Real Bride Talk with Hannah Kennedy – Matthews

Hannah and Tobias’s effortlessly beautiful celebration at Trevenna Barns was nothing short of magical.

They had a harpist play as they walked down the aisle, wrote their own sentimental vows, and were beaming all day long. Hannah wore a show-stopping custom-made white lace dress covered in delicate details and accessorised with a 1920’s vintage veil and Jimmy Choo heels. While Tobias paired his Kennedy tartan kilt with an on-trend MacGregor and MacDuff charcoal waistcoat and jacket.

 So many romantic ideas and moments to be inspired by…

The Proposal

We would love to know how it happened…

Tobias whisked me away to Paris for the weekend and proposed in a completely secluded spot in front of the Eiffel Tower. He dropped to one knee behind me whilst I was taking in the beautiful view, when I turned around I was completely speechless. It was such a surprise and couldn’t have been more perfect.

The Venue

Did you know what you wanted from day one and do you feel you achieved this?

My dream was to have an elegant, Spring garden wedding, surrounded by lots of white flowers, timeless details and the picturesque countryside. We also wanted our ceremony to be incredibly personal, so we wrote our own sentimental vows and asked my sister to do a reading at the very start. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. We also had a harpist play as I walked down the aisle, and during our cocktails and canapé reception with our guests. It was so incredible and surreal to see our dream wedding come to life after so many years of planning. It was everything we could have ever wished for and so much more.

Your Outfits

Tell us about your breath-taking custom dress? Was it always the plan to have it made?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always known exactly how I wanted my wedding dress to look like; a formfitting long-sleeve design, with a low statement back, made from white lace and covered in delicate details, so it was an absolute dream come true to have it custom made.

Bridget Scott, an incredibly talented wedding dress designer and dear friend of ours, made the stunning dress which was beyond my wildest dreams. It all started with my gran’s beautiful 1920s vintage veil (a family heirloom) which I always knew I wanted to wear on my wedding day. Bridget used this as the inspiration for the delicate and intricate nature of the entire dress, to ensure everything worked together perfectly. It was a total of three and a half years in the making, with my mum (who was a seamstress for Zandra Rhodes), also spending over a year individually adding the hundreds of Swarovski crystals and pearls which came directly off of her own wedding dress she had also made. Bridget further personalised the dress with sentimental embroidered details including our wedding date, our initials and the words ‘Written in The Stars’ on my train. The sleeves also included our initials surrounded inside a heart made from pearl beads, with flowers and shooting stars covering my hands. Every single fitting was so incredibly special and magical, and I will forever be eternally grateful for the thousands of hours that went into making it beyond perfect. It’s an experience I will cherish forever.

I accessorised with Jimmy Choo heels (my husband had surprised me with), a pearl shell clutch bag from Shrimps, my grandma’s vintage pearl ring and custom made pearl earrings made by my best friend, Imogen Rose Jewellery. Suffice to say I was wrapped in so much love from those I care for most, all the way down the aisle.

Did Tobias know exactly what he wanted to wear?

Much like me, Tobias always knew what he wanted to wear on our wedding day; his Kennedy tartan kilt. He paired it with a MacGregor and MacDuff charcoal waistcoat and jacket, Hugo Boss bowtie and Aspinal of London gold cufflinks; I’d bought them as my wedding present to him, with his initials engraved on the front. After our wedding breakfast he changing into a French Connection tuxedo, gold Versace belt and Gucci shoes. I had also planned to do an outfit change, but when the time came I couldn’t take off my dream wedding dress, I knew in that moment it was a once in a lifetime dress that needed to be worn all night long!

The Styling and Décor

How would you describe it? You has so many stunning details and we loved that you designed your stationary, so special.

The theme of our wedding was timeless elegance, we wanted to look back on it all in decades to come and still love every detail. I made so many mood boards for how I wanted each individual element to look, which really helped when I handed everything over to our wedding planners. Our venue was a beautiful blank canvas, set amongst the Cornish countryside, and our ‘colour scheme’ was white and neutrals. We wanted to compliment the style of our venue, combining minimal styling with the stunningly natural garden setting. I absolutely adored our flowers, the incredibly talented Charlotte D’Arcy created my dream florals; we had all white roses, orchids and hydrangeas, they were the biggest and most beautiful flowers I have ever seen! All of our guests still talk about them.

The bridesmaids wore pale grey floor-length dresses, and the groomsmen wore charcoal grey 3-piece suits with Kennedy tartan ties. I designed all of the stationery elements for our wedding, from the invitations to the personalised welcome letters, I wanted each guest to really feel the love we have for them from the moment they arrived at our wedding. My sister Lauren, is also an incredibly talented Senior Event Producer, so she helped with all of the styling and finishing touches, including calligraphing each guests place name for our wedding breakfast. Our venue also came with the most amazing team and our wedding planner, Sophie, ensured everything ran flawlessly for the entire duration of our stay. I cannot thank them enough, everything just came together so perfectly, it was honestly so surreal and an absolute dream come true!

Real Confetti Moment

Did you always want a confetti moment or was this something your photographer suggested?

I always knew I wanted a confetti moment, it was such a special part of our magical day.

Were you happy with the freeze-dried hydrangea petals and how the shot turned out?

We absolutely loved our white hydrangea petal confetti, and the photos from our confetti moment. Some of the floral arrangements included white hydrangeas, it was another detail that tied everything together so perfectly!

The Honeymoon

Where did you go and would you recommend to others?

Tobias planned our dream honeymoon (the man really is one in a million!) I didn’t have the time or energy to think about planning our honeymoon, what with being so focused on every single detail of our wedding, so he did it all. We spent 3 weeks travelling through Italy, starting in Venice and ending on the Amalfi Coast, stopping at 12 different places (one of my absolute favourites being a stunning Villa in Tuscany). He planned everything I could have ever wished for and more; a private boat tour around Capri, wine tasting on Mount Vesuvius, Michelin Star dinners and the most beautiful accommodation in every single location. On the last night of our honeymoon we reminisced together about everything he had planned, I was so emotional and kept thanking him over and over, and he just replied “You planned our dream wedding, it was only fair I planned our dream honeymoon for you”.

Top Tips

Finally, are there any helpful tips you would share with couples who are at the early stages of wedding planning?

It really does all go by so quickly, make sure you remember to stay present and enjoy every second, including the planning process and the build up before. On the morning of our wedding before our hair stylists, photographer and videographer all arrived, I did a meditation with just my sister and parents to help become completely present and in the moment. It was such a special memory and something I’m so happy we did.

Suppliers List

Venue: Trevenna Barns
Photographer: Sonderwest
Videographer: Sobyfilms
Florals: Charlotte Darcy Studio
Dress: Custom made by Bridget Scott
Shoes: Jimmy Choos and Gucci
Earrings: Custom Made Imogen Rose Jewellery
Hair: Hair By Georgie Jenkin
Harpist: Katie McClaughry
Stylist & calligraphy: Studio Lauren Slater
Stationary & Design: Hannah Slater Design