Marie-Antoinette meets Darth Vader...

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When Lizzie and Phil got engaged, Lizzie really wanted to plan a wedding that they would both equally enjoy. Her friends thought she was mad but she decided upon a wedding inspired by both the French romance of Marie Antoinette, which she adores, and cult classic Star Wars, which Phil is a huge fan of. Now I know this doesn't sound like a natural pairing but Lizzie pulled it off beautifully, with an admirable level of effort put in to make sure the wedding was just as special for Phil as it was for her. Truly one of the sweetest real weddings this year, all captured by Gin Fizz Photographic at the stunning Dartmouth House.

Pretty Marie Antoinette meets Star Wars Real Wedding by Gin Fizz Photography | see it all over on onefabday.com

Pretty Maire Antoinette meets Star Wars Real Wedding by Gin Fizz Photography | see it all over on onefabday.com

Lizzie and Phil met serendipitously at a friend of a friend's party about 5 years ago - neither had wanted to go that night but ended up there regardless. They hit it off instantly, and although Lizzie was smitten she didn't tell a soul for a month as she didn't want to jinx it!

While on holiday in Mexico Philip decided the time was right to propose, but wasn't quite sure what ring to buy. Wanting to get it right he brought Lizzie ring shopping. Lizzie describes how the picture perfect day all happened..."We went swimming with dolphins and then to this amazing jewellery shop where I found an emerald and diamond ring that reminded me of my grandmother's engagement ring. He then put it in the hotel safe for 5 days and made me wait! Eventually he asked me properly over a romantic meal on the beach."

For their wedding Lizzie and Phil really wanted to represent both of their personalities and interests. Lizzie loves 18th century French décor and the beauty of Versailles - whilst Philip is a huge Star Wars fan. Not exactly an easy pair of interests to match up but Lizzie and Phil pulled it off beautifully. As Lizzie admits herself - "it wasn't an immediate match and I think all my friends thought I'd gone mad when I said it was 'Marie-Antoinette meets Darth Vader'! But I think the end result was perfect and all the Star Wars touches really helped to make the day extra special for Philip."

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To reflect Lizzie's love of classic French beauty they chose an opulent venue in the heart of Mayfair with 18th century inspired décor and divine duck egg blue walls. To add a further touch of French romance, Lizzie filled the room with stunning flowers. Lizzie describes the bold and beautiful floral look..."The flowers were really important to me and I chose florist Paula Rooney after falling in love with photos of her work. When we met at the venue I knew I had found a kindred spirit when we both got very over-excited about spraying apples gold! And she put in so many extra touches that I hadn't even thought of like the blackberries, apricots and grapes - echoing the rococo theme of opulence and bringing the outside in. Paula also used so many beautiful colours - I'm really glad we went for something so bold."

Not just Lizzie's day, Lizzie went to a huge effort to incorporate Phil's love of Star Wars - which is such a lovely gesture and how all weddings should work. Lizzie explains how she worked the Star Wars theme into the day..."I made the signs for the bride and groom chairs using vintage frames I found on eBay (Philip picked the Star Wars themed 'Sith Lord' and 'Sith Apprentice'). The table names were Star Wars themed (Philip and I had a sweetheart table called the Death Star) from Etsy. We found loads of Star Wars props in the Disney Store including light sabers and masks, and had a Star Wars banner made as a back drop for our DIY photo booth. We also had a Star Wars space ship treasure hunt - we hid them all around the venue and there was a prize for the person who could find and name the most." Lizzie even incorporated Star Wars into the music with the theme tune playing as their processional song, very sweet.

Lizzie also organised an end of the night surprise for Phil, which the guests adored almost as much as he did..."I think most of the guests would say the best bit was the pair of Stormtroopers who burst in during the speeches accompanied by the theme tune to the Empire Strikes Back! I organised it through Heroes4Hire as a complete surprise for Philip - I pretended I was going to do a speech and then organised a 'magic word' when the music would start and they'd come charging in. The look on everyone's faces was priceless - and everything got delayed by half an hour whilst everyone had to have their photo taken!"

Advice wise Lizzie has some really helpful words of wisdom, especially for those of you who are struggling with seating divorced parents..."You don't have to do everything because 'it's tradition.' We did black tie instead of the traditional morning suits, the bridesmaid wore black, we didn't have any ushers (our parents welcomed the guests) or a top table (Philip's parents are divorced so it was too complicated!) We had the speeches after all the evening guests had arrived so that they would feel part of the day and we didn't have lots of formal photos."

A huge congratulations to you both on your wedding - it really put a smile on my face! A big thank you also to Gin Fizz Photographic for sharing their work with us. To see more from Gin Fizz visit www.ginfizzphotographic.co.uk