I first met Kim at her friend Anna’s wedding a couple years ago, where she was one of the beautiful bridesmaids. Kim is a crazy talented artist and also designed a set of magical woodland creatures illustrations for the seating plan and decor on Anna’s day, they seriously took my breath-away… So needless to say when she got in touch about her own upcoming wedding to her love Pete, I was pretty damn excited.
Their wedding took place at the historic 13th century manor, Maunsel House, in Somerset (one of my new favourite venues, you’ll soon see why.) The rain held off for a beautiful ceremony by the pergola on the grounds, with llamas in honour of Pete’s cricket team. They dined outside under twinkling fairy lights in the house’s secret garden and ended with lots of wild dancing to the sounds of Rock n Roll band The Mustangs (including one of the most epic first dances I’ve seen yet…)
Creating their dream wedding was a team effort and they played to one others strengths, with Project Management expert Pete doing most of the planning and creative Kim in charge of the artistic elements. It was lively, fun and totally them. I really enjoyed working with this fun loving pair and I’m so happy they thought the same:
“The wonderful Maureen du Preez agreed to capture our day in her beautifully artistic and journalistic style… She was a very easy choice for us. We love her photographic style but also her very understated presence on the Day. She is calm, friendly and subtle. She suited our wedding style perfectly.”
Thanks so much for letting me join in on your amazing wedding weekend guys. It was a blast. <3
Now to the story of of their day in photos, accompanied by some beautiful words written by the bride herself:
“Maunsel House was recommended by a friend whose brother got married there. It was the first and only venue we visited and we fell in love immediately. The eccentric decor, old English pub and the al fresco dining option sold it to us. We loved that we could have the whole day on one site whilst having different areas for each part of the day.”
“I love the relaxed French look and I wanted to keep the whole day relaxed so I opted for a style to match. I fell in love with the designer Laure de Sagazan straight away, her brushed silk fabrics are to die for. Simple, French, chic and something I could dance in until the early hours. In a similar vein I went for comfort with the shoes and a blue accent to fit the decor.”
“Groomsmen wore their own suits, with mismatched ties and pocket squares all in different shades of blue.”
“Muted French blues, green foliage and rustic hues of whites and creams was the colourscheme. Again, inspiration was drawn from rustic French country houses and the British countryside. We wanted to keep it simple with a touch of colour. Maunsel house is so decadent that it didn’t need much decorating.”
“Pete wore a bespoke navy suit that he already had. He is known for his eccentric pocket squares and Panama hats so those were both essentials and we thought a knitted tie would fit with the relaxed look we were aiming for. In standard Pete form he broke his toe the morning before the wedding and it was too swollen for shoes, so Jack Wills flip flops it was. He’s not one for conforming to the norms so it added a little humour to the styling of the day.”
“I wanted the bridesmaids to feel comfortable and I wanted their outfits to mirror their personalities and styles so I asked them to choose their own. Something cream, white or blue and I wanted them to be as different as they liked. They all looked fab and I am a huge fan of the mismatched look.Our gorgeous flower girl Lottie and page boy Harry (niece and nephew) had their outfits chosen by their Mum (sister in law) who was also a bridesmaid. Again a relaxed French style, nothing formal. And Harry carried his badger which held some sentimental value for us both.”
“Entrance music was an instrumental version of ‘here comes the sun’ which was quite fitting as rain turned to sun just as I walked down the aisle. The scene of friends, family, the gorgeous flower arch and llamas casually grazing in the background as I walked down the aisle was very special.”
“We wanted to keep the ceremony short, sweet and non-religious so we just had three short readings: an excerpt from Peter Pan, a poem by Pam Ayres and a poem by Edward Monkton.”
“Oh and the Llamas, peacocks and ducks added to the country feel. Pete’s cricket team is called the Llamas and 10 or so years ago they all vowed to have Llamas at their weddings. With most of the team married and no Llama appearances made, Pete thought it his duty. They were fantastic!”
“Our exit music was ‘glass of champagne’ by Sailor. We wanted something fun that we could dance down the aisle to.”
“Walking into the pergola dining area was like entering a secret garden. Magical.”
“It is a family tradition to have some form of competitive entertainment included in the wedding day. As racing the real Llamas was not an option, we commissioned father of the bride to build a set of six delightful little wooden llamas on wheels and held a Llama race. It was held after the wedding breakfast, names were picked from a hat and with the bride giving a running commentary, the Llamas were off. The winner was awarded a bottle of bubbly. Highly competitive and great fun!”
“We also set up a photo booth in the library and left a box of hats and props for photos. Maunsel house were very relaxed about guests borrowing hats and decommissioned guns for the photos, which provided hours of entertainment.”
“The first dance was a medley of ‘unchained melody’ for a slow dance, into ‘got my mind set on you’ by George Harrison which went off with a bang – literally – a mass of confetti bombs marked the transition. The band for the first part of the evening ‘the mustangs’ were Brilliant. They looked the part and got the whole wedding party on the dance floor.”
“We went a bit more rock and roll for the dance floor with gold star and moon balloons and little gold star garlands.”
“Once the Mustangs had finished their set, friends Dj Dan Harder and one of the groomsmen Charlie took over with some epic DJ sets which went on until 3am.”
maunsel house wedding photographer