DRINK IT ALL IN

Helen and Sam celebrated their wedding with friends and family at the beautiful Denbies Wine Estate

Images courtesy of Lucie Hamilton Photography

Helen and Sam are both professional classical musicians. “We met in a pub after a concert,” says Helen. “We instantly got chatting and never really stopped!”

Sam proposed in May 2019 on a secluded beach in the North of Menorca. “We had participated in a race across the island the day before,” shares the bride. “The beach was deserted, and Sam got down on one knee behind me, but I didn’t turn around for ages! I just assumed he was taking a photo for social media!”

Here the bride shares some of her favourite moments from their big day...

We both love the area around Denbies Wine Estate and have spent many hours walking, running and cycling nearby. We’re also big fans of their wine and the Surrey Hills Brewery next door and loved the idea of introducing our friends and family to the area. The venue’s wedding planner, Dawn, was an absolute superstar and nothing was too much trouble for her. Her expertise and honest suggestions saved us a great deal of stress. The long tables were laid out in a large square with guests sat on both sides. It helped create a wonderful feasting atmosphere and really brought everyone together. We named the tables after places we’ve lived together, and the table plan was beautifully hand-drawn by our friend Tiffy.

There is a beautiful fountain in the middle of the conservatory at Denbies Wine Estate, and we wanted to make a feature of it. The venue already had loads of fairylights strung around the glass roof which looked amazing against the night sky.

We gave Flowers by Elaine free reign over our flowers and only asked that they be appropriate for our winter wedding. We were thrilled with the long lines of ivy intertwined with fairylights, it looked absolutely amazing, and I cried when she brought them in.

The team at Denbies Wine Estate were fantastic, and we enjoyed a lovely afternoon in October tasting the menu options and trying the wine. We were keen to use as many local and seasonal dishes as possible, and we were very happy with our final choices.

I wore an ivory capped sleeve lace dress from David’s Bridal. I always imagined I’d go for a 1920s look and knew exactly what I didn’t want. I accessorised with a simple pearl hair clip, my grandmother’s necklace and a bracelet that my oldest friend gave me a few years ago. Sam chose a navy blue suit from T.M.Lewin. The groomsmen wore their own suits but with matching dark green ties and pocket squares.

The bridesmaids opted for dark green jumpsuits from Phase Eight. We had an awesome live band called Maxamillion in the evening who were a huge hit. They were all super talented and played great music. We also had a jazz trio called Kensington Brass play during the drinks reception, which was held in the venue’s wine cellar.

We had so much time to get ready, and so it was all fairly chilled in the morning. We had the best day seeing how everything came together. Dawn at Denbies Wine Estate and Elaine from Flowers by Elaine understood our ideas, and they just made everything so easy. Our photographer, Lucie, was absolutely amazing too and made the day go so smoothly.

Sam knows folk music star Kate Rusby, and she was kind enough to record an acoustic version of my favourite song that Sam was planning to show me as part of his speech. My dad then surprised us during his speech by announcing that he had been sent a message from a very special guest and proceeded to show a video of congratulations from none other than Kate Rusby! Sam said his jaw hit the floor, and he had to quickly find a way to edit his speech accordingly, but the song still went down well with everyone. All our suppliers were amazing. I had the best time getting ready with Jenny Balding Hairstylist and Frey De Paoli Makeup Artist. They were a great team, and they felt like one of the gang. Frey was heavily pregnant at the time, but luckily my chief bridesmaid is a midwife just in case anything happened!

I heard our dog, Barkley, barking outside as the ceremony was finishing. Our wonderful neighbours, who were looking after him, brought him down to see us in a bow tie my mum made him. I couldn’t stop laughing! For our honeymoon, we went to the Dominican Republic to relax in the sun for a week, which was fabulous. We even had a little bonus adventure on our four-hour layover in Miami, where we visited an as-seen-on-TV doughnut shop in the suburbs. The staff were quite surprised to have two British tourists turn up on a quiet Monday afternoon!

HELEN AND SAM’S CONTACTS

Venue and catering, Denbies Wine Estate, www.denbies.co.uk | Photographer, Lucie Hamilton Photography, www.luciehamiltonphotography.co.uk Bride’s dress, David’s Bridal, www.davidsbridal.co.uk | Groom’s suit, T.M.Lewin, www.tmlewin.co.uk | Bridesmaids’ outfits, Phase Eight, www.phase-eight.co.uk | Hair stylist, Jenny Balding Hairstylist, www.jennybaldinghairstylist.com | Make-up artist, Frey De Paoli Makeup Artist, www.freydepaoli.com | Nails, eyelashes and eyebrows, Arora -The House Of Beauty, www.facebook.com/arora-the-house-of-beauty-431294851035629 | Flowers, Flowers by Elaine, www.flowersbyelaine.co.uk | Drinks, Surrey Hills Brewery, www.surreyhills.co.uk | Dog groomer, GGs Pups, www.ggspups.com | Ceremony entertainment, Kensington Brass, www.kensingtonbrass.co.uk | Reception entertainment, Maxamillion, www.instagram.com/maxamillionig