Pastel Pink and Pronovias for a Perfect Monkey Island Wedding

wpid285464 pronovias monkey island wedding 1

Wonderful readers I hope you love this wedding as much as I do! With a backdrop of a centuries-old island retreat, accessible only by a small bridge, Chris and Norwegian Christine married on the 9th of May this year at the wonderfully named Monkey Island near Bray in Berkshire. They spent a lot of time researching venues within easy reach of an airport, it was very important to them that all of their friends and family could attend. Chris is an Events Manager so was very particular about finding the venue, they visited many but Monkey Island was the one that took their breath away and you will see why they loved it so much in the beautiful images shot by Sarah-Jane Ethan.

“We knew Monkey Island was something special when we walked in and thought; we want to start the next part of our lives together here. Christine couldn’t imagine inviting people to her wedding at Monkey Island but we both looked at each other and said “this is it” when we crossed the bridge over to the private island.”

Photography Copyright (c) 2014,  Sarah-Jane Ethan + Matt Ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

“We met at university in Switzerland in 2009, introduced by mutual friends. We both have a slightly different take on things after that, most of our guests now think Christine stalked him for a year before getting together after Chris’ speech. We moved to London together in 2011 and having taken the ring to multiple countries, Chris proposed at home on 30th April 2013.

We really, really wanted our day to be a huge, fun party! We started on the big things and then Christine went slightly craft-crazy on the smaller things. We wanted to have a lot of personality in everything and decided on a coral and peach colour scheme that influenced everything from invitations to flowers.”

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

“My dress was ‘Delta’ from Pronovias, I can’t fault the service and had such a great experience in the Bond Street store.I went to several other well-known stores and didn’t enjoy my time with them, they didn’t really listen to what I was looking for. I was starting to feel the pressure with most stores quoting 8 months to order. After an especially unfruitful day trying on dresses we stopped at Pronovias and found my dress.

Although it was love at first sight, I wasn’t sure and went on to try several other dresses. It wasn’t until my mum flew over to London to see the 3 dresses I was thinking of that I knew this dress was the one.”

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

“We decided to buy a range of about 200 stems at a flower shop. We arranged them ourselves in vintage glasses, milk bottles and vases and the final look was even better than we could have thought possible.”

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

This beautiful pink array of bridesmaids gowns are a selection of designs from David’s Bridal and Love My Dress favourite, Maids to Measure.

“In Norway the bridesmaid tradition doesn’t exist and all my girls are lovely people with different personalities and styles. I wanted them to feel comfortable on the day so they chose their own dresses. I didn’t give them too many guidelines but they all ended up asking for my opinion! My fantastic cousin was flower girl and found a dress without my help. In the end I think they all chose amazing dresses and looked so spectacular.”

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

“I can’t remember exactly how we came across Sarah Jane Ethan, but I remember seeing her photos and loving the style and emotions she captures. I spoke to SJ via Skype and she was so excited about our wedding – she had actually researched our venue and could relate to it. She lives in Newcastle but is such a sport and travelled all the way down with her lovely husband Matt (and I had a sneaky boudoir shoot the day before, she has many talents!).

Chris is not a fan of being in front of the camera but he instantly loved SJ and Matt, they were so easy to be around and our guests commented on how unobtrusive they were. Everyone loves the results and think the pictures are stunning, we couldn’t be more pleased.”

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

Christine had her make-up professionally applied by Jo at ‘Brides to Be Make-up by Lauren‘…

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

“I wore a pair of earrings from Su Misura, a Norwegian designer who also happens to be my mum! I absolutely loved wearing something she made especially for me out of a pair of vintage earrings and new crystals.”

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

Despite much disagreement from Christine, Chris decided to rent traditional morning suits. He was very happy with the service and all of the guys looked great. They finished their look with coral socks!

“Chris: I knew that Moss Bros would have a good range and they had a good ‘groom goes free’ deal. I was originally thinking about navy blue but ended up with a lovely stone grey. The assistant recommended different waistcoats for the Groomsmen so I stood out on the day.”

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

“Chris’ brother Jonathan played Canon in D while I walked down the aisle. It was such a special moment and I would not have wanted anyone else to play while I walked down the aisle.”

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

“I had my heart set on a lace edged cathedral veil, but when the dress I chose had no lace, I decided to make my own. I found that most tulle is really expensive so I went to John Lewis and bought 4 meters then sewed it to a hair comb. It was my brilliant aunt who suggested I decorate the veil with flowers that matched the dress. I found some flowers on eBay that were similar then spent some very, very long evenings sewing on 500 flowers.”

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

“At the entrance to our reception, we had ‘Chris & Christine’s Hangover Cure’, heart shaped mints and paracetamol in organza bags – it was really nice to have something different that didn’t detract from the individual place settings that people could laugh about but also use! We made pom poms and various craft based designs such as glitter signs and put notebooks on each table with questionnaires for our future lives together!”

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Enjoy yourselves primarily. If you have any doubts, go with your heart and make it as personal as you can. If you can, don’t plan too far in advance, you want to be relaxed in the few weeks and months leading to the wedding and be able to work on things rather than worry about changing the decisions you have already made.

We had a dinner with close friends and family the night before the wedding as well as a brunch the day after to make sure the party lasted as long as possible. You only get married once right, so why not make it last?”

monkey island weddings, pronovias, sarah jane ethan, matt ethan

How gorgeous are all of those peach and coral flowers? The pink hued bouquets and buttonholes are just perfection, as are Christine’s best girls. You would never guess that each dress was chosen separately, they complement one another so well. Will you be going for a mix of dress styles for your big day? Huge congratulations and thank you to Christine and Chris for allowing us a peek into your special day. There is even more prettiness from bumps to boudoirs by photographer SJ here.

Love Caoimhe

 

Photographer – Sarah-Jane Ethan + Matt Ethan
Venue – Monkey Island
Dress – Pronovias
Bride’s Shoes – Lola Cruz
Bride’s Jewellery – Su Misura
Make-up – Jo at Brides to Be Make-up by Lauren
Bridesmaids Dresses – David’s Bridal + Maids to Measure
Groom’s Suit – Moss Bros Hire+ Socks – eBay
Entertainment – Planned 2 Perfection
Sweet Bar – Bake-a-Boo
Chairs – Ice Chair Hire
Rings – Brown’s Jewellers

Follow Love My Dress® on Google+

 

Caoimhe Anderson

Caoimhe Anderson View all Caoimhe's articles

Caoimhe will never tire of beautiful wedding dress and a blooming flower crown. When she's not lusting after a gorgeous wedding she will be trying new vegetarian recipes, knitting very slowly or capturing a pink sunset from behind a camera lens.

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