We love an English countryside wedding, and Esmé and Luke’s is really something special. Bury Court Barn in Surrey provided the most charming venue for the couple’s fabulous Greek-Jewish wedding, complete with a gorgeous spot for an outdoor chuppah; overnight accommodations for family and friends; and even an in-house florist, Arboretum, that created natural florals that melded perfectly with the surroundings. Don’t miss it in the beautiful documentary-style photography by Richard Galloway.
We also love the way Esmé and Luke combined their Jewish and Greek backgrounds for a one-of-a-kind celebration. The pair opted for a bespoke Jewish ceremony under a chuppah, making sure it was fully inclusive for those who had never been to a Jewish wedding before. Their rabbi explained each element of the ceremony so that everyone could be involved and understand what was happening at each point. Then, after the ceremony and yichud, Esmé and Luke kicked off the reception with a hora – and ended the night with Greek Zorba dancing!
Now over to Esmé, who’ll fill you in on all the rest…
How We Met
Esmé, the bride: We met over Hinge. Esmé works in the arts and Luke is in technology, so with (very different) but busy schedules it took us a while to meet in person!
Venue
We married at Bury Court Barn in Farnham, Surrey. We wanted a venue that did not feel too formal, but had great scenery and rooms for family and friends to stay the night, so a converted barn felt just right! Bury Court was the very first venue we looked at in person and we loved the mix of rustic rooms coupled with amazing outdoor spaces, including a private ‘long grasses’ garden.
The barn is a family run venue with so many good resources (which we felt important to support as much as possible rather than external suppliers). We instantly felt the care and attention that the staff put towards the space, while guiding couples to make each day perfect and unique to them. Being an August wedding, we wanted to hold our ceremony outside in the courtyard space. Luckily the weather held out!
Theme
We didn’t have a particular theme but did have a colour scheme of light blue and fern green which we kept to for our stationary, bridal party and some of the decorations. We decided not to have a wedding planner as the venue provided a similar service to help organise the day. They were so kind in answering all our questions and going through every last detail so the day ran like clockwork!
Invitation/Stationery
Esmé and Luke designed the stationary, and Luke’s uncle (Print Set) professionally printed everything for us, from the invitations to the table plan and menus.
Hair + Makeup
Olivia Marshall was chosen for both make up and hair for Esmé, bridesmaids, mothers and their flower girl. She cares so much about making each person feel beautiful and listened so attentively to exactly what we wanted. She even helped provide a skincare regime a year prior to the wedding itself!
We really wanted everyone to feel comfortable on the day, so each hairstyle was chosen individually. Olivia brought along two assistants to help on the morning who were equally excellent!
A Rosa Clará Dress
My dress was ‘Evan’ by Rosa Clará. For those that know me, I am not a ‘big princess dress’ person! I wanted something elegant and classic and while this was initially my ‘rouge’ choice, when I tried it on I knew it was something special! The brocade leaf pattern throughout was just so unique, and I loved the buttons all the way down to the end of the train. Most importantly though, it was light! I wasn’t planning on wearing a second dress, so I was happy dancing all night in it.
Accessories
Esmé’s two-tier veil and pearl stud/drop earrings came from Rosa Clará.
Esmé’s bouquet included her grandmother’s brooch which was worn for her own wedding back in 1952! The brooch has become something of a family tradition as Esmé’s cousin and sister in law also used it on their bouquets. Esmé also wore her other grandmother’s wedding band as a good luck charm.
Shoes
The shoes were ‘Hetty-mid’ green-velvet heels from Harriet Wilde.
Bridesmaids
We had six bridesmaids. Again, we wanted each person to feel comfortable on the day, so the multiway dresses chosen from Kate’s Dresses allowed each person match our colour scheme, but style the dress in whatever way felt best for them.
Ceremony & Chuppah
We had elements of both a Jewish and Greek celebration over the day to tie in with both families. We opted for a bespoke Jewish ceremony under a chuppah, making sure it was fully inclusive for those who had never been to a Jewish wedding. Given that our venue was so beautiful, we wanted the garden courtyard to be a feature in the ceremony, so our chuppah was a simple silver birch structure which suited perfectly. It was decorated at the base with the venue’s own arboretum florals.
