A Glamorous Spring Wedding at Dewsall Court for Sophie in Halfpenny London

Sophie and Nick’s gorgeous Spring wedding took place at Dewsall Court in Herefordshire.

This gorgeous country house wedding was full of effortless elegance and joyful charm. From Sophie’s Halfpenny London gown with off the shoulder frills – a discovery she made at Amare, a sanctuary for modern brides located in the idyllic Tamworth countryside, to her exquisite magnolia blossom bouquet and considered reception details including tableware from renowned supplier Helene Millot and cult-candles by Ester & Erik, this day is just bursting with joy, smiles and inspiration.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed preparing it to share with you.

The Venue

We loved Dewsall Court the minute we first saw it- we had a lot of guests travelling to the wedding that weren’t from Hereford and we really wanted something that was all in one place including a Church to make it easy for everyone else who didn’t know the area.

Every aspect of the venue is stunning and we loved the way you could move between the Church, House and Barn whilst all staying together in one place to keep the atmosphere alive.

We were also blessed with unseasonally good weather on the day which meant we could make the most of the beautiful grounds as well, which was an unexpected bonus. We weren’t living in Hereford when we initially booked the wedding, so it was also important to us to have a house where ourselves, close family and friends could stay for the weekend to prolong the wedding for as long as possible.

Our original wedding date was 28th March 2020, so we were one of the first wedding weekends affected by the cancellations at the beginning of the pandemic – we had to cancel with a week to go.

Our final wedding date was our 4th date, so by the time it came we were very much ready to get married and have a big celebration, as there were a lot of guests that we hadn’t seen for a couple of years due to the restrictions – it was great to be reunited with everyone.

Shoes, Veil & Accessories

I had a full length made to measure veil from Amare Bride also. My shoes were Jimmy Choo.

I wore a headband for the evening from Shrimps and my perfume was Jo Malone’s ‘Pomegranate Noir’.

I wore a Cartier necklace from my Grandad, who passed a couple of weeks before the original wedding was due to take place. It meant that I still felt he was with me on the day.

I also wore a pair of Lily & Roo earrings, Missoma rings and a Monica Vinader bracelet.

How They Met

We had always known each other but got talking on a night out during Christmas 2012 and went on our first date on Christmas Eve.  Nick initially lived in Reading and I lived in London so we would travel back and forth to each other until Nick eventually relented and we moved in together in London.

We got engaged in June 2018 – Nick proposed next to the Thames in Caversham as it is where we used to go when we first started dating.

Flowers

Our florist was Jen from Liberty Lane – incredible flowers and they made my day – I could have cried when I saw the Church arch for the first time!

She totally got my vision from the minute I met her and the venue said they had never seen so many flowers.

I loved how they were reflective of the season as well – with all the magnolia and blossom, she is so talented and I couldn’t have asked for more.

There were plenty left to use the next day to give a big bunch to each house guest as they left, which meant nothing went to waste!

Photography

Our photographer’s were Hannah and Toby of Red on Blonde – I found them on Instagram and loved their style.

It also appealed to me that there were two of them so they would capture different aspects of the day when Nick and I weren’t together.

They were great on the day – we really weren’t looking forward to having our pictures taken but they made it so effortless that we barely noticed.

We would definitely recommend Hannah and Toby and are so glad they stuck with us through all four date changes.

Videography

Our videographer was Adam Lyduch – I could not recommend him more highly. If he wasn’t there as a videographer I would have liked him there as a guest – he was so much fun!

The Inspiration

To Nick’s dismay, my vision evolved the longer the engagement went on! We were initially going for something ‘boho chic’, but it accidentally developed into full on fairytale princess and I’m not really sure how we got there – but it worked!

I absolutely loved spending hours researching every detail of the wedding to ensure that the vision came together on the day.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

You can’t be a guest at your own wedding, so anticipate that there may be things that you miss out on.

Enjoy having your photo taken with your partner as this may be some of the only time you spend together outside of having your photo taken.

Have a videographer! It’s great to reflect on the day after the event.

Buy wedding insurance – I am so glad that we had it for peace of mind.

I loved having a meal the night before with close family and friends as we all stayed at the venue together – it really took the pressure of trying to get around as many guests the next day.

Our original budget was £35k and we spent £50k – I blame Covid for giving me an extra two years wedding planning and adding more things!

Not only was Love My Dress a source of a multitude of inspiration to me, but it also created a community (What About Weddings) through the worst days of the pandemic when no one knew what was going, and helped to give me hope that the industry were fighting restrictions and that the wedding we had dreamt of would happen eventually.