Rachel Smoker, 32, married Daniel Hood, 33, at St Michael &AU Angels Church, Hawkshead, followed by a reception at Rachel’s parents’ home in High Wray, on 28th May 2016. She says:
We chose to get married at the church I attended as a little girl, and having our reception at my parents’ home nearby seemed the natural decision from there. It was lovely to host our spring celebration surrounded by the flowers in the garden.
A Floral Fairytale in Cumbria Photo Gallery
My grandmother, who is no longer with us, loved Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies books and our theme for the day took inspiration from those stories – our tables were named after the fairies, we had special signage made and we dressed the cocktails with edible-flower ice cubes.
I wanted a classic style of bouquet, so lily of the ualley felt like an obvious choice. The day’s other arrangements were influenced by the flower fairy stories – we used sweet peas, stephanotis, jasmine and delphiniums and the scent was incredible.
We had two wedding cakes – one was a three-tier masterpiece covered in lilies of the valley and made of layers of chocolate and Guinness, lemon drizzle and Victoria sponge. The other was a traditional fruit cake made by our lovely neighbour. Its top tier is now safely tucked away in our freezer.
My top tip: If you’re hosting at home, you don’t have an army of venue staff to attend to your guests. So if your priority is to spend time with them, or you’re worried about leaving them unentertained, ask your photographer to take reportage-style shots as you mingle, rather than separating everybody for individual pictures.
