Josie and Ferg tied the knot on 10th February 2024 at the magnificent St Giles in Wimborne, Dorset.
This creative couple sought a wedding with a super cool, glamorous, fashion editorial aesthetic. Their stylist, Nikki of The Toast, along with their talented photographer Marta Ilardo and their venue’s Bright Young Things-inspired house party atmosphere, seamlessly collaborated to deliver the effortlessly cool wedding they envisioned.
Fiercely independent, Josie chose to walk down the aisle herself in a stunning, fitted gown, by Justin Alexander, which she discovered at Brides of Southampton boutique. Enjoy!
Venue & Location
Originally we had booked another venue in Southampton but they pulled out suddenly with only six months to go. St Giles were amazing and promised to pick us up from our panic puddle on the floor, and they weren’t lying – they were absolutely incredible, surpassing anything we would have had at the original venue.
Even better, I went to school in Wimborne and grew up in the area so it was lovely to find somewhere that linked to us personally.
While at university, I studied a lot of art history and used a lot of renaissance oil paintings as references in my own creative work. I fell in love with the still lives and chiaroscuro lighting in Caravaggio and Rembrandt’s work. The contrast of light and dark with warm colours and a beautiful freedom of shape and tone. It’s so classic and romantic. I couldn’t believe the stunning decor and tapestries at the venue, it was heavenly.
Bridal Beauty & Accessories
I wore a veil embellished with tiny crystals that caught the candlelight. I’m unsure of the designer, but Brides of Southampton sorted me out.
My shoes were an orange velvet court shoes, custom made by JustLeatherGR. My perfume was Kenzo World. I don’t think they make the one I have anymore though. I love it because it’s not too sweet.
I wore my Mother-In-Law’s locket that held a photo of Ferg’s grandparents. When I met Grampy, he held my hand and told Fergus to ‘look after this one’. Sadly he passed at the beginning of the pandemic but it will always mean the world. I also wore my maternal grandmother’s wedding ring.
It’s very on brand for me to have a crown. Mine was an incredible find on Amazon.
The Dress
My dress was Grove by Justin Alexander from Brides of Southampton. They were amazing. With the change in venue, I freaked out about the dress I’d bought. They were so lovely and let me weep and try a thousand other dresses on until I found the one. Absolutely I’d recommend.
I’ve been mentally planning my wedding since I was three years old and always wanted to feel like a princess. Having tried on the ball gowns, I thought they sat really weirdly on me and made me look cumbersome, so I went with something opposite.
I originally had a very fitted/draped dress that was very greek-goddess to fit in our originally venue, which was very marble-pillars. I feel like I had my eyes opened when the venue changed and I thought what the hell am I doing? This isn’t very me at all, and whilst I know that a dress doesn’t have to fit a venue, I would have felt so out of place and uncomfortable.
We went to a friend’s wedding in the summer before our wedding and I cried the whole time over how beautiful the bride looked. I knew I wouldn’t feel like that in my original dress. I wanted a skirt I could swish about in.
I ended up going for a beautiful A-line skirt with a Vivienne Westwood-esque corset. I have a masters degree in fashion and I just about died when I saw it. I didn’t just feel like a princess, I felt like a queen.
A lot of our choices were based on texture and tone. Both of our outfits caught the light really beautifully.
Photography
When we first got engaged, a lot of people would ask who was going to take our photographs, (sometimes before congratulations!) Having been a photographer for a long time, the photos were incredibly important to me! When Fergus and I first started going out, I warned him that if we ever got married, most of the budget would go on image-makers.
I spent hours researching and trawling Instagram. I interviewed three photographers. Marta Ilardo was by far the best. She also comes from a fine art background and works in a similar way to me.
Her works is so much more than simply ‘wedding photography’, she has such style and charm. Her photos are like fashion editorials – they really capture a feeling, not just a moment. She’s amazing. We love Marta!
