to the white wedding ceremony, followed by lots of celebrating during the reception, wedding breakfast music bingo and evening partying. Their guests and family were all so friendly and, as you can see from the photos, we were blessed with incredible weather on the day, loads of sunshine and blue sky.
.
Morden Hall is such a beautiful setting for weddings, with its whitewashed walls, immaculately manicured grounds and rooms with big windows allowing lots of gorgeous, natural light to flood in – aka a photographer’s best friend!
.
The couple had planned every little detail so perfectly for their big day and everything ran seamlessly. Giant jenga and garden games, colouring packs for the children during the meal, pretty pastel balloons decorating the garden furniture, fruit-packed Pimm’s drinks for the guests, retro penny sweets to nibble, there was something for everyone.
.
Here is a bit more about their story and their Morden Hall wedding from the newlyweds…
The run-up, early days, how did you meet, how long have you been a couple?
We have been a couple since October 2015. We met earlier that year on a cycling event with likeminded friends. After which we had been going on other trips with friends around Europe.
Who proposed to who and where? Was it a surprise? Describe your engagement ring:
Charlie proposed to Agnes in Macau. It was a surprise The engagement ring is a diamond solitaire on a platinum band.
.
Tell us about your dress:
I brought the wedding dress in Macau when I went shopping with my mum. It was actually the first dress that I tried on – after then trying out all the dresses in the shop, I decided that this was the one and went for it. It was actually very different to what I thought I would want – I was initially thinking of something with very intricate laces and buttons on the back and strapless was definitely the last thing on my mind. Lacey and button turned out to be not my type and I felt in love with this strapless layered ruffles dress.
.
Tell us about the Groom and what he was wearing:
The groom wore a 2 piece blue suit, pink tie and black shoes. He also had a blue waistcoat when the weather was too hot to wear the suit jacket and a dark blue evening suit with a blue silk bow tie for the evening.
.
Tell us about the finishing touches:
Our table plan was customized to show places around the world where we have been together as a couple. We had plenty of balloons and helium to decorate the room and the grounds which the kids loved, Including bubble machines. Garden games were provided such as Big Jenga and Giant Snakes and Ladders. Wedding favors included sweets from Macau and also a charity pin which the guest can keep for many years to come. Sweets table was provided with handmade ferrero rocher trees. The wedding topper was a tandem bike with our wedding date. Pre-wedding photos slideshow that was taken in Macau was projected on a wall, including a poster stand by the entrance and a guest signage sheet. We had a flower wall which attracted many people for photos as it was a lovely display for a backdrop. Kids had customized wedding party packs to keep them entertained during the wedding breakfast.
.
Describe your dream wedding day from start to finish and what you planned?
The day started with the Bride’s makeup artist doing her magic at the brides hotel room before we arrived at the venue at 9am. At the venue, whilst the Bride and Bridesmaids were getting their makeup and hair done for most of the morning, the Groom, Groomsmen and helpers were busy preparing the various rooms and setup which included setting up the sweet table, various balloons around the venue, stripping flower buds for confetti, garden games, wedding favours and tea ceremony room.
.
Our florist, Sarah Diamant, dressed the banister, table centre pieces, provided the bouquet and buttonholes professional and timely. She also added flowers to the wedding cake that arrived shortly after 10am. Family relatives arrived around 11am and we had M&S platters ordered earlier that day to serve with their tea and coffee before the tea ceremony, by which most of the setup were done and the Groom and Groomsmen were able to get dressed into their suits. By 11am, the bridal party were practicing their timing of walking down the aisle with the music and the ease of changing music tracks on the system.
.
Around 11:30am, the bridal and groom parties were dressed and prepared and we had a glass of champagne in the bridal room to toast for a successful day ahead. The tea ceremony started at 12PM with the groom’s parents given tea by the bride and groom and they gave their blessing to the couple. After the tea ceremony, photos were taken and the bride had to change into her wedding dress before the wedding ceremony. The groom greeted guests who were in the bar as they started to arrive and escorted the wedding registrars to the bridal room for the interview at 1:30pm when the bride was ready in her wedding dress. Once done, the groom returned to the ceremony room which was now packed with people and awaited the bridal party to make their entrance.
