English Mountain Wedding

Beauty in nature is what an outdoor wedding is all about. Jayne’s Hill, the highest point in Long Island is a picturesque locale for an engagement photo shoot to set the stage for your English Mountain wedding.

A wedding venue in Southampton can be anywhere from a sprawling vineyard with rolling hills to a quaint house overlooking a blue-gray bay. A historic hotel in nearby Gardiners Bay or a beach house on Casa Playa are just a few of the options for making your dream wedding theme a reality. For instance, the cake, layered and topped with beautiful berries, is all about the freshness of a mountain destination. We’ve got all you need to know for inspiration!

Details for an English Mountain Wedding

English Mountains are picturesque, rugged, and perfect for wedding ceremonies and reception banquets. The terrain is gorgeous, and couples should take advantage of the surrounding natural beauty that can transform the wedding into a magical fairy tale straight out of a classic Disney movie.

Using natural fabrics, geometric lighting, landscaping, and wooden tables with sustainable and reusable elements will add to the beauty of a mountain wedding. Working with local materials, caterers, and decorators will also make the wedding eco-friendly, keeping the mountain vibe peaceful amidst the hustle and bustle of the wedding prep and festivities. Including nature-inspired themes will help align your vision with your big day.

What to Look for in a Venue for an English Mountain Wedding

Mountain weddings have a lot of versatility in terms of the venue. The wedding can take place in a park with mountain views, at a cabin with a waterfall nearby, old rustic cottages with barns, or a quaint nestled near sprawling hills. While looking for the perfect venue, couples should envision the actual wedding and consider the surrounding areas.

While choosing the venue, brides and grooms should also ensure enough rooms to rent for out-of-town guests, family, and loved ones, with special dressing rooms and washrooms. If the wedding and reception will be outdoors, it is also a good idea to look for a venue that offers ample shade or a canopied setting to host the wedding party.

Color Palettes for an English Mountain Wedding

Keeping the English traditions in mind, the color palette should be classic with shades of navy, champagne, copper, aubergine, and deep red. Traditional English weddings also have brown, beige, rust, and gold shades, with the only pops of color from fresh, vibrant blooms.

When considering English weddings, you can also take inspiration from the Royal Weddings of the past decade. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle mostly had white, gold, and natural shades of green, with the only vivid colors from flowers. Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding color palette was patriotic red, blue, and white with bridesmaids in full white. Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank chose color schemes of autumnal rustic colors, with green and navy blue.

Table Setting for an English Mountain Wedding

Keeping the English traditions in mind is critical when planning a mountain wedding. Since most English weddings are formal sit-downs, you could add a touch of royalty with the table setting. A traditional setting does not mean your guests cannot get up and dance. It just looks exquisite!

Glassware above the knives, evenly spaced silverware, and formally folded napkins in your chosen wedding colors will add to the overall theme and uniformity while tying the entire wedding and reception together. Gorgeous dinner plates, quarter plates, soup bowls or plates, and the necessary cutlery should all be laid out in full view of all guests. The table setting will add beauty and grace to the floral centerpieces in copper vases with crystal water and wine glasses.

Food for an English Mountain Wedding

English food is hearty with soups, salads, and meat. However, if you want an elegant wedding feast, you can add a touch of modernity to the wedding food. Some of the starters to consider are summer salads, fresh trout, classic smoked salmon, smoked and roast chicken bites, marinated vegetables, braised beef, and chickpeas.

Couples can choose seared or braised beef, grilled chicken, carrots, potatoes and horseradish mash, tomato salad with beetroot, and a light dressing for mains. Vegan guests can also have their choice of food with tofu, sesame and soy sauce, jasmine rice, and mushrooms. Since English food is versatile, couples can choose between welcome drinks of specialty cocktails and mocktails before tucking into the feast.

Wedding Invitations for an English Mountain Wedding

English Mountain wedding invitations should set the entire theme for the big day. Adding blue-green mountain silhouettes to handmade paper invites, white snow-capped mountainous backgrounds with green wood forest, and gorgeously elegant black and gold scripts will make for some gorgeous invites and acceptance cards.

Couples can also opt for e-vites with specially designed logos (like their initials linked together), mountains on the cards, dusty blue thistles as corner holders, and picturesque waterfalls as backgrounds for digital prints. Taking inspiration from the actual venue and adding elements of the surroundings will also add authenticity to the wedding invitation and get wedding guests eager to attend.

