I’ve been very happily scrolling through the images from today’s wedding, not least of all because our Bride is wearing the most exquisite dress and veil by brilliant British designer Sassi Holford, who is part of our Little Book directory of hand-picked, trusted suppliers.
Sophie, a Personal Assistant and Joseph, who is a Surveyor were married on the 24th April 2021 at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire.
Due to Covid restrictions in place at the time of their wedding, Sophie and Joseph weren’t able to hold a reception, but hope to be able to hold a garden marquee party in September for all their loved ones.
Maja Tsolo Photography + Follow
Sophie’s close friend from university, Phoebe Sparrow, designed all of the stationery for the day, with beautiful calligraphy and watercolour flowers.
The bridal bouquet was a gorgeous confection of pastel hued garden roses, peonies, astilbe and sweet peas, created by family friends Wendy and Justin Evans, who used to run their own floristry business.
“I wanted traditional English flowers in light pastel pinks and whites, soft and elegant, and that also smelled amazing.”
Sophie wore gold and silver Jimmy Choo heels, chosen at the designer’s Bicester village boutique, which she plans to wear again and again with other outfits.
“I just wore my everyday perfume, which is Liz Earle Botanical Essence No. 15. It’s a very feminine fragrance.”
What a spectacular dress Sophie wore; a beautifully structured bodice with button detailing at the back, falling softly from the shoulders bateau style, with a full skirt and show stopping train. Sophie also wore a lace edged, sequin spangled veil by Sassi, too.
“I just wanted a traditional English wedding. I loved wearing my dress, I felt amazing in it.”
“I had such a great experience at Sassi Holford’s Fulham boutique. I even met Sassi at one of my last fittings, she was great and her designs are so beautiful. I would definitely recommend to other brides.”
To complement the romantic, pastel colour palette, Sophie’s bridesmaids wore matching wrap dresses by Rewritten in their delicate oyster colour, along with shoes from New Look and pearl hair slides from Amazon.
“The Groom surprised me with a beautiful pair of aquamarine drop earrings with diamonds. Aquamarine is my birth stone, plus it was also my something blue and new!”
“We had two beautiful old traditional cars from West 1 Executive – a 1920s Willys Knight and a 1956 Armstrong Siddeley Limousine in cream and black.”
It was a very special moment for Sophie to be accompanied down the aisle by her Father, to Pachelbel’s Canon in D, and the priest who married Sophie and Joseph had christened Sophie, too.
He was no longer at the parish, but they tracked him down and he was able to say the wedding mass.
As they made their vows to each other, Sophie and Joseph also gave each other rings, which they chose at jewellers Bucks Goldsmiths in Gerrards Cross.
There were also two readings during the ceremony, one from Ruth 1:16b-19a and 1 Corinthians 13: 1-7, both chosen because they mean a lot to Sophie and Joseph.
“We met through friends from university. We got engaged on a beach in Barbados next to our favorite rum shack on my 30th birthday.”
“We were engaged for 2 years and 1 month (due to Covid), our original wedding date was 12th September 2020.”
“Joe wore a morning suit with waistcoat from Black Tie White Noise – Gentleman’s Wardrobe vintage shop in Fulham. As a gift I bought Joe some Montblanc cufflinks which he wore on the day.”
Sophie discovered the exquisite work of photographer Maja Tsolo via Instagram, whose vibrant, beautiful images we’ve featured before on our pages, and whose artistry Sophie instantly fell in love with.
“I loved how natural and soft they were. I would definitely recommend Maja to any of my friends, she honestly went above and beyond on our special day and captured beautiful photos that we will cherish forever.”
The couple also secured the services of videographer Andrew Collin Films to capture their ceremony.
“Just being with our family was our favourite part of the day, and feeling so lucky that we were able to get married under the current circumstances. Also, my grandparents are 91 and 90, and having them there on our special day was the best thing ever. As their first grandchild to get married they were just so happy to see it.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“Don’t worry about the small stuff, especially stuff that can’t be fixed. Being a Covid bride (!) I’ve learnt to plan at the last minute, and to not get worked up over small things.”
“You need to do what is right for you both. It’s about the couple. For us, we just didn’t want to wait anymore after such a long engagement and we wanted to move forward with our life plan.”
“I have to say it was beautifully intimate and just so nice to share our day with our close family.”
Congratulations to you Sophie and Joseph! I can’t tell you how thankful we are that we’ve been able to get this lovely sense of your beautiful day. Huge thanks to Maja Tsolo for this gorgeous collection of images.
Until next time! Love,
Laura
Laura Callan
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Laura is a freelance writer and content creator who loves telling stories. She has keen eye for photography and art, and lives with her husband, cats, and huge amounts of books.