This was such a refreshing wedding to read about. Why? Because Steffi and Joe did everything in their own perfect way. From the proposal to the planning and the day itself, their personality shone through.

Tying the knot on the 5th September 2014 they had the happiest of days. With a neutral and grey colour palette their wedding was the epitome of style. Divine florals worked alongside grey dresses for the bridesmaids and elegant paper goods.

Not to mention how gorgeous and loved up the couple themselves looked.

Thanks so very much today to Kate Gray Photography for sharing these utterly lovely images.

THE PROPOSAL | Well ... this is hotly disputed in our household. My story is that we (very practically) decided to get married, primarily to complement a rather large holiday we were planning (and never did get around to going on). Joe's story goes simply and very proudly that I asked him. Which version holds the most truth? I'm not sure we even remember now. This rather unromantic 'proposal' was then followed by a trip to Brighton where we ate the most enormous American style pancakes and strolled hand in hand, giddy with excitement, around the lanes looking for the perfect antique ring.

THE VISION | Joe and I have been together for nearly 8 years, we have also been friends since we were 13, we have the same group of childhood friends and my youngest brother has never known me without Joe. For us this was a celebration of both our friends and families. The day was small and intimate with 55 people and the evening was a giant party with over 100 more crazy friends and family joining us for what my Grandad has since described as the happiest wedding he has ever been to.

THE PLANNING PROCESS |We planned the wedding over two years, Joe was still in his final year of university when we got engaged and so we wanted to wait until he had finished studying. We booked the venue and the photographer first and then really didn't do much else until about 10 months before the date.

BUDGET | We were very lucky in that we didn't really have to have the budget discussion. Both of our families were extraordinarily generous and had complete trust that we knew what would have been too extravagant. We have some very talented friends and family members namely my Auntie who made our wedding cake and my dear friend and creative soul mate Jasmine who made a hanging sign for the ceremony room. Little touches like these helped us ensure were able to splash out in other areas.

THE VENUE |Hotel du Vin, Henley-on-Thames - it's a wonderful boutique hotel set in within the old Henley brewery on the river Thames. Berkshire has a wealth of really beautiful wedding venues, there are lots of grand manors, large hotels and quaint barns but none of these really fit our style. We were looking for something that had the feeling of a New York rooftop bar but with some British soul, oh and a thermidor because who doesn't partake in a little wedding cigar action!!

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | My complete bridal look was everything I thought I didn't want! It was a full skirted, off the shoulder, multi layered dress with a long train, full length veil and a tiara to top it off. My dress was called Imogen by Watters and my tiara was a sparkly, pearly Kate Middleton worthy Miranda Templeton. The shoes added a little attitude to my final look, they were white leather stilettos with gold studded toe caps. I did my own hair in loose vitage-y waves, while my beautiful friend and very talented make-up artist Emma Woolford did my make-up!

FINDING THE DRESS | As previously mentioned my dress was everything I wasn't looking for. I was certain I wanted a high necked, fitted, lace dress with a vintage feel. For some reason each time I tried on a dress in the style I thought I wanted I felt completely underwhelmed. After many shopping trips I booked an appointment at a boutique in London and went along with just my Mum, neither of us cried, or jumped around with excitement but when I tried on the Imogen dress we both just knew it had to be bought. To me it was Audrey Hepburn meets Oscar de la Renta and how could that not be absolutely perfect?

GROOM'S ATTIRE | Joe's suit was from Ted Baker. He wore blue two piece with a non matching grey textured waistcoat. Joe is rather slim and so we knew it was important to get a decent fitted suit for him to wear. He's not required to dress smartly for work so loves any chance of getting all fancy.

THE READINGS & MUSIC |We had three readings by, my Grandad, our dear friend Jess and my Mum. Joe curated the entire soundtrack for the day and evening, staying up until 4am the night before the wedding ensuring that each and every song for the reception faded perfectly into the next! I walked down the aisle to Zelda's Lullaby from the Legend of Zelda, we left the ceremony to a song called Lottery Winners on Acid by The Crimea (a really upbeat song with super funny lyrics!) and our first dance was Into My Arms by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS |I had five bridesmaids, my oldest girl friends Rosie, Kassandra and Amy, my now sister in-law (another) Rosie and my maid of honour, sister and best friend Bexie. They are all such different people both in personality and in style that we wanted them to each be able to wear what they felt most comfortably in. It just so turned out that they all wanted to wear the same dress which was a Dessy dress in the colour cloudy. They bought their own shoes, and wore a gold and quartz necklace that we bought as a gift for them.

THE FLOWERS |We were lucky enough to come across Green Parlour florist based in Pangbourne. The minute we met Emma we knew she completely understood our vision for the day. Green parlour were absolutely brilliant and they work from the sweetest little village store that sells oodles of precious trinkets alongside the beautiful flowers! Our flower arrangements were made up of Majolika spray roses, white dahlias, white hydrangeas, petrol blue viburnum berries, dusty millar leaves, berried eucalyptus, scabiosa flowers, soft grey succulents, grey brunia balls and subtle white sweet peas.

THE CAKE |My exceptionally talented Auntie Sara along with her assistant (and daughter and my maid of honour) Bexie made our cake. Every time I look at the photographs I am blown away by how incredible it is. The four tears from bottom to top were, fruit cake with white chocolate ganache, carrot cake, chocolate cake and a red velvet to top it off and it really was absolutely spectacular!

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER |We were so so lucky to have Kate and her husband Jon from Kate Gray Photography capture our wedding day. We cannot speak highly enough of Kate and Jon! Aside from being the loveliest people, they are both so talented. We knew the photographs were going to be good, but when they arrived they were even more incredible than either of us had imagined. It's great that they work separately before the ceremony, allowing us to have photos of both parties getting ready.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR |We wanted to find a style that would tie the whole day together but that wouldn't become a theme. Rather than have a wedding colour we worked with a broad colour palette of cloudy blues, greys, greens and neutrals with metallic accents. We tried to keep everything quite simple and delicate as the venue itself has a lot of character that we wanted to compliment rather than compete with.

THE HONEYMOON |We spent a week in Seville which turned out to be absolutely perfect for a honeymoon and somewhere we would recommend to everyone. The food, the wine, the scenery, the weather, we fell head over heels in love with this beautiful city.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS |From having all of our best friends in the wedding party to disco dancing with our grandparents, there were so many incredible moments, one that particularly stands out is the eldest of my younger brothers in hysterical tears throughout the ceremony, I actually had to ask if he was all right at one point. Being such a manly man, this was a really special moment for me. We should also mention the best man's speech which was more of a best man's extravaganza featuring songs, football interviews and even a spot of gardening. It lasted a whopping 35 minutes, including a specially made video for Joe! It was hilarious.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES |On the actual wedding day? Make sure you spend enough time with each other and with your families!! During the planning process, make sure you always have a bit of money in reserve for all the little things you didn't realise you'd have to buy! And finally ... enjoy every minute of it, it really is so much fun!!

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photographs | Kate Gray Photography

Flowers | Green Parlour

Dress | Watters Imogen - London Bride Couture

Bridesmaids dresses | Dessy - Pure Couture

Make-up | Emma Woolford

Venue | Hotel du Vin Henley on Thames

Amaze.

Thank you Steffi and Joe for sharing your fantastic party wedding with us XOXO Lou