Real Wedding: Carmel + Chris

Whilst I do love me a bit of colour, a mostly black and white palette is undeniably chic and timeless. And it's all the more appealing thanks to the beautiful photography of Susie Blatchford from The Wedding Assasins. (Check out their website, they have some fun packages or contracts as they call them...'the sniper', 'the drive-by'... love it!). Carmel contacted me from London to do her stationery, and she choose the Alhambra Suite from the Signature Collection, which looked so elegant in black and grey tones. We designed a modern monogram that they used throughout their paper goods. They chose to get married at Newbery Lodge in Christchurch which worked in with their vision beautifully.

Carmel shares a little information with us below:



How did you meet?
Chris and I met four years ago through mutual friends in London, UK. I was in the UK to spend two years on a holiday visa but it turned out quite differently. Chris had already been in the UK for just over a year previously and was committed to many years working, travelling and living in the UK.
Tell us about your proposal:
Chris and I had just enjoyed a barbeque in the garden with close friends at our house in London. After such a fun night of jokes and laughs our guests started leaving around midnight. With everyone gone home for the evening Chris and I talked of future plans and marriage and to my surprise he asked me to marry him then and there. Not the most romantic of proposals but all we knew was we wanted to be together. We celebrated long into the night or should I say morning. It was so exciting!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress:
I came across the designer Susanne Neville one of London’s top bridal designers. After looking through her designs online I knew her ‘Seville’ style dress was perfect for me. It was modern but classic looking which was what I wanted so I never looked at or tried any other style of dress on, I had made my decision.
What was the inspiration for your wedding?
I always knew I would like a modern white wedding with influences of vintage chic. So when Chris and I were looking for our venue we fell in love with Newbery Lodge. The venue is a mix of old and new, on the inside it is modern with grand rooms and chandeliers and on the outside it is an understated beautiful white old homestead with lovely gardens surrounding. We loved it. For Chris it was a reminder of the home he grew up in outside of Christchurch, NZ and we both love the style of grand old English homes, so once the decision was made on the venue the ideas came flooding in.
The venue inspired me then to choose invitations designed by Ruby & Willow, who did an amazing job. I looked everywhere online for invites that were my style and only found Kate’s designs by stumbling across her website searching randomly. Kate captured the look and simplicity I wanted and we used her design throughout our wedding on table cards, favours and my Grandmothers memorial too.

Vendors: Brides Dress {Suzanne Neville}, Photography {Wedding Assasins}, Venue & Catering {Newbery Lodge}, Flowers {Court Florist}, Bridesmaids Dresses {Reiss}, Cake {Just Desserts}, Stationery {Ruby & Willow}