Shera and Simon’s multi-day transatlantic celebration at Ashridge House was a whimsical, personal fusion of cultures, luxury, and unforgettable detail.
Real wedding
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Please can you tell us a bit about yourselves – where you're from, how you met, etc.?
Simon is from Bath, UK and moved to New York in 2012 following a job offer. Shera is from North Carolina and moved to New York in 2013 to pursue a career in beauty. We connected on a dating app called The League. Simon was Shera's first date on a dating app as she'd avoided them in the past. She wasn't a fan...until she met Simon. Our first date was at a vegan Indian restaurant in the East Village, followed by drinks and dancing at a small neighborhood bar. We were unexpectedly invited by the bar owner, a friend of Simon's, to guard the "VIP area" for a special guest, who turned out to be the singer Sam Smith. Shera ended up in a dance-off with Sam Smith's entourage, and Simon was smitten from that moment forth!
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Please can you tell us a bit about the venue and location – Why did you choose Ashridge House?
When we began our search for a venue, we spent our weekends in local coffee shops scouring through Google search results, shortlisting a wide variety of venues from the US, UK and further afield. Our Google spreadsheet listed over 50 venues after just a few weeks of searching. We devised an intricate scoring system and even used emojis to denote the type of venue. Needless to say, Ashridge's stood out amongst the crowd. Numerous other factors influenced our decision, including the positive reviews Ashridge had on websites like Hitched.co.uk, and the responsiveness and friendliness of the Ashridge staff when we reached out to them via email and in subsequent Zoom calls. In a bizarre stroke of coincidence, we also discovered that Sam Smith recorded a music video at Ashridge House, so we decided it was meant to be!
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Did your wedding have a theme / colour scheme? Please tell us about the overall aesthetic, inspiration, and flowers.
The overall wedding experience and theme was CERTAINLY inspired by the uniqueness and beauty of Ashridge. We honestly didn’t go into planning with a set “theme”, but worked a bit backwards… leaning into our own preferences as they started to form a cohesive plan. After asking guests and friends how they would describe our theme, our favorites have been “baroque with a touch of modern,” “English romance meets American Glam” and “ethereal, unique joy.” Our ceremony was all about natural and ethereal designs, created with textural foliages, moss, grasses and local, in-season flowers.
One priority for us was not wanting to detract from the beauty of the Ashridge staircase itself, so we concentrated the design to the lower half of the staircase, and wanted the florals and greenery to feel organic and authentic, almost as if they growing as part of Ashridge instead of flowers sitting on top of the furniture and floor.
Our day of wedding breakfast table scape and dinner theme was very Alice and Wonderland meets Bridgerton vibes. Our table designs echoed our ceremony design. With florals and moss interspersed using a mix of patterned bowls, metallic vessels and bud vases, low compote bowls and found mismatched vintage vessels. Vessels were filled with a selection of textural foliages and flowers from our palette/core flower list throughout the floral display were a variety of fresh fruits from pomegranate to grapes. We wanted our guests to feast on each individual element throughout dinner, discovering new items and surprises throughout the evening. Bridesmates were in “metallic neutrals-champagne, blush, silver, bronze” and the groomsmates wore black tuxes.
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You had a multi-day celebration – Please can you tell us about the highlights and standout memories?
We were so fortunate to enjoy four days of celebrations. On the first night, we met our international guests for drinks and nibbles at a pub on the canal in Berkhamsted. The night before the wedding, we hosted a Midsummer Night's Masquerade dinner and party in Ashridge House's Monks Barn. Shera loves a fancy dress theme, and we wanted our guests to have fun with it! They understood the assignment. On the big day, we had our ceremony on the beautiful double staircase in Ashridge's Main Hall, followed by an alfresco wedding breakfast with incredible views of Ashridge's gardens and historic building. The morning after, we had a casual “come as you are” farewell brunch to send our guests off and thank them for being part of our special weekend.
So many highlights and memories but here's a quick rundown of the standouts:
- Shera's Dad's incredible “proud peacock dad” masquerade mask complete with flapping wings
- The close-up magician who joined us at the masquerade party
- Our first look in the Italian garden by the fountain
- Our “non-traditional” ceremony and amazing celebrant Alison Jiear
- Confetti crew and unique ring bearer entrance to the Mission Impossible theme
- Unique floral concepts & design
- The incredible string quartet Manor House Music
- Shera's surprise drumming debut after the first dances
- Our firework display with the soundtrack to Succession and Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA
The little details throughout, including:
- Unique “record style” invitation, including custom playlist
- Custom made wedding website with special Ashridge features
- Custom branded and labeled hot sauce at every dinner table
- Welcome bags filled with “our favorite things for our favorite people”
- A “who’s who at the wedding weekend” complete with names and photos
- Quiz for guests to take via QR code on who knows the bride and groom best
- Custom wedding rings from Fitzgerald Jewelry in Brooklyn
- Champagne tour of Ashridge
- Yoga class the morning of the wedding
- Unique city-themed table seating sign
- Illustration artist creating custom portraits for guests
- Female DJ and saxophonist bringing the party vibes
- Custom made wedding dress
- Custom tuxedo by Brooklyn tailor
- Confetti cones made from vintage book pages
- Custom handheld fans
- Ashridge-inspired cake by Dolce Lusso cakes
Photography: ByLumiere