An English Country Garden

Allow me to paint the scene:

A beautiful 400 year old cottage basks in the sunshine. Pretty pink roses creep up the sides of it's stone walls. Gardens adorned with the most incredible array of flower beds wrap themselves around the cottage and little stone pathways lead under archways and to secret, hidden parts of the garden. Totally idyllic and ideal for an English country wedding. This was the place for Camilla and Charlie's wedding - Camilla's family home.

The Cottage stands in a little valley just outside the Dorset village of Shipton Gorge. Like many little English villages in the countryside, thatched cobb cottages with immaculate gardens featured highly. So too did an old English pub, windy roads lined with lovely flowers, tiny streams and of course, a pretty little church - this one sat on a hill above it all giving panoramic 360 degree views. Just perfection.

Rambling Rose made it all look even more divine with flowers that made me swoon. I think I have said before, flowers are for me an important part of a wedding. I think the choice of them says a lot about someone's character and style. The choice of flowers today had such soft, relaxed, natural feel to them, like you'd gone for a walk and picked them yourself. For a wedding, it takes clever arranging to get this sort of feel. I felt like they reflected Charlie and Camilla - very natural, informal, unposed and fun.

For them, I know they wanted their day to be beautiful - and it absolutely was, but really, it was about the people, their people. It was very obvious from the way Camilla and Charlie stood at the front of the church excitedly pointing out people they knew and loved, that they saw their day as such a great chance to catch up and have some fun with great friends. In his father of the bride speech, Camilla’s dad spoke of how Charlie and Camilla’s friends had over the years, become their friends too and we so loved that. In my opinion, that’s how it should be! We should be looking to extend our families and bringing others in to our folds.

The food was excellent, I adored Camilla’s bridesmaids who looked positively dreamy in backless dresses and Camilla looked utterly divine. It was a stunning day and I love my job!