Luby & Dec's Whimsical Tuscan-Inspired Wedding In Hampshire
Take inspiration from Twilight Tree's Arts & Event Director, whose stunning Tuscan-themed wedding introduced La Dolce Vita to Hampshire. Expect Italian opulence and drama mixed with intricately designed floral decorations.
Read time:
8 minutes
Join us in celebrating the whimsical Tuscan-inspired wedding of Luby and Dec, nestled in the heart of Hampshire. With the bride working as the Art & Events Director at the UK’s luxury event company, Twilight Tree, you can expect an unforgettable and chic wedding - brimming with intricate details, bows, and top-tier industry suppliers.
Enjoy reading as Luby relives the magic of their enchanting day, and opens her little black book of suppliers.
The Highlight Of Your Experience With The Wedding Present Company
From the amazing selection of products to the gorgeous website and not forgetting the personal messages from our loved ones, we really couldn’t recommend The Wedding Present Company enough.
“I relished the chance to personally select suppliers and curate my special day. Having contributed to the planning of hundreds of weddings, I knew The Wedding Present Company was exactly who to turn to when selecting our wedding gift list.”
YOUR FAVOURITE PRESENTS
Wedding Theme & Inspiration
We wanted our wedding to be whimsical and romantic, with a touch of luxury and drama. The opulence and drama were brought in by oversized Champagne bottles, lavish styling elements, and a collection of intricately designed floral decorations.
How Did You Find Your Key Suppliers, And Why Did You Choose Them?
Despite initially planning for a wedding in Italy, we eventually opted for Hampshire. Working as the Art and Events Director, I’ve developed a keen eye for detail. I wanted to bring this to our wedding too. I like to see, touch, and feel all of the elements, and that would have been so challenging from a distance. The local venue granted us complete control over the planning process, allowing me to select trusted suppliers with confidence.
Location
We have always dreamed of a wedding with Italian vibes, and we were keen on getting married in Tuscany; we’d found some gorgeous venues and even flew to Italy to take a look. However, I changed my mind when we got back to the UK. I wanted to use all the amazing suppliers that I know and work with on a regular basis.
As we explored local venues in Winchester and the New Forest, Andrew, the MD at Twilight Trees, suggested the idea of having our reception in their garden in Hampshire—a unique location on the edge of the South Downs. Nearby, there's a beautiful medieval church that perfectly fitted my Italian-inspired wedding vision. It's small, intimate, and only minutes away from the garden where our wedding reception took place.
Wedding Décor
Being the Art and Events Director at Twilight Trees, I took great pleasure in having the opportunity to work with them on wedding décor while staying true to our Tuscan-inspired wedding theme.
As guests arrived at the reception, they were welcomed by a long hessian runway, framed at the start by Twilight Tree’s incredibly realistic Mid and Potted Olives. Along the way, Mid Olive Trees intermittently lined the path until the final two, each adorned with handwritten tags bearing guests’ names and table numbers. This interactive element of finding one’s table was a huge success among guests! It also added to the special touches that were such a big part of our intimate wedding.
For the wedding table décor, the florals acted to soften the edges and remind guests that we were in fact basking in the sunshine of the great British countryside. A mix of cornflowers, peonies, and other British beauties lined the trestle tables placed in vintage brassware, mixed in with LED candles. All guests had personalised embroidered linen napkins for name placement, which were also used as wedding favours.
I am a big fan of bows, and the tablescape look was continued from elements of my outfit to the tablescape. Injecting the colour green into the tables.
Wedding Transport
Once we had finished at church, guests walked down the hill to be greeted by a tractor and trailer with a glass of fizz in hand. All of our guests were loaded in and transported a mile down the road to the champagne reception.
Wedding Flowers
I was eager to support local businesses and minimise the environmental impact of our wedding, and Stem & Green Flowers perfectly fit the bill. James, the owner, is incredibly passionate about his work! We discussed a variety of flowers like roses, peonies, anemones, cornflowers, nigella, veronicas, and poppies, considering the addition of some herbal elements. My vision for the flower decoration was whimsical and frothy, with a spectrum of creams and whites, and a touch of pink. My stepmom, who is an amazing florist, then took care of all the arranging and crafted the beautiful bouquets.
Bridal Fashion
I wore a puff-sleeved bespoke dress by Sassi Holford, who has been collaborating with Twilight Trees for several years. It was serendipitous that the dress I fell in love with while wedding dress shopping happened to be one of Sassi’s designs. We collaborated once more to design my dream dress—romantic, whimsical, with elements of a ‘cottagecore’ aesthetic.
Originally I wasn’t planning on having an evening dress. However, I happened to be scrolling through Instagram one evening and spotted The Winona Mini Dress paired with The Bowie Bow by Prea James from the Fall Bride and immediately decided that I needed to slip into something a little more fun for the evening.
During the day, I opted for a gorgeous pair of satin mid-heels with oversized bows from Mango. And for the evening, I wanted something a bit more glitzy and fun so chose a real showstopper pair with glitter straps and glitter ball heels from Cult Gaia.
Groom's Fashion
Bridesmaids Fashion
I didn’t want to have traditional satin-style bridesmaid dresses. I wanted something that my two bridesmaids felt comfortable in that was light and they would wear again – we opted for Free People dresses in a gorgeous cactus green which tied in perfectly with the overall wedding theme.
Wedding Catering
As soon as we secured our date, I knew straight away that Doggart & Squash were the caterers that I wanted to work with, and I thought their signature style tied in perfectly with the day. They also truly emphasised the importance of choosing local wedding suppliers.
Our vision for the menu was clear: we aimed for it to be fun, fresh, and unique, with the best of local and seasonal British produce. We had torched mackerel for starters on a bed of grapefruit and fennel, crispy pork belly for the main, and an Italian family-style sharing pavlova with sparklers for wedding cake!
Wedding Wine & Cocktails
We couldn't have been in safer hands than with The Drunken Jockey Boys. Zack took care of us throughout the entire journey, from designing bespoke cocktails and tastings to ensuring we were never without a drink on our wedding day.
Wedding DJ
After meeting our DJ, Hamish, in our local craft and taco bar, we knew he would get everyone up on the dance floor with his eclectic record collection. As guests arrived for the champagne reception from church, he was spinning vinyl outside on Twilight Trees oak-panelled wooden circular bar under a giant tree. As the sun started to set and guests sat down for dinner, he moved inside the marquee and set up for the evening.
Drunken Jockey’s brand-new bespoke bar acted as the DJ deck for the night, and a perfect pair of LED Lollipop Cherry Trees flanked the DJ booth. As the light fell, Twilight took over in more ways than one and invited guests to dance the night away. Our aisle song was an orchestrated version of "Video Games" by Lana Del Ray.
Standout Moments
After months of wedding planning, it wasn't any individual moment that stood out, but rather all the little moments coming together.
Recommended Wedding Suppliers
Gift List: The Wedding Present Company, Photography: Kenekt Studio, Wedding Planner: Luby herself, Décor: Styled and Designed by Luby and Twilight Trees, Bridal Fashion: Day dress - Bespoke by Sassi Holford, Evening dress - The Fall Bride, Prea James, Marquee: Sail & Peg, Drinks: The Drunken Jockeys, Caterer: Doggart & Squash, Flowers: Stem & Green, Florist: Stella Howden from Urban Blooms, Brassware: My Vintage Wedding Co., Wedding Gifting: My Vintage Wedding Co., Hair: Valentina Ingrosso, Makeup: Saskia Makeup