Orchestrated by the brilliant Rabbi Lee Wax, each element of our service was explained so all our guests could be involved and understand what was happening at each point, which was particularly special. We also had lots of personal and sentimental touches throughout the day – particularly to Esmé’s grandparents who we sadly lost over recent years. Our kiddush cup used in the ceremony came from her grandfather’s large collection of Isle of White glass that fit perfectly with our colour scheme.
After the ceremony itself, we took a small yichud before kicking off celebrations with some Hora dancing and the night ended with Greek Zorba dancing!
Ketubah
Our ketubah text was created by LeChaim Ketubot, with the help of Rabbi Lee. For the design, as Esmé is also an artist/illustrator, she designed and painted the ketubah border herself. It included olive branches for the Cypriot links, almond tree flowers symbolising the family name and ‘forget-me-not’ flowers.
Our music choice
The entire bridal party walked down the aisle to Ludovico Einaudi’s ‘Nuvole Bianche’ and during our ketubah signing, played Jack Garratt’s ‘Two Left Feet’.
Our first dance song was Tina Turner’s ‘The Best’ which was played brilliantly by our band The New Tones. The band were absolutely brilliant and followed all our preferences for songs, including our own set list for the DJ sections in between each live set. They had everyone dancing the whole night!
Flowers
Our florist was the Arboretum, based out of Bury Court. We didn’t mind what flowers we had, as long as it went with the venue and colours (though Rachel offered to plant anything we wanted for us!!) We knew that being part of the venue team that the Arboretum would be able to create a wonderful natural-looking style. They made the bouquets for Esmé and her bridesmaids and decorated the main barn and ceremony gardens with pots, table centre pieces and hanging baskets.
Photographer and videographer
We used Richard Galloway for our photography. Esmé’s brother used Richard for his own wedding and we really loved the candid, documentary-style photography that he produced (rather than very posed shots) so we knew he was what we wanted. He brought along a second photographer, Charlie Campey to help on the day.
Food and cake
Bury Court’s The Good Life provided our drinks and food. We had tried samples at open days and had a food-tasting session at Bury Court, so knew that the food would be superb, and it did not disappoint on the day!
As Bury Court is not a strictly kosher venue, we also had Hermolis catering provide a few meals for our kosher guests. The Good Life staff were very accommodating with this.
Our wedding cake was made locally by Gem from Gorgeous Gem’s Bakery. We opted for a semi-naked three-tiered cake in salted caramel, lemon and Victoria sponge flavours, decorated with flowers from the arboretum. All our guests said it was some of the best wedding cake they’ve had!
Wedding List/Registry
We did not use a registry but our guests have contributed very generously towards our future honeymoon travels.
Extra Details
We wanted everyone to just have fun and enjoy the day as much as possible! We used the venue’s prop hire company (Vintage Prop Hire) to provide a polaroid camera and film which we’ve displayed in our guest book. We also provided some lawn games in the gardens that everyone loved using throughout the day.
Esmé’s love of baking also came through on the day: gifting a homemade sourdough to Rabbi Lee as a ‘thank you’.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
The time will really fly by! Some people will really not enjoy the ‘wed-min’ but make sure to communicate with each other to make planning both a fun process for a wedding day that makes it special to you both as a team!
Everyone will be there to celebrate you both and have a good time…they won’t notice or remember anything that doesn’t quite go to plan, so try not to stress on these details!
ESMÉ & LUKE’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Richard Galloway
Ketubah text – LeChaim Ketubot
Venue – Bury Court Barn
Bride’s dress & accessories – Rosa Clará
Bride’s shoes – Harriet Wilde
Bridesmaids’s dresses – Kate’s Dresses
Hair + Makeup – Olivia Marshall
Flowers – Arboretum
DJ – The New Tones
Catering – The Good Life and Hermolis
Cake – Gorgeous Gem’s Bakery
Stationery/Invitation – Print Set
Polaroid camera – Vintage Prop Hire
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.
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