.
The ceremony started at 2PM and finished shortly after 2:30PM. The newlywed walked up the aisle and into a separate room with a drink presented to them whilst the guests were ushered into the grounds outside and given confetti filled in paper cones to throw at the couple when they emerge afterwards. As there were excess confetti, the groomsmen showered the couple from the balcony above which was unexpected. Canapés and drinks were shortly served and guests were mingling happily on a lovely sunny afternoon. Kids enjoyed the garden games and the guests soon discovered the existence of the sweets table which went down well as a treat. Many group photos were taken outside and the groom quickly swapped his suit jacket for a waistcoat as the temperature was soaring.
.
The couple were whisked away by Juliet to have couple photos taken at other parts of the grounds. 4:30pm was the call for dinner and the guests filled the room before the newlywed made their entrance. Shortly after prawn and crab starter, the bridesmaid got everyone involved in a musical bingo which went well and prizes were given out to the winners. After the beef main course the groom gave his speech with various puns and a little singing to keep the guests amused.
.
The best man gave his speech afterwards slightly nervously but finished well with his advise that being a couple is like riding a tandem bike, both needs to be in sync and heading in the same direction. By the time the trio of desserts of Eton mess, mango cheesecake and black chocolate gateau was served around 7pm, the photo booth arrived and was setup and ready.
.
The wedding cake was setup in front of the fireplace and the event manager advised the room to be vacated after desserts as the cutting of the cake will be done shortly and tea / coffee will be served at the bar. The groom and bride led the way and the cake cutting happened shortly after. The guests then dispersed and explored the photo booth, the bar area for tea, coffee and alcohol as the bar was now open and outside to the grounds as it was still bright on a summers evening around 8pm. Majority of the family relatives were feeling tired and they decided to depart for the evening so we escorted them out. The DJ had arrived already but was unable to setup in the room we used for the wedding breakfast so this was a priority for the event manager to arrange.
.
Both the bride and groom changed their outfit for the evening, the bride in a pink dress and the groom in a dark blue evening suit with matching blue silk bow tie. The first dance could had been better as we both don’t dance well. We had intention to copy a dance move but we didn’t have enough time to practice that song so ended up choosing other song where we shuffled along together. Other guests hit the dance floor afterwards and shortly after the song ‘All the single ladies’ was played, the bride invited these single ladies for the bouquet toss. The evening was slowly drawing to an end by 10:30pm. The groomsmen and bridesmaids helped out packing things away into the cars. We managed to get a few more photos taken with the night effect that turned out lovely.
.
What was the favourite part of your wedding day?
There were so many to choose from! Walking down the aisle, being congratulated by all the guest after the ceremony, and the quiet time when getting the couples photos done!
.
What made you pick the venues you did for your wedding?
We picked Morden Hall as it had wonderful rooms throughout the venue, great natural lighting, surrounded by lovely grounds that is privately cordon from the public.
.
Tell us about your experience with Juliet from Juliet Lemon Photography on your wedding day:
Juliet is amazing!!! She captured the day just the way I dreamt. Every little details and everything that I had missed on the day too. She was so insightful and gave us lots of tips before and on the day. Needless to say that the day could not have gone so smoothly without her!
.
Big SHOUT OUT to all the wonderful Morden Hall wedding suppliers that worked so hard for Agnes & Charlie’s big day:
.
Wedding venue: Morden Hall, London
Bridal hair & make up: Fai Archer
Florist: Sarah Diamant
Wedding Photographer: Juliet Lemon Photography (of course!) Morden Hall Photographer
Wedding Videographer: Paul Films
DJ: Platinum Disco