Emma and Jordan filled their gorgeous venues with endless heavenly flowers - as well as sparkling twists!
Emma Kong, 25, who works in financial services, and Jordan Rhodes, 26, a professional football player, exchanged vows at St Margaret's Church, Ipswich, and held their reception at Kesgrave Hall, Suffolk.
We met through friends on a night out in Ipswich. We later got engaged during a weekend away in Paris right before my birthday – he proposed in the gardens near the Eiffel Tower.
Although we were tempted to hire a wedding planner, in the end we got most of our ideas from magazines, blogs and Pinterest. My mum and sisters were a huge help too, as they love events and creative projects, so the day felt very personal.
I had been to see a venue in London with my mum and we were driving home to Suffolk when we decided to drop into Kesgrave Hall. Jordan and I had had a few dates there and had always said it would be a lovely place to get married, but they didn't have a licence – until the year before we got engaged!
I looked around and fell in love with it immediately. Jordan was at a game so I couldn't call him, but I booked it there and then as I knew it was the only place he'd ever wanted to have our wedding. We hired the house out for all of our family to stay there over the wedding weekend too.
Our florist, George, also helped a lot with the styling of the venue. George and I had several meetings to discuss what I had in mind. I absolutely adore flowers, so I always knew our wedding would be full of fresh ones!
For the church I wanted to keep it quite 'wild' with lots of greens and whites à la the wedding in Twilight – that's what I had in my head at least! We had real trees surrounding the venue and George planted foxgloves and greenery at the base of the pillars and altar.
For the reception we had quite a luxurious and opulent look, with intense flower centrepieces on all of the tables, and a beautiful centre garland down the top table that cascaded down to the floor.
Jordan gave me a white orchid corsage when he took me to prom, so these were incorporated into the marquee flowers. I also love avalanche roses and peonies which worked perfectly for a wedding in June.
The church and venue looked stunning on the day, Jordan and I didn't see everything until the day itself, so it was a great surprise for us both.
Jordan and I were really relaxed on the day. The only hiccup we had was with the seating plan. I had commissioned it to be calligraphy on a large mirror from a vendor on Etsy. It was going to be displayed under the tree in the drinks reception. However, it arrived late and was in a thousand pieces – I found out while having my hair done! Luckily, Catherine at Kesgrave Hall had already sorted a plan B and printed a beautifully designed seating plan for us.
My tip for brides-to-be: Enjoy the planning! It'll be over before you know it. Also, go with your gut – we knew what felt right for us and in the end our wedding felt personal and relaxed, which was just what we wanted.