Living in San Francisco, expats Lara and Alex craved the log fires, roast dinners and the beautiful light of a crisp Winters day in Britain.

They used their wedding as an excuse to bring their families together and have a massive Christmas house party.

The lovely couple wanted guests to feel like they'd been invited to a dinner party...just an extremely elegant and classy one. With Lara looking beautiful in a fishtail gown and Alex channeling his inner Bond in Burberry.

Theirs is a story of fate too - the pair met after Lara randomly applied for a job with Google, where Alex worked...and now six years on, in her words, she's marrying 'her own tech geek.'

Make sure you read to the end of her lovely write up - a very fitting start to married life. Congratulations Lara and Alex.

Lara The Bride: Having gotten engaged in December, we knew we wanted to get married at Christmas in a chocolate-box village in the Cotswolds. We wanted to create the feeling of having our friends and family over for dinner and (lots of) drinks. Given we are British exports living in San Francisco, its rare for us to have everyone together in one place so we wanted our guests to feel relaxed and to create a laid back atmosphere where we would be able to spend time with everyone.

We found our venue by accident (literally - we took a wrong turn) and by golly it now has an important place in our hearts. Barnsley House was an incredible wedding venue - old England meets boutique chic. Gorgeous rooms, a foodie's delight and wonderful staff. Special touches like our own letter from Santa for the kids to the homemade Christmas decorations really add a touch of magic to this place. It truly is like you are a member of their family for the day and not a guest at their hotel.

Our outfits were simple-ish (well I am the bride right?!) Alex wanted to look like James Bond (or as close as he can without being Daniel Craig), so a British Burberry black suit sorted that out. For me, I wanted something fitted and classic with a bit of flair but not too bridal.

We had a very simple, neutral ivory colour scheme combined with a bit of Old Hollywood glam. Our table settings (and cocktail hour) gave a nod to our new roots in San Francisco but the rest was a very traditional British affair - roaring log fires, Christmas trees, holly wreaths, mulled wine, roast beef and apple crumble and custard for dessert.

We were a bit unconventional in our procession song - we had two. The night before the wedding, we had hired the onsite cinema at Barnsley House and watched one of our favorite movies - The Wedding Singer. So, to get things started we played "Grow Old With You" and then the doors opened and I walked down the aisle to "She" by Elvis Costello.

For readings we looked at a ton, but they all felt a little forced or not very "us". We ended up picking one of our favorite Edward Monkton books - A Lovely Love Story. For our trip back down the aisle we played Paulo Nutini's "Pencil Full of Lead" to get the party started.

Our table names were on vintage wooden postcards and represented some of our favorite places in San Francisco. We bought them at a card shop in San Francisco and we now have them pride of place in our kitchen. While we sat on the Golden Gate Bridge, our little guests were held captive with colouring books and bubbles on Alcatraz!

For invites and our save the date we opted for something more modern from Craftypiepress on Etsy. Rebecca was great to work with and we were able to customise an invite to get exactly what we wanted. We did make our table plan using a handy old vintage picture frame and some wedding themed wrapping paper. We also printed our placecards ourselves.

Our photographer, David Jenkins, really brought our day to life. I wouldn't describe David as a photographer, but an artist. We wanted a very natural feel. After a few less than ideal phone calls, we stumbled upon David and his work. He felt more like a guest throughout our day and has created memories of our day we will cherish forever.

I wish I could name our favorite bit of the day, but I really can't - the whole thing went by in a blur and really blew our expectations away. Every time I look at our pictures I want to marry Alex again. I guess we'll settle for a trip back to visit Barnsley House to celebrate our first anniversary with our own little memory from our wedding - our first baby!


Photography by David Jenkins
Dress Lazaro | Shoes Christian Louboutin | Hair Chris Fordham | Make Up Sophie Chamings | Groom Burberry | Stationery Crafty Pie Press | Venue Barnsley House | Florist Aqua Flowers | Jewellery Earrings Nation and Haute Bride

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