This morning folks, we bring you…drumroll please…WEDFEST! Or more specifically the fashion filled, floral bursting, DIY extravaganza that is the wedding of Sammy and Jess.

When this gorgeous wedding landed in my lap, courtesy of the blog queen O’Shea, I couldn’t help rubbing my hands together in glee because this big day is a corker folks. Sammy and Jess named their English summer wedding Wedfest and DIY’d and themed their day to festival inspired perfection.

There are tipis, a bountiful supply of beautiful florals, gorgeous fashion (check out the Miu’s) and some amazing cocktails.

So grab a cuppa folks, sit back and drink it all in; we think you’ll love it!

A West Country Wedding



Jess And Sammy The Brides:We looked at a few local venues in Wiltshire (manor houses, barns etc) and decided that wasn’t for us, our hearts were set on a West Country wedding and with a passion for music and a love of festivals we looked at Tipis. After a trip to Tipi Events in Bristol we were sold. 

Next we needed to find a suitable location, without hesitation Sammy’s Aunty kindly offered her field in the heart of the rural Wiltshire countryside. It meant the world to us to have our blessing in such a special location.

Hairdresser Extraordinaire


This was an easy one, we both are lucky to have a hairdresser extraordinaire and friend in Judith Rennie owner of Willitt and James in nearby Devizes. We trusted her implicitly to get our styles right and that she did, matching to our personalities and style perfectly and being a great comfort on the morning of our wedding! We did our own make-up – Sammy opting for Chanel, whilst I chose Chanel, Estee Lauder and Mac.

Wedding Day Surprises

Being two brides with particular styles proved tricky on the dress front, we started looking together but quickly decided to view independently – that way we’d save the surprise for the wedding day! Sammy knew she wanted to find a vintage, lacy number and got her vintage inspired Bellini dress from Fur Coat No Knickers.

Meanwhile Jess struggled to find anything for few months, deep down she had always had her heart set on a Jenny Packham dress – combining boho chic with hints of Art Deco. She fell in love with her Luna dress at a Jenny Packham day held at Ellie Sanderson in Oxford.

To complete the look Sammy opted for Miu Miu shoes and vintage jewellery (earrings, watch and belt) and Jess complimented her look with a hand-crafted headpiece from Silver Sixpence In Her Shoe.

With no official bridesmaids we had our fathers and brothers in blue suits and matching ties from Liberty. The flower girls wore dresses from Monsoon and boys wore casual cool shirt and shorts teamed with a pair of cool grey Converse.

WedFest

There was no set colour scheme, but we wanted to bring the outdoors in with wildflowers and bright zesty colours. We named the wedding ‘WedFest’ so everything hung of that as a theme – an English summer festival style wedding. It was the weekend before Glastonbury after all!

Flowers were an important part of the day and we selected our own from Bristol Flower Market – Brunel Flowers – in the early hours of Thursday before the wedding. We chose seasonal blooms which filled out table settings, jamjars and the flower girl bouquets. The brides bouquets matched and were done by Ammi in Devizes.

A Blessed Feather

We had a humanist ceremony under canvas, which made for a truly intimate setting. Our celebrant Pamela Woodford was simply amazing and had everyone in tears (mostly the men)!

Our vows were written by both of us independently and were personal to us. We had two readings, one called Signs and the other a traditional blessing read at Apache Native Indian Weddings – our friend Olivia even wrote to the tribe about our same-sex marriage (this is held sacred within their tribe) and got a response which including a blessed feather which we held as she read the reading.

Diamonds

We had Disco Wed DJ at our wedding, they DJ’d from a shed so really fitted the WedFest theme! They did a 12 hour set from 1-1 they were amazing and the music throughout the day was brilliant, no direction required – they just got our taste straight away.

Our first dance was a mix created by our DJ of 4 special songs from our relationship (After 10 years together there are many!!) – including Alicia Keys ‘Empire State of Mind’ – Jess proposed in New York, and Rihanna ‘Diamonds’ – all our guests stormed the dancefloor!

Cedric, Janet And Jäger Moo

Our bar was a vintage Citroen van called Cedric and run by the wonderful Rhys from A Couple of Mugs. This was a real highlight of the day, guests could enjoy a mix of beverages, including what became infamous at Wedfest Janet’s Jungle Juice, the Gin and Elderflower fizz and Jäger Moo (Jägermeister and milk) special cocktails.

After the ceremony we served Pimms in jam jars (collected by us) with canapés. Dinner was a rustic hog roast or cooked salmon with a choice of salads. Followed by tea (served in vintage china we collected) and cakes from the cake table – made by our wonderful guests. Later on in the evening we had a graze table that served local cheeses, meats, olives, crisps and snacks for those a little bit peckish after all the dancing.

Finishing Touches

Jess works in the creative design industry so took up the challenge of doing the wedding stationery to give WedFest a consistent look and feel.

All the finishing details were completed by us including the bunting – all 100 meters hand-made by Sammy – as well as Olive Oil favours from Jess’s parents house in Crete and bottled by the family in the UK, personalised ‘tie the knot’ name cards for each guest, suitcase for cards and gifts (a £2 steal at the car booty), china teacups and saucers (again a Sunday car boot challenge), tiered cake-stands – created by Sammy and ‘Here Come the Brides’ sign – and many more details which were lovingly made in the months leading up to the wedding.

A Hidden Gem

Make sure you have some time to yourself during the day, ours was during our photos with photographer Guy and a cheeky bottle of bubbly. Guy was the perfect companion for our day, and of course photographer too. He settled our nerves on arrival and went above and beyond the whole day.

We knew the pictures would be good but we didn’t anticipate just how good; when we saw them tears welled up and our breath was taken away all over again. The moments had truly been captured, over and over again. Guy managed to get key shots and do it without fuss. In fact there were so many shots taken where I didn’t realise he was even there.

We would recommend Guy to anyone who loves the documentary style of photography, he was truly a hidden gem and has given us pictures we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives!! 

Take It From Us

Match your wedding to your personality – we made the day our own and tried not to follow convention unless it felt right.

Don’t underestimate how much time handcrafted weddings take; most of our weekends were spent at car boot sales, doing research or making things!

Having our ceremony under canvas was magical – particularly as we were facing our guests the whole way through. It made the ceremony so emotional and intimate.

Don’t be afraid to be spontaneous – after being embarrassed by our best girls’ speech about a rap Jess wrote about Sam at uni, Jess broke into rap and sang the Fresh Prince – along with the rest of the guests.

A little help from our friends – we ran a cake competition for the guests that made for a sumptuous top table full of delightful treats.

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Tents – Tipi Events
Sammy’s Dress – Fur Coat No Knickers
Jess’ Dress – Jenny Packham ‘Luna’
Boutique – Ellie Sanderson
Headpiece – Silver Sixpence In Her Shoe
Hair – Willitt And James
Florist – Ammi Flowers
Bar – A Couple Of Mugs
Photography – Guy Collier Photography
DJ – Disco Wed

How cute do the flower girls and page boys look with their ‘Here Come The Brides’ banner. Like amazingly so, right?

And the Fresh Prince rap singalong? Blinking genius!

Altogether now…”now, this is a story all about how…”

All my love Lolly xxx

Obviously every wedding we feature is a “Rock My Wedding” type of wedding, hence why we share such beautiful celebrations with our gorgeous community on a daily basis.

Will and Lisa’s big day however actually had more than half the team actually there, plus various recommended suppliers, decor ideas taken from these very pages and more laughter,love and memorable moments than I could possibly recall.

Will has been a friend of my husband and I’s for years and when he met the lovely Lisa we were over the moon, she was (and is) the perfect fit. Lauren C (she of RMW Facebook management and stylish interiors fame) has coincidently been a friend of Lisa’s since school so we spent muchos time on the dance floor/drinking champagne/generally having the best time ever.

RMW Sponsors Anna Clarke and Simon Clarke captured the day on camera and film and guess who the second shooter was? our very own Adam Crohill.

Adam was solely responsible for ensuring Will and his best man Tom got ready on time (!) and that much like the brides “getting ready” images, the groomsmen were recorded in all of their glory too.

Tom decided he would turn up to Will’s room in just his neon underpants and matching trainers. This was hilarious. Even more hilarious that little did he realise he would appear in aformentioned underpants and trainers in front of the Nation. Yep. I’ve included those images folks.

How could I not?

Will and Lisa’s wedding will be in two parts, sometimes it’s nice to mix it up a bit and hear about all of the planning in real detail, Lisa has written a thorough, witty and heart-warming account of everything from the initial design ideas to the the entertainment and everything in between.

Enjoy you gorgeous lot you.

Lisa The Bride: I couldn’t quite believe it when the 11th May 2013 finally arrived. After planning for 19 months, it was finally here…

The Perfect Place

Most brides I have spoken to say, “Well if I was to do it all over again I would do this… or I wish I’d done this…..”. I can quite happily say that there would not be one thing I would have changed I was very lucky.

I’m a Yorkshire lass at heart having been brought up in the hills of Sheffield but I knew very early on that Sheffield wasn’t the place for me really. All my friends and family had moved on and sadly my dad passed away pretty much 3 years to the day, so I wanted to do something completely different. One of the things, (other than my other half) that brought me to the West Midlands was the sheer beauty of the Cotswolds. I am so lucky to have such beautiful surroundings on my doorstep and I instantly fell in love. So when Will popped the question, (you can hear all about this here) it was only a matter of days before I knew I had to take advantage of this. Will was a big fan of this too.

We had quite a big party to attend to so this was the tricky part. There were so many beautiful places here but only certain ones would accommodate our 150 guests. Then we found it, it was an instant love for this place, Cripps Barn, in Bibury just by Cirencester. This was where we were going to say our vows and party with all our close friends and family, all under one roof. It was perfect.

Phew… I thought, venue booked, I can now chill for a bit before the craziness begins. I was actually quite adamant that I didn’t get too stressed about planning our wedding. I wanted to enjoy every minute so I actually ignored all the timing plans that you get sent and created my own. I knew there were things I could get sorted pretty early on so less panic nearer the time. Some good advice brides to be! Do what you can early.

The Dress Of Dreams

So next was the dress, to be honest the dress wasn’t the most important thing for me, it was the photographer and the music, however as time went on I got more involved than I ever thought and found the dress for me. I went to places that just threw dresses on me without a care but I wanted it to be special. I was only going to be a bride once and wanted this to be an experience that both mums and I would never forget.

I only went to a handful of shops in the end and invited both my mum and mum-in-law to be (who has 3 sons) and it was a fabulous day. I think we were quite tipsy by the end of it too. The dress of my dreams was a Pronovias dress from Grafton Manor, Bromsgrove. I wanted something that made me feel like a little princess and this was it. And yes I did the whole ‘tears in my eyes’ when I found it. Grafton Manor made the whole process a pleasure and delight. I would completely recommend. I found a head piece there too which matched perfectly with the detail on the dress by Ivory and Co and although I didn’t think I even would want a veil I ended up getting the longest one I could find.

You’re only a bride once right?! My little princess dream was complete.

Bonny And Clyde

So now I had the venue and the dress, I needed to tell everyone about it. This got me a bit as I didn’t really want to buy anything off the shelf. I’m a marketeer myself so this was very important to me. This was not going to be a formal wedding and I wanted the invites to say everything about our big day. I didn’t have to look around for long when Lauren, yes RMW Facebook Goddess and owner of Fairly Light introduced me to her sister and husbands wedding stationary business, Bonny and Clyde (Hannah & Toby). I’ve actually known Lauren for 21 years now as we shared our secondary school life together! Oh and Uni… oh and life in the West Midlands… I don’t actually know what I would do without her! And as you all didn’t know already she is amazingly talented and more importantly a very good friend.

Bonny and Clyde were exactly what I was looking for. Firstly they asked me to do a Pinterest board to share with them as there was only so much describing you can do over the phone so they could get a feel for what I liked and then it was a seamless process from there. Before I knew it I had the invites I’d been imagining in my head but Toby simply brought them to life with his eye for detail. The comments we got from them were incredible and the words ‘fun’, ‘classic’, ‘party’, ‘pretty’ were constantly mentioned and that’s exactly how I wanted people to think before the big day. Thank you Bonny & Clyde. Obviously the invite was only the beginning…

The Love Lust List

Next on my list was the Photographer. Well when you have a very good friend happy to help if needed – who owns the biggest wedding blog in the UK, Mrs O’Shea! I had to look on the wondrous ‘Love Lust List’ and took my time to go through many recommendations. I didn’t feel the need to go anywhere else, as I knew the RMW team would have done all the hard work for me and selected the best ones. Then that was it, I found her, the exceptionally talented Anna Clarke, I had to have her at our wedding, so as soon as we got the date I was straight on the phone and thankfully she was free that weekend (I would have moved it if she hadn’t been!) but basically every other weekend she was busy. It must have been a sign.

Will and I both loved her work from what I’d seen on posts we knew instantly that her work would work perfectly with the venue and both mine and Will’s personality. We met Anna only a few weeks later and in the meantime also discovered Simon Clarke, the wonderful hubby of Anna’s who does unique videography. At first I was a bit worried a video would be a little cheesy but the wedding video world has totally moved on and the video style was unbelievably stylish and contemporary.

Pink And More Pink

Every person I know that hasn’t had their day filmed massively regrets it, so my advice if you can, do, as you will have it forever. Will and I instantly warmed to Anna and Simon; they were both extremely calm people. The last thing you want on your wedding day is a photographer bossing you about, let’s face it, and I could just see Anna and Simon putting us at ease and really making the day.

My mum-in-law to be recommended a hair dresser in Chipping Camden, Martin Sheen at Mode Hairdresser’s. I went a couple of times to get my hair cut before I had a trial as I just knew I would change my mind a number of times so I decided to wait until nearer the time. I already knew I wanted him anyway so that wasn’t an issue. Luckily a lady called Alice also did make up trials in the salon. I had a go and loved it. My make up was sorted.

I actually discovered the most amazing foundation ‘By Terry’ – it glided on, wasn’t too much and lasted all day long. And of course I had to have my Chanel Imitable Intense Mascara (nothing ever compares!!), Laura Mercier’s Pink lipstick (Charlotte’s recommendation) and blusher. I’d had a French manicure a couple of months before to see what I thought but I just didn’t like it, it wasn’t me so I went for a colour instead. I’m so glad I did and it went perfectly with my colour theme pink, pink and um… more pink.

Skyscraping

The shoes took me a while to find as I didn’t want to spend a fortune especially as the dress was slightly more than I wanted to pay so I ended up getting them from Jenny Packham at Debenhams of all places but the lace matched my dress flawlessly. The only downside was they were really high so I actually bought a second pair I could wear for the dance floor that I could even wear again. One can never have too many shoes!

Maids Forever

Rochelle and Emma were my first choices for bridesmaids. I had been Rochelle’s bridesmaid the previous year but more importantly she introduced me to my future husband. It’s quite funny as well because Will introduce her to her lovely husband too when they were only 15. I have to thank Rochelle a lot for the introduction, although it took over 10 years for us to finally get together, plus we have had a blast together since we have known each other. Uni life wouldn’t have been the same without her and there is never a dull moment with Rochelle in your life.

Emma and I met when I lived in Manchester for 8 years before moving down here. She has been through probably the hardest of times with me and will remain a true friend forever. Emma is a great support, I can always count on her and so much fun too. When we met I was like.. ‘where have you been all my life!’ So this was an easy decision. I found their dresses from Kelsey Rose as I fell in love with the colour, and knew it would suit them both as Rochelle was dark and Emma was blonde and the top style worked really well with my dress too. When I suggested them they loved them and so they were ordered. Another big tick.

Best Friends

The flower girls were both my beautiful nieces who I adore to bits and they wore a lovely coral dress from Monsoon. Our page boy Benjamin had a linen grey waistcoat and chinos to match with a slick white shirt without a collar – he looked gorgeous.

Since my dad passed away it was not hard for me to choose who I wanted to walk me down the aisle. My brothers have been my best friends my whole life (well most of it even when I was an annoying little sister) and they were to walk me down the aisle. Who else would have this – I am extremely lucky to have two amazing brothers I’m really close to.

A Rainbow

The morning of our big day arrived so quickly. My family chose to stay in a lovely cottage attached to the Fossebridge Inn which had a beautiful surrounding with a lake in the garden. It was perfect for my family and was ideal for the Children. Will’s family stayed in Cirencester at the Fleece Inn, the rooms were divine and only about 20 minutes away. I guess there’s a bit more organising when you are not getting married in your local area, so we booked these really early. This was one of the first things I sorted out.

It was a little drizzly but the sun kept creeping out every now and then. We had planned an outside ceremony but to be honest as Cripps Barn was so beautiful inside and out I really didn’t mind what happened – I would just find out when I got there. My mum had been praying for a rainbow (but without the rain!!) for months as a sign from my Dad so my mum was thinking now with a bit of rain there could be a chance.

Simply Perfect

The morning was so lovely having all my family in one place and I loved having the kids around. This is where Anna and Simon came in. They literally just fitted into the day seamlessly. Anna even stopped me from getting a little emotional after I’d just had my makeup done and whilst everything else was going on they were going around getting the perfect footage and photo’s for us to remember every aspect of our day. Martin the hairdresser and Alice the Make Up artist arrived and also fitted in with the day.

It was simply perfect and I was actually really calm at this point.

Although I wasn’t actually due at the venue until 2.15pm, I wanted everyone ready about an hour before so we could enjoy our last time together as a family and the bridesmaids before I became Mrs Jordan. You have probably established I am a real planner by now. I think we actually managed it by 1.30pm. In this time I was able to give any gifts out to the bridesmaids and page boys.

Giftage

I got the girls a ‘Little Bean’ silver pendant from Molly Brown. My nickname is Little Bean so it seemed appropriate and very like the Tiffany bean which I love. I thought it was very apt for the day and I got Benjamin the pageboy a lovely pen to keep from the day with his name engraved in it. The kids also had some little bits to entertain them on the table when they arrived at the service.

Zoe, my sister in-law presented me with a garter as a something borrowed and blue which was perfect. So everyone was ready to go and my mum looked stunning. Just to put my mind at ease I got a little text from Charlotte to say the room was stunning, and I had nothing to worry about, just as I’d planned it. Thank you Charlotte.

The Man At RMW

Over at the Fleece, Will was getting ready with all his family and best man Tom. Our second shooter was Adam, yes Adam from Rock My Wedding!! Just in case you were wondering who else from Rock My Wedding could be involved! This was great as it meant we could capture what was happening over there too. I’m so glad he did as he got some really funny shots……sorry Adam to put you through this but it looked like a lot of fun Simon also got over there to get some great footage too. That’s another reason to get a videographer as there is so much the bride actually misses on the day. I got to see it all.

Bunny Loves Jack!

‘Bunny loves Jack’ also made an appearance. I had organised for Will to open a series of presents throughout the morning and this wowed him massively, just a little reminder of who he was about to spend the rest of his life with! Looking at his face I think he liked it, thanks to Charlotte and Anna’s amazing talent.

Adam took some great natural shots of the Ushers lunch too, with Will and what seemed to be an entourage, having nine ushers. Will has some amazing friends and we really wanted to have all of them to be apart of our big day. Tom his best man came all the way from Australia, which meant the Stag do was only a week before the wedding, eeek! But all was ok. Thanks for lucking after him boys if you are reading. You may see a familiar face, Mr O’Shea… yes this really is a Rock My Wedding Wedding!! Will and James have been friends for years.

Mr Blue Sky

It was all going amazingly well when the rain just came from know where it was literally bouncing off the ground. So we left it as long as we could before getting into the cars and heading down. My brother now has my Dad’s toy car so it was important to both me and my brother Nick that we went down together in it. A zillion umbrellas later I was in the car ready to get to the venue. ‘Mr Blue Sky’ my Dad’s favourite song was playing really loud and I was just so excited about seeing Will, however a little rescue remedy calmed the nerves a little – a great little tip. I was just thinking how proud my dad would be of all of us right now and I know somehow he would be with me on the day… I could feel him

Venue: Cripps Barn, Bibury Near Cirencester
Dress: Siliba by Pronovias from Grafton Manor, Bromsgrove
Shoes: Jenny Packham at Debenhams
Bridesmaids: Kelsey Rose
Flower Girls: Monsoon
Groom Suit: Steel & Jelly, Henley-in-Arden
Accessories: Headpiece by Ivory and Co
Stationery: Bonny & Clyde
Photographer: Anna Clarke with Adam Crohill (Second shooter)
Videographer: Simon Clarke
Hair and Make-up: Martin Sheen, Mode Hairdressers and Alice
Cake Decoration: Charlotte Gabb
Blooms: Charlotte Gabb at Super Flowers
Day time music: Saxophonist Matt Stacey
Evening Band: Flood the Floor
Big Letters: Vowed & Amazed

Are you enjoying it so far?

