Roisin and Dimitri’s beautiful love story started while they were in secondary school in the Netherlands. Fast forward 14 years and a move to England; they said “I Do” at the stunning Elvetham Hotel. Their intimate ceremony and reception is a wonderful mix of rich purples, elegant floral displays and enchanting butterflies. Rosin and Dimitri‘s love for one another and their guests is beautifully captured in every picture. This is definitely an inspiring wedding for any budding bride.
Bride and Groom… Roisin and Dimitri
Wedding date… Friday 19th April 2013
We met… My brother Fergus introduced me to Dimitri 14 years ago while we were both at school in the Netherlands.
The proposal… On our 13th anniversary Dimitri took me to my favourite Thai restaurant in London. After dinner he asked if I wanted to go for a walk in Hyde Park. What I didn’t know was that we were actually walking to the Lancaster Gate Hotel where Dimitri had booked one of their suites. He had gone to the hotel earlier in the day and filled the rooms with lilies. It looked amazing! He got down on one knee and proposed.
We knew it was ‘the one’… For two reasons; on our first date Dimitri waited three hours for me to turn up as I’d been out the night before and over slept. And secondly, after nine years of having a long distance relationship Dimitri agreed to leave Belgium, his home country, and move to London so we could be together. I will always be so grateful to him for that.
Length of engagement… 1 year and 2 months
Our wedding photographer was… Adam from ajphotographic.co.uk. We had a look at a few websites and Adam’s was by far the best one. The pictures all looked natural and modern. When we met Adam he impressed us with his work and his knowledge of the Elvetham hotel. We had been to weddings before where the bride and groom were taken away from the guests for at least an hour; Adam mentioned that this was something he didn’t do and on the day we had the perfect mix of getting official photos and having the time to talk with our guests. It was also great to have two photographers as it meant that we had a lot of our official photos along with photos of our family and friends as we all talked during the champagne reception.
My dress was… designed by Alan Hannah. It just so happened that the week after Dimitri had proposed I was going to a wedding fair with one of my bridesmaids and there was an Ellie Sanderson stand with Alan Hannah dresses. I tried one on and immediately felt like a princess. It was a strapless royal satin ivory dress with a small trail. It was amazing and I didn’t want to take it off!! I also had a lovely lacy jacket that I wore for the ceremony and took off for the wedding breakfast so it felt like I had two dresses.
My shoes were from Rainbow club and had a bit of glitter to give an added sparkle to the outfit. As for accessories I wore Dimitri’s mother’s necklace. We sadly lost Dimitri’s mum two years ago so it was nice to be able to wear something of hers on the day; my something old and blue! I also wore a bracelet that was a gift from Dimitri.
Our bridesmaids were… Andrea, Natalie, Louise and Lilia. They were amazing and helped me keep my nerves at bay, along with my equally amazing sisters and parents. Their dresses came from an online company called “Light in the Box.” Their dresses matched our theme purple and silver.
Our wedding ceremony and reception was… At the amazing Elvetham Hotel. One of the greatest things about the Elvetham Hotel was that we could have the civil ceremony and the reception in one place. We invited eighty guests for the civil ceremony and because the reception was at the same place our guest didnt have to leave, they were able to have champagne and canapés outside on the beautiful grounds of Elvetham.
Suppliers:
Wedding Dress: Alan Hannah | Wedding Shoes: Rainbow club | Wedding Suits: John Lewis | Bridesmaid Dresses: Light in the Box | Wedding Flowers: My mum | Wedding Entertainment: DJ from Firebirds | Wedding Photographer: Adam Jefferson | Wedding Cake: my sister makes amazing cakes and she agreed to do our cakes. They looked and tasted lovely | Wedding Make-up and Wedding Hair: Sophia Wyatt from Facetime | Stationery and Invites: My husband Dimitri | Wedding Venue stylist/planner: The Elvetham | Wedding Gift list: John Lewis | Wedding Catering: The Elvetham Hotel
Our groomsmen were… My brother Fergus was Dimitri’s best man. They have known each other longer than we have been dating. They were both in the same class at secondary school. We also had my two other brothers and Dimitri’s brother involved in the ceremony. My two little nephews did a great job as page boys.
Wedding theme was… a purple and silver theme with butterflies and lilies.
Our first dance was… The first time ever I saw your face by Roberta Flack
Our favourite part of the wedding was… Having all our loved ones there, especially as we had guests who had travelled from all over the world to be there.
Our wedding was unique and special because… To make our wedding favours extra special we made a donation to cancer research, a charity close to our hearts. On each of the table there was a card for our guests saying that we had made a donation on their behalf and attached to the card was a cancer research pin for each of them to wear.
For the children we had also made a donation to Battersea Dogs Home and got the children a pencil set. We also did a wedding themed DIY colouring book to keep them entertained during the wedding breakfast.
Did anything funny or unusual happen at your wedding? We had a few guests turn up a bit late for the ceremony and definitely some questionable dancing in the evening.
What is your advice for other brides? Just relax and enjoy the day. The day will go so quickly. And remember that if at the end of the day you’ve married the love of your life, in front of your family and friends, then the day has been perfect.
Our honeymoon was… We had a mini-moon to Barcelona just after the wedding but are currently planning our honeymoon to Thailand for early next year.
Suppliers:
Wedding Dress: Alan Hannah | Wedding Shoes: Rainbow club | Wedding Suits: John Lewis | Bridesmaid Dresses: Light in the Box | Wedding Flowers: My mum | Wedding Entertainment: DJ from Firebirds | Wedding Photographer: Adam Jefferson | Wedding Cake: my sister makes amazing cakes and she agreed to do our cakes. They looked and tasted lovely | Wedding Make-up and Wedding Hair: Sophia Wyatt from Facetime | Stationery and Invites: My husband Dimitri | Wedding Venue stylist/planner: The Elvetham | Wedding Gift list: John Lewis | Wedding Catering: The Elvetham Hotel
Create the look.
If you love Roisin and Dimitri’s purple and butterfly wedding you’re in luck, we’ve created a mini mood board to help you get a similar look. Also why not take inspiration from our ‘Pretty in Purple’ and our ‘Butterfly wedding theme’ mood board.
