We caught up with real bride Nadia to get the full story on her stunning March 2026 wedding at the iconic costal fort, Polhawn. From planning with a newborn to hacking a flower girl dress with scissors 10 minutes before the ceremony, this one has it all! We hope it gives you a little inspo (and reassurance) for your own special day!

Planning and Prep

You had just six months to plan your wedding, with a newborn and a toddler. Where did you even begin?

The first thing we booked was Polhawn Fort. It's the most beautiful venue, and it immediately set the tone for every other decision we made. Next came photography. My wonderful friend and incredibly talented photographer, Kitty, was someone I knew I wanted to book before we'd even chosen a venue. Catering followed shortly after.

Both played a huge role in shaping the feel of our wedding at Polhawn. Kitty's work perfectly captured the atmosphere and emotion we wanted the day to have, while with the food, we wanted guests to enjoy an experience rather than simply a meal.

From the very beginning our hearts were set on Naughty Nonnas. At one point, we almost went with a different caterer due to the logistics of the day and budget considerations. However, a few unexpected changes along the way meant we found ourselves back where we started. Looking back, it felt meant to be, Naughty Nonnsa were always the one and we couldn't have imagined having chosen anyone else.

 

 

Every couple hits a planning wall at some point. What was yours?

Once I set my mind on something, I become completely obsessive about seeing it through - every waking moment until it’s done, kind of obsessive!

However… MONEY became the wall for us. We didn’t want to borrow loads and lose perspective on priorities, so toward the end, all the finer details got put on hold while we made sure suppliers were paid first.

I wasn't letting go of those little finishing touches, though, so I sold absolutely anything and everything on Vinted, Facebook Marketplace, you name it, just to make them happen. I firmly believe you can never be too dedicated to the finer details... hahaha!

 

How close did the actual day look to the vision in your head when you first got engaged? Give us a score out of 10!

I’d say 0/10 when we first got engaged because I couldn’t imagine a world where we’d be able to budget for a wedding whilst pregnant, having a newborn and a toddler, and then being on maternity leave. BUT I returned to work after 3 months and my second daughter actually slept (hahaha) - so this turned into a 9/10 when I finally started ACTUALLY planning and envisioning! 

We decided to go for it in the September 2025 by putting down a deposit at Polhawn for March 2026 - I didn’t think I could pull together my dream day in just 6 months - but I was going to try!! There were definitely things I couldn’t completely control (the weather at a coastal venue, in early spring, in England!!), but I tried my hardest! I had vision boards galore and eventually condensed them into my version of the ‘perfect day!’

Considering the budget we had, I think we got about 90% there. If we’d had unlimited money and an expensive planner, maybe it could’ve been beyond a 10!

It was a dry hire venue, so absolutely nothing is provided for you (me naively thinking this would be fine .. even fun🥴😂). I ended up obsessing and planning absolutely everything for weeks on end, and then also set everything up myself the night before the wedding… every single detail.

 

 

The stationery, the items for the tablescape, the cake, the cocktail table, assembling the stems for my bouquet, the logistics of who clears up and when, the logistics of when the music turns on and off throughout the different parts of the venue during the day - AND hiring the staff to actually make all of those moments happen! Literally all of it.

I had endless ‘to do’ lists coming out of my ears, and doing all of that while having a newborn and a toddler meant my brain was honestly not cut out for it at all. It was genuinely terrible hahaha!

So considering I had no experience, massively overthought every tiny detail, had a very tight budget, and could barely put a T-shirt on the right way during that stage of life… I think a 9/10 will absolutely do. Though I’m VERY glad I’ll never ever have to do it again! You couldn’t even pay me to do it again! 🤣

 

Who were your absolute ride or die suppliers? The ones you'd shout about from the rooftops!

Well because I handpicked every single supplier myself - ALL of them! Honestly they’re incredible. Some of them had never even worked there before, which felt risky because it’s quite a challenging venue in a lot of ways!

But honestly, these guys pulled it together PERFECTLY:

• Naughty Nonnas (catering - incredible feast)
• Sophie Ebbans (florist - Sophie ordered in my very specific ‘single stems’ request for deep ruby calla Lilllies and green anthuriums with a pink ‘nose’ hahaha - she NAILED IT)
• Kitty Clark (photographer - her work is like actual ART and she went above and beyond for us)
• Seb (videographer - we almost didn’t have a videographer and what a mistake that would have been! Seb also went above and beyond and lost his drone in a tree due to the wind - COMMITTED!)
• Love Deluxx (DJ/sax/drums - AMAZING group of guys)
• Gemma (on-the-day coordinator to support my vision - life saver)
• Petals and Roses - Confetti (nothing matches the quality of petals) 

Forever grateful for every one of them.

 

The Details

The dress... Tell us everything.

I knew exactly how I wanted to feel, but I didn’t know what that looked like until I saw it.

