Somerley House Wedding: Classic Bridgerton Meets Vibrant Multicultural

Cici and Hugo’s gorgeous Somerley House wedding still replays frequently in my head, and once you immerse yourself in their British grandeur-meets Scandi-meets-Kenyan-heritage vibe, you’ll understand why. It was important to choose a weekend wedding venue since most of their guests were coming from abroad to celebrate with them, and Somerley’s elegant English style was the perfect setting for all the multicultural influences we were going to include. Let me take you back first to their fab Friday night welcome event…

This event was a masterclass in doing a theme without being over the top or cheesy, and C&H’s black tie reception was all sorts of classy with high end safari vibes; a nod to Cici’s Kenyan heritage. Friday night was hosted outdoors, with rattan furniture from the W Studio, African flowers courtesy of Rob Van Helden, and an incredible Herve Leger dress accessorised with Kenyan jewellery for Cici.

Other touches such as bespoke cocktails (the Kenya Dawa, for example), fun African bowties for the guys behind the bar, and marshmallow toasting around the firepit really helped to weave the theme thoughtfully through the entire day. It was quite a way to kick off their Somerley House wedding – and have you ever seen such an amazing dress!?

Immerse yourself in more of this gorgeous welcome event here.

Saturday was for classic wedding vibes, using Somerley House’s British Bridgerton grandeur (some of the show was actually filmed there) to provide a wedding day backdrop of dreams for all the details we would include. Representing the coming together of Hugo (British) and Cici (Swedish), we blended English elegance with simple yet elevated Scandi elements.

For the ceremony, Rob Van Helden created an incredible white floral arch, and Cici and her bridesmaids carried the most gorgeously textured peony bouquets. 

Inside Somerley’s beautiful ballroom we picked out the colour of the walls and the gold picture frames to influence the design, filling the tables with sumptuous styling. Cici and Hugo wanted lots of fun additions such as table plan that included tables named after lockdown colloquialisms (Eat Out To Help Out, Zoom Quiz, and Work From Home), a way to commemorate how their love story developed through a pandemic.

We also arranged a surprise gospel choir a la Love Actually, and later the couple changed outfits for an amazing fireworks show and epic party. The whole wedding day was fun, personal and an absolute visual treat.

More images from this wedding here in my Portfolio.

Rounding off their wedding weekend on the Sunday, Cici and Hugo hosted a brunch with garden games. Some classic English favourites like croquet and boules were included, as well as the couple’s favourite, badminton. We included lots of fun hangover food (fancy McMuffins were on the menu!), more cocktails, and it was the perfect end to what had been a truly amazing weekend. 

Somerley House is just one of the UK’s list of incredible venues for hosting weekend weddings, and you can find 8 more of my favourites for your own celebration here. For more multicultural fusion wedding inspiration, take a look at S&B’s Wilderness Reserve celebrations.

Cici & Hugo were featured on Style me Pretty and you’ll find more gorgeous images in my Portfolio.