Sian & Michael's Rustic Glam Wedding at The Hare & Hounds

This lovely young couple met whilst still at school and were married in September 2019 at The Hare and Hounds Hotel, near the world famous arboretum at Westonbirt. It was a beautiful contemporary wedding with loads of personal touches, captured perfectly by Hannah Buckland Photography.

The most important thing to the couple was to have all of their loved ones there and just have the best day ever. Sian toyed between glam or rustic and in the end settled for a combination of both styles. It took them 18 months to plan their wedding and the hardest part was probably deciding what they wanted and didn't want at the wedding. Sian and Michael looked at a few venues around the Cotswolds and they were all perfectly pleasant but they didn't really get that WOW factor. They needed a venue that was dog friendly as there was no way Sian’s greyhound, Blue, wouldn't be attending the wedding. The couple knew instantly when they arrived at the Hare & Hounds Hotel. 'We just loved how cosy it felt but also how open and airy. There was a touch of elegance but also a lovely rustic feel about the setting, surrounded by ancient trees. The gardens were beautiful but what really sold it was the Westonbirt room where we had our reception - we loved it, and with a neutral colour scheme we could do anything we wanted with it.'

The couple decided not to have any readings for the ceremony as Michael was quite nervous so they wanted to keep it quite short. But the music was important - Sian walked down the aisle to Ruelle - ‘I get to love you’ and they signed the register to Daniela Andrade’s version of ‘La Vie en Rose’ before walking out as man and wife to ‘Joy’ by Bastille.

Sian and Michael choose florist Fi from Corky and Prince Wedding & Event Flowers for their flowers and styling. Sian wanted a palette of crisp whites, dusky lilacs and a hint of rosy pinks in a contemporary style so Fi used a combination of white roses and seasonal flowers to create soft romantic floral designs. For the buttonholes, Fi added pink peppercorn sprigs to add texture and finished every place setting for the wedding breakfast with herbs and peppercorns. Even Sian's beloved greyhound 'Blue' wore flowers as Fi made him a little buttonhole for his dog coat. Sian was thrilled the results and said 'Fi did such an amazing job with the flowers for my wedding. I have never seen a more beautiful array of flowers. I gave Fi complete free rein and she did not disappoint!.'

The three tier wedding cake was made by Hannah Culley Cakes and decorated with fresh flowers, with red velvet tier, chocolate orange and lemon favours. At the last minute, the couple asked Hannah to make an extra red velvet tier so they would have something to enjoy after the wedding.

Sian’s wedding dress was ‘Emilia’ from Wed2B, a beautiful A Line dress with lace shoulder straps which she wore with a cathedral length with lace that matched the dress.The bridesmaid dresses were dusky lilac multiway dresses from Debenhams. It was important to Sian that all the four bridesmaids could chose a gown that they would feel comfortable in. Leah Horne from Leah Toomey Your Make Up Artist did all of the hair and make up for the wedding and did an amazing job. Sian explained, 'My hair and make-up stayed in place all day and I’d never felt more beautiful than on my wedding day.’

For the wedding breakfast, the hotel served had pate, roast beef followed by a British family favourite treacle tart. Sian’s Dad gave the best speech and finished with the words from Leicester City Football Club's premier league winning season speech as Sian is a keen football fan. Sian explained ‘Everyone was in stitches of laughter and we still get people telling them how amazing it was!’

Sian’s favourite memory was dancing the night away and then later jumping in the hot tub with her new husband and just talking for hours about the whole day.