Reception Decor for an English Mountain Wedding

Reception decor for the mountain wedding should be wholly centered around the surrounding natural beauty. Adding cushion covers with mountains, red, white, and blue guest books, placeholders in wood, tweed placemats, and beautiful floral decor should help set the tone for the reception.

While selecting the rest of the decor, couples should consider adding a fireplace (if it's slightly chilly) and making the reception area warm and toasty. Gold candelabras with white candles, red, pink, yellow, and peach floral arches welcoming guests to the reception area, and blue and white potted urns will also add beauty to the overall decor while sticking to the wedding theme.

Wedding Cake Ideas for an English Mountain Wedding

Ideally, the wedding cake for an English Mountain wedding should be traditional. An authentic fruitcake or berry cake with cream, colorful fruits, or wild berries with floral print will keep up with British authenticity and the love for freshness. Brides and grooms can also make a selection from Victorian sponges with buttercream frosting, floral designs, and edible flowers in colorful icing.

Many brides also opt for cake toppers with a mountain theme. These toppers are usually customized and have personalized messages or quotes. A wooden topper with a mountain silhouette and the image of a man and woman holding hands is also beautiful. The cake and topper should be unique to the wedding theme and reflect the couple's love for each other.

Outdoor Wedding Ideas for an English Mountain Wedding

From the wedding aesthetic to the decor and photographs, the venue should align with the theme. While mountains and waterfalls make for stunning backdrops, an outdoor wedding altar should be simple to reflect upon the surrounding nature. A floral arch with the hills behind or a gorgeous view from a terrace garden makes for excellent outdoor wedding ideas.

When planning an outdoor wedding, the decor placement should be simplistic, as natural as possible, and well displayed. All the guests should easily understand the careful use and structuring of the wedding palette and decor. Avoiding loud, overbearing design elements will keep the wedding elegant and graceful without allowing the decor and fixtures to overpower the gorgeous mountain views.

Favors and Gifts for an English Mountain Wedding

Greeting guests with bags customized with your names, a bottle of mineral water, some nuts, and a few chocolates is a great way to make them feel welcome. These gifts should be small yet beautifully packaged to make all your guests feel special.

For wedding favors, candles with a mountain print or scented with lavender and cedarwood, soy candles with citrus infusion, white sage or juniper, and more will also align with the English Mountain theme. If not candles, then soaps in the shape of mountains, chocolates, and handmade paper notebooks or diaries could also be considered excellent wedding favors.

British Mountain Wedding Inspiration

From Sarah: “For this styled shoot, we envisioned a British Groom marrying an American Bride at a family lodge set in the mountains of North Carolina. Keeping British traditions in mind, it was important to keep a classic feel in the rustic setting. Using a palate of copper, navy, and champagne with glimpses of deep red and aubergine, the wedding comprised of English garden flowers, loose natural style, green plants, flat cedars, taper candles and many unique decor pieces from their families personal collections.”

From Sarah:“The bride wore a flowing gown adorned with heirloom lace and wore antique family jewelry. Her bridal portraits were set among the trees and near a romantic waterfall hidden in the woods. Two young flower girls, dressed in ethereal dresses, walk hand in hand with the sweetest ring bearer. The ceremony takes placed tucked in the trees and the natural steps in the hillside topped with oriental rugs made for a cozy setting. The breathtaking mountain scenery of Lonesome Valley is a striking backdrop for the incredible evening reception.”

Sarah tells us: “After the ceremony, guests head inside to be welcomed by the fire and a Pimms specialty cocktail before being seated for dinner. Glowing candles reflect off copper pots full of glorious smelling flowers, blue and white antique china, and linen runners. They dine on scrumptious bites of local trout and summer salad handcrafted by the chefs at Canyon Kitchen. The wedding cake is a nod to the traditional English fruit cake and sits atop a bold traditional floral print, just waiting to be devoured!”

Credits: Photography: Perry Vaile Photography // Planner: Cortney Hamlin Jackson,  Asheville Event Co // Floral Design: Flowers by Larry // Cake: Artista Cakes // Invitations & Calligraphy: Sable & Gray Paper Co // Model: Melissa Griffin Pappas // Hair: Ivy Cooper // Makeup: Pop of Color, Elizabeth Hayward // Dress: BHLDN // Gown: Sarah Seven // Juliet cap veil and jewelry: J. Major’s Bridal Boutique // Veil: White by Vera Wang // Decor Rental: Rowe Hamlin Interiors, Elissa B. Hamlin // Flower girls & ring bearer: Charlot Anne Jackson, Caroline Jackson, and Edwards Jennings // Film processing: Photovision // Venue: Canyon Kitchen at Lonesome Valley.