Laura & Jonathan's Spring Woodland Holkham Hall Wedding

Choosing to celebrate their wedding in the breathtaking Holkham Hall, surrounded by acres of deer park and woodland perfectly reflected Laura and Jonathan's loves and how they came to be. With their relationship blossoming at work where Jonathan was the gardener and Laura worked in the office, they have always had a shared love of the countryside so it made total sense to have this as the central theme of their wedding.

With all their family and friends there to help celebrate, they added gorgeous woodland touches throughout the day, using Jonathan's skills as a gardener to DIY their own floral arrangements and source lots of gorgeous trees to serve as the backdrop of their top table. To find out all about their special day and how things came to be, we spoke to bride Laura...

The Proposal

"It was so lovely – I had always joked with Jona and said that I would say no if he did it publicly (I would hate that!) We got up on a freezing cold December morning and got wrapped up to take the dogs Betty and Tilly, for a walk on Holkham beach. It was completely normal for us to do this most weekends so I was clueless as to what was about to happen, until Jona started walking up the sand dunes, then I got suspicious… he got down on one knee and popped the question there and then! It was so lovely and I couldn’t see anyone for miles, perfect!

The Ceremony + Reception 

I always wanted to get married in Gateley church, I grew up in the tiny village and just loved that it was so old and rustic with no electricity. The Lady Elizabeth Wing was an easy choice too – we had been following their progress with our many walks through the Holkham Estate and although we booked it with hard hats on while it was a building site, I knew it was going to be stunning.

We both love the outdoors so we went for a woodland theme. Jona’s work kindly lent us some trees that they grow to fill the space, it looked beautiful. We used Fakenham and Swaffham florists for my bouquet and the bridesmaids and Jona did the table flowers. We just used roses and gypsophilia with loads of foliage, it was so simple but looked so lovely and I love that Jona did them himself.

As soon as we got engaged we booked Agent Orange as our wedding entertainment! They are incredible and had everyone up on the dancefloor all night.

The Dress

To most brides ‘it’s all about the dress’ – I wasn’t overly bothered about it – I was more concerned about having some seriously cool shoes!

The Food

This was literally my favourite part of the whole wedding. We went for our tasting in October 2016 at Andy’s House. We had a moving starter with a choice of 8 canapes, my favourite was the mini Yorkshire pudding with horseradish. For our main course we had duck breast cooked pink with seasonal vegetables and for pudding we had a choice of crème brulee or chocolate brownie with ice cream.   

Favourite Moments 

The short car drive with just dad and myself was so wonderful, my parents live in Gateley in a row of 8 houses and all the people that have known me for ever came out of their houses to wave at me as I drove past – it was lovely. 

Another was when I saw Jona’s face – he looked terrified and excited at the same time.

Words of Wisdom

The only thing I would change is that I was on time – I wish I was late and I had spent some time in my parents’ garden getting photos of me and my parents before leaving for the church.

The Suppliers

Photographer – Beverley Harrison

Florist – Jona and Fakenham and Swaffham florist

Outfit –  Heart Brides

Bridesmaids – Monsoon and Debenhams 

Groomsmen – Pure Menswear 

Hair and Make Up Stylist –  hair, Auntie Vicky. Makeup, Bec Newstead, The Retreat 

Stationery - Papier

Cake and Favours – Mother in Law made the cake

Catering – Andy Parle 

Entertainment – Agent Orange 

Décor and Styling – Ourselves