The Details & The Artists The beauty of a wedding is all about the love story. Over time the day gets fuzzy and becomes a hazy memory, the details a little lost in all the days that follow. Photos like these filling old albums are so transportive, the tiny moments captured. Folding open a family photo album you can hear the sound of champagne filling a glass, smell the powder and blush of a sponge and feel the fabric of a napkin. The butterflies of rings exchanging and the nerves building as buttons are slowly done and the echo of an empty room, filled with flowers, waiting for the love story to be told. The artists that work to make these moments are such a gift , @adrianaherranmua bringing beauty, @bridesdressrevisited the elegance, @hairbyvictoriat tumbling curls, @grandcruco the pop of a cork, my floristry assistant @rangalithilini the bubbling sound of vases being filled. @beckenhamplace setting the scene and @gavyophoto filling the albums. Photography by @gavyophoto for @marcuscurryphoto & @thewhitestudiosltd

The Bouquet Bridal bouquets are not about the bride alone. The colours are chosen with the shade of cream or white her dress and the flowers to compliment the weight of the fabric but beyond that they must be made for their setting, for the light and for the photographer. Victoria’s bouquet was one of my favourite colour palettes and all of my favourite flowers. The touches of blue and green were picked to make it at home within the soft teal walls of Beckenham Place Mansion and its sprawling park. The astilbe reflecting the tiny intricacies of the neo-classical plaster art across the ceiling, the whimsical fairy lights and Victoria’s veil. The reds of eucalyptus and the warm soft orange roses combined the autumnal sunshine and the falling leaves with the depth and dark vintage tones of Gavin‘s photography; as well as the warmth of Adriana‘s brush and her make up artistry. The oatmeals - Cafè Au Lait Dahlias, which in their elegance complimented so well the beauty of Victoria’s dress which hung like it had been carved from marble, and the two delicate types of blush spray roses tied everything together, they gave focus and in their endless folding petals gave a rich shape that in this photo gives me goosebumps! Photography by @gavyophoto for @marcuscurryphoto & @thewhitestudiosltd Makeup Artist mentioned is the beautiful @adrianaherranmua

The Bridesmaids & Female Friendship with credit to Natalie Angier’s research. The strength of bonds between women goes so far back into the belly of time that its origin in humans & our evolution is hard to know. What we can see is the mirroring of it within the animal kingdom. In Angier’s article “as in the urban jungle so too the jungle jungle” she explores relationships of female baboons, elephants texting, flatmates of mice & wild horses. She delves into the benefits of safety in groups, less harassment from males, additional offspring care & someone to get ready with. Yet there is still something unexplained in many of the female friendships & the biological reason for the relationships. Speaking to scientists, Angier finds that there is one common thread throughout all species. The evolutionary purpose comes from the stress of life & the weight that is lifted by having close friends, small groups with deep bonds are able to calm each others cortisol levels, create harmony and stability, lengthening life & creating stronger generations. The relationship evolution of wild animals might seem miles away from our human experience but it’s not all so different. Mice struggle to raise their babies if they don’t have friends they like close. Baboons fight viscously with their girlfriends & lick each other’s wounds. Seeing any parallels? Humans lean on each other to protect our hearts & create little herds of our own. Female friendship is a beautiful thing & deeply beneficial to all animal survival. “You have to have somebody to hang onto, you can use that to buffer you against all the things you don’t have control over.” Dr. Seyfarth. Watching the sorority of bridesmaids at a wedding those connections & the biological nature of them is shown so beautifully in tiny ways, in the adjusting of a veil or hoisting a dress in a bathroom! The alertness & the calming of nerves. Their origin was to protect you from wedding day kidnap & long before that the bonds existed like in the animal kingdom to protect you from stress, which is still one of the key roles of a bridesmaid today. Photography by @gavyophoto for @marcuscurryphoto & @thewhitestudiosltd