I didn’t want to feel like I was dressing up or taking up loads of space - which sounds strange for a wedding day! But I wanted to feel minimal, comfortable and intentional rather than overly traditional ‘bridal’. I also didn’t want to overwhelm myself by trying lots of dresses on in bridal shops - I just wanted to pick one or two dresses in my own time and try them on by myself at home. I found one dress which was absolutely beautiful by KYHA studios but it was GROSS when I tried it on and genuinely made me re-think getting married hahaha - so I re-sold it immediately, for more than I paid actually which was great. Then the second dress I found was by a designer online called DeLaVali and I ended up biting the bullet and ordering it - the dress was honestly the most perfect thing I’d ever seen. 

 

 

I knew I wanted the whole wedding to feel modern, but with a little vintage-glam elegance and a timeless feel - not overly ‘trendy’. I hope my dress reflected that. In my eyes, it had that minimalist glamorous-vintage feel, but with modern couture detailing.

I then had my veil custom made by the atelier that altered my dress so we could perfectly match the lace to - she did an incredible job.

 

Was there any sentimental details tucked into the day?

Our wedding reading was actually a poem we wrote for our girls. It was beautiful… although it was SO windy that I’m not actually convinced many people heard it. Hahaha!

I walked down the aisle to "River Flows in You" by Yiruma, the first complete song my sister learnt to play on the piano when she was little. She always played it so beautifully. When choosing the music for our wedding, it was genuinely the only song both Joe and I felt was the one, making it the perfect choice.

I also wore my mum’s watch, which she wore on her own wedding day many years ago.

What detail caused the most debate? Are you glad you stuck with it (or got rid of it)?

Ohhhh, there were SO many details I mulled over for weeks on end. But the biggest was probably the floral colours, because the florist needed to know the exact stems she was ordering by our final meeting.

I went back and forth constantly - do I mix the calla lily colours with peach and deep ruby? Or do I fully commit to one colour?

In the end, we made a very last-minute decision to stick with deep ruby only, and I’m SO glad we did. It ended up tying in sooo perfectly with the confetti and ribbons, and made everything feel really cohesive and intentional. I wanted the confetti to look like it was made from the petals of our stems - and it did! Absolute perfection! 

 

 

The Moments

Was there a single moment where everything just clicked and you had that "YES, this is it!" feeling?

Definitely after the ceremony, when everyone was gathered around the cocktail table enjoying themselves. That was the moment I finally relaxed.

 

 

Did anything go sideways? And did it matter as much as you thought it would?

THE BLOODY WIND.

Looking back now, it really doesn’t matter because the day was sunny and beautiful… but wow, it was cold and my flowers had definitely seen better days by the end!

Also, my daughter’s flower girl dress and shoes. We already knew there was a 99% chance she wouldn’t wear either. We practiced the feeling of them both months before the wedding, literally every week until the wedding day as I knew this would be the biggest hurdle - I still knew deep down it would be too much for her on the day with the added pressure. 

Sure enough, after getting dressed she immediately refused the shoes - so we swapped them for Crocs - and then came the biggest meltdown over the dress because the armpit area felt uncomfortable for her.

It honestly got to the point of no return, where the only option felt like removing the dress completely and taking her away from the environment so she could calm down. But with only ten minutes before the ceremony, there really wasn’t time.

At that point, I knew my only chance - if there was any chance at all! - of getting her down the aisle was to hack away at the armpits of the dress with scissors to remove the sensation that was upsetting her, and then completely remove all noise and people so she could regulate with a cuddle. So… that’s exactly what I did!

 

 

We sat together watching everyone arrive through the beautiful fort window, talking about everything we could see. How we could see daddy waiting for us - It was actually such a beautiful moment. The sky was bright blue, the sun was shining, and everyone looked amazing.

Eventually, she settled enough to actually feel excited about walking down the aisle and couldn’t wait to see Daddy! - and honestly, her being happy in that moment was literally all that mattered.

 

Did your husband say or do anything that absolutely wrecked you (in the best way)?

He teared up watching our daughter walk down the aisle.

It was so emotional because, honestly, we genuinely didn’t think she’d make it down at all - it had been our biggest worry leading up to the day.

 

Describe you ceremony in three words.

Windy. Intimate. Beautiful.

Confetti

Confetti is a BIG commitment, it's the photo you'll look at forever! How did you choose yours?

Our videographer mentioned that larger petals work best in photos, so I became absolutely determined to find the perfect ones. Never in a million years did I think I’d be overthinking confetti - hahaha!

But I ended up not being able to have just any petals - they had to be Petals & Roses large petals in a deep ruby/burgundy shade. No compromises. The quality and colour were miles above anything else I found.

 

 

Any insider tips for nailing that iconic confetti shot? (Because you absolutely did nail it.)

Give your guests WAY more confetti than they think they need - two full handfuls each!

You can’t fully predict how confetti will fall, but if there’s enough of it, chances are you’ll get that magical moment!

 

 

Honestly, the quality of the confetti can be the difference between ‘nice’ and ‘WOW’. There’s such a huge difference between basic, okay confetti that just looks like ‘bits’ of stuff and genuine petals that make people instantly think, wow… these are unreal. I only truly appreciated the quality of confetti when opening our delivery and seeing these huge, beautiful deep petals that still looked fresh! It completely changes the feel of the moment and the photos afterwards.

 

Finally...

If you could bottle up one feeling from the whole day, what would it be?