Plush Manor Wedding of Ellie & Tom

By Courtenay

Honestly – I love a Plush Manor wedding. It’s just one of my absolute favourite wedding venues in Dorset, tucked away in one of the most beautiful villages that no one has ever heard of – Plush. With excusive use of the house, an old chapel for your reception venue, and the choice of cermonies inside the house, the dovecote Folly or outdoor ceremonies in the truly beautiful gardens.
Below is a real wedding story of a recent Plush Manor wedding – it’s Ellie & Tom’s big day.
If you’re looking for a photographer for your own wedding at Plush Manor, do get in touch – I’d love to have a chat about your own plans!

After the depressing wet weather of the previous week running up to this wedding, it was a joy to see a beautiful summer’s day dawning for what I knew was going to be a beautiful outdoors wedding at Plush Manor. It’s always a brave thing to plan a fully outdoors British wedding, but for Ellie & Tom it looked like the gamble was going to pay off nicely!

The whole of Plush Manor is taken over for a wedding, and the party was scattered through the house when I arrived – the basic pre-wedding ground rules soon became clear though; boys downstairs, girls upstairs!
I began the day with Ellie and her attendants all having fun with the usual preps, but as things were moving slowly I had plenty of time for a short wander around the grounds, investigating the Folly where the ceremony would be held, the gardens and the church itself where the evening reception would be.

I spent a time with Tom and his groomsmen, introduced myself to the parents, and made my way back upstairs to Ellie… who was still getting ready…

Luckily the registrars only had one wedding for the day, so there was no panic, and everyone stayed relaxed as the wedding got pushed back a little!

There was a subtle 50’s vintage theme to the day – the bridesmaids looked gorgeous in elegant off-the-shoulder navy blue satin, lightened with a delicate pink ribbon at their waists and classic rose posies in varying tones of pale and bold pink, cream and old apricot.

Ellie herself looked stunning, of course; her dress had a strapless beaded bodice with sweetheart neckline over a full heavy satin skirt with court-length train. I particularly loved that both she and the bridesmaids all had pockets! Ellie’s bouquet was simply a larger version of the bridesmaids posies, echoing their whimsical mixed roses with colours perfect for a July wedding.

Finally, Ellie’s Dad walked her down the staircase through the gardens to The Folly (a beautiful 17th century dove house) where Tom and the guests were waiting – Plush Manor is a dream for an outdoors wedding if the weather is kind enough, with the long sweeping lawn walk creating a perfect entrance for the bride.

The couple stood within the shallow Folly for the marriage itself, with guests arrayed in the sunshine of the gardens through the ceremony and the emotional readings.
Once Ellie & Tom were officially husband and wife they didn’t follow tradition and lead their guests out; instead the guests left first, and the couple joined them on the terrace through a confetti tunnel.
The terrace was a perfect spot for Champagne and canapés, and the guests mingled for a while before we moved down to the front terrace for the few formal photographs.

Eventually it was time to move onwards, and Ellie & Tom led their guests through the gardens, ‘following the pink brick road’ – guided by coloured ribbons and chalkboard signs, the whole wedding party moved across to the old estate church. The lawns were set for the evening with an open sided marquee and fire pit at the ready, and guests settled for another drink before going in to sit down.

The church continued the rustic vintage decoration theme with bare wood trestle tables decorated with hessian runners and the summery table flowers in jam jars and gin bottles, bunting and fairy lights around the walls, and origami birds, white paper lanterns and more fairy lights string from the beams.

Speeches were naturally given from the original pulpit, much to everyone’s amusement, before the wedding breakfast was served. A couple of hours later everyone headed out into the warm summer’s evening and I slipped away with Ellie & Tom for a few quiet pictures around the estate – plus a bounce on a trampoline, obviously!
We returned for Ellie & Tom to begin to greet their evening guests as everyone was gathering around the lit fire pit and enjoying a drink from the marquee. Before long we re-entered the ancient church which had been transformed into a fabulously lit party space in time for Ellie & Tom’s first dance.

I eventually took my leave as the dance floor filled, and the guests looked set to enjoy the rest of the night!

Here are just a few of the many…enjoy!