Fun in the Sun

Eleanor and Michael had glorious weather for their garden party-style wedding at St Michael's Manor. Images courtesy of Steve Shipman Photography

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Early days…

Eleanor and Michael met two years ago at salsa lessons in Hong Kong, where they were both working at the time. "Michael swept me off my feet and had me in perpetual giggles," says Eleanor. "It was definitely love at first sight."
When Eleanor had to return to the UK, Michael decided to take a job in London to be with her. "When Michael's sister first saw us together, she predicted we'd end up getting married."

The proposal…

Michael took Eleanor away to Paris for the weekend, booking a hotel overlooking the Eiffel Tower. He surprised her one sunny morning in their room with an engagement ring.

The venues…

The couple had a traditional church ceremony in St Albans. "St Michael's Church is a wonderful building not far from where I grew up," says Eleanor. "It has a warm community, which welcomed us as part of its congregation."

Michael and Eleanor chose St Michael's Manor for their reception, which is a short walk from the church. "Alhough my father is also called Michael, the plethora of 'Michaels' was purely a coincidence!" says Eleanor. "We loved the venue for its spectacular grounds and beautiful, light rooms, including a conservatory. We wanted to have our reception mainly outdoors, with a contingency plan if it rained, and the hotel seemed to present the best of both worlds."

The attendants…

Eleanor had a maid of honour, her oldest friend Saira, who she has known since they were both 11 years old. She also had two bridesmaids, friend Sophia, and Michael's sister, Sarah.

The best man was Michael's old school friend, David, known as Cookie.

The bridesmaids All three bridesmaids wore full-length duck egg blue gowns with a short, pretty layered train at the back. They accessorised the dresses with pink orchid corsages.

The dress…

Eleanor wore a vintage-style dress called Columbia by Manuel Mota for Pronovias. "It was actually the first dress I picked out in the shop, but I had to try on about 25 others before finally settling on it," she says. "Trying on dresses with my mum was one of the highlights of planning our wedding."
Michael wore a light grey suit, which was tailor-made in Hong Kong. He also wore a silver tie and mother of pearl cufflinks, which were a wedding gift from Eleanor.

The flowers…

The contemporary style bouquet and buttonholes were dusky pink and white orchids, finished with sheer silver ribbon. The contrasting centrepieces were traditional, large arrangements of white lilies and dark green foliage.

The decorative touches…

The wonderful land of Oz... Michael and his family come from Australia, so the couple wanted to mix classic English style with Australian touches. Their colour scheme was duck egg blue and soft pink.

The food... Michael and Eleanor took advantage of the hotel's renowned catering, serving up a three-course meal of salmon, stuffed guinea fowl and a dessert that doubled up as their wedding cake. "Our cake maker did a wonderful job of creating a three-tiered fruit pavlova - it had to be pavlova to celebrate the fact that Michael is Australian," says Eleanor.

Picture perfect... "We met with several photographers, but immediately warmed to Steve of Steve Shipman Photography," says Eleanor. "We decided against having a videographer, so we wanted our pictures to tell the story of our wedding. We were really pleased with the results, and we enjoyed having him around on the day."

The best bits…

Saying 'I do'... "I was full of butterflies the night before the wedding, and I barely slept a wink," says Eleanor. "The ceremony was just as we had hoped, with all our friends and family present, and a wonderful sermon from our vicar. The church bells rang at the beginning and end of the service, which was magical, and we had an organist throughout, who even stepped in to play Ave Maria during the signing of the register when our sound system didn't quite perform as planned.
"My favourite moment of the day was when I got to the altar and held Michael's hand. I have never felt more in love with him than I did at that moment."

Garden party... Eleanor and Michael were lucky with the weather, and were able to make the most of the beautiful grounds at St Michael's Manor. "After walking back from the church in the brilliant sunshine, we had welcome drinks outside," says Eleanor. "We wanted a 'summer garden party' feel, and that's exactly what we got. We spent the afternoon catching up with our guests, and playing croquet, giant jenga and connect four on the lawn.
"Cookie gave a very entertaining and fortunately uncontroversial speech, which he wrote at 6am that morning," she continues. "I know this because I watched him from my window, pacing the grounds of the hotel. He did a marvellous job - no rings were misplaced, and thanks to Cookie, Michael arrived wearing an impeccably ironed shirt!"

Into the evening... In honour of how the couple met, a five-piece salsa band had guests dancing the night away. "The band was new to the wedding scene, and it were great - to our relief, everyone loved the music," says Eleanor. "As it was such a warm evening, we opened the windows so that people could dance inside and out."

A successful day... Eleanor believes the key to their perfect day was in the planning. "Although it was stressful at times, it certainly paid off," she says. "There is nothing I would change about our day; it was perfect."

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