Maunsel House, Somerset Wedding Photography

I knew that Holly and Dan had great taste from the second they told me that their venue was the stunning and eclectic Maunsel House - the same venue my wife and I chose for our own wedding! The couple had been looking for a venue with a difference - something with a bit of character - and fell in love with Maunsel House as soon as they headed down the drive. They booked it that same day.

Holly’s dress and veil were bought from Special Occasions bridal shop in Poole - it was the last dress she tried on, but luckily she adored it straight away and knew it was the one. She wore shoes by Jenny Packham Bridal and added some special finishing touches with unique jewellery including handmade earrings from Etsy and Dan’s late grandmother’s engagement ring, given to her the day before by her mother-in-law. The lovely dusky pink bridesmaid’s dresses were an online find however on the morning of the wedding disaster struck - one dress had a disagreement with an iron and ended up with a huge hole in the front! Cue Maunsel House wedding planner Chloe to the rescue: the dress was whipped away to a local seamstress, repaired and delivered back 20 minutes before the ceremony - phew! Holly’s bridesmaids were asked to choose their own shoes and jewellery as she wanted them to all be different and most importantly comfortable on the day. They all received gowns to wear on the morning to get ready in and a bracelet with a knot in it (also sourced from Etsy) with a note from Holly asking them to help her ‘tie the knot’.

Now, you always hear lots about how the bride chose her outfit, but what about the groom? Well, in this case, Dan had a fantastic experience buying his suit for the day at Tailor Made London where he was measured by a 3D body scanner to ensure the perfect fit. The shop even had a bar in it to enhance the buying experience further! His shoes were from Herring and his accessories included a pocket watch which belonged to his grandfather. The ushers wore trousers and waistcoats from Noose and Monkey (sold on ASOS) and shirts from Hawes and Curtis.

Like for my own wedding, Holly and Dan decided to use the in-house Maunsel florist, Dinah Taylor, as Holly had seen her work on Instagram and absolutely loved it and I can only agree! They didn’t want a particular colour scheme, but tried to tie in some autumnal colours with deep red roses and used pink peonies to link the bridesmaid’s dresses to the bride’s bouquet. They chose to decorate the tables for the reception with pretty but simple pink and white gypsophila, bought and arranged by Dan’s Auntie Sue. Lots of other family and friends also mucked in to help out in various ways for the big day: Holly and her mother-in-law made all of the bunting themselves, Holly’s uncle designed and made the invitations and table plan and her step-father made the signs for the lawn and drive.

To entertain their guests, Holly and Dan thought back to a trip to Paris where they had a caricature portrait done of the two of them. They loved it so much that they decided to do something a little different and book one for their wedding through 1st Choice Entertainment. They also arranged for guitarist James McLean to play for 90 minutes throughout the wedding breakfast - they had seen him perform at a wedding earlier that year and booked him on the spot!

Finally, that gorgeous Victoria Sponge wedding cake was made by the same lady who made Dan’s parent’s wedding cake 38 years ago and has made many cakes for their family since - how’s that for repeat business! The ‘naked’ cake was decorated with fruit and some extra blooms and served on vintage crockery. I hope you enjoy looking through this selection of shots from their unique day at a unique venue!