Gemma Soames and Andrew Ferguson’s Wedding in England
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster1/21We got married at my parents’ house in Norfolk. There is a church just through the trees at the end of the garden, making it the most perfect setting. On our wedding day, it rained all morning with the weather clearing just half an hour before I left for church.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster2/21My friend Alice Temperley designed my dress, and it was completely what I’d imagined and more, in two different laces with a very long, soft train.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster3/21The only jewelry I wore was my engagement ring and beautiful vintage diamond earrings lent to me by my godmother for the day—my something borrowed.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster4/21I wanted the bridesmaids to look lovely and simple in green and white. I Love Gorgeous did their dresses, and the ten of them were a vision in them.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster5/21I wanted my hair to be very natural, so my hairdresser Mark used iceberg roses to create a half-wreath around the back.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster6/21The bridesmaids were our nieces, goddaughters, and the children of best friends, and having all ten of them around getting ready was a very good distraction before the ceremony. They carried posies packed with sweet peas from our own garden and had ivy and roses in their hair.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster7/21Our son Arthur was the only page boy. I had his outfit made to match the bridesmaids’ in cream with sage green buttons.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster8/21We had to remove the pews from the tiny church in order to fit all of our 270 guests in. The Norman church is beautiful in its simplicity, so we wanted to keep the flowers green and white. Our florist Janet Barne hung amazing wreaths from the ceiling and decorated the church with ivy, hydrangeas, roses, and plenty of greenery.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster9/21The rain stopped just in time for my father and me to walk down the drive to church.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster10/21The three of us leaving church
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster11/21After the ceremony, our guests walked through a tiny gate straight into the garden and along pathways mown through wild grasses.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster12/21Here we are walking across the lawn after the service.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster13/21Drinks before dinner were held on the lawn in front of the house. The tent was very simple and decorated with all my mother’s own flowers and plants.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster14/21A snap of us waiting with Arthur to have our pictures taken is actually one of my favorite pictures of the day.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster15/21Our friend Beatrice von Preussen designed all of our wedding stationery, from the invitations to the dinner menus. Given that we were getting married in the garden, she based everything around wreaths of trailing wild flowers.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster16/21For dinner, we wanted flowers that seemed like mini gardens on all the tables, with plenty of peonies and roses.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster17/21We had a dark lighting scheme with a starlit ceiling during dinner. We built a marquee over a lawn with a sunken garden, using an existing round hedge in the middle to create a bar. My sister Flora Soames is an interior designer and made it all look simply magical.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster18/21The tent was packed with greenery with plenty of pots and herbs from my mother’s greenhouse as well as plenty of trees and little lights everywhere, in the ceilings and the trees and on the tables.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster19/21Our party organizers Albion Parties were not only very good friends but completely brilliant at making sure it all came together. No two tables were quite the same, with some featuring trees in the middle of them.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster20/21Our wedding cake was delicious and very informal.
Photo: ©Antoinette Eugster21/21The Soul Jets were our band and had everyone dancing all night.