Just to add to the um…complete Rock My Wedding-ness of this whole she-bang as you are reading this we will be at Lisa’s house as we are using grounds near by for our latest self styled shoot location!

Do leave a comment and let us know if there are any ideas you would like to steal.

Big Lisa And Will Love

Charlotte xxx

Part two part two!

I’m afraid there are no gratuitous images of best men in their smalls (sorry) but there are lots and lots of lovely details and gorgeous couples portraits.

It’s interesting you know, as much as I recall being in awe of all the hard work Lisa has clearly put in to making the venue look beautiful and how perfect she looked in her dress the thing I remember the most is how everyone was having such a genuinely amazing time, particularly on the dance floor.

And not particularly being a “food-y” as such I thought the wedding breakfast was immense, both in terms of the quality of what was served and the whole way in which it was presented (you can read all about it in Lisa’s account.)

Enjoy lovelies.

Nine Lives

I arrived to the ushers waiting for me, it’s a good job he had nine ushers as the rain just kept pouring and they all helped me get in without a drop of rain on me. Once all the formalities with the registrar were complete I could now go and marry my future husband. I was simply ecstatic. Lisa-Marie, the front of house at Cripps Barn was an absolute gem, she greeted me and put my mind at ease immediately. She had everything under control, which is always a bonus. Isn’t it funny as you plan so much for the day but don’t really talk to the venue much about it until the day in some cases. I had nothing to worry about though, Cripps Barn have done zillions of weddings.

The little flower girls and page boys were so amazingly good. Ava who was only 3 and a half at the time was a little over whelmed I think but took it all in her stride, Maddie just looked like she’d done this a million times – a little professional. Benj was to go first. I’d created a little sign for him to carry down the aisle which said ‘Uncle Willie here comes your girl’ I could hear a few chuckles, so glad it went down well. Will knew nothing about it. Looking back at the video now, Will’s best man was just waiting to see his face when I walked in to the room.

The Cheshire Cat

Eventually it was my turn. I had a brother on each arm. I was so proud to have them there and although a massive part of my life wasn’t with me in person, I was so lucky to have them both to lead me into the room. There he was my perfect husband with his ‘Cheshire Cat’ smile! I didn’t want the day to end.

The flowers were better than anything I could have expected. Large hanging arrangements from the ceiling, hanging low. Charlotte Gabb did an amazing job and when I met her months before the day, I knew she would be perfect, as she knew the place inside out. You’ve probably guessed by now that the service had to be inside but I’m actually quite glad. It was so beautiful inside, it didn’t change a thing. The service went really well. Normally civil services end quite quickly so I was determined for it to last as long as possible so I managed to get a little song in there.

Take That

I know it’s cheesy but it was meant as a little joke so we all sang to Take That ‘Greatest day’ whilst the Saxophonist took over the rest of the entertainment. It was actually quite hilarious and really made the day enjoyable I hope! We booked Matt Stacey as the saxophone was mine and Will’s favourite instrument, so we just had to have him. Matt was brilliant, he even came down the night before as he was driving from Harrogate and let me know so I knew everything would be ok on the day. Little things like this really help. During the day, everyone commented how amazing he was and just fitted really nicely into the day.

Just Enough

Now a little more about the flowers; I went for flowers that were in season to keep down the costs but couldn’t help but have pink peonies in my bouquet with a combination of Astilbe and Ranunculus. I’d seen exactly what I wanted on Pinterest and with a little help from Charlotte O. Once Charlotte Gabb saw the images of what I wanted, I knew she would bring it to life for me without a doubt. One bridesmaid was to have light pink Astilbe and the other Ranunculus. The men had button holes in the same style. These fitted with my colour scheme of pinks and were scattered in little jam jars all over the venue too and used for table centres. I didn’t want to go overboard with flowers but I think I had just enough.

Promises

Will and I wanted to choose non cheesy readings, which was actually quite difficult if you google readings for weddings. They are all cheesy. In the end we liked ‘He Never Leaves the Seat Up’ by Pam Ayres and ‘I like you’ by Sandol Stoddard Warburg both were rather amusing but had an underlining meaning which was important to both of us. We even said our own promises, which were a little soppy but as neither of us were religious we wanted to have something quite unique. I promised to ‘stack the dishwasher properly’ and he promised to ‘make a cup of tea every morning’. I think I did really well there!! And I must say he’s not broken his promise yet.

The ceremony was a blast, so many smiles, we definitely couldn’t wipe them of our faces. As we left the ceremony to once again ‘Mr Blue Sky’ the sun just shone down ready for drinks outside, I couldn’t believe it. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. The guests were presented with Bubbles and Raspberry Mojito’s (again pink) with tiny flags in which I made months before the day with a little help from Lauren C.

Branded

Bonny and Clyde had done a fantastic job of the invites, order of service, menu and table plan designs and because they gave me the fonts and Toby had put together the ‘L&W’ brand I used it in as many places as I could which will pop up throughout this blog.

As mentioned being a marketeer I wanted to be a little creative and get across the whole ‘home made feel’ so with the font and logo I brought the design to life in other ways. Before I knew it I had branded the entire wedding but couldn’t have done this without Bonny and Clyde’s initial design and work. I made the signs outside from old pallet wood and used Annie Sloane chalk paint, picking colours that complimented the colour scheme to create that finishing touch. The signs were just the beginning as I was able to make song sheets, names tags, ‘just married’ bunting. Thank you Lauren C for your help in punching a zillion names out and for the use of your printer!! I couldn’t have done it without you.

Always Remembered

You’ll also notice featured some step ladders courtesy of Rock My Wedding. I had spied them from another shoot they did and thought they would look amazing with some old pictures of Will and I and our parents getting married. I also created a little area for my Dad as I didn’t want this to be a focus on the day but just to have subtle hints of him being around. This was a happy day and he would have loved it. I wrote a poem and popped some pics and a candle there for him. I’m sure lots of you out there have had to go through or will be having a wedding without someone that was incredibly close to you there. Well this is how I dealt with it. I also used an old locket and popped a pic of him in it to put in my bouquet (so he could be with me down the aisle) and instead of favours Bonny and Clyde helped create a design to give away forget me not seeds so instead of a favour I donated money to a charity close to our family; Cancer Vaccine Institute.

The Feast

Well this was a feast, there was no other way to describe it. The food was amazing. We went for an Anti-pasti to begin with and it was huge. Then for main I branded some Aprons and chef hats and gave a person on each table the role of serving the meat. It really was fun, as it helped create that informal feel and gets everyone chatting from the beginning. We are huge lovers of food so the food was important to us and went with what the venue said they were good at doing too. Then there is less risk of anything going wrong on the day. It went brilliantly well and everyone was very well fed.

I Wish For Rainbows

We really could not believe it……during the meal, across the field we could see, not one, but two amazingly vivid rainbows. I don’t think I have ever seen rainbows so prominent before. Taking one look at my mum she was so happy her little wish had come true and my dad really was there on the day. Before I knew it Anna and Simon whipped us off to get the perfect photos.

After the meal and speeches we went to cut the cheese cake. As well as us not really wanting a ‘cake’ cake it meant we could use the cheese later on too when the next round of food came out with some homemade chutneys. As if we hadn’t eaten enough! We had some little mice toppers which I had made to represent us too. Very Cute.

Perfect Delivery

The speeches were tremendous. We had both my brother sand Will’s dad to say a few words in my dad’s absence, which was truly special to me, and I couldn’t have asked for more beautiful and put together speeches. I know it must have been incredibly hard for my brothers but the way they delivered them was perfect. The best man’s speech was hilarious! Jack , Will’s younger brother made a fantastic MC too.

Will and I had been a bit cunning. We didn’t want to do a normal first dance so without telling anybody we learnt a routine to Dire Straits ‘money for nothing’. It was hilarious; we started really slow then Will jumped out to do air guitar style moves. No one was expecting it. It wasn’t perfect but good enough to look like we’d tried. Will said he was more nervous about the dance than he was the speeches. Why Dire Straits you may be wondering? Well..not only was it not a ‘cheesy’ song in the slightest, one day we were just happily cooking in the kitchen with a GTE (GIN, Tonic and Elderflower – my fave) and it came on the iPod. Will’s air guitar was hilarious and we thought it would be so funny to incorporate into the day somehow. Having it as our first dance made absolute sense.

Flooding The Floor

We hired ‘Flood the Floor’ as the evening band– that was Will’s job and he definitely picked the best band ever. They were very clever asking the Bridesmaids and Best Man to get all the gossip, who was who and requested people on the dance floor to do dance offs and sing. They were hilarious and definitely flooded the floor! Well done Will!

Although I seem to have organised a lot of the day I did have some great help on board from both families and Will also contributed massively. Especially when things started taking a little longer than expected. Everyone was dancing and the floor was never empty.

I also had delivered a rather large “L” and “W” to add to the evening entertainment. The letter’s really do stand out and people just kept talking about them. I new the room was quite big so I wanted some detail to make it different and I’d seen these before on another wedding on RMW feature, I just had to have them.

In the background I had also organised a homemade photo booth for the guest book. It was really easy to do and saved us loads of money. I look back at the photo’s now and they are hilarious, especially with the bits of attire I made to go with it. Emma did a fantastic job of making sure we got everyone’s pictures from the evening.

Sparkling Surprises

It was so sad when it all came to an end but it had to end sometime I guess. Both Will and I, although not traditional these days, we both wanted to leave with everyone seeing us go and start our happy married life together. Another one of Will’s jobs was the transport to get home. We couldn’t quite bring ourselves to go home in a taxi after the day we had and as everyone would be watching us leave. I had absolutely no idea what he had sorted.

I just loved the idea too of throwing the bouquet to see who catches it so as we left the venue everyone was lined up for us to leave with sparklers everywhere. It looked so pretty. I threw the bouquet and one of my best friends Sarah caught it and literally within months she was engaged so it definitely works ladies!!

I was quite overwhelmed with everything at this point and what was looking at me? A Tuk Tuk. We were off on our honeymoon to Indonesia so Will thought it would be comical. It certainly was. Thank god the rain had stopped by then.

So what advice would I like to give brides out there? Don’t put too much on yourselves and always ask for help. It actually makes it really enjoyable having close people involved in the day and the run up to it. If you can’t get everything done then take some detail out. No one will know any different on the day. Make sure you have time out for you and your man. Time flies so quickly so you need to reflect on all the loveliness around you. If you can stretch yourselves to get a videographer, I would completely recommend, there were things I didn’t even see and we have watched it tonnes of times already. If someone cannot be there, in my case my dad, on your special day then make him or her apart of it. I didn’t want to go overboard but it actually helped with the build up to the day itself.. oh and a little rescue remedy!!

The day was an absolute blast and I have loved sharing with all you RMW beauties. I really hope you enjoyed it. And as I said at the very beginning, I simply wouldn’t have changed a thing. I just love being Mrs Jordan. A big thank you must go out to all our family and close friends as without you, our special day would not have existed. Thank you so much. And Will – you are incredible.

Venue: Cripps Barn, Bibury Near Cirencester
Dress: Siliba by Pronovias from Grafton Manor, Bromsgrove
Shoes: Jenny Packham at Debenhams
Bridesmaids: Kelsey Rose
Flower Girls: Monsoon
Groom Suit: Steel & Jelly, Henley-in-Arden
Accessories: Headpiece by Ivory and Co
Stationery: Bonny & Clyde
Photographer: Anna Clarke with Adam Crohill (Second shooter)
Videographer: Simon Clarke
Hair and Make-up: Martin Sheen, Mode Hairdressers and Alice
Cake Decoration: Charlotte Gabb
Blooms: Charlotte Gabb at Super Flowers
Day time music: Saxophonist Matt Stacey
Evening Band: Flood the Floor
Big Letters: Vowed & Amazed

Click here & view all images from this wedding

We are doing something a little different with this feature folks and posting the WHOLE wedding film in full towards the end of the week, we’ve never done this before and figured it was an opportunity for our community to see the kind of footage you receive rather than just highlights.

And I might be biased but, it really is one of the greatest wedding films I’ve ever seen.

Big (Even More) Will And Lisa Love

Charlotte xxx

Lucy and Jody are one seriously hot couple. I’m talking hot with a capital ‘H’ folks and I just know you’ll agree once you clap eyes on the images below.

WAIT. It gets better. Yep the wedding decor centred around an epic Maid Marian theme (as if you hadn’t already guessed from the title) inspired by Lucy’s EPIC dress. And it is epic – all beading and embellishment from the front to the back topped off with silk chiffon. I tell you when Team RMW cast their peepers on this beauty for the first time only dogs could hear us we squealed that much.

There’s a double decker bus, there’s a vintage headpiece, there’s also a delicious picnic and the whole day is clearly infused with a healthy dollop of sunshine and love.

Oh and when you see their portrait shots your hearts will melt.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Glebe Farm

Lucy The Bride: Spending so much time in hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi where Jody and I live, we wanted our wedding to feel more like us – a fun relaxed party with a festival touch and lots of food and drink to keep it going all night!

It was always going to be in Gunthorpe – the Nottinghamshire village I grew up in – and we luckily remembered Glebe Farm. They opened up the huge space by the lake, and even had holiday cottages for ushers and bridesmaids – which gave us an empty canvas to play with only moments from my house and the River Trent.

The guys at Tipi & Kata brought in the fantastic tipis, along with all the extra’s needed from toilets and generators to benches and reindeer skins. So all we had to do was start filling it with flowers, people and plenty of fun! And pray for the weather to follow us from the Middle East…

Light And Simple

I don’t wear much make-up and my haircare regime tends to be wash it and hope for the best – so luckily Rochelle, my make-up artist, did a great job of keeping it light and simple.

A friend’s mum tidied up my hair to help it survive the weather and enjoyed a glass of champagne with the bridesmaids. My main memory of getting ready was feeling sorry for my dad – thoroughly outnumbered with girls swarming in every room!

The tan came courtesy of some tough hours by the pool in Abu Dhabi.

Cleopatra

I had three days to find The Dress on a flying visit to London in February. I’d spotted this Amanda Wakeley online, but hadn’t really thought it could work – how could I possibly wear it in church! But typically – one try and I was hooked on the beaded backless ‘Cleopatra’ design.

The somewhat accidental Maid Marian theme seemed to grow around the dress, but it felt very ‘me’ and the most important thing was feeling so relaxed in something so special. And I knew Jody would love it.

Jody had a slimfit blue suit made for him in Dubai from Ascots and Chapels. Searching for the exact shade took hours poring over samples – bespoke is much harder than it looks!

The dress didn’t need much jewelry but after dropping into A Most Curious Wedding Fair in Brick Lane, I bought a vintage headdress from Rosie Weisencrantz on impulse (after a couple of beers!). My ornate diamond and ruby engagement ring was handed down from Jody’s grandma, so meant we could have very simple white gold wedding rings made for us in Dubai at the gold souk.

You Are My Sunshine

The colours were more ‘country garden’ than anything too precise, but inspired by ‘You Are My Sunshine’ (a song my sisters used to sing to me!), all the bridesmaids wore mismatching skirts in anything from deep red through coral and orange to yellow, and then the metallic necklaces and white tops echoed my dress. It all seemed to work in the end despite a few dramas. (Bride tip – 99% of white vests reveal everything underneath them!)

The boys kept it smart in grey suits with deep red ties and scraps of silk for pocket squares. And polished it off with tie bars engraved with the date, so they never forget our wedding anniversary! One of the ushers couldn’t make it at the last minute so we also had a mask of him, which accessorized the majority of the pictures…

Wedding Raiders

With a blank canvas and a tight budget, gardens, fields and attics were raided to bring the party to life. My Creative Director (sister!) went heavy on ribbon, flowers, piles of old books for table numbers, and generous armfuls of bunting and homemade napkins made by mums. Colours stayed ‘sunshiney’ and the scrabble letters for table names kept people amused – even if some words can’t be shown in the photos! Even the local village hall was raided, with creaky old tables and chairs being delivered throughout the week.

We were in the UAE for most of the wedding planning, but luckily I have a very creative younger sister who took a few Pinterest ideas and turned them into really special invites – making them by hand took her a few weeks longer that she’d hoped!

She also designed a very simple one page order of service and pinned it to a brown bag of confetti with a tiny peg – keeping the fun handmade feel of the day – through to the handmade window frame table plan.

Flowery Presents

As my wedding present, one of my mum’s best friends took on the flowers. She enlisted an army of volunteers, raided tens of gardens (with permission!), and spent months praying for seeds to grow, and the sun to shine.

Every bouquet had some thing special to match the bridesmaid or the usher, such as some deep red flowers that smelt of chocolate, or some lavender for me.

It’s very hard to imagine a florist who could ever have cared as much to put together such lovely bouquets, pew ends, and table decorations. Having your family involved makes such a difference!

As the guest list grew, we filled the church! We kept the ceremony lighthearted with short hymns, (Jerusalem for the boys) and short readings from our sisters with Dr Seuss and George Eliot. The London cab and London bus kept a touch of Jody’s London roots in case it all felt a bit too rural for the urbanite Londoners.

The Most Beautiful Girl In The Room

We drank, we feasted, a friend of a friend sang some of my favourite Bluetones and Ocean Colour Scene classics, then we drank again through the blazing sunshine.

We always knew what we wanted for a first dance – a track from Flight of the Conchords – The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room. Jody’s extreme dance moves were less well planned but had everyone in hysterics, mainly the bride.

And two friends, better known as All Salami No Cheese, and famous in the cooler circles of Brockley for their stylish bear suits, treated us to some hardcore iPod DJing (and Morrissey) until the sun came up. We escaped at 2ish but bridesmaids and ushers kept the party going until people had to walk home along the river.

Help Yourself

The food and drink was ALWAYS going to be the most important thing for us!

Our caterer, Rebecca White put together a delicious feast. Having tasting tables for the starters worked really well on such a beautiful hot day, with piles of porkpies, scotch eggs, ham and tomatoes encouraging people to circulate, gossip and get stuck into the ‘help yourself’ atmosphere.

My sister Holly spent three days baking and cooking to deliver an unbelievable table of cakes and deserts, and even commissioned a personalized carved cakestand to make it truly unique. I suspect she will never bake again…

Cheese for the evening was carefully tasted and lovingly chosen by the groom’s sister from Neal’s Yard. And as Jody and I met over a late night kebab in Clapham (another story), that was the only choice for the evening feast.

Jody used to sell Piper Heidsieck champagne, so those red and gold bottles hold a lot of happy memories for us. They were topped up with Pimms, wines, and a very quickly demolished keg of local beer.

Moments Of Calm

Some moments that really stood out were the moments of calm…sitting in an empty teepee 24 hours before the big day gazing up at the ceiling wondering what on earth we were going to do with 200m of ribbon and a load of branches – then by morning my loved ones had created Sherwood Forest!

So much can be planned but the really fun bits and really creative bits come more naturally than that. Bunting gate almost caused a crisis but trust in the people around you to make great decisions when you are panicking!

Take your time early on thinking about the minute by minute of the day – but with a few days to go, brief it into your bridesmaids, caterers and suppliers – and try to forget it. The day just takes on a life of its own and needs to be enjoyed!

Most of our suppliers were family and friends – which makes every part special. And the suppliers we didn’t know got stuck in and enjoyed the party late into the night.

Sam The Superstar

Sam our photographer had to make do with a skype call and glimpse of our schizophrenic Pinterest pages to get a feel for the wedding – but did a fantastic job of helping us feel comfortable in front of the camera and taking fun pictures ENTIRELY in keeping with the day. The fact he left us late in the evening with near heat exhaustion was a slight concern, but it shows the dedication. And I hope he feels the pictures were worth it.