The Tables Who doesn’t love a bud vase moment ? A classic for tablescapes and delicately incorporating all the colours of a theme. There is a sense of the wild British garden meeting the minimalism of Japanese Ikebana that is ever so elegant and low key. Bud vases scattered down a table in clusters, higgledy piggledy and all a little different, come together to make a perfect picture. When I was young and guests would be coming to stay we were sent out by my grandmother to find things for their windowsills; spiky branches, wild flowers, grasses and beautiful weeds, the bundles of foraged finds always found home in little vases. At the bottom of my garden I have a huge stockpile of bud vases, and each time I venture into the room I am filled with soft nostalgia. My grandmother doesn’t have many vases at all anymore but the other day I found a broken stem on a beautiful rose and out of her cupboard she pulled a tiny pink bud vase, the very one I used to fill with jumbles of flowers as a child, the inspiration for the curated collection I have today and the reason so many of my weddings feature the classic that is the bud vase. Photography by @gavyophoto for @marcuscurryphoto & @thewhitestudiosltd

The Venue Beckenham Place Mansion stands proud in the center of the park; it was built in the Georgian era and was the home to politician John Cator, built as a retreat from the city and recently restored as part of a community initiative it still feels like an escape from the sounds of it’s surrounding metropolis. Today the mansion is home to a creative community, they host wonderful workshops, farmers markets, vintage fairs, have a beautiful little cafe with perfect coffee and on occasion, set the scene for a wedding. Spending a long morning here with my little team was utterly lovely, as the darkness slowly lifted across the park beyond, it felt as though we were far away from the noise of the city and had found ourselves standing in history. For a small building it is dramatic and imposing, the details in the architecture so delicate and elegant. By this point I was tiptoeing around in giant cashmere socks, my heels flung to a corner so as not to wake the sleeping residents above. My two florists were crafting garlands and eating pastries and Andy the lovely event manager was keeping me company as I created a wild garden across the mantle piece of the reception room. He told me beautiful stories of the park, its history and the secrets in the walls. We talked of weddings and chaos of parties, beauty of the mess. I felt completely at home under the high ceilings and as the space filled with flowers, caterers and musicians the humm of a new story filled the space with intoxicating charm. @beckenhamplace photographed by @gavyophoto for @marcuscurryphoto & @thewhitestudiosltd

The Couple Victoria & Will were dreamiest pair to work with, their vision was lovely and the relaxed excitement they carried through every stage of the planning process was infectious. They brought so much beauty to the day, filling Beckenham Place Mansion with lovingly grown stories and home grown allotment flowers. Intertwining their garden and all the many ideas was beautiful and being a part of telling their story across the venue was such an honour. It was a wedding of personal touches and full of character, elegantly and richly told by @gavyophoto for @marcuscurryphoto and @thewhitestudiosltd

The Photos Waiting for photos of a day is one of my favourite parts of a wedding. Once I have packed away my vases and closed my book of sketches and long winding lists of flowers, there is a new excitement that begins. The gift of working alongside beautiful photographers and knowing the glamorous lens they capture the world through is so special, laying a scene for their story telling and waiting for the sound of You’ve Got Mail. This wedding was always going to be full of grace and vibes! Gavin has the most incredible eye and such a talent for creating atmosphere and nostalgia in his photos, he completely draws you into the moment and beautifully paints a story. He is definitely one to watch. The short wait for these images was one of the most exciting and I am so happy I get to share them with you now. Photo by @gavyophoto for @marcuscurryphoto and @thewhitestudiosltd

Scabious so pastel and delicate they look glitter dusted. One of my staples for Summer weddings, the pincushion flower brings the fairytale to wild gardens and meadow floristry. The native wildflowers were once known to heal and are a part of the honeysuckle family, producing sweet nectar they create wildlife gardens, bringing in bees and butterflies throughout the Summer and into the early cold of Autumn.

Coming soon… Beckenham Place Mansions Photo by @gavyophoto for @marcuscurryphoto and @thewhitestudiosltd

Cakes over the years. It is always so exciting to meet cake artists and to help them frame their art with flowers! The first cake was early winter, it bought so much Spring but the dark leaves of eucalyptus and gold leaf tied it so perfectly into the mistletoe that filled the venue. The second cake is shop bought, decorated by me and is the one I’d most like to eat the flowers from! The third is my favourite, fruit covered, made and decorated by the incredible @jenscakery and an absolute masterpiece. The fourth is so elegant and as all things at Mel & Kishan’s wedding the one that feels the most joyous. Featuring cakes from Ulrika & Charlie’s wedding - photography by @louiseadbyphoto Charlotte & Doug’s wedding - photography by @fionakellyphoto Hannah & Oli’s wedding - photography by @jenscakery And Mel & Kishan’s wedding - photography by @shrinking.violet.photography