HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

Home is where the heartis

Beautiful blooms set the scene for Rosie and Seb’s Wimbledon wedding

Rosie has her bestie to thank for setting her up with Seb. “We met on a blind date at The Ship pub in Wandsworth. My best friend Tara thought our quirky sense of humour would be a good match and she was right,” Rosie shares.

Seb’s surprise proposal came 18 months later during a trip to Scotland where Rosie’s from. “We’d gone to do a charity event and then went on to our favourite getaway destination in the heart of the Cairngorms to a stunning place called Killiehuntly,” she recalls. “He’d arranged for a pony picnic trek up into the hills where he’d hidden our friends, a bagpiper and an amazing lunch all inside an abandoned shepherd’s bothy.”

Their wedding was originally planned to take place in a chateau in the South of France but as with so many other couples this had to be re-arranged. After yet another postponement they decided that they didn’t want to wait any longer and started to look closer to home. “It was complete luck that Chelsea Old Town Hall had one Saturday spot with an available registrar free, but it was in three weeks time,” Rosie recalls.

Due to the tight timeframes, they decided to host the reception in their Wimbledon garden and with the help of their loved ones, they pulled it off to perfection.

Here, Rosie shares all the details...

We both felt incredibly overwhelmed by the love and gravity of the day. I don’t think we’ve ever smiled so much in our entire life. After waiting so long to be married, our ceremony was very special.

Our catering was provided by the wonderful Olly Marlow who we met through a friend. He came to our rescue with the most incredible canapes and 3-course-meal. We had flower collars for our dogs Baxter and Winston!

In the evening we plugged in a playlist and let the ABBA songs blast out. Watching so many men sing and dance along was really funny.

I arranged a bagpiper as a surprise for Seb at the ceremony, which brought tears to many eyes. Arriving home to see all of our friends and family (and dogs) in our house waiting for us was incredible. I wore the Aleda dress from my own brand Rowley Hesselballe London. I have always loved this dress since the moment we designed it and to wear it on my own wedding day felt incredibly special.

I accessorised with a pearl headband and short veil from our accessory collaboration with the talented Eli Peacock and shoes by Alaia.

Seb wore full Scottish dress with kilt, jacket and accessories from McCalls Highlandwear in Aberdeen, a lovely family business who managed to get a jacket to fit Seb in less than two weeks! Our bridesmaids wore the Jemre and Jeylin dress from our bridesmaid collection at Rowley Hesselballe London. A string trio provided by the amazing Liquid Strings played during the drinks reception.

We had garlands of greenery for the garden and back doors and beautiful bright table centrepieces

We decided on a large floral arch at our front door to match back with the beautiful stained-glass windows we have on our house.

ROSIE AND SEB’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK

Dress and accessories, Rowley Hesselballe London, https://rowleyhesselballe.com | Hair stylist, Gerard Hawe, www.instagram.com/dirtybhair | Make-up artist, Laura Barrow, www.instagram.com/laurabarrowmakeup/ | Groom’s suit, McCalls Highland wear, www.instagram.com/mccalls_highlandwear | Flowers, Windmill Flowers www.windmillflowers.co.uk | Stationery, Studio B, www.instagram.com/studio_aplusb | Catering, Oliver Marlowe at the Hunters Moon, https://huntersmoonlondon.co.uk | Rings, Natalie Landale, www.instagram.com/natalie_landale_diamonds