We weren’t going to have a videographer, as we were stretching out budget a little with our venue change, but Fergus met up with a friend who had just got married a few months prior and she said her biggest regret was not having a videographer. Imagery is so important to us. I asked Marta who she could recommend and fell in love with Agne Harris.
How They Met
Fergus and I met at a gig neither of us was supposed to be at. I -famously- have a strong dislike for live music but I also felt I couldn’t say no AGAIN to a friend’s invitation to see his band. I got very drunk, and the friend I’d also dragged along took my phone, and decided to invite everyone -everyone- I had matched with on Tinder.
Of everyone she invited, Fergus was the only one who bothered to show up. He’d just moved into his flat and was sat alone surrounded by boxes with nothing to do. But boy did he show up. His opening gambit was to tell me he saved dolphins for a living (technically true!) Mine was to tell him I’m a lot. So he can’t say that he didn’t know what he was getting into!
Our engagement story is cute. I was whisked away for a birthday weekend in Dartmoor. I had a very strong suspicion spent the whole car journey teasing him and telling him not to forget to bring the ring.
An absolutely magical 5am walk to watch the sun rise over fields so thick with frost like something straight out of a movie and he didn’t ask, so I assumed he wouldn’t be proposing that weekend.
We bought locals cheeses and wine, visited a craft fair where they roasted chestnuts and had mulled cider. A perfect happy day. When we got back, I went to shower whilst he set an open fire.
Naturally, he chooses the moment I’m wearing trackies, ripped T-shirt and wet hair to ask me the most important question of our lives, sneakily setting up a camera to record our cute little fire-lit picnic.
Turns out he had brought the ring. And what a beautiful ring it is.
We’d already bought our wedding rings before he even proposed. When we first started going out, less than six months in, he bought me a lovely necklace from a gorgeous independent jeweller in London. We popped into the shop and fell in love with these beautiful organic-looking rings and I joked that when we got married we’d have them as our wedding bands.
During the pandemic, the shop closed down. We were devastated, until she posted on Instagram that she was still making a couple of pieces from her home studio. One of the few things she was still making were our rings! We bought them immediately before she had a chance to close her doors again! That was two months before Ferg proposed.
Evening & Dancing
Gemma Edwards was our incredible DJ. We were so vague with our brief: “We’d like Janelle Monae’s ‘Make Me Feel’ to start, and Rina Sawayama’s ‘Chosen Family’ to finish. We went to uni between 2013 and 2017, so that’s kind of our era but we have some oldies in attendance too. I like drum and bass and Ferg likes rock. Only one ABBA song allowed and no Elton John, please! The rest is entirely up to you – go nuts!”
And go nuts she did! What an immaculate playlist from start to finish.
Vibes were popping. I got a couple of musical theatre moments for my spotlight moment, and the drum and bass remixes were fire. There were still a solid 20 people popping off the dance floor at gone 1am, and it was because of her we had the best moment of my life surrounded by so much love and happiness.
The enormity of the day didn’t hit me until our last dance of the night, with 20 of our nearest and dearest encircling us to the song Chosen Family by Rina Sawayama. I’m amazed my knees didn’t give out, I was shuddering and gasping for breath as we sang the words to each other and our wonderful friends screamed “team” and rushed in for a huge group hug. I have never known a love like that. I hope I never forget that feeling.
🎶 We don’t need to be related to relate, we don’t need to share genes or a surname, you are my chosen family 🎶
Words of Wedded Wisdom
I wish we’d made a joint email account before planning anything. Fergus and I were a real team and had a very equal part in planning and organising our day. A lot of emails ended up going to me directly and got confused while forwarding to Ferg. It worked out, of course, and it wasn’t a huge issue, but it would’ve been more straightforward for sure.
Don’t forget to take some food home!!!
Don’t do anything just because you ought to. We were very steadfast in what we wanted and didn’t get swayed to invite people we weren’t fussed by, or have certain decor because somebody liked a certain type of flower. Our biggest comment was “everything about the day was so quintessentially ‘you’” And that’s what we really strived for.
