Lewis and Hayley’s September Wedding

30th April 2026

There’s something so special about looking back on a September wedding; the golden light, the lingering warmth of summer, and those first hints of Autumn in the air. Today, we’re revisiting Lewis and Hayley’s beautiful Autumn wedding at Layer Marney Tower in Essex, where rustic styling, rich rust and green tones, and thoughtful DIY details brought their vision to life.

From a romantic engagement in South Africa to dancing the night away with family and friends, their day was full of personal touches and unforgettable moments.

They’ve shared the story of their wedding in their own words, along with plenty of inspiration and advice for couples planning their own Layer Marney Tower wedding.

Couple story and planning journey

How did you get engaged, and when did you start planning your wedding?
We got engaged on a family holiday to South Africa. With family out there, it’s somewhere close to my heart and I wanted to show Lewis my favourite places. Lewis had been planning for months, asked my parents for their blessing, and had the ring made back in the UK. We went for a walk along the cliff path with a gorgeous view where he asked me to marry him.

We started planning a few months later, beginning with venues. I, of course, had a Pinterest board ready to go, and we whittled the ideas down to those we both loved.

What kind of venue were you looking for, and how did you research?
We didn’t have a particular venue in mind and were open to inspiration. I just knew I didn’t want a marquee, and we definitely wanted live music, which helped narrow the search. We used Hitched for a lot of our searches and then venue websites and wedding brochures to compare prices and facilities.

How many venues did you visit, and what made Layer Marney Tower “the one”?
Layer Marney was the fifth venue we looked at, and Lewis was sold straight away. The price was so reasonable compared to other venues, and when we saw the different spaces, it was clear the value for money. We also loved the option to BYOB; it saved us a lot.

When did you book your venue, and was your date flexible?
We booked a year and a half in advance and had plenty of choice for dates, which was surprising for such an amazing venue, but great for us.

Wedding day details

When did you get married, and how many guests did you have?
20th September 2025. Autumn, although still warm. We had 100 day guests and another 30 evening guests.

Which spaces did you make use of for your ceremony and reception?
Our ceremony took place in the Long Gallery, followed by a drinks reception in the Garden. Our wedding breakfast and evening reception was held in the Barn.

What menus did you select for your wedding breakfast and evening food?
We chose to have more canapes during the drinks reception in lieu of a starter, and then for our wedding breakfast selected sharing platters of Chicken Souvlaki and Halloumi with Roasted Red Peppers, with flat breads and tzatziki, crushed, roasted new potatoes and Greek salad. Our dessert was Honeycomb Cheesecake with crushed Honeycomb and a Red Berry Sauce.

In the evening, we had wood fired pizzas cooked on the oven in the Bouquet Garni Citroen H Van.

Did you have a theme or colour palette?
The colour scheme was based on what suit Lewis wanted and the bridesmaid dresses we liked. We chose a rust orange and green colour scheme and built the decor around that. I love plants, so we chose foliage over flowers and did as much DIY as we could to save money. This helped create a rustic vibe that worked perfectly in the spaces.

How did you choose your suppliers?
We used Hitched and venue open days for research. We chose a photographer from the Layer Marney wedding show, but she was booked on our date. We ended up booking the third photographer we wanted and found Lucy via Instagram.

We found our florist through a family recommendation, our illustrator on Instagram, and our band at Chelmsford Beer Festival; we’d actually seen them before, and the bassist was Lewis’s music teacher.

Who helped you plan the wedding?
The planning was mainly between me and Lewis. We didn’t want too many opinions as I had plenty of my own! There was some help from family and bridesmaids, and a lot from Dad, who made most of our décor and our photo booth.