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Gown – Amanda Wakeley – Cleopatra
Headpiece – Rosie Weisencrantz
Make-up – Rochelle O’Brien
Venue – Glebe Farm
Tents – Tipi And Kata
Groom’s Suit – Ascots And Chapels
DJ – All Salami No Cheese
Photography – Samuel Docker Photography

I think this big day quite possibly has the best bridesmaids I’ve seen in a while – how blinking gorgeous are they.

I also think every wedding should finish with DJs in bear suits and a groom in a crown.

Just saying…

All my love Lolly xxx

If you read all about Will and Lisa’s beautiful wedding on Wednesday (it was epic – there was a part 1 and a part 2!) then you will know that a) it had half of Team RMW there as guests in some guise or other b) everyone had a fabulous time c) You can never go wrong with a pink and grey colour scheme.

What you also may have noted is that a few years before her big day Lisa sadly lost her Dad. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to hold your head up high and sashay down the aisle with the finesse that Lisa did under those circumstances.

Lisa’s Mum said that she wished to see a rainbow at some point during the proceedings, it would signify Lisa’s Dad was there, enjoying one of the greatest days of his family’s life as much as everyone else. I cried when Lisa told me this.

And when a ruddy great rainbow appeared I think everyone shed a tear.

We decided to show you the whole 17 odd minute whole-day footage this afternoon, rather than just the highlights. We’ve never done this before but figured it would be interesting for brides that were considering investing in a wedding film, you can see exactly the kind of amazing memories you might receive.

This particular film is one of my most favourite ever. Simon Clarke made it. We like him A LOT.

Enjoy lovelies, and if you are stuck at work then save it for a curl-up-on-the-sofa moment later this evening, it will be well worth it, promise.

Film – Simon Clarke Films

Yes, that dance floor was packed all night long.

Big Rainbow Love

Charlotte xxx

Lauren and Stuart are just the cutest couple. Their couple shots are so full of warmth and affection, I’ve snuck a fair few into this post.

I’ve also included lots shots of Lauren’s bouquet – which is bursting with gorgeous coral peonies. The perfect antidote to the winter blues.

Lauren looks beautiful in her Jenny Packham gown and headpiece, and her veil, made by her Mum and Sister, is truly stunning. Are you ready for the pretty? Here it comes…

A Surprise Engagement

Lauren The Bride: In Dec 2010, Stuart dropped a dollar note in my hand and told me I would be able to spend it where we were going the following day. I looked him and screamed “are we going to New York?!”

An incredible surprise holiday and engagement ring later, we began planning our wedding.

We quickly chose the date of 2nd June 2012, as this was the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, so already a celebratory weekend, which our guests would have the bank holiday to recover from!

Home Sweet Home

Knowing that my parents had hoped one of their four children would get married at home, and our desire for a less formal, more intimate venue, we quickly decided to have our reception in their garden. We liked the fact there were no rules or boundaries and we could select everything that we wanted, plus we would have a venue unique to us.

On our search for a marquee, we were looking for something a bit different and then found Tipis4Hire. We liked the way they created their own environment inside and loved the idea of having an open fire.

We chose Lambourne Church to get married in. A historical and beautiully intimate church just five minutes from my parents house, down a long winding country lane. Which was perfect for our bus ride to the church.

Inspiration From The 20s

I was inspired by the twenties period for the wedding and this influenced much of the style of the day. Not one for heavy make up, I decided to go for a more natural look. There was only one person I trusted with this task and that was my sister Grace, who spent many months leading up to the wedding, researching the most long wearing and photogenic make up. She was also on hand throughout the day for touch ups!

My hair was inspired by Clemence Poesy’s hair in birdsong, effortless and not fussy and was completed with the Acacia II headband from Jenny Packham.

Sparkling In The Sunshine

When selecting the dress, I teased myself with Vera Wang and Monique L’huiller but the dresses were far too formal / grand for our informal do. Also the thought of dragging a multi layered gown through a field did not really appeal. I then found Jenny! So booked an appointment on my birthday at their London boutique.

My mum and I quickly narrowed the selection down to two. One a slim tulle gown and the other, the beautifully embellished Eden…The sales assistant suggested I go outside to see them in natural light. Behind the shop was a secret garden with a mirror, a twirl in Eden and I was in love – the dress dazzled in the sun.

A Veil To Treasure Forever

I tried on my headpiece at the same time as the dress and it fit the twenties look just perfectly. My veil sat under my hair, made by my Mum and Sister, with silk tulle and 100′s of Swarovski crystals. It was so beautiful as it subtly shimmered when each crystal was touched by the light. It is a beautiful keepsake of the day and hopefully something I can pass down to future family brides.

My shoes were from Jimmy Choo, the wedge was great for walking around the field and kept me dancing until 2am!

Girls In Grey

I was very lucky that I had so many female relatives to ask to be my bridesmaids. My sister Grace was my Maid of Honour and I am not sure if I would have been able to have do it all without her.

For bridesmaids, I had my cousin Holly (who along with Grace, organised the most amazing hen do) my cousins, Tilly and Hannah (keeping a family tradition going, as I was their Mum’s bridesmaid, their Mum was my Mum’s bridesmaid and so on) Stuart’s cousins Luisa and Morgan (who had requested to be my bridesmaids when they first met me 8 years ago) and last but not least Molly, who is one of my closest friends Louise’s daughter.

The girls wore grey dresses from Ghost, which complemented my dress and the 20′s inspiration. The younger girls wore ivory tulle dresses from Monsoon UK.

Smart In Navy

Stuart was unable to choose between his friends from uni, so had both Geoff and Andy as Best Men and the Groomsmen were my brothers Daniel and James, Leigh (Stuart’s friend from home), Justin (who is my honoury brother) and our nephew Joshua was our page boy.

The boys wore navy suits from Marks and Spencer to match with Stuart’s and both of our Dad’s Gieves and Hawkes suit. All the men wore Burberry ties.

Grey With A Touch Of Coral

The theme was always going to be a touch of coral, I love coral peonies and nail polish so they kind of inspired the day. The grey came from the Ghost dresses, as we all liked them in this colour rather than nude pink I had origianally planned.

From the start, I had wanted the wedding to be as personal as possible, I enjoy being creative and so do my mum and sister, so I wanted to utilise our expertise. We made metres and metres of bunting and I made pom poms that my new in-laws hung from the tipi beams.

Tea lights were made from Joshua’s baby food jars, with wire handles. For crockery we scoured charity shops looking for vintage china and received many donations from family members. I enjoyed making the pom poms and collecting the crockery so much that I hope to sell/ rent them in a future venture!

I was so lucky my family were on hand and willing to muck in, we spruced up my parents garden and even created a mojito bar in their breeze hut, overlooking the lake.

Handpicked And Natural

I wanted the flowers to look hand picked and natural- our local florist Ildika from Passion For Flowers, perfectly understood what I was looking for. My bouquet was stunning and the coral peonies were beautiful. We had collected jam jars and vintage vases which she filled with handpicked looking arrangements.

Just Us

The ceremony started with a rendition of God save the Queen, to commemorate the Jubilee weekend. Stuart’s sister gave a very sweet reading and my brother Daniel read ‘A Lovely Love Story’ by Edward Monkton about two dinosaurs in love.

It was very amusing and apt for him, as he loves his dinos! Although there were 130 people sat around us and above in the gallery, when we read our vows it felt like there was just us, it was a by special moment for both of us and truly unforgettable.

Filled With Music

The Tipis came alive when our band, The Hype began playing. They kept the dance floor full until 2am, finishing with their own rendition of Calvin Harris’ Feel So Close- they were incredible!

Food For Foodies

Stuart and I are really into our food and love trying out places, our table names were even named after restaurants we had visited.

Our caterers, That Catering Company (Jon 07917801517) compiled a simple menu with suprises and twists, including pheasant burger canapés and peanut butter crème brûlée. They also made a selection of biscuits and sweets for our favours. As my parents have a small holding, we were able to use their meat for a posh hog roast and sausages for a BBQ in the evening.

Our cake was made by my Mum, we didn’t really fancy a traditional cake, so she decided to capture the wedding party and venue on it, even including some chickens! The cake was perfect, there are really no ends to my Mum’s talents!

A Great Keepsake

I love to draw, so I designed my save the dates and hand wrote our guest’s names onto vintage placemats. We handed over the responsibility of the invites to The Wedding Tea Towels, as we thought it would be a great keepsake for our guests.

Like Meeting An Old Friend

Our day was captured exquisitely by Sarah Gawler, it was a pleasure to have her involved in our day and from our first meeting it felt like she was an old friend.

I am not one for attention, so her reportage style was just perfect and great to have so many natural shots. The photography was so important to us and I am so happy that we found Sarah!

It Brought Us All Together

For us the wedding was about sharing the experience with the people we most cared about. We loved planning ours and hope our family enjoyed being part of the preparations and the day too, we couldn’t have done it without them and have great memories of us all bringing it together.

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Bride’s Gown – Eden by Jenny Packham
Headpiece – Acacia II by Jenny Packham
Shoes – Jimmy Choo
Bridesmaid’s Gowns – Ghost and Monsoon UK
Groom’s Suit – Gieves And Hawkes
Groomsmen – Marks and Spencer
Florist – Passion For Flowers
Invites – The Original Wedding Tea Towel
Band – The Hype
Catering – That Catering Company (Jon 07917801517)
Tipis – Tipis 4 Hire
Photography – Sarah Gawler

The tipi décor is achingly pretty isn’t it?

I do love a pink colour palette, especially with the rustic wooden tables.

Lauren’s eyelashes look AMAZING.

Lots of love,
Fern x

Sometimes I think we forget that a wedding is about more than just the Bride and Groom. Weddings are also about two families coming together; the start of a new generation – but also about appreciating the older generation who have loved you and supported you through the good and the bad times.

Carley and Joe’s wedding is a real celebration of that. All of the décor was made by her family and inspired by her mother-in-law’s shop, The Angel Bill Trading Company.

Carley describes planning her wedding as an emotional rollercoaster which I’m sure lots of you can relate to. She also says that not only did she gain a soul mate on her wedding day, but also a renewed strength in her love for the people most important to her.

And I suppose an occasion like that definitely calls for a big party…

A Special Place

Carley The Bride: We married at St Helens Church in Wheathampstead. We chose this church for many reasons, one being that this was where I grew up and my mothers grave is there. It felt really important to be close to my mum on our special day. We then had our reception at Tewin Bury Farm. The barn fitted perfectly with our Country Chic/Fayre theme.

Showing Off The Neck And Shoulders

My step mum is a qualified hairdresser so naturally she took up the task of doing the Brides and Bridesmaids hair. We had a wonderful make-up artist recommended to us by various friends for the day called Jessica Alice Miller.

I wanted a very relaxed boho look and for a long time I was dead set on having my hair down and wavy for the bridal party. But after the final touches were being made to my dress, I decided I wanted to show off the neckline and take my hair off my shoulders.

An Unexpected Decision

I always knew in my heart I wanted a tea length dress, but didn’t dare try one on at the start. I worried I wouldn’t look like a Bride! After trying on several standard wedding gowns, I finally tried on a tea length dress. Apparently my whole posture and body language changed. It felt right.

But I was so fussy and couldn’t find ‘the’ dress so decided to have it made from scratch. With help from the very talented Justine at Angel Face Bridal Shop in Buckfastleigh, I designed my dress exactly how I wanted it! I had my shoes dyed pink (my favourite colour) and in the evening wore special edition crochet ‘Toms’ espadrilles – it was fun to have my new name on my shoes!

Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend

I hadn’t even thought about jewellery, which was odd because I had focused on every tiny detail so hard! At my Hen party, my nan gave me some amazing diamond earrings my granddad gave to her which was very emotional. And on the morning of the wedding, Joe’s sister Alice (also my bridesmaid) gave me a gift on behalf of Joe, which was a stunning diamond necklace. It was perfect!

I also had a gorgeous clutch bag from alphabetbags.com which said ‘Bride’. It was so handy and was obvious whose bag it was! The rings were made by Galio Jewellers in St Albans. Joe also had the engagement ring made and supplied from the same jewellers so it was nice to have all the rings from the same place.

Here Comes The Bride

We had two Bridesmaids (our sisters) and a flower girl (Carley’s step sister). Joe had two best men and one usher. The Bridesmaids both wore Dessy dresses and the Groomsmen wore suits hired through Angel Face. Joe bought a separate suit for himself from Ted Baker.

The flower girls dress was from Monsoon UK. She also carried a wooden sign down the aisle which read ‘Here Comes The Bride’ which was made by Joe’s mum (Kate Toms, owner of The Angel Bill Trading Company).

A Very Creative Bunch

We had a sort of rustic/country chic theme with a bit of country fayre thrown in! Due to Joe coming from an extremely creative family, we had a lot of help with making and designing all the décor ourselves. We even made all the garden games ourselves from scratch; we had a splat the rat, horseshoe hoopla, welly wanging and a giant buzzer game!

We decorated the whole venue ourselves using vintage bottles and books we’d collected. We made all the chair sashes ourselves using lots muslin and blue dye.

Simple Yet Stunning

We had all our flowers put together by Arrangements in Redbourn. I wanted my flower girl to have the exact same bouquet as me, just a bit smaller.

After the ceremony I put her flowers on my Mum’s grave. We wanted the Bridesmaids and Groomsmen to have lots of gypsophila and be very simple yet stunning. The flowers in the venue had a country/wild flower theme.

A Real Family Affair

I designed our Order of Service cards and with the help of Joe’s Mum and Sister, painstakingly tied muslin bows onto them, which were handed out before the ceremony. On the reverse we had the order of the day printed so our guests knew exactly what was happening and when.

Joe’s Grandma did a special reading during the ceremony. My Grandad gave me away. We also put together a little treat for the guests as they were leaving the ceremony; brown paper bags with a Tunnocks ‘Caramel’ bar and a map with a poem printed on the front (all made by the Tom’s family!).

The Perfect Accompaniment

During the sit down meal we hired a singer called Huw booked through Warble Entertainment. He was amazing and all our guests said his voice was beautiful and really added something special to the atmosphere.

Rather than having a DJ, we used a company called MiPod Party. We gave them a list of songs we wanted and they put together a playlist for the evening music. They provide all the sound system and lighting equipment, along with an ipod with your chosen music. It was so simple and easy, and tons cheaper than hiring a DJ. We had Jason Mraz – Lucky as our first dance, followed by Paolo Nutini – 10/10.

Delicious Food And Homemade Favours

We had a gorgeous three course meal cooked and served by the staff at Tewin Bury Farm. Chicken liver parfait with red onion marmalade and brioche for starters, loin of pork, thyme, garlic and hazelnut farce, with wholegrain mustard mash, calvados cream sauce and crackling vegetables for main and pavlova with mango coulis, pecan nut praline and cream for dessert.

Joe’s sister Alice (Bridesmaid) made homemade fudge for our favours wrapped up in brown paper and sealed with a sticker I designed. Our cake was made by a good friend, Jenny Whitehead (also mother of the Usher!). We had a five tiered (two of which were polystyrene!) red velvet cake with white chocolate icing. We used part of a tree trunk as our cake stand which Joe’s Dad cut and sanded down for us. I made the mini bunting cake topper.

Personalised Décor

We designed and made our table plan board ourselves. We had antique keys with luggage tags hanging on a board with each persons name and table number. Joe’s mum and dad made our wooden table numbers. I designed the menus on the table. We made wooden moustaches ourselves too which were put on each table. I also made the bunting across the top table which read Mr & Mrs Toms.

The World Continues To Revolve

Planning a wedding proved to be a very stressful and emotional roller-coaster for us both and it only made us appreciate each other and the people we love around us so much more. You become so absorbed in ‘wedding wedding wedding’ that it’s easy to sometimes forget that the world is continuing to revolve and that not everyone is as obsessed about your day like you are.

The day after our wedding, I suddenly felt this huge love for everyone around me so much stronger than ever. Not only did I marry my soul mate that day, I also realised the most important people in my life and how much I love them.

Above And Beyond

Our photographer was Julia West. I cannot praise her work enough! Julia and her wonderful assistant were just incredible on the day! So attentive and focused, yet so discreet. I didn’t even realise they were there most of the day! They both went above and beyond our expectations and Julia has produced the most stunning photos we will treasure forever.

We have to give a huge thank you to Joe’s Mum, Dad and Sister. They pretty much dedicated their lives for the months leading up to the wedding to helping us design and make everything. A lot of our inspiration came from the wonderful work of Joe’s mum – Kate Toms, owner of The Angel Bill Trading Company.

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Bride’s Gown – Angel Face Bridal
Clutch Bag – alphabetbags.com
Hair – Lorraine Hair Design
Bridesmaid’s Gowns – Dessy
Flower Girl – Monsoon UK
Groom – Ted Baker
Groomsmen – Suit Hire at Angel Face Bridal
Singer – Huw at Warble Entertainment
Florist – Arrangements
Décor And Inspiration for Décor – The Angel Bill Trading Company
Venue – Tewin Bury Farm
Photography – Julia And You

Carley and Joe make a very stylish pair. I’m so pleased Carley went with a tea length gown!

And if you want your Groom to look as dapper as Joe, don’t forget that you can view Ted Baker’s latest collections in our Designer Collections pages.

Lots of love,
Fern x

I should probably begin this beautiful big day with a Pinterest warning, because folks, Charly & Si’s wedding is filled to bursting with oodles of gorgeous details that I can guarantee that you’ll love.

From fragranced, colour-drenched sweet peas to floral arches and flower crowns through to one of the prettiest dresses of silk with lace cap sleeves that I’ve seen all year. And then there’s the 100 year old family heirloom car – just wait until you see Hetty the Humber folks – I promise that you won’t be disappointed.

And I haven’t even gotten started on the village fete games, the sack races and the mammoth round of tug-of-war.

EPIC.

Feeling Controversial

Charly The Bride: I am going to start my blog post with something slightly controversial: I did not love every minute of planning our wedding. I am not the organised, crafty, talented type of girl who seems to grace these pages most days. I can’t sew or paint, we don’t have any friends who are graphic designers, and my now husband doesn’t give two hoots about the clothes he wears. One skill I think I do have is the ability to throw a good party, and that; my Mum would tell you is in my genes.

I read Rock My Wedding religiously in the year preceding our wedding, and always inspired, would go running to my boy spouting enthusiastically about giant lit-up letters, photo booths and bunting. None of which really made it to the actual wedding; although I do have a drawer full of fabric off-cuts and a sewing machine that stared me out every day for 6 months. Despite this, our wedding day was the best day of our lives so far. It was cobbled together with a lot of love, luck and help from our families, and as you can see from the pictures everyone had a fantastic time. My point is you don’t need to be a crafting superstar or uber-organised to make a wedding beautiful. If I can do it anyone can.

St Michaels And All Angels

Before getting engaged, we had given very little thought into where we would get married. However, we were pretty lucky and the answer just dropped into our laps. Si decided he would like to get married in a church, and although neither of us is particularly religious this made the decision super easy. Both my parents and my Aunt and Uncle married in the tiny beautiful church of St. Michaels and All Angels in Cofton Hackett, also my grandparents are buried there. This then set the tone for our entire wedding; a family orientated, close to home, proper party.

I have always loved my Aunt Maxine and Uncle Richard’s house. It is a beautiful, rambly, cosy country cottage with a BEAUTIFUL garden, and when Max offered to host the wedding, that was the easy bit. We then toyed with marquees, which didn’t feel like us at all, far too grown up, and then I found out about giant tipis. They created the perfect atmosphere for our laid back wedding, and are incredibly beautiful structures. The guys at World Inspired Tents were amazing, and even gave us a baby tree as a wedding present.

The Beauty

I am not a girl who wears a lot of make up, I normally wear eyeliner and blusher and nothing else. I had a bridal lesson at MAC, bought quite a lot of their products and then didn’t end up wearing most of it. My Mum hired Natalie Gregg (loveliest person ever), who managed to get some make up onto me (without covering up my freckles) and then proceeded to help my Mum make last minute bouquets for my bridesmaids.

The one thing I will recommend was the Shellac nails, vivid crimson, and lasted for ages. My hair was done by an old school friend, who was lovely, and understood exactly what I wanted straight away. Going to the hairdresser the morning of the wedding was a really nice way for my maids to relax and me to calm my nerves.

The Vintage Wedding Dress Company

I LOVED my wedding dress. I knew I would never end up in a lot of dress, after trying on some very weddingy dresses; including one that weighed more than I did. I came to the conclusion the slinkier the better; however finding beautiful, simple and well cut dresses is easier said than done. I had spent hours on the internet looking at Jenny Packham, Temperly and spectacular Eli Saab dresses, before coming back to earth with a bump and realising that spending upwards of £4000 on a dress was not going to happen.

I came across The Vintage Wedding Dress Company now renamed Charlie Brear at a sample sale, and loved the cut and quality of their own range dresses. But again, was stumped by the cost of them. So I started looking at second hand dress websites. Eventually I found a VWDC dress, in my size, for sale in London. So my bridesmaids and I trekked off to Shepherds Bush to try on the dress. The girl who was selling her dress was lovely. She had put up fairy lights in her bedroom so it was more bridal.

I tried on the dress (a very simple cream, silk ,crepe, column dress with lace cap sleeves and a blush satin sash) loved it, made my Maid of Honour cry and bought it there and then. No alterations or fittings necessary. The only difficult bit was not trying it on every 5 minutes whilst it sat in my wardrobe at home. I cannot recommend buying a second hand dress enough. Less than half the price for something that has been worn once and been really well looked after.

Miu Miu Heaven

Saving so much on my dress meant I could splash out a little bit on my shoes; although they were half price too; I do love a bargain. I found my beautiful magenta, suede, glittery soled, Miu Miu shoes on mytheresa.com. I also went to the Vintage Wedding Dress Company boutique and bought a full length lace-edged veil. I felt that with such a simple dress I could get away with slightly more outrageous accessories. My parents had a necklace made for me out of a sapphire, which my Mum had had for her 21st birthday and presented it to me on the morning of the wedding. That was my something new old and blue all in one. I borrowed a cotton hanky from my Aunty, and used it A LOT throughout the day.

The Amazing Ruchi

My Maid of Honour; Ruchi, otherwise know as invitation designer extraordinaire, also chose the bridesmaid dresses. She phoned me one day to say ‘Charly, I have found these dresses I think are perfect’ and sent me a picture, I said ‘lovely, get them’. To which she replied ‘I already have’. That was the easiest part of the whole wedding. I trust Ruch completely and was very lucky to have her help. She also planned ‘The Best Hen Do ever’ to Budapest. The boys wore their own suits, and liberty print bowties to match Si. Our colour scheme was very relaxed; English country garden colours.

Heart Shaped Confetti

I had found a style of invitation I liked, but when I looked them up them I realised that they cost close to a tenner each. Cue my super talented best friend and Maid of Honour Ruchi, who drew the invitations of my dreams, which we then got printed. The orders of service were another last minute job, hastily tied together with garden twine by my father-in-law the day before the wedding.

Si and I also spent hours punching heart shaped confetti out of the complete works of Shakespeare. We had intended just to use the romances, but found that they didn’t go very far, a careful examination of the confetti would have revealed some pretty gruesome passages.

An English Country Garden

Holding a wedding reception, in a tipi, in a country garden in July, in England, pretty much sets the theme for itself. We threw ourselves, whole hog down the English country garden route. With white lace bunting, wicker hearts, a coconut shy, and shed turned into a pub; bottles and jam jars, and a Moroccan BBQ (obviously). The tipis and garden themselves were so beautiful they didn’t take a lot of decorating. And I was far too disorganised to think of things as fundamental as table numbers and a seating plan; resulting in last minute scribbles on a mirror and some bits of pretty paper.

We hired lots of vintage crockery from Constance Wallace, run by Diane, the nicest lady I have ever met, who has a gorgeous shop full of vintage bits a pieces which makes me want to run away and offer her my services for free. Although I’m not sure how much use an A&E nurse would be to her…free first aid maybe.

The car that we used to get to and from the wedding is a family heirloom and her name is Hetty the Humber, 98 years old, and my brother and dad spent months getting her into perfect working order and looking fantastic. One of my favourite moments of the day was; on the way to the church, driving past a little girl who clapped her hands to her face a squealed aloud, as if she had just seen something magical.

Pretty And Wild

Our flowers were from Lili Floral Art, who did a fantastic job of translating my very vague specification of ‘something pretty and wild and not traditional, with herbs’ into the most spectacularly beautiful reality. I was desperate for floral crown, ever since seeing Lolly’s wedding on these pages over a year ago. Although I wasn’t going to let my maids have all the fun.

The flower crowns were as much fun to wear as they were beautiful to look at. I couldn’t possibly tell you what flowers they contained, having paid no attention whatsoever, but they did have rosemary, thyme and lavender in and as a result smelled delicious. My maids also carried bouquets, made by my Mum the morning of the wedding in a mad dash.

I Carry Your Heart

The one thing no one warned me about; was how nervous I would be. Word fumbly, upside down tummy, can’t think straight nervous; which then gave way to tears as soon as I started speaking. That said the ceremony was one of the most profound and moving experiences of my life. We had two readings; Corinthians, and my favourite poem of all time ‘I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart’ by E. E. Cummings. Both of which reduced me to tears.

Si’s brothers serenaded us out of the church, playing Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Flowers Never Bend’. One of his brothers Pete is actually in a Simon and Garfunkel tribute band and I had lots of guests tell us how spellbound they were by their incredible performance.

Rain, Games And A Standing Ovation

Having the reception in Max and Richard’s garden gave us complete freedom. We had village fete games, by far the most successful of which was the tug’o’war. This happened in the pouring rain, which no one seemed to mind and some of my favourite photos show just how much everyone got into it and how competitive it got.

My other favourite bits of the reception were the speeches. Si’s brothers both being super talented musicians wrote and performed the most hilarious song that got a standing ovation from the whole wedding and had everyone in fits of giggles. My dad has a bit of a reputation for making inappropriate jokes, but his speech was wonderful and Si’s had everyone in tears.

My mum and I are pretty noisy women, and both made a speech ourselves. I would definitely recommend not letting the boys do all the talking. Si’s mum and her partner’s band played hours of amazing 60’s tunes that had everyone dancing well into the night.

Champagne Coupes And A Moroccan BBQ

One of my favourite things about the reception was drinking champagne out of vintage champagne coupes. We also had elderflower gin fizz and cloudy lemonade in recycled Sweppes bottles with stripy straws; these were a huge hit with the guests. Later on, several bottle of tequila were conjured up and there was a lots of ‘doing shots out of egg cups’ going on. Not very picturesque, but completely hilarious, and very much taken advantage of by my parents’ friends.

The food as I mentioned was a Moroccan BBQ, and was completely delicious, even if I was far too excited to actually eat much. Later on in the evening we had a Cheesecake and hundreds of incredible local pork pies, many of which ended up in some guests’ handbags to be consumed the following morning. One of my maids Esther, her Mum and I made our ‘naked’ cake the day before the wedding and other yummy cakes and desserts were made by other guest’s village fete style.

Portait Of A Lady

I would like to reiterate the advice to get as many couples portraits as you can. We definitely didn’t do enough of this, and am only comforted by the fact that we were too busy having the most incredible time. Also don’t feel like you have to tick all off the wedding boxes. If you don’t have the time, money or inclination to spend 100 hours making 100 paper cranes or whatever the latest wedding fashion is then don’t. None of the guests at the wedding will notice. Certainly no one noticed the few bits and pieces that glared out at me, as a bit disorganised or not pretty enough. Or at least they were too polite to mention it to a bride on her wedding day.

An Absolute Wonder

Our photographer Rhys Parker was an absolute wonder. He was super friendly and got some really beautiful photographs, everyone commented on how lovely he was and how natural his photos are. I cannot recommend him enough. Also Leanne from Blooming Lovely Films was spectacular; I found her on Rock My Wedding and have only seen the trailer for our video. I cannot wait to see the rest.

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Gown – Charlie Brear
Make-up – Natalie Gregg
Hair – Amy
Florist – Lili Floral Art
Tipis – World Inspired Tents
Evening Entertainment – Andy Richards
China Hire – Constance Wallace
Reception Music – The Bookends Show
Videography- Blooming Lovely Films
Photography – Rhys Parker

I think we can safely say that it’s the first time that we’ve had shots of guests ‘doing shots out of egg cups’ on these pages. But I think you’ll agree that it looks pretty awesome.

Congratulations you two.

All my love Lolly xxx

Sometimes when planning W-day you have to throw caution to the wind and just go with your heart, whether the outcome is what might be considered sensible or not.

Hannah’s bright pink Rupert Sanderson sky-scraping shoes for example – which she remarks “clashed with the bridesmaids dresses” and were “impractically high” but she simply had to have them. So what if they were not the colour scheme ideal? they were AMAZE.

The whole affair is just beautiful, with a hundred and one ideas for you lovelies to steal and a really well written account to boot, the ceremony section in particular is well worth a read.

Enjoy!

Relaxed And Informal

Hannah The Bride: Luke proposed on our 3 year anniversary before whisking me away on a surprise trip to New York. While I’d been very excited about the prospect of getting engaged, I’d never really thought about what I wanted the day itself to be like. From the moment we started planning, however, we were both agreed that we wanted it to be a day that was relaxed, informal and most of all fun! A barn wedding seemed to fit perfectly with this.

We went to see Grittenham Barn on a cold and snowy morning in February and we knew straight away this was where we wanted to get married. It was beautifully rustic, the grounds were stunning and best of all it came complete with two resident donkeys – and who wouldn’t want their wedding to be accessorised by a couple of donkeys?!

Timeless Elegance

Before we got engaged I definitely didn’t have in mind what I wanted ‘the dress’ to be like. However once I started looking there was one designer that I was drawn to again and again – Jenny Packham. Eden was the first dress I tried, initially in the platinum colour with gold beading. I nearly discounted it as it was definitely a case of the dress wearing me rather than the other way round. However I loved the style of the dress, and the beading gave it a wonderful mix of timeless elegance and all-out glamour.

After a bit of further internet searching I found out that they also made the dress in ivory, and when I tried this (despite the sample dress being a few sizes too big) I knew this was my dress. I bought the dress from Carina Baverstock in Bradford upon Avon, and huge thanks go to Ellen who altered it perfectly.

Had To Have Them

Given the detail on the dress I kept jewellery to a minimum. I bought a glass pearl bracelet with vintage clasp, matching pearl hair pins and earrings, and a simple silk veil; all from Gillian Million.

In keeping with the dress I also decided to buy less than traditional shoes. On a Christmas shopping trip to London I found myself being ever-so-slightly distracted by a pair of bright pink Rupert Sanderson peep toes. Despite clashing with the burgundy bridesmaids dresses, and being impractically high, I just had to have them! However they were really comfortable, and much to my surprise I didn’t take them off all day.

Navy And Pearl

My three bridesmaids were my sister and two besties from school. Finding the bridesmaids dresses was definitely one of the trickier tasks – making sure the girls felt comfortable in what they were wearing was really important to me. I didn’t think we’d find a dress that would suit them all but Hobbs came up trumps. We accessorised with navy sashes and shoes, and like me the girls wore pearl pins in their hair.

All Day Wear

I don’t usually wear much makeup and had strict instructions from Luke that I look like ‘me’ on the day. Gemma Sutton was my hair and makeup artist, and she did a really wonderful job at keeping the makeup natural, while also ensuring it lasted for the whole day.

I had a trial with Gemma a couple of months before the wedding, absolutely sure that I wanted a side bun for the day. However I’m a very indecisive person and true to form on the day I changed my mind, deciding instead to have my hair down. Gemma took it all in her stride and I was so happy with the loose curls she created.

Tweedy

Luke looked so handsome in a three piece tweed suit from Topman (which was a complete bargain) and shoes from Grenson (which cost as much as his whole suit!), while the three best men and my Dad wore their own grey suits. In keeping with the relaxed feel of the day we had Liberty floral print ties and pocket hankies made for all of the boys, and Luke also chose Prefect style badges for them to wear.

It was through these little touches that Luke put his stamp on things – I think the badges in particular were a hit!

Imperfect Perfect

I’ll be honest – despite being the most important part of the wedding I was really dreading the ceremony. I’m naturally a shy person and was so nervous at the prospect at standing up and saying our vows. However on the morning I was pretty calm about the whole thing (so unlike me!), and as soon as I saw Luke at the end of the aisle any fears I had evaporated.

We had two readings, one read by one of Luke’s best men and the other by two of my bridesmaids. The first was a reading called ‘Maybe’. We particularly liked the line ‘Maybe love is not about finding the perfect person; it’s about learning to see an imperfect person perfectly’ – it just felt very ‘us’. The second Luke put together, combining well known romantic lines from some of our favourite films. It was something we weren’t sure would work but were pretty pleased with the end result.

A Vision Of Blooms

We knew flowers were going to be really important. As the barn provided a relatively simple backdrop the flowers were key in bringing it to life. That being said we know nothing about flowers, and our description of what we wanted was vague to say the least – “colourful” and “like they had just been scooped up from a meadow”! Luckily Angel from Angel Like Flowers regularly decorates the barn for weddings and completely understood our ‘vision’!

In line with the rustic feel of the day the flowers for the tables and over the fireplace were in mismatched glass jars and bottles. She also decorated the two chandeliers – one with hydrangeas and the other with an enormous hanging flower ball which has to be one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I wish I could have taken it home!

Huge Successes

Our preference from the beginning was to move away from the traditional 3-course set menus and more towards dishes in keeping with our venue, setting, decor and atmosphere. After finding Gastro Catering we decided on a Hog Roast which proved to be a big success, and second helpings were gladly devoured by a number of our guests.

I’d always planned to arrive at the wedding in my own little Mini. However a stroke of luck on the day lead us to meet Alan Sutton of Petworth Wedding Car Hire who offered to drive me in his beautiful 1954 Riley. He was an absolute pleasure, and really put me at ease on the drive to the barn.

Via RMW

We found Source Images through Rock My Wedding, and were instantly drawn to their vivid and colourful photography. The more we saw of their work the more it confirmed their style was exactly what we were looking for. When we met up for our pre-wedding shoot we knew we’d made the right choice – Ines is so full of energy and ideas and Jordan so fantastically talented.

On the day Jordan did a really wonderful job at picking out all the little details of the day, and went over and above to capture some of the stunning backdrops which Grittenham had to offer (including ducking under an old wooden fence whilst simultaneously avoiding some pretty sizeable puddles – all in the name of art!)

Naked Favours

We had personalised tea towels as favours, which were designed and made by the Original Wedding Tea Towel company. I thought this was such a fantastic idea – both useful and fun. We ended up putting them over the backs of the chairs so they happily also became part of the décor!

Before we went for our first cake appointment at Papillon Patisserie I had my heart set on a tiered victoria sponge – I thought a ‘naked’ wedding cake would be perfect for the rustic feel of the day. However when we were given about 10 different flavoured sponges to try we knew we couldn’t settle just for one! As such we had individual sponges in chocolate, lemon, pistachio, carrot and of course original victoria sponge. They were all delicious but I think there may have been a bit of bargaining amongst our guests for the chocolate ones!

Jam And Tea

One of the other reasons that Grittenham Barn was ideal for us is that you hire the venue unfurnished, which gave us complete control on everything which went into the barn, from the tables and chairs to the decor. I loved every second of bringing my vision to life. Over the 18 months we were planning the wedding I collected bits and pieces to accessorise the barn, including wooden crates, garden games, napkins and many a pretty knick-knack. My Mum made hessian runners for the tables and we also borrowed her old Pashley bike and filled the basket with Hydrangeas.

I also wanted to create a lounge and photo booth area for the evening. I found Jam and Tea, a props hire and styling company, who not only were based close to the barn but had the most wonderful and creative lady at the helm. Over tea and cupcakes at Maryanne’s house we talked through our ideas and she well and truly brought these to life! Jam and Tea also do catering and so Maryanne made a variety of biscuits and petit fours which were arranged on crates, side tables and a chest of drawers. This was a real focal point and all our guests commented on how delicious the cakes were.

No Regrets

The best piece of advice I can offer is to make sure that you follow your instincts and bring your vision to life, not anybody else’s. For us it was really important that we could look back and know that we did it our way with no regrets whatsoever. I loved the planning process and it gave us a chance to really stamp our personalities on the day.

Also try to make sure you snatch a few moments with your new husband to ensure you drink in the day and all that has happened. It’s true that your wedding day really does fly by and so it’s important to take time to reflect on it all.

Most of all enjoy – it’s the best day ever and come rain or shine will be perfect.

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Why not take a moment and sit back and watch Hannah and Luke’s cracking video from the lovely Shutterbox Films.

Venue: Grittenham Barn
Brides Gown: Eden by Jenny Packham at Carina Baverstock
Jewellery And Veil: Gillian Million
Make-up And Hair – Gemma Sutton
Shoes: Rupert Sanderson
Maids Dresses: Hobbs
Grooms Suit: Topman
Prop Hire: Jam and Tea
Cake: Papillon Patisserie
Entertainment: Roger Styles
Favours: Wedding Tea Towel Company
Blooms: Angel Like Flowers
Catering: Gastro Catering
Car Hire: Petworth Wedding Car Hire
Videography: Shutterbox
Photography: Source Images

Absolutely loving the whole “living room” set up for photo opportunities.

And those bridesmaids dresses were lovely, stylish yet super flattering.

Big Imperfect Love

Charlotte xxx

If I had to use one word to describe Will and Nikki then it would be ‘adorable’. I’ve never met them admittedly but the photos from their glorious rustic outdoorsy affair show the sweetest couple who are very much in love.

There are plenty of gorgeous thoughtful details too, from the hand-scrawled signage at both the ceremony and the reception, the wonderful stationery, the guestbook and the table plan.

Oh man…just wait until you see the table plan!

And those portrait shots on the hay bales and Range Rover? Genius.

Oh and there are some pretty fashion savvy gents in tweed too – from one of my favourite boutiques in Edinburgh! I do love me a man in tweed…

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Nikki The Bride: Will and I got married on my parent’s farm just outside Matlock, Derbyshire on Saturday the 10th of August, 2013. After Will proposed on NYE 2011, our initial plan was to have a small, low key wedding with just a few close family and friends. We did the total opposite! There were several reasons for this but we’re so pleased with the decision we made – our day was incredible.

Having been to more weddings than we’ve had hot dinners over the last few years, we were able to get a feel for the things we liked and certain aspects of ‘the big day’ that appealed to us. We knew that a stately home or a fancy hotel wasn’t our cup of tea and to get married at home with such wonderful memories of growing up meant something to us.

Being on the edge of the Peak District with its rolling green hills and pretty villages provided a great backdrop and we married at the local parish church, St.Helen’s before making the short trip back to the farm to our reception in a traditional pole marquee provided bySimon Bond. With absolutely no restrictions on the number of guests, what menu to choose from or wine to select, we were able to make our day really personal.

Elegant Lace

My dress was from a shop called Darcy Weddings in Morpeth just north of Newcastle upon Tyne where we live. Having been a bridesmaid the previous year, I’d met Jennifer and the girls in the shop already and knew how lovely and down to earth they were. When you’re going to part with that much money on a dress I think the service you receive is really important and after several visits I couldn’t have been happier.

I chose quite a traditional fitted lace dress with sleeves that was designed by Ronald Joyce. I didn’t necessarily have the OMG this is ‘the one’ feeling but I knew out of the dozen or so I’d tried on beforehand that this was one I felt the most comfortable in. I had a brief idea of what I hoped to find and this was pretty much it.

Wreathed In Gypsophila

I wanted my hair to tie in with the rustic country feel of the wedding so I decided on a baby gypsophila head crown. I had a veil from Darcy’s which I think I was supposed to take off after the ceremony but it stayed on for pretty much the whole day! As for jewellery, I borrowed some antique teardrop earrings from my mum and wore a simple Tiffany bracelet that I opened on the morning of the wedding bought by my wonderful husband.

I managed to find some closed-toe lacey little numbers that went perfectly with my dress. I got them in John Lewis, nothing fancy, very simple and having spent a day in a field and all night on the dance-floor, they’re certainly never going to be worn again!

Simple And Natural

Two very lovely ladies had the challenge of making me look pretty on my wedding day. My hair stylist Sarah Britner was superb and created the look I wanted with such effortlessness. I decided to keep things simple and have my hair down with loose curls wrapped around my floral headpiece. I knew I was in capable hands when I had my trial earlier in the year and she did a fine job with the bridesmaids too.

Nicola Boden hid all my imperfections and provided a simple, natural look with make-up. I don’t generally wear a lot so I knew I didn’t want anything too heavy. I was conscious of the fact that many brides are totally transformed on their day and can quite often be unrecognisable. I still wanted to look like me and I was thrilled with the final result.

Florals And Tweed

We couldn’t have been happier with our flowers from Kerry at Tineke Floral Designs. Being in a field, we wanted a hand-picked, natural bouquet with no particular colour scheme. Cream bombastic spray roses, daisies, rosemary, lavender, purple phlox, ammi, pink astrantia, gypsophilia, alchemillia and fountain grass were wrapped with ribbon and twine and they smelt amazing! With the boys wearing three piece tweed suits, we wanted quite a masculine buttonhole so decided on crespidia with gypsophilia and daisies finished with twine and rosemary.

Being a landscape gardener, my mum was keen to create the table centres herself and along with her friend they did a wonderful job with flowers picked out of the garden. The centre pieces were a labour of love as earlier in the year Dad and I spent a day in the shed making all thirteen from logs and twigs collected from the hillside. They certainly added rustic charm to each table and we were really pleased with them.

Pot Luck

One of the first decisions we made was what the boys would wear and they ended up purchasing their own three piece tweed suits from Walker-Slater in Edinburgh (their suits have even made a blog on their website!). Having each picked a different tweed design that complimented one another, the challenge lay in what the girls would wear.

Initially, ideas centred on traditional floor length strapless dresses in pastel shades but we soon realised that a bold colour would work better with tweed. It was in fact my mum that picked out the dress we chose whilst she waited for me to get changed in the bridal shop! Although I wasn’t sure at first, once my bridesmaid Carrie tried it on, I realised how gorgeous they would look. With all four bridesmaids being young and bubbly, I felt the dress we chose reflected their characters whilst at the same time not being too formal.

They were designed by Wtoo and bought from the same shop I got my wedding dress. The colour was a beautiful bluey green shade called agave and we managed to get similar coloured woollen ties for the ushers. It was pot luck that everything came together on the day!

The Dashing Groom

The Groom was in a lovely rural green three piece tweed suit which I have to say has been his best purchase EVER judging by the amount of times he’s worn it since! He looked very dapper and I had the biggest smile on my face coming down the aisle.

We weren’t keen on having a strong colour scheme with everything matching so there were no restrictions when it came to what tie or shirt he wore. His tweed suit had a lovely plum lining so he got a woollen tie to match and with it wore a pair of light brown brogues and his late father’s gold pocket watch. It was a traditional but quirky look and one he pulled off very well as did all the other ushers in their tweed suits. It was a bit of a gamble wearing tweed on a summer’s day but thankfully it wasn’t baking hot!

Rocking Photographers

Choosing McKinley-Rodgers to capture our special day has to be without a doubt, the best decision we made. The photos speak for themselves…those two rock! Not only were we blown away with their images but on the day itself, they were great fun to be around and made it very easy for us to relax and be ourselves in front of the camera.

Many of our friends and family actually thought they were wedding guests and that was what was so good about them, they didn’t impose themselves like many photographers often do. We really can’t thank them enough. As a result of major unexpected drama (long story!) they went to the effort of recording a vast majority of the day and creating a short video which captures everything so beautifully, we love it!

A Family Of Enthusiastic Bakers

With a family of enthusiastic bakers, the wedding cake was very much a home-made team effort. We came up with plenty of ideas but to fit in with the rustic theme, we decided on a ‘naked’ cake – a traditional shaped wedding cake but made from sponge without the icing.

Mum made the three tiers of Victoria sponge which was then beautifully decorated by my 16 year old cousin who created a dozen or so intricate edible roses which looked so real! Fresh strawberries were also added and the cake was filled with buttercream made by my aunty. Not only did it look superb, it was absolutely delicious! We placed the cake on top of a log to tie in with the centre pieces.

Fat Chance

The band were the choice of the groom’s Best Man, his brother. They were called Fat Chance and having already heard them at a friend’s wedding the year earlier he knew they would suit the sort of music we wanted. Being fans of all kinds of music, entertainment was hugely important to us but having only heard a couple of clips of the band on-line, we put a lot of trust in the best man.

He also kindly offered to pay for the band as a wedding gift so we couldn’t really say no! They certainly didn’t disappoint! The dance floor was literally full from the first song until the last – even the band commented that it’s a rare sight at weddings as it normally takes a while for people to warm up. They definitely struck a chord with us and everyone there.

Although we’re both really into music, we don’t share any one specific song that holds a special meaning so we spent quite a bit of time deliberating over what song to dance to. We had all sorts of ideas including a song we could lindy hop to but that was short-lived as neither of us can lindy hop! We considered scrapping the first dance all together but in the end we chose Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together as lyrically it fitted the bill and it wasn’t too slow to dance to. We didn’t want to dance to a recording either so it had to be something the band could play live. We didn’t rehearse it once so it was all on impulse although I think we spent most of the song kissing and hugging so to avoid having to dance!

Summer Fruits

We didn’t go down a traditional favours route. It is usually quite a large expense and we’ve been to a number of weddings where many of the favours are left behind. So instead we distilled 6 litres of home-made Summer Fruits Gin and left it by the bar with a load of shot glasses for people to toast to whatever they wanted during the evening. It went down an absolute storm, was personal to us and our tastes. Like us, a lot of our friends and family love gin so it was ideal.

It was also a good incentive for people to add their fingerprint to a huge piece of sheet music, ‘Bring me Sunshine’ designed by my friend Alicia. This was our version of a guestbook, and using the fingerprint tree concept, we got guests to put their little fingers in different coloured ink pads and place them on a note assigned to them. It’s definitely my favourite creation from the day and we now have it framed on our wall.

Free Rein

The beauty of having our wedding on my parent’s farm was that we could do whatever we liked. Our aim was to keep things relaxed, rustic and simple and we did just that with some wonderful help from close friends and family.

The traditional marquee was such a beautiful open space. We decorated it with bunting made by our mums and flowers from the garden that we put in old milk churns. More bunting was hung around the farm along the fences and up the driveway. We had hundreds of metres of the stuff! The table plan was in hindsight a bit of a mistake as I ended up drawing every single guest and sticking them onto parcel tags which we then hung on an old door. It looked great but the number of hours spent drawing could probably have been used more wisely! Being in the middle of a field, there was plenty of space for the kids to run around and play and towards the end of the night, the adults too!

Hay bales were covered with tartan picnic rugs for guests to sit on and relax during the champagne reception and thankfully the sun came out! The champagne was special as we were kindly taken over to the Champagne region in France by the groom’s mum and step-dad where we got to sample some fizz before buying the one we liked best. We ended up with loads including a magnum for each table for the speeches. It certainly went down a treat.

Red Olive

We couldn’t go without mentioning our fantastic caterers Red Olive who on the run up to the day and the day itself, couldn’t do enough for us. Charlie and his team were so professional and nothing seemed to be an issue. The meal was relaxed and informal with an antipasti starter of continental meats, olives and artisan breads, followed by rotisserie lamb which was reared on the farm by my uncle. It was all delicious and to fuel our late night dancing, they provided some fantastic curries – plenty of people went up for seconds!

Your Favourite People In One Place

What made our day so special was that it was very personal to us. The tiny details were really appreciated by our guests and it made all those hours of planning and hard work worth it. My husband and I were a pretty good team. Being an events manager by trade, he kept on top of all the suppliers and had lots of lovely colour coordinated spreadsheets whilst I could concentrate on the creative elements.

Pinterest was a big help as was the many beautiful real weddings posted on this blog! Looking back, I definitely took on too much so my advice like many other brides would be to only take on as much as you can. Our wedding was very much a homespun affair, we couldn’t have done it without the fantastic contributions made by our parents and their home-made creations. Involving close friends and family is so important because they get to feel involved and make a special contribution to your day. You don’t need thousands of pounds or a grand location to make your day perfect, all you need is your favourite people in one place. That’s what made our wedding special.

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Gown – Ronald Joyce
Boutique – Darcy Weddings
Florist – Tineke Floral Designs
Marquee – Bond Marquees
Evening Entertainment – Fat Chance
Maids – Wtoo
Caterers – The Red Olive
Groomsmen – Walker Slater
Photography – McKinley-Rodgers

View The Slideshow:

I tell you what, those guests at the end are clearly having a whale of a time.

I quite fancy a little dance in a Gypsophila crown myself.

Congratulations you two!

All my love Lolly xxx

Every last one of those beautiful paper cranes was folded by today’s Bride Alison.

In Japanese culture, a Bride who finishes this task before her wedding day will be rewarded with a good and happy marriage. And judging by the gorgeous images from Babb Photo, the Bride will also be rewarded with a beautifully decorated reception venue…

Alison’s write up is full of detail, laughter and great advice. And it shows that things will always be alright in the end.

Piglets Included

Alison The Bride: I loved the winding lanes to our venue, South Farm, and the surrounding countryside, the farm building, the barn and the grounds. Food and its provenance is important to us, so the fact that the farm is an organic smallholding that supplies much of its own fruit and veg, free-range pork and eggs was a key factor for us too.

We had the full tour including the greenhouses, poly tunnels, the works! Our guide snuck us a couple of delicious tomatoes to taste. When he asked, “Do you want to meet the piglets?” I knew we would be booking the farm.

Sparkly And Fresh

I don’t wear much make-up day to day, I’m not very good at it and I feared that the nerves on the day might make me even more clutzy. Two of my beautiful Bridesmaids booked me a trial with Dina of D & D Make-up as a present. Once I saw what she could do with my make-up and hair I was converted.

She did a wonderful job of making us look like sparkly, fresh versions of ourselves, despite the fact we had all been up laughing, crying and chatting into the early hours the night before. The hair and make-up stayed put all day in a way I could never manage by myself.

She brought Giles to help out with the hair too so we were well looked after. I was thrilled with everything they did. Getting ready with the girls, Dina and Giles was a lovely part of the day. For perfume it had to be Chloe. I don’t know if it is my signature scent yet but one day it will be.

Dithering Over The Dress

I found dress shopping tough. I knew the style I preferred pretty early on. I love lace and sleeves, with a simple silhouette but I am not sure I would ever be lucky enough to have a moment where I found “the one”. I found the shopping experience awkward and, often the assistants seemed insincere in their constant compliments when some dresses were clearly ridiculous.

I also struggled to come to terms with the idea of a dress more expensive than my car. I wanted to run around, explore the farm with my new husband and my loved ones and hug everyone in sight, regardless of whether they were holding a glass of red wine, without worrying about staining a dress. I wanted to be present, not pre-occupied. I looked at the overseas online shops and got scared of the bad reviews. I dithered.

Inspiration via RMW

When I saw the piece about Kitty and Dulcie on RMW, I began to think there was a genuine alternative. With a bridesmaid by my side, I took my measurements, then took them again, ordered my size and about 3 days later a giant pink box arrived at my desk at work! I had to wait all day to try it; it was agony.

The fit was almost perfect and precisely as it was advertised. I had some alterations done by a local seamstress to take it in and I got my full length, lacey, fishtail dress for a fraction of the cost in a shop. Overall I was exceptionally pleased with my dress and the service. I have one caveat. There was a mark on it, and I had some back and forth with the company and we never really ironed out this problem. If I sent it back, they couldn’t guarantee a replacement in time, but I couldn’t risk not finding another dress.

They wouldn’t pay for cleaning without seeing the mark and I couldn’t take a picture of it as it was on the underlayer and my camera could not be persuaded to focus on it. It went on and on. In the end I chalked it up to experience, kept the dress and wore my late-grandmother’s brooch over it. It was nice to have it as my something old, so I was content in the end after all.

Like A Rock Star

Along the road to planning the wedding I found out I was expecting a new arrival. I also found out that it was likely to be the hottest day of the year. I couldn’t try my dress on again and I wasn’t sure it would go over the tiny but expanding bump (particularly as I had it taken in before this news came to light!)

On the Sunday before the wedding, in a sudden burst of energy, I ordered a dress from Monsoon UK as a second option. It was the matching dress to go with my bridesmaids, but had only just been released, it was like a sign. It arrived 3 days before the wedding. It was all pretty casual.

Even if dress one fitted I thought I might need something light and flowing to be able to move around in the evening and avoid fainting. In the end they both fitted and I got to feel like a rockstar with a costume change part way through the day. Even my two dresses came to less than half of the average shop-bought dress. My advice would be to consider all the options as buying online totally worked for me.

Last Minute Accessories

I am not particularly traditional and whenever the proprietors of bridal shops plonked a veil on my head it made me feel like a little girl dressing up rather than a real bride. They just weren’t for me. I didn’t think of accessories until the Thursday before the wedding, when I ran to town after work to try and pick something up during late night shopping. I couldn’t have left it later if I tried.

I grabbed a pair of earrings, a very simple necklace and a statement cuff from Accessorize UK and ran home to finish my epic DIY projects and packing to leave the house at 8.30 am the next morning to begin my wedding adventure.

Style First, Colour Second

I had three bridesmaids, two very old school friends and Neil’s sister. Their outfits were the first things we bought for the wedding. I didn’t have a colour scheme in mind and decided to be guided by the dresses the girls liked rather than being stuck with a colour and then having a limited choice of dresses. I would thoroughly recommend this approach.

We did a few short trips to get dress ideas and browsed a little online before spotting a pretty teal cocktail dress in Monsoon UK. It had a flattering cut, it had the right amount of sparkle and it suited all of them beautifully. The dresses were Grecian-inspired silk, with a beaded belt cinching in the waist.

They were very much involved in choosing the dresses so I felt confident that they would feel happy and pretty on the day. We teamed the dresses with silver peep-toe shoes from Jones the Bootmaker, which were beautifully comfortable with a little heel. Dressing my girls was the easiest part of the whole affair.

Navy Blue And Golden Yellow

Neil asked my brother and his best friend to be best men, and his sister’s fiancé to be an usher. Team Groom and the Dads all wore navy blue three-piece suits from the high street, some from Marks and Spencer and some from Next depending on their preferred cut. Neil had his suit made at Suit Supply. He chose a brighter blue teamed with a cream waistcoat to make him stand out amongst the boys. He looked especially handsome.

We made several desperate attempts to find ties in the same shade of teal before we realised that we didn’t care about matching. We decided we wanted the overall look to be bright, colourful and inspired by summer and eventually chose golden yellow ties. We gave the boys goody bags on the day with the tie, plain white pocket square and a pair of bright socks each.

A Summer Picnic Mini Festival Mash Up

Once we had decided that we weren’t having a matching colour scheme it got a whole lot easier. We had a vague theme of teal and yellow to link with the ties and dresses but overall the scheme was summery and chaotic. The venue gardens are a riot of colour in July and we wanted to embrace the wonderful English country garden.

The venue is quietly eccentric and we wanted to embrace that. Our friends camped in the field, and some were lucky enough to stay in the restored gypsy caravans on site. The venue didn’t need much help to look stunning and the fact it was the most glorious day of the summer helped too. It felt like a summer picnic and a mini-festival all rolled into one.

A Whoosh Of Fragrance

We had a meeting with a wonderful florist, Liz of Tilia Flowers, and we knew she immediately understood our ideas. Our preference was for bright, colourful English flowers with a variety of shapes, sizes and textures. We gave her the freedom to pick whatever looked brightest and best on the day. We asked for fragrant flowers and herbs to be included in the bouquets and buttonholes so every time we had a bear-hug with someone (which happened approximately every 25 seconds) the scrunched flowers let off a whoosh of fragrance. She included blue and yellow flowers to tie in the bridesmaids and groomsmen.

I explained that I loved peonies but I did understand that they may not be at their prime so something similar would make me happy. I don’t know how she did it. I don’t know who she bribed. When she arrived with the bouquets I could not believe the monster hulk peonies exploding out of each bunch. I thought my flowers looked a bit like something from a Tim Burton film and I loved them.

As a bonus the florist was very familiar with the venue and gave us great suggestions on how to re-use our ceremony flowers later in the day so we got lots of blooms for our buck. It felt like there was an abundance of flowers around all day.

Clear Eyes And Full Hearts

I usually cry at absolutely anything but I was too excited to feel nervous or negative in anyway. As we waited to step out of the farmhouse into the garden for the ceremony, all three bridesmaids got teary instead. My lovely cousin, Katherine played a piano version of “Your Hand in Mine” by Explosions in the Sky as I walked down the lawn with Dad, trying desperately to spot Neil.

Most people were on the chairs, but some people were sitting out on blankets on the lawn in the shade as it was the hottest day of 2013. I found him at the top of the aisle looking a little shell-shocked (or suffering heat-exhaustion). We walked round into the summerhouse together and every now and then he whispered to me “Can you believe this is happening?” Somehow we got through the vows with clear eyes and full hearts. My Mum and Neil’s Sister did wonderful readings and we held hands right the way through.

Every now and then I could spot our wonderful photographer, Laura Babb, or Bee and Mark from Yay Films zipping around to get a different angle, but it felt like a very personal, almost private ceremony.

Stealthily Capturing The Day

Photography was an important part of the day for us. We found Laura Babb on the RMW Love Lust List. Her portfolio spoke for itself and her responses to emails were quick and friendly. We booked pretty sharpish when we found out she was available without waiting for a meeting. There was no need and I am so glad we got her. She gave a great personal service, she is super-friendly but totally professional. I cannot stop recommending her. Her tutorial on carrying bouquets was exceptionally helpful when my butterfly brain was zipping around everywhere before the ceremony too!

Lovely Mark and Bee from Yay! Films were there to capture the day in motion. I didn’t really notice them when I wasn’t trying to spot them, which I think is a good sign. I suspect they may have struggled to persuade our old-school crowd of family to keep moving and not pose because these new-fangled video cameras are so small they look like they are taking stills, but if this became a chore they never let on! I love their highly edited style and the modern approach of interpretation rather than transparent reporting.

Von Trapp Family Style

After the ceremony we had an open-mic session in the garden to let our wonderful, talented friends do all the hard work. I was especially nervous about this part of the day as it really relied upon everyone getting involved. My mind was officially blown by the effort everyone made to put amazing songs together.

It meant that even though I spent hours planning the wedding, there was a two hour section of the day filled with surprises. I absolutely loved it. The highlight of the entire day was when I saw Neil go up on stage to sing an acoustic cover of “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry, dedicated to me, with his best man and an old friend on guitar.

I managed to avoid crying right up until my brand new husband sang for me in front of all of our guests. I also played a little bass while my Dad played a Fleetwood Mac blues track which was a wonderful, surreal moment. My Cousins and Aunts and Uncles all played and sang, we had two singing bridesmaids and some lovely star-turns from friends.

Our first dance was the song “Perfect One” by a band called Lit that we have both loved since we first got together in sixth form. This song was on the first mix tape (on a genuine cassette) that Neil gave to me when we were both 17. It seemed right to dance to it at our wedding 13 years later after growing up together.

We decided that a band was the best way to get people dancing in the evening. I was so glad we found Pressure on Alive Network. As a lot of our friends are musical, we knew a tight band was essential and we were thrilled with these guys. They played a great mix of tunes, their Daft Punk cover was brilliant and they kept everyone dancing to the end. Neil and his sister were pulled up on stage to sing the last song of the night then we all collapsed on to picnic chairs outside to cool off until midnight.

A Glorious Feast Of Home Grown Produce

We picked the venue partly due to the amazing fresh, home-grown produce and we were not disappointed. We had canapés throughout the open-mic reception, including tuna sashimi, risotto and cheese bon-bons, mini chorizo with mash and brie croustades. We also had the South Farm vintage ice-cream bike serving home-made ice cream in delicious flavours like cherry, toffee-pecan and bread-and-butter pudding. Everyone appreciated it in the gorgeous sunny weather.

For our wedding breakfast we chose a squash ravioli for everyone, then a choice of slow-cooked pork, cod with wild mushrooms, or chard and gruyere tart. The dessert was an assiete of dark chocolate and cointreau tort, crème brulee and lemon posset. Several people have said it was the best pork they have eaten.

In keeping with the informal, summer-garden theme, the cake was a three-tier un-iced Victoria sponge decorated with an abundance of English soft fruit. It was made by my multi-talented cousin Katherine. I was lucky enough to get many trial cakes, each as delicious as the last, before the wedding day arrived.

My dad made me a beautiful wooden cake stand, out of a big slice of tree, smoothed and polished to a deep warm brown. My mum knitted two incredibly cute blue-birds from an archaic pattern I unearthed from an archive on the internet and we used them as cake toppers.

DIY Successes And Failures

I tried to make my own invitations and they were horrible. Owen, our talented, designer/web-design geek friend offered to take a look and tidy them up, or have a go at putting something together. I sent him the bones of what I wanted to include. A couple of days later a PDF popped into my inbox with a glorious personal invitation, with lots of lovely touches sprinkled here and there. He took every bit of stress and strain out of it. I got the finished prints and sewed them up with colourful embroidery thread into little booklets to post out to everyone.

I love photobooths, but the budget was stretched tight, so I made one using a vintage suitcase from my nan’s house, an instamatic camera, some really scary animal masks from the internet, some military style hats and silly glasses. I got a beautiful handmade photo album from Kate Bowles Books on Folksy and supplied markers and asked everyone to stick a photo in the book with a message as an alternative to a guestbook. The result is wonderful. As a bonus, I have a box of horrible masks to scare my new husband if he decided to come home late.

Senbazuru

The biggest and craziest DIY task was my decision to fold 1000 origami cranes. I read the myth that a bride who finishes this task, called ‘senbazuru’, before her wedding day will be rewarded with a good and happy marriage. I got two giant packs of paper and folded cranes, every evening, in my lunch-break at work, sometimes when I was stuck on hold on the phone I would finish a couple. I had shoe boxes full of cranes all over the house. Friends helped enormously. We were occasionally found folding cranes in the local pub, with each crane looking less and less crane-like than the last.

Even after they were all folded, I still had to figure out what to do with them. Eventually, with the help of several friends, I strung them on beading wire, separating each one with a bead and hung these strings of birds all over my house to avoid horrible tangles. They were spread out across the back wall of the barn behind the top table as a rainbow backdrop to the evening reception. I recommend that you do not start this unless you mean to finish. It will take hours. It will become boring. I gave myself plenty of time and it was still a rush to finish the last few strings of birds half an hour before I had to leave for the wedding weekend!

I sent a couple of tiny cranes to our florist to pop one in my bouquet and one in Neil’s buttonhole but the post didn’t work out so she didn’t get them. On the morning of the wedding, I made two absolutely tiny cranes for her to use. It was quite a meditative moment, sitting there folding the final two birds quietly while everyone ran around prepping the venue and blow-drying hair.

Mad, Bright And Colourful

Although we didn’t plan a theme, the cranes helped tie everything together in a mad, bright, colourful way. True to form, we left the table plan to the last minute. Then Neil had a vision of how it should be. He spent a sunny afternoon in my parents’ garden making a giant picture frame with my dad and staining it teal. I made big origami birds in 7 colours to decorate the tables. We strung the guest names in long lines, interspersed with cranes of the appropriate colour to show which table they should go to. It was visually stunning and I think everyone got the message, as everyone ended up with a seat!

We printed the place tags at home on paper dotted with dried flowers and bee-friendly wildflower seeds. On the back they had planting instructions and they doubled as favours for the guests.

The bunting around the barn and garden was made by friends and family, including a special string of bunting where each flag was made by one of the hens who came to my hen night. It is a keepsake I will treasure. There was also a special one made by my dad that made me cry when I first saw it.

Give Up Control

My beautiful Bridesmaids organised a spa day the day before the wedding. It meant I had to pack for the wedding, pack for the honeymoon, finish any last DIY bits and then leave the world’s longest list for Neil to organise and swan out of the house at 8.30 am on Friday. The wedding was on Saturday and we zipped off on honeymoon straight after. I relaxed, I swam, I had my nails done and I let all the rest of it go. If you can bear to give up that last bit of control, I would really recommend it. It meant that I wasn’t a frazzled, quivering mess on the morning of the wedding.

After I ran out to get jewellery on the Thursday before the wedding, I wasn’t totally thrilled with my choices. I needn’t have bothered. While I was stuffing my face with pizza in my Bridesmaid’s garden on the wedding eve, my husband-to-be arranged a secret parcel to be delivered to the house without me having a clue it was happening.

On the morning of the wedding, before I had any make-up on to ruin, my girls huddled round me with gift bags and cameras. He had snuck out and bought me the most beautiful Tiffany necklace and earrings as a surprise. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the signature turquoise boxes. He also got me some teal Rayban sunnies so I could look cool in the photos and match my Bridesmaids and then take them on honeymoon. It made me realise all over again what a sweet, crazy, extravagant, thoughtful man I was about to marry.

My advice is to plan and make and create to your heart’s content but also rely on your friends and especially your partner to be involved and to surprise you. It was all the little (and amazingly huge) things that everyone brought to the wedding that made it so special.

Alison & Neil Wedding Highlight Film from YAY! Films on Vimeo.

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Bride’s Gown – Kitty And Dulcie and Monsoon UK
Accessories – Accessorize UK and Tiffany
Bridesmaid’s Gowns – Monsoon UK
Hair And Make Up – D&D Make Up
Groom – Suit Supply
Groomsmen – Marks and Spencer and Next
Invitations – Owen Lewis Design
Florist – Liz at Tilia Wedding Flowers
Band – Pressure from the Alive Network
Venue – South Farm
Videography – Yay! Films
Photography – Babb Photo

I actually think it would be very therapeutic to fold cranes in the run up to your wedding.

It must have been very satisfying for Alison when she folded the final one.

They do look truly spectacular in all of their rainbow glory against the barn wall.

Lots of love,
Fern x

Most of the décor from today’s rustic farm wedding came from car boot sales. Laura and Patch seem to have a bit of an obsession with them as you’ll see…

The inspiration for their colour scheme actually came from a piece of painted, rusting metal and their brilliant DIY photo booth was made by Laura and her Dad from rescued bits and bobs. Their efforts look perfect in the gorgeous barn at Herons Farm.

Laura’s Dad has been slowly restoring a vintage Austin A40 since she was little and so Laura chose one as her wedding car especially for him. Isn’t that lovely?

A Touch Of English Elegance

Laura The Bride: Hello our Venue was Herons Farm in Pangbourne. We fell in love with this location as it had everything that we were looking for. A touch of English elegance with its beautiful courtyard and gardens to the Rustic look and feel of the Barn.

Enjoy The Girly Time

I am a bit rubbish at being a girl so luckily my cousin and mum came to my rescue. My mum booked me a pedicure and manicure by a lovely lady round the corner a few nights before the big day. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this as it was good to take some time out for myself, especially as I got to spend that time with someone I love. Thanks to Teresa Clark Beauty. I may even be ever so slightly more aware of how to make the best of myself for it.

My cousin Sam used to do bridal makeup and hair professionally so I obviously took full advantage of this I was so happy with what she did, Especially as my direction was pretty poor, with statements such as tight but loose and up but down! Luckily pinterest was one of my closest pals throughout my planning so I could try to explain with pictures of what I meant.

Patrick’s cousin did a brilliant job with my bridesmaids hair I only wish I could do my own hair like this on a daily basis.

Love At First Sight

Normally I am a bit of a nightmare to go shopping with, so I’m pretty sure my Mum was probably deep down prepping herself! However much to everyone’s amazement the dress was the first one I saw in the first shop we looked at.

Yes there were many beautiful gowns which I would have loved but I fell dangerously close to marrying the dress. I was so comfortable in this dress and loved every second of being in it, extra plus it had pockets!

My dress was Kelly by Stephanie Allin purchased from Windsor Bride.

The Shoe Hunt

I was convinced that I wanted the flapper vintage style dancing shoes and I did come dangerously close to getting some Rachel Simpson shoes, but they were still not quite what I had in mind. I bought vintage shoes from ASOS Boutique which were also cute but not quite right. Then I saw them like a beacon of shinning light through my depths of despair – a pair called Trip to the Light from Seychelles Footwear.

The only problem was that they were from America and did not ship to the UK. I hunted on Ebay but could still not find them. Luckily I finally just used my brain and just asked if they would ship to the UK and low and behold my dream came true. They are the best shoes I have ever owned!

Shades Of Green

I had quite a few bridesmaids. Originally I wanted all of the bridesmaids in completely different dresses but all the similar colour. Seafoam, aqua, tiffany green and mint were all names that frequently were in my search bar.

The infinity dress from Craftingsg on Etsy allowed me to create different dresses for the older bridesmaids but which still suited each of them and that they could then wear how they wanted.

Patrick’s shoes were from Ben Sherman.

Our flower girl’s dress was from Monsoon UK.

Inspiration From The Unexpected

Patrick proposed on my birthday and we were at the time looking for our first home together. We were obsessed with carboots at this time as the things some people just don’t want any more and with a bit of paint and love can be transformed into something magnificently yours and of course everyone loves a good bargain!

I’ve always loved things that others don’t see the beauty in any more…anyway staying on track…he took me to Portabello road where I spent most of my money on a piece of metal that had been painted and then had rusted over the top – it had the most beutiful colours, we used this as our basis for the colour scheme.

Again carboots all the way – tea pots and old wooden telephone boxes and jugs for vases. Some people even gave them away at the car boots as they thought that I was doing them a favour! We used old books to place table numbers on and photographs from our parents wedding, and added a spot of vintage with suitcases and lace and pearls dotted around the venue.

Foxglove Designs

My friend Amy from Foxglove Designs is the most creative person I know. Amy did an amazing job on my flowers. Seeing that the only flower names I know are daisy and rose she managed to translate what I wanted into my beautiful bouquets and table arrangements.

I love wild flowers I think they are so beautiful.

A Personal Ceremony

Our Church was St James the Less. Such lovely people at the church and made us feel so welcome when we started to attend. My niece did us a lovely reading. We were so proud of her public speaking ability and it just made the reading that extra bit special. It was from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.

Patrick’s family priest then did a very personal a funny little reading and the address.

If I’m honest what made the service so special was that I had my soul mate waiting for me at the end of the aisle and I couldn’t wait to get by his side.

Old Blue Eyes

Another great moment we will remember forever was when the car took us to the venue and as we pulled into the courtyard our Frank Sinatra singer was performing, it was like the icing on the cake that all of our hard work had paid off and everyone was there to chill and enjoy it with us whilst sipping on some good old pimms. He was a lovely chap.

We had Patrick’s dads friend do the DJ where we sure did bust out some moves. Our first dance was to The Lumineers.

Chocolate Cake For A Chocolate Fiend

My Mum made tasty chutney and marmalade as favors in dinky little farmhouse jars. I was most impressed with the skills she pulled out!

Our cake was from Marks and Spencer as Patch is a bit of a chocolate fiend and our catering was provided by the venue by RS Catering. Everyone loved the food thumbs up from us.

We did want to do a free bar so with the help of Patrick’s cousin who owns a few bars we managed to cater to everyone’s tipples.

Suffering For The Art

My first wedding purchase was from Nooli Bird stamps. This stamp was used on my wedding invitations where I then typed out the address details for church, venue and places to stay on a typewriter. It was a vintage one from the car boot so my fingers were a bit destroyed after finishing.

Table plan inspiration was from pinterest where we wrote on a mirror that we got from the good old car boot. My friend wrote on the cards as she has much prettier writing than me.

The photo booth and sign post was made by me with a bit of hands on help by my Dad.

We’d Relive It Ten Fold

We did find some aspect of planning our day stressful but would go through the stressful times ten fold to relive this day as it was worth it to see our friends and family enjoy it it with us.

It was a day filled with warm emotion because we stuck to what we wanted and ultimately got to marry each other. Stick to your guns with whatever you want to do and ask for help if you need it, as people normally just want to be involved. If things don’t go the way you hoped – roll with it as at the end of the day what matters is you and your partner!

One Piece At A Time

What can I say about Sassy our photographer?! I slightly worried that I was going to get a girl crush on her. She was the best photographer ever, so understanding and always knew what was best, we would trust her implicitly with what she thought and went with what she thought was the best move to get the right shot. As you can see it paid off to do so! She is such a lovely person too and she was such a big part of the day.

I was majorly impressed with how my friends and family pulled together and helped create our magical day which we will remember forever. My friend Vicky even produced the most beautiful video which blew us away I have watched this an unhealthy amount of times.

The car was picked not only because it went quite nicely with our theme and colours but also as my Dad is a sheet metal worker and has had this car as a shell in the garage since I was a little girl, he does a little bit by little bit into restoring it but is a slow process. It was lovely to get a ride in the same model with him.

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Bride’s Gown – Kelly by Stephanie Allin at Windsor Bride
Shoes – Seychelles Footwear
Bridesmaid’s Gowns – craftingsg on Etsy
Flower Girl – Monsoon UK
Florist – Amy at Foxglove Designs
Frank Sinatra Tribute – Book Live
Cake – Marks and Spencer
Catering – RS Catering
Car – Premier Carriage
Venue – Herons Farm
Photography – Assassynation

How gorgeous are the couple shots in the setting sun?

The tongue-in-cheek shots on the hay bales are great too.

I’m so glad Laura managed to bag her dream wedding shoes – they are beauties.

Lots of love,
Fern x

Morwenna and Andy’s wedding is as much a celebration of the West Country and it is of their love.

Firstly, they held their reception in Morwenna’s parents back garden in the glorious county of Somerset.

Obviously, guests drank cider and hung out on hay bales. For those of you not au fait with the West Country, a LOT of this goes on there. Which is no bad thing.

Morwenna wore Petra by West Country designer Sassi Holford. All of the rustic, wild flowers were grown in Somerset and the delicious looking cake was made locally too.

My Childhood Home

Morwenna The Bride: Andy proposed to me while we were walking our dog near my childhood home in Somerset. Straight away we decided that this would be the place we would want to get married. My parents kindly offered to host our wedding, and the planning began. It was a very busy 18 months leading up to our wedding and we couldn’t have planned and organised such a lovely day without my incredible Mum who worked so hard to make it so wonderful.

Our wedding took place on 1st June 2013 at my village church, The Blessed Virgin Mary, followed by afternoon tea and cake in the garden at home. An evening marquee reception took place later on overlooking the beautiful Blackdown Hills where I grew up.

A Chance To Get Glammed Up

As a vet I don’t get the chance to get glammed up very often, so I was looking forward to having my hair and makeup done professionally. However, I didn’t want anything too formal and wanted to feel and look like myself, but on a really good day!

Gayle and Claire from Hair@22 in Taunton were brilliant. They understood exactly what my Bridesmaid’s and I were after, and I was so happy with the results. My makeup was also very natural, yet made me feel great, and stayed perfect all day – thank you so much Lucy!

Dreaming Of Sassi

As a teenager growing up near Taunton I had walked by the Sassi Holford shop many times and had always dreamed of getting my wedding dress from there one day. In fact I didn’t even look in any other shops! They were extremely professional, and I particularly liked the fact that the dresses were made locally. I loved the shape of ‘Petra’ from the So Sassi collection immediately, and they helped me personalise it. The dress felt classic and elegant, yet not out of place at a country wedding which was what I had hoped for.

Andy looked very stylish in a tailor-made Reiss suit and tie. He didn’t want the formality of wearing tails, and wanted to wear a suit he felt good in and could wear again and again.

Shimmering Pearls

I absolutely adored my Hermione Harbutt ‘Elegance’ pearl headdress and veil, and had so much fun choosing them. Hermione was so helpful and kind, and it was so difficult deciding on one headpiece from her incredible collection!

My shoes were ‘Miss Alice’ shoes from Diane Hassall. I also wore a pair of pearl earrings that Andy had given me for Christmas, along with my very wonderful pearl engagement ring.

A Tartan Tribute

My sister and my good friend from school were my Bridesmaids. They looked gorgeous in their champagne coloured dresses from The Dessy Group, with real flower combs in their hair.

We asked the Groomsmen just to wear their own grey suits, but my Father, Uncles and Brother wore waistcoats made from our family tartan in memory of my Scottish Grandfather. My brother then changed into his red Master of Ceremonies outfit at the reception, and did a fabulous job at organising everyone.

An English Country Wedding

We didn’t really have a colour scheme or theme as such. All we wanted was a happy and relaxed, locally sourced, very English country wedding with a rustic and slightly vintage feel. Following the ceremony we had yummy afternoon tea and wedding cake in the garden before the main evening reception. There was a lot of bunting, a cider tent with hay bales, and plenty of garden games including croquet and boules.

Flowers From Somerset

Our flowers were locally grown, traditional country flowers from Somerset. Jan was such a great find from JW Blooms. We didn’t choose any flowers in particular, I just asked Jan for what was in season, and growing well, at the time of our wedding.

She produced the most beautiful natural bouquets for my bridesmaid and I, as well as stunning flowers for the marquee. I can’t thank her enough. The greenery we used was mainly from our garden.

The Most Important Part

The ceremony was the most important part for me – saying my vows, in Church, to my gorgeous groom in front of all our friends and family was very special. Our readings were read by two of our close friends, and one of our hymns was an old favourite from my school days. We had a harpist playing during the signing of the register which really added to the occasion.

Our first dance was ‘Ho Hey’ by The Lumineers – a song that we loved, that really suited the feel of our reception.

Pies And Eton Mess

Jacci from Mark Country Catering supplied us with the most delicious Pieminister pies (with the choice of Moo Pie, Pietanic or Heidi Pie) and Eton mess for pudding.

Our wedding cake was a simple three tier cake with yellow roses draped over it, and tiny pearls surrounding the tiers from The Honiton Cake Gallery.

Vintage Touches

We had so much fun with plenty of DIY projects. My Mum, Aunt and Grandma, made all of the bunting, table runners, rose petal confetti and gorgeous little lavender pot favours. Our table plan was made with an old easel and chalk board, and our name places had vintage animal stamps printed on them.

Andy’s Grandma made the jam, and the lace table clothes belonged to Andy’s Great Grandmother. I made our Save the Dates, but I couldn’t resist getting our invitations and order of services from Meticulous Ink in Bath. Athena designed us the most beautiful stationery.

A Feeling I’ll Never Forget

Being surrounded by all the people we love from different walks of life, wishing us well, was a feeling I’ll never forget. Our photographer told us to take some time out, away from everyone else during the day, just to enjoy the moment and let everything sink in.

Walking through a beautiful field near my childhood home with my wonderful new husband, watching our guests enjoying our reception from a distance was a lovely moment.

Breathtakingly Beautiful

We feel so incredibly lucky to have found our amazing photographer, the lovely Brett Symes. Andy and I are not particular fans of having our photographs taken, and we certainly didn’t want any formal line ups, so finding a photographer who had a natural and relaxed approach was very important.

Brett’s photographs are breathtakingly beautiful. He captured everything and everyone perfectly. Looking back at our wedding album I am immediately transported back in time – those feelings and memories of such happiness and love that day come flooding back. Thank you Brett.

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Bride’s Gown – Petra By Sassi Holford
Headdress – Elegance by Hermione Harbutt
Shoes – Miss Alice by Diane Hassall
Bridesmaids – The Dessy Group
Hair – Hair @ 22
Make Up – Lucy Davis
Groom – Bespoke at Reiss
Florist – JW Blooms
Catering – Mark Country Catering
Cake – The Honiton Cake Gallery
Stationery – Meticulous Ink
Photography – Brett Symes

Isn’t it a pretty wedding?

The pastel coloured bunting and flowers look so summery and gorgeous in the white marquee.

Lots of love,
Fern x

I’m going to go out on a limb here and bet that this morning’s beautiful sylvan affair will be pinned to within an inch of its life by you folks.

I mean how can it not. There’s Annabelle’s ethereal beauty (I’m seriously coveting her tumbling locks!), the drop dead gorgeous bridesmaids in antique hued silks, hanging lampshades and an outdoor leather sofa, floral wreaths, a swing, a heap of kisses, the sweetest signage and a plethora of boys in blue.

Oh and then there’s THE dress.

It’s breathtaking.

What’s more Annabelle’s frock was specifically designed for her by bridal designer extraordinaire Stephanie Allin who then named it “Annabelle” after her. How immense is that!

I also have to say that I applaud any bride that puts thought into her wedding breakfast setting; the one hundred jam jars filled with tea lights throughout the woods, the big banquet set-up and the specially requested wooden floorboard planks in the marquee make the whole set-up completely enchanting.

Don’t believe me…take a look for yourself.

Summer In Pembrokeshire

Annabelle The Bride: There were two things that were always going to happen, we were going to get married in the Summer and it was going to happen in beautiful Pembrokeshire, where both of us were born and grew up. Our wedding day was August 3rd 2013. The wedding ceremony took place in St Mary’s Church Haverfordwest a medieval church built in the heart of the town.

We both wanted a marquee reception at a venue that showcased Pembrokeshire’s natural charm. A visit was made to Hilton Court Gardens (Roch, Pembrokeshire), a venue perfectly situated amongst acres of romantic woodland. There was something so magical about the gardens and the surroundings; it was ideal. We would be the first wedding that they had hosted, making it even more special.

A Hint Of Drama

I have always had an appreciation verging on obsession for beautiful dresses, so wedding dress shopping for me was always going to be hugely enjoyable.

I was lucky enough to get an appointment with Stephanie Allin in her Mumbles Boutique. After a cup of tea we chatted through the dress and my thoughts. It had to be romantic, but with a hint of drama ( a long train was a must) and I ideally wanted to use the fabric from her Indie Rose creation, which is an unusual oyster/blush colour and boasts the most beautiful texture.

In a matter of minutes Steph had whipped up a sketch based on our conversation. It was like she had stepped into my imagination and drawn my perfect dress, she just got it. Some people would be wary about choosing a dress without physically seeing exactly what it would look like first, but I remember Steph said to me “ I don’t let any of my girls leave this shop until everything is perfect, do you trust me?” And I did.

I absolutely adored my dress. One of my favourite parts about it was a thick piece of lace that was stitched all the way down the back of the train. We added this in towards the end after a conversation Steph and I had about the BBC drama the White Queen and how much we were enjoying it and seeing all the medieval fashion. We thought the lace would be a nod to that era.

Maid Marian

My friend Beth runs a wedding accessory site called Pearl and Willow, which sells gorgeous vintage inspired items. I knew that I didn’t want to wear much jewellery, just earrings and decided on a pair called Diedim, designed by Australian designer Stephanie Brown, which I purchased through Pearl & Willow.

From the very beginning I wanted a veil. It was really hard to find one that complimented my dress, as I loved the train and detail on the back and didn’t want anything that was going to hide this. Again I turned to Stephanie Allin who designed me a cream medium length veil adorned with lace at the bottom, it reminded me of Maid Marian! On the day to add a extra bit of romance, I placed a clip of flowers just above the veil comb.

I am renowned often laughed at for wearing impractical shoes. Just ask our photographers who I think during one of our first meetings were impressed with my ability to walk through a muddy woodland in pair of 6 inch sandals! Therefore, my wedding shoes were of course very high- a pair of gold stiletto sandals from Dune.

Ethereal Waves

I have basically had the same hairstyle since I was a little girl, so I wouldn’t have felt like me if my hair hadn’t been down. Elements of the wedding were going to have quite an ethereal feel and I wanted my hair to be styled in a way that reflected this. Sarah who did my hair made me feel so relaxed and really listened to what I wanted which made all the difference.

Sarah came to the house on the morning of the wedding to do my hair which she curled then brushed through to create soft waves. This was followed by a lot of backcombing! We then decided to loosely pin back the front pieces. Carl was very complimentary about my hair on the wedding day, which I didn’t expect as he never usually notices these things.

I did my own make up on the day, with my friend and bridesmaid Jade stepping in to do my bronzer as I can never seem to get this right!

Haunting Beauty

A local florist in Haverfordwest called Tussie Mussie arranged the bouquets for the bridal party and the pin holes. My favourite flower has always been amnesia rose, so I wanted this to for the base of the bouquet along with a selection of other dusky colour roses and fresh herbs. My only other request was that the bouquet wasn’t overly structured. Every bouquet was tied with lace ribbon, the same lace that had been used for my dress.

Amnesia roses were used again for the buttonholes along with stems of wax flower.

To me the church where we got married has a haunting beauty about it which I wanted to emphasise. I didn’t want loads of formal flower arrangements, Instead we used mainly ivy and lace, which hung from the pew ends and window sills. Decorating the church was a real family affair. A family friend was in charge and along with aunties, cousins and sisters they made it look wonderful.

We did add some colour to the entrance arch where Dean (a family friend) draped lace and flowers; it was very romantic.

Guys And Gals

All six of my gorgeous bridesmaids each have their own style and idea of what they do and don’t like in a dress; I wanted to reflect this in my choice of bridesmaid dresses. When it comes to fashion I am really not a matchy matchy person and love putting items together to create a certain look, so having a range of different style and colour dresses was very me.

Four of the bridesmaid dresses were from Ghost using their dye to order collection which had an perfect range of dusky colours for me to choose from. The other two were from John Lewis. Each bridesmaid wore a dress that was really suited to them, they looked incredible and very romantic which is what I wanted.

Carl sorted the usher suits himself. First of all he went for grey suits, but two weeks before admitted it had been playing on his mind that they weren’t quite right, so exchanged them for teal blue suits from Next. It was definitely the right decision.

Carl knew exactly what he wanted, a classic charcoal grey suit just like his Dad wore on his wedding day. We were visiting my sister in Bristol and whilst we were there decided to call into Hugo Boss to take a look. Carl tried on one suit and when he walked out of the changing room both my sister and I said wow, he looked so handsome, he had to have that suit.

Flowers In Her Hair

O & C Photography were recommended to us so we arranged to meet up with them at Hilton Court Gardens. We both walked away from the catch up saying that we had found our photographers, decision made.

We were really impressed with how genuine Charis and Owen were, we didn’t feel like like just another bride and groom. Their approach to wedding photography was perfect for us; they had the right balance of being laid back but obviously very conscientious about their work. I had a few ideas in my head of how I wanted the photos to look and they encouraged me to send over images that I liked, they really listened.

With O & C Photography you get two photographers which for us was brilliant as it meant that the morning of the wedding Charis went with the girls to capture them getting married and Owen went to the pub with the boys.

Both of them really embraced the day Charis even put flowers in her hair to be in keeping with the woodland theme!! Our family and friends all commented on how great the photographers were, they were very much part of the day. A few weeks after the wedding we received the photos and we were delighted, they captured the feel of the day perfectly.

Tea And Cake

We decided to have a vintage themed tea and cake area. A friend of ours built us a wooden backdrop which we wallpapered with Laura Ashley wallpaper. In front of this we put a table laid up with teacups and saucers which we had collected from charity shops, Great Aunts and Grandparents and placed the wedding cake next to them.

Neither of us are a big fan of icing or fruit cake so we had a different flavour for each layer – raspberry and champagne, white chocolate and lemon. The sponge was smothered in a thick buttercream and had fresh roses on the top. The whole tea and cake area looked really effective and the cake was delicious.

Love Of My Life

We wanted our dancefloor to constantly be full of people, so we chose a band called Symphony Sid and the Swing Kings, a local band who are guaranteed to get everyone up dancing We also had a disco (West Wales Disco) which played all our favourites!

Carl chose the first song, I didn’t know what it was going to be until I stepped up on the dance floor. He chose a queen song called Love of My Life. The song is significant as we both generally have different taste in music, but when it comes to Queen we both agree. It’s a beautiful song and I love it even more now.

Enchanting Woods

For our wedding theme we drew inspiration from the beautiful venue and the fact that I am a hopeless romantic, something Carl finds very amusing! The theme was Romance in the Woods.

We wanted to incorporate the woodland and gardens into our day as much as possible. A mini seating area was set up under a tree complete with a couch and lampshades hanging from the branches. There were also swings and hand painted wooden signs dotted around, I think the most popular sign was the one saying “to the bar!”

At night we hung over 100 jam jars with tea lights throughout the woodland. Carl’s parents had spent many evenings wrapping wire around the jars!! Also, at night Hilton Court created a large fire pit and up lit the gardens. Collectively it all looked so effective, the woods were enchanting.

Inside we wanted it to look like one big banquet so decided on long rows of tables. My stepmum was incredible and spent months bringing my ideas to life, she always found a way to make them work, however impractical they were! Some of my favourite accessories were the array of floral napkins which were actually cut from curtains found in charity shops and the long lace table runners that again my step Mum had made. We all spent a year collecting cut glass vases and glass candle sticks from charity shops. These were lined up along the table and filled with flowers and candles.

One of the best decisions was regards the flooring in the marquee. I felt strongly that carpet would not work with the look I was trying to create so asked the marquee company if we had to put carpet down or if we could just use the wooden floorboard planks. First of all I think they thought I had gone mad, but it really worked.

We found an old red post box at a local vintage shop which we bought and used for wedding post. It’s now on display in our house and is a nice reminder of a very special day!

Simply Us

What I loved about our wedding was that it was that it was simply us. Couples shouldn’t feel that they have to do things a certain way because they think it’s how it should be done or because it’s fashionable at the time. A wedding is about the two of you and that’s what your day should reflect. We were surrounded by family and friends who were drunk, laughing and having a good time – that’s what made our day.

My only other bit of advice is advice I was given by my friend who got engaged a few months before me. Planning a wedding is a really special time and something you will only do once, so enjoy and appreciate every bit of the experience. Whenever I felt stress levels rising I always thought of this and it made me feel better. In fact, I wish I could do it all again!

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Venue – Hilton Court Gardens
Gown – Annabelle by Stephanie Allin
Florist – Tussie Mussie
Maids – Ghost and John Lewis
Band – Symphony Sid and the Swing Kings
Photography – O & C Photography
Videography – Ben Walton Films

I’ve loved blogging this wedding – it’s like a beautiful magical fairytale right down to the smooching grandparents by the ‘happily ever after’ sign.

Congratulations you two.

All my love Lolly xxx

And now for something a little bit different.

We’re giving you this (spectacular) wedding in film.

Yep. In true Christmas spirit (i.e. where you sit down, eat a whole box of milk tray and watch Love Actually…) we’re sharing with you a love story, in full-on technicolour motion picture.

Admittedly I’ve also included some video stills for you to peruse (if you’re at work you may just have to save this until you get home so I didn’t want you to miss out completely until then) and Tasha shares some of the planning details as per any other real wedding we feature.

However, the rule is you are not allowed to watch it until you go and get yourselves that box of milk tray. Or a tin of Quality Street. Or a Terry’s chocolate orange. And you are strictly prohibited from sharing aforementioned treats with anyone except yourself.

There’s plenty of time for generosity on actual Christmas day.

Witness the fitness folks.

Tasha The Bride: James proposed to me in Bathhampton in December with a gorgeous antique turquoise and diamond ring. Being teachers, we decided the best time of year for us to get married would be at the start of the summer holidays. So initially summer 2014 was our aim. However, in April a cancellation for July came up for our dream location Cripps Barn in Glouchestire. So after calling around all the family members and close friends to check they had the date free we decided to provisionally book. Unfortunately we soon discovered why there had been a cancellation: the largest airshow in Britain was being held that weekend with the flight path set to run over our ceremony. We were completely gutted. So when Cripps told us that they were in the process of converting another barn (Shustoke- a 17th century stone barn), we went and saw it straight away.

It was breath-takingly stunning! I remember James turning to me and telling me in the courtyard that he ‘didn’t want to wait another year to call me his wife’. I’m not usually a ‘happy crier’ but that and our stunning surroundings tipped me over the edge and we booked it straight away. Then started the three month process of planning our wedding! Eeek!

The Flutter Effect

My friend who used to be a hairdresser did all the bridesmaids and my hair. I wanted to go for a messy up do with a slightly vintage twist. My ring inspired my hairpiece: I had a turquoise pendant that had been handed down from my great-great grandmother that I wore in my hair (luckily it also made up my something old and something blue). I did my own make-up as I wanted to look like me, I used benefit tinted mosturiser for a light coverage and benetint and girl meets pearl on my cheeks.

My mum is a beauty therapist so in the weeks leading up to the wedding she did eyelash extensions for all the bridesmaids and myself- they looked great and it meant we didn’t have to wear any mascara so when the speeches came, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, we were all smudge free!

Film Stills

We got some beautiful stills from our videographers, Simon Clarke and his lovely wife Anna. He’d shot my sisters wedding the previous summer and there was no doubt in our mind we wanted him for ours. On the day, they made us feel at ease cracking jokes and making us laugh even in the slightly awkward ’kissing shot’ moments. They managed to capture every magical moment of the day and every time I watch it, which has been a fair few since receiving it, it literally brightens up my day!

In Motion Picture

The whole day was completely incredible and I can’t fault any of it. I loved seeing James stood at the end of the aisle. I loved going off just the two of us to get some shots for the video. I loved our first dance. I loved laughing and crying through the speeches. I love dancing the night away with my friends and family. I loved it all so so much and still can’t help smiling when I think about it.
One of the most amazing moments of the evening was when all our friends lifted James and me up whilst his brother sang Mumford and Sons.

My advice has been, and will be to everyone, get a videographer- they capture the day in such a magical way and it’s lovely to watch back all the moments that flew by in a bit of a blur due to all the excitement and nerves.

Another piece of advice that was given to me, and now I would definitely say the same to anyone else getting married, is find some time for it just to be the two of you- we took a little drive off in the car. It was so nice just to let it all sink in and be excited with just one another!

Venue – Shustoke Barn
Brides Gown – Lusan Mandongus at Surrey Brides
Grooms Suit – Reiss
Blooms – Blooms and Bees
Catering – Shustoke Barn
Videography – Simon Clarke

As this isn’t a fully detailed feature then please feel free to leave Tasha or James any queries on suppliers/details in the comments box below.

And that leaves me to say, how beautiful?!

I actually cried when Simon Clarke showed me this – and I mean proper spilling tears, not just a bit of the ol’watery eye.

And I hope you did as you were told, bought yourself some festive treats and DIDN’T SHARE THEM.

(Although if you did want to save me a few green triangles then that is perfectly acceptable.)

Big IF WE COULD GIVE YOU ONE PIECE OF ADVICE… GET IT ON FILM Love

Charlotte xxx

It’s been a while since we’ve seen some sexy back action on Rock My Wedding and I’ve missed it. Sam certainly makes up for it though with her contemporary yet chic frockage, complimented perfectly by her impeccably dresses best girls.

The floral crowns are delicious, I want one.

Being in the depths of winter and all it’s nice to throw a sprinkle of bohemian sunshine into the mix, and I’m sure many of you are busy planning your spring and summer weddings in the midst of enjoying all of the December festivities.

A Romantic Backdrop

Sam The Bride: We loved the idea of a rustic venue, something home-spun, close to nature, and quite personal to us. So we thought – what could be a better location than in the garden of the sleepy Hertfordshire village I grew up in. It naturally provided a romantic backdrop that was relaxed, warm and full of lush greenery, very close to winding lanes and romantic woodlands. The garden had previously been a farm so we were officially the first couple to use it as a wedding space, which added another personal exclusive touch. It felt easy to envisage our own ‘midsummer night’s dream’ there where there could be no time restrictions and everyone could party until dawn.

Feeling Lush

I took initial inspiration from The Lane where I came across a wide collection of bridal makeup ideas. I wanted to look natural but alluring and fresh faced. At the same time I wanted to tie in Gatsby-esque elements to match my 1920s style dress. My bridesmaid’s sister and a close family friend Vernetta is an awesome makeup artist and specializes in bridal makeup – so it felt like the perfect choice and an honor to have my makeup done by Vernetta.

Vern was brilliant – she helped me create a desired look based on the feel and mood I was trying to capture during the makeup test. I was very happy and felt at complete ease on the day of the wedding knowing Vernetta knew exactly what she was doing. Vernetta did an excellent job – I felt lush and my makeup stayed all day. 

My hair was arranged by Francesca our family hairdresser who listened to what I wanted and designed something that suited and enhanced the view of my dress. We decided to offset the hair piece to the left to balance out the lace embellishment of the dress on the right. As my dress had a high neckline and low back, we created an updo with a cascade of soft spiraling curls at the back, garnished with plaits and twists around the back of the updo. It was soft and feminine whilst being sophisticated. 

Perfume is very important to me so I carefully selected a fragrance that would have impact and remind me of many happy moments in the future. I wanted my ‘signature scent’ to be clean, feminine, floral and timeless. I eventually chose Roses de Chloe which had notes of rose, bergamot and magnolia, and layered with other rose scents on the day.

Shape Suiting

The dress was a David Fielden design from his Sposa 2012 collection. I fell in love with a couple of Fielden dresses at The National Wedding Show where I tried them on at Noble & Wright Atelier boutique stall. That dress was eventually a winner as it did the most for my figure in comparison to the all other dresses I tried on – and I knew it was the sort of thing my future hubby would like most. 

Noble & Wright supplied the dress and adjusted it to my measurements. I loved the fittings. These all took place in Hannah Noble’s beautiful studio in Leicestershire (a way to travel but totally worth it). Hannah listened to my ideas and ensured the dress was completely fitted to my shape. When the dress was handed over I was delighted with how perfect it was and I felt secure in the knowledge that nothing else needed to be done to it.

Something Old

My mum and I stumbled across Mignonette, where the store owner gave a spectacular helping hand in choosing my veil and headpiece. I was lucky enough to have my wedding dress in the car and so we matched the veil and headpiece to my dress there and then. The headpiece was a dramatic white 1920s side design framed with pearl, crystal and soft feathers. The veil was chapel length with a scatter of a few crystals and a narrow satin edge. My earrings were my ‘something old’ and a prior gift from Seb a few years ago. They were fairly delicate Swarovski pearl drop earrings that were understated but sparkled when my hair was up.

High Street Sweethearts

We had one Maid of Honour, five bridesmaids, one flower girl, one Best Man and three ushers.The girls and I loved using Pinterest to share ideas about colours, styles and moods. We had some lovely bridesmaid gatherings, trawling through magazines and looking online. I was keen for the girls to choose dresses that they liked and could wear again. They chose a lace bodice bandeau dress with a sweetheart neckline from Oasis. Our flower girl Zahra wore a delightful dress from Monsoon that matched the bridesmaids and my own dress. All the girls’ hairpieces were beautiful silk floral crowns that matched our colour scheme, their dresses and their bouquets.

After visiting various boutiques Seb eventually chose the most beautiful grey three piece suit with double-breasted waistcoat from Tux & Tails. The ushers matched Seb in the the same suits but wore with jackets with silver waistcoats and ivory cravats. Seb’s cravat was a dark grape colour to match the purple in our colour scheme. The girls all looked completely stunning and the men looked dapper in their suits.

Peach And Blush

Our colour scheme evolved after we found the bridesmaid dresses. We decided on a soft pastel multi-colour scheme with pale peach, blush pink, cream, mint and lilac.

As we wanted our reception to have a relaxed yet vibrant feel with lots of warmth we chose the Stunning Tents company for our tipis on the lawn. We were excited by the rustic and sturdy structure of the tipis and the fact that they could let in lots of light, whilst keeping people snug and protected from the outside elements!

With the help of our wonderful wedding party, we hung gorgeous paper lanterns inside the tipis to soften the feel and add more colour.

Flower Crowns & Posies

Mum and I bounced off ideas with Julie Cambridge who produced a beautiful array of flowers within the dream budget. My bouquet was hand-tied with trailing foliage, a mix of soft peach blush garden style roses, white stocks, hydrangea and lavender and grey succulent plants. The bridesmaids had matching posy style bouquets with the same colour flowers plus a few deeper shades to match Seb’s cravat. The bridesmaids’ floral crowns had the same colours with lacy ribbons and our flower girl carried a small teddy with a flower attached.

The buttonholes were a delicate selection of light pink eustoma and gyp foliage with Seb having more lavender in his. Julie’s floral design added a lot of magic and transformed the tipis into something that felt like our own.

Lavender Hills

A beautiful vintage cream Beauford car (courtesy of my amazing sister) whisked Dad and I to the local parish church. The ceremony itself was beautiful and quite emotional. It was wonderful to walk down the isle past our favourite people who have been part of our lives from early on to today. The church had a wonderful atmosphere inside. Seb and I arranged for the organist to play Lavender Hills by Brian Crain for the bridal procession music.

We used a few wedding themed hymns with well known melodies (for instance the melody of I Vow to Thee My Country for all the lads). A bible reading was beautifully read by a very good friend of mine Lucy Charles, and Seb’s sister Frankie and brother Zach gave a gorgeous rendition of an extract from The Velveteen Rabbit.

Charisma & Charm

The speeches were all fantastic and brought many laughs and a few tears to our eyes. I could see my dad was confidently calm with perhaps a few nerves brimming beneath the surface. He did a splendid job of encouraging us and of course included some very funny anecdotes. The best man gave a brilliant entertaining and meaningful speech. Seb couldn’t have done a better job. Seb’s speech was heartfelt and perfect and left me feeling incredibly honoured to be marrying him. A big thanks goes out to my brothers who were Masters of the Ceremony. They introduced all the speeches smoothly with plenty of charisma and charm. Other stand out moments from the evening include my Aunt Viv’s speech and reading of the poem – Unending Love By Rabindranath Tagore and my bridesmaid Stephanie’s performance of ‘At Last’. Steph your song was stunning, thank you so much.

My brother Chris is also one of Cambridge’s finest DJs so it was lovely that he introduced us to the dance floor before playing his set. Our first dance was to an Al Green and Leela James mix of ‘Simply Beautiful’ This was a personal choice as one of our earliest dates was a Leela James gig at the Jazz Cafe. Chris then played an epic selection of tunes until an unexpected band arrived (a susprise gift from my Dad). Little had we known, but the band had been in hiding in the house the whole day – a very well kept secret! That band was none other than the 80s soul group Loose Ends who provided a brilliant selection of soul tunes. People from all generations were on the dance floor having a fabulous time! After their gig DJC (another excellent DJ from Cambridge and friend of Chris’) did a fantastic job of keeping everyone on the dance floor till the early hours of the next morning. This was a treat from my brothers Chris & Aaron who wanted to organise the music for our reception. Seb and I had list of songs we wanted played on the night and DJ Curtis played them all.

On The Lawn

Mum did an amazing job of organising the food and the wedding cake as a gift to us. Our caterer Claire put together a beautiful menu starting with canapés on the lawn, a coq au vin supreme for the main meal and a trio of yummy deserts for later. Cynthia at Pretty Gorgeous Cakes made a lovely cupcake tower with a pretty top tier cake that matched our colour scheme.

With A Little Help

A friend of Seb’s has her own beautiful stationery company based in America. When we were there last year, we visited Katharine’s studio and saw her unique letter press cards with Indian influences. We thought it would be more personal to order our invitations from Katharine. The remaining stationery was a DIY job. Seb and I designed the Order of Service and Menu and had a good printing job done by our local Kall Kwik. Cute name place cards came from Hobby Craft and the girls and I wrote these up the night before.

Finally with the help of our wonderful bridesmaids and ushers we had some beautiful hand-designed table cards each named after our favourite iconic love films with a quote (from Breakfast At Tiffany’s to The Notebook). Our seating plan had a non-traditional twist – we placed small cards inside an authentic birdcage that belonged to my mum. Meredith and Diahann were true creative goddesses and transformed the birdcage into a piece of art with silk flowers, vines, pegs and ribbons. I don’t know what I’d have done without you both! Thank you so much!

Capturing The Spirit

Our advice would be to cherish the day and the moments leading up to you wedding. It really will be one of the most beautiful, unforgettable and magical days of your life. A special tip we were given was to go off for a few moments (just you and your hubby) and stand somewhere where you can view everything and take it all in.

Do as much as you can as early as you can! There is a lot to do during the week of the wedding. A lot of people will want to help so get them on board – it makes it all the more worthwhile and meaningful creating something so special with your nearest and dearest.

Also, our photographer came via a personal recommendation from a friend who had done a shoot with the photographer Hannah May. When Seb & I saw Hannah May’s portfolio we knew she was the right photographer for us. We didn’t want a traditional corporate album – we wanted something relaxed and artistic that captured the spirit of the day. We’re so happy with Hannah’s work – we love the story it tells and the stunning moments she caught, it’s all there for us to cherish it forever.

Click here & view all images from this wedding

Venue: Tipis supplied by Stunning Tents
Dress: A David Fielden dress from Noble & Wright Atelier
Bridesmaids: Oasis Occasion
Flower Girl: Monsoon
Groom Suit: Tux n Tails, St’ Albans
Bride’s Headpiece: Richard Designs
Veil: Mignonette
Stationery: Katharine Watson
Photography: Hannah May
Make Up: Vernilla Sweet
Cake Decoration: Pretty Gorgeous Cake Company
Blooms: Julie Cambridge Floral Design
Daytime Music: Stephanie Oyerinde
Evening Band: Loose Ends
DJs: DJ Push

Are you now tempted by the back flash?

I am tempted to wear an Xmas version of a floral crown, I’m thinking sequins and mistletoe.

Big Magical Love

Charlotte xxx

I am utterly blown away by Chloe and Dav’s big day. It is just so lovely from start to finish that I can’t wait for you all to see the gorgeous images and read Chloe’s report.

Wait until you see Chloe’s two hair looks – SUCH a great idea, far cheaper than changing your look with two dresses. And why chose between a veil and a floral crown when you can have both??

The Bridesmaids are a gorgeous bunch too and look very fresh and girly in their short pink dresses. I LOVE the ‘getting ready’ shots, they really capture the sense of girly excitement and love between best friends.

There’s a truly magical atmosphere in the marquee with candelabras and long tables adorned with hessian and white milk pails filled with wild flowers. And the reception was rounded off with a giant bonfire!

The whole day really is beautiful. And not only do we have the images from Isabel Maria, but the wedding video too.

Right, that’s it, I’m too excited for you all now…off you go and enjoy the wonderful day of Chloe and Dav…

Spacious And Naturally Beautiful

Chloe The Bride: Our reception was held at Court Farm, Standerwick. We knew that a hotel or country house wedding wasn’t for us from the outset, but we weren’t quite sure what our other options were. During my cheeky daily browse of RMW, I stumbled upon another couple’s gorgeous day and was delighted when the venue was listed in the South West. We sped our way to Court Farm and were bowled over by its relaxed, rustic, wholesome feel. It was just so spacious and naturally beautiful. The fact that they had a campsite and that all of my family and gal pals could stay in the 16 stunning rooms available for the duration of the wedding sealed the deal for me.

We attached a marquee to the back of the amazing open-faced barn. We initially found it pretty difficult to get excited about the whole white tent thing. Then we discovered Bath Marquees. These guys were an absolute dream, I honestly don’t know what I would have done without them. Nothing was too much trouble – from meeting at our local to draw pictures of tent interiors, to horizontally wiring fairy lights and tying bunting, it’s suppliers like this that really make the whole process that bit more enjoyable.

Beauty Queen

So, I completely love products. Creams, perfumes, but most of all make up! I find the whole thing quite therapeutic, and I love doing it for other people too. As it’s usually me that does everyone’s beauty bits before a night out, and also because I always in up in a total rush no matter how early I start, I had originally thought that it would be really nice to have someone else do it all on the day.

However, after lots of failed hair and make-up trials, I was getting a bit fed up throwing my pennies away for nothing. After a consultation at the Chanel counter in Belfast, I came away with lots of lovely powders and potions to help me and the maids along when it came to W-Day. Woop! I have quite an unruly barnet, but after years of taming the mane I decided to go for a relaxed up-do for the ceremony which I could wear with my veil. I let my hair down in the evening (pardon the pun) and popped a floral crown for a completely different look.

Lady Luck

I didn’t really believe in finding THE dress if I’m honest. The girls and I decided to take ourselves off to the National Wedding Show at Earl’s Court for a bit of a giggle and I tried on a few which I thought were quite pretty. Then I tried on a Vintage Wedding Dress Company number and fell in love with a Decades Collection victorian silk and lace dress. It was just so light and full of detail; the tiny shower-hail pattern and climbing ivy lace won me over. It also came with a really unique heavy, mid-length veil and a long silk sash in “blush”.

I tried it on again for my Mum in the most beautiful boutique in Northern Ireland – Petticoat Lane Bridal. The ladies in there are super and the boutique is something special. The old price tag wasn’t really in my reach though, so I put it in the “when I win the Euromillions” pile. Then I got wind of a charity bridal auction on eBay… the VWDC had donated a voucher to spend up to £3000 in store, with all the proceeds going to Oxfam. I only went and won it didn’t I?! I spent a fraction of the price, gave lots of cash to a great cause and bagged my dream dress! Hooray!

Statement Pieces

Because my veil and floral crown were such statement pieces, didn’t want to overdo it with accessories. Apart from some drop pearls, I let my wedding and engagement ring from Lunn’s Belfast do the talking! We had our wedding bands engraved with 1 John 4:19 – a really lovely Bible verse which we also had as a motif on our stationery.

A Big Fat Gypsy Wedding Party

When I told my Mum that I was going to have 6 bridesmaids, she said that it would be like something from My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. Luckily for the girls, I was thinking more A Midsummer Night’s Dream. My sister Georgia, cousin Naomi, ‘home’ gals Naomi and Mairead and uni pals Jessie and Imogen stood by my side when I said “I Do”.

They looked totally beautiful in their cream and dusky-pink knee length dresses. These were an absolute steal from H&M. I paired them with ballet flats by Linea at House of Fraser and some silk ribbon in contrasting colours.

Dav didn’t have to think about his best man choice for long – Ollie is a lifelong friend of his, a great guy with a super sense of humour. He also had 5 ushers – his brother Ed, hockey mates Phil, Coops and Tom and recent housemate and top bloke, John. The guys were in different shades of grey (not fifty!) and Dav bought them ties, socks and cufflinks to bring it all together with his beautiful blue suit from Reiss UK. He teamed this with a grey waistcoat and maroon tie and pocket hanky. My little bride heart skipped a beat when I saw him at the other end of the aisle!

A Lover Of Polka Dots

I blundered into wedding planning on a bit of a wing and a prayer. I knew lots about what I didn’t want, but not much about what I did. The theme, colour scheme etc emerged quite organically – lots of sages, dusky pinks and creams to help along the relaxed, rustic feel of the day. It also turns out that I love a good polka dot – these featured very subtly in my dress, the usher ties and in the favours and stationery.

I always teach my students that life is all about the little details, and this was definitely reflected in the decor. I bought beautiful hessian and lace table runners from Hessian Chic and complimented these with vintage crockery by the fabulous Amanda Baird at The Utterly Sexy Café and hand stamped luggage tags and organic fig and ginger soap bars for favours. I wrapped these in old book pages – a mixture of poems and Great Expectations – two firm favourites, and tied them with twine and a little rosebud.

Reluctant to buy loads of decor I would never be able to use again, I was so delighted when I discovered Vintage Marquees. Caroline shares my love for all things pretty, and I loved everything she had to offer. She makes most of her decor by hand, and I was particularly taken by her bunting and mismatched cushions. I hung the bunting and fairy lights horizontally to lower the ceiling and create a more intimate, cosy atmosphere. The wild, Midsummer theme was tied in with the ivy (lots of which came all the way from Ireland!) around the perimeter of the tent. Lots of tea lights, jam jars, wicker hearts and blackboard table numbers later and we were reception ready!

A Floral Masterpiece

Besides my very gorgeous hubby, the flowers were my hands-down favourite part of the whole day. Apart from being genuinely lovely people, Jo and the team at The Walled Garden at Mells are ridiculously talented when it comes to bringing your vision to life in the form of beautiful blooms. I wanted a pretty but exuberant, wild feel and that was exactly what I got.

They did everything for us – from the gypsophila posies at church, to the bouquets of creamy roses, peonies and tiny daisies, button holes and bucket flowers (which my mum and aunties arranged in the marquee). The crowning glory was definitely my floral crown – it was so fun to wear and lasted beautifully throughout the whole evening. When Jo measured my head the month before, I had no idea I was in for such a treat!

Oh Lord You’re Beautiful

We tied the knot at our church, St Bart’s in Bath. This was a hugely important part of the day for us – we’re regulars there and it was so special to have all of our nearest and dearest in a place that we love. I’m a Northern Irish gal, and wanted a piece of home at the ceremony. Enter Pastor Norman Hobson from my church in Belfast who teamed up with our Vicar to help us tie the knot. The service was something I’ll never forget – lots of loud singing, giggles and a vintage tea reception served by lovely volunteers from church to keep hunger at bay until dinner time.

All of the musicians were good friends of ours and did the most amazing job. We walked up the aisle to “Oh Lord You’re Beautiful” by a band called Jesus Culture. This was followed by firm favourites “Be Thou My Vision”, “How Great Thou Art” and “In Christ Alone.” Although most of our friends aren’t actually church goers, everyone commented on how joyful and accessible the service was – this meant a lot. My brother read 1 Corinthians and Dav’s sister read a poem by Rob Ryan called, “All of the Thoughts”. We’ve got that one in our living room – it’s a winner. We also had my good friend Kat read “After the Lunch” by Wendy Cope. Kat has one of those voices that was made for reading. That particular poem reminds us of many dates in the Big Smoke where I lived before making the marriage move to Bath. We said many a goodbye on Waterloo Bridge!

Cheerful Perfectionism

Our guests arrived at Court Farm to bubbly prosecco, home-made lemonade, hearty canapés and the amazing sounds of The Drystones. We heard these two busking in Bath and just knew we had to have them play. They’re a lively folk duo from the South West and brought that unmistakably Celtic sound to an orchard courtyard in Frome. It’s the type of stuff that raises the hairs on your arms and gets even the most reluctant of toes tapping. Magic.

We chose Sam’s Kitchen as our caterer. He came highly recommended and we just love his deli on Walcot Street in Bath. He served up a summery banquet of hazelnut and saffron honey roast chicken with broccoli, sweet potato, wild rice and rustic bread. This was laid out along the tables for people to take and share as they pleased. Not only did this look super, but it also made for lots of “can you pass the…” – great conversation starter for guests who had never met! Sam and team were fab. I really worried that I’d find it difficult to let go of everything on the day, but their cheerful perfectionism meant that I trusted them completely. Glasses never went empty, tea lights never went out and our loved ones ate and drank well into the early hours.

For dessert, we had an incredible cake table. This held the creations of guests who opted-in to “The Great Wedding Bake-Off”. From macaroons to meringues, cupcakes to caramels, it was a sight to behold! We gave out a range of prizes to our most talented Delias and Gordons, including a signed Mary Berry cook book to “Star Baker”, Lara, who made a Barbie Bride cake complete with veil and sparkles. We complimented this with 200 cascading Krispy Kremes on the sweet table and the arrival of a Mr Whippy Ice Cream Van in the evening for that nostalgic feel. Nothing quite like a 99!

Our first dance was to “Ho-Hey” by The Lumineers. The lyrics say it all really! This was quickly followed by “We Found Love” by Rihanna. Guests helped themselves to a string of coloured “party glasses” and busted some serious moves! When the sore feet started to kick in later, we made our way to the bonfire for toasted marshmallows, sparklers and long chats on hay-bales.

A Fabulously Talented Friend

Stationery is something that is very close to my heart. I love a good card (I take a lot of abuse from friends and family for the confetti type ‘sparkles’ that often tumble from the envelope on opening!) so expectation was high! Luckily, one of my bridesmaids, Imogen, is a bit of a dark horse. Slick city lawyer by day and creative, talented artist by night, she did pretty much everything. She has that mesmerising Quentin Blake style to her stuff – full of quirks, colour and detail. This meant that we had the most beautiful personalised day and evening invitations, orders of service, menus; the works! She even drew the chalk mural in the barn and the table numbers on the little blackboard stands. It made everything that little bit more special and I’ll be forever grateful to her for it all.

You’re Having A Marriage

So. There you have it! We went and had ourselves the best day of our little lives. It was such a team effort; I’m still bowled over by people’s generosity and kindness throughout the whole thing. We really deliberated about whether or not to have a big wedding or to pootle off into the sunset and tie the knot Gretna-Green stylee. I can honestly say that the months of booking, crafting, planning, saving and spread sheets all faded into oblivion the very second I held my Dad’s arm, walked up the aisle surrounded by every single person I have ever known and loved and said a big “I Do” to the wonderful man I’m so very proud to call my husband.

I’ll leave you lovely brides-to-be with a piece of advice that I was given by a wise old owl. She said, “Remember, you’re not just having a wedding. You’re having a marriage.” That thought kept me going with a huge grin right until I hung my veil up at the end of a truly magical evening. If our marriage rocks as much as our wedding, we’re in for a treat!

Every Joy Filled Smile

Our photographer was Isabel Maria – an associate of Allister Freeman Photography. I worked with Isabel for a year (she taught photography at the same school where I teach English). When she offered to take our wedding snaps, I was over the moon! She is one of life’s little gems and it was such a treat to have this beautiful, funny, photograph-taking wonder capture the most important day of our lives. She put me at total ease the whole day. I love her reportage style – it’s so natural and caught every joy-filled smile, laugh and cheeky smooch! I would recommend her wholeheartedly to any bride to be.

We also used the talented folk at Hare Meets Tortoise Productions to create our wedding film. This was a real highlight for us. James and Macca just blended right in and were so unobtrusive and enthusiastic the whole day. It was great to have them there as well as having them make our wedvid!

Bride’s Gown – From the Decades Collection at Charlie Brear at Petticoat Lane Bridal
Bridesmaids – H&M and House of Fraser
Groom – Reiss UK
Venue – Court Farm
Marquee – Bath Marquees
Florist – The Walled Garden at Mells
Catering – Sam’s Kitchen
Band – The Drystones
Décor – Vintage Marquees, The Utterly Sexy Café and Hessian Chic
Jeweller – Lunn’s Belfast
Photography – Isabel Maria Photography
Videography – Hare Meets Tortoise Productions

Click here & view all images from this wedding

See, how amazingly lovely is the ENTIRE day??

It’s so full of positivity and love that it makes you wish you had been there.

And whatever your religious beliefs are, I think something, somewhere made sure that the lovely Chloe would have her beautiful Charlie Brear gown.

Lots of love,
Fern x

Happy New Year lovelies! and welcome to Rock My Wedding 2014. If you’re already a regular reader then you’ll notice a few changes around here, we’ve been updating and designing in order to make your experience quicker, easier and well….that little bit cooler. And if you are new to the blog (MASSIVE *wave*) then welcome! and congratulations on your engagement!

We thought we would begin with the gorgeous home-spun affair of Lucy and Scott which took place at River Cottage in Devon, a stunning venue with an equally covetable menu. We love Lucy’s “Ethereal English Rose” look and her dedication to DIY favours, I would very much like a bottle of Elderflower cordial and a selection of rose turkish delight right about now please.

Did I mention the fashion in general? Lush. The groomsmen look mighty fine in their country gent style apparel.

Enjoy!

Lucy The Bride: When we started our journey of finding our venue all we really knew was we wanted it to be near our home so all our family and friends could come. It was a little bit like the Goldilocks story, the venues we viewed were either too big or small(!) but as soon as we wondered down the track to River Cottage HQ set amongst the rolling Devon countryside we just knew it was perfect for us.

We had the privilege of getting married in the recently refurbished Uplyme Village church. It was such a pleasure to walk down the aisle arm in arm with my father to meet my gorgeous new husband. It was a magical service and very intimate, we had all our bridesmaids and grooms man around us which made us feel totally relaxed.

I can not recommend Kate Walker of Honiton highly enough. As soon as I walked into her gorgeous little boutique I knew I would find my dress. She listened to me carefully and then interpreted my ideas of an “Ethereal English Rose” into