Artist Martha Beaumont and company director Arthur Vestey’s initial meeting took place in the same spot where they would ultimately marry. “We were introduced through mutual friends at a house party at Bywell Hall—the 18th-century country house my family owns—on New Year’s Eve in 2010,” remembers Martha. Four years later, Arthur proposed. “He surprised me one evening when we were having dinner at home on Monday night,” says Martha. “We called our siblings, who live in London, and they all came over to crack open champagne and celebrate.”
Choosing the wedding venue was a no-brainer for this bride. “I always knew I’d get married at our family home in Northumberland, so that was an easy decision,” says Martha. “That said, my two elder sisters had held their weddings there the two years before me, so we had to think about what worked well, but at the same time, how to do things our way.”
Making a decision about a dress was a bit more of a trial and error process. “I tried on a lot, and then completely surprised myself when I liked Stewart Parvin’s design the best—but it fit so well, and I felt it suited the style of our wedding,” explains Martha. “We have a very beautiful family tiara that I really wanted to wear. Jodie Hazlewood did my makeup, and Stephen Casali did my hair—he knows how to do a tiara properly!”
The service was held at Hexham Abbey—“my family has a long association there,” says Martha. “It has an incredible organ and choir that fill the whole space, despite its size.” The bride walked down the aisle to Pachelbel’s “Canon in D Major,” and then hymns were sung throughout the ceremony. “We decided to add trumpeters, which pleased my mother and grandmother, who love excellent church music, and suited the hymns we picked,” says Martha. “My cousins, who are choral scholars, sang a stunning duet of ‘Panis Angelicus’ that brought some people to tears.”
After the ceremony, guests were transported to Bywell Hall. They entered via the front door and walked through the ground floor of the house to the garden, where they had champagne and canapés on the lawn. “The sun suddenly came out, and it was incredibly warm on the lawn, which was a stroke of luck for the north of England,” remembers Martha.
The facade of the house is very symmetrical—so they positioned the tent in the center of the main lawn to give off an overall formal appearance that was very in line with the house. But then inside the tent, the tables were decorated in an ethereal, romantic style. “The wedding was totally made by Albion Parties,” says Martha. “They managed to provide total perfection but at the same time include really thoughtful and original personal touches. We had a full-size tree in the middle of the bar! Obviously, I’m biased because the owner, Charlotte, is my first cousin, but she and her partner, Katie, were our dream team!”
During the cocktail hour, heavy hors d’oeuvres—including lobster cocktails, crispy Peking duck, seared tuna, and quail eggs—were served as they decided to limit the main course to a pudding dinner in an effort to maximize dancing time. Post-dinner, a nightclub was revealed to guests. “We did bolder colors in there, with giant canvases of Bridget Riley prints around the walls and psychedelic roses on the nightclub tables, to inject a lot of fun into the party,” says Martha. Guests danced to a band from London called Belair, followed by DJ Rich Smith. There was also a photo booth inside a VW camper van—“that was my mother’s brilliant idea.” Late at night, the couple migrated back inside the house with a small group of friends for an after-after-party that went very late, and then days later, the newlyweds embarked on a mini-moon to the Scottish island of Jura, followed by two days at the Glastonbury music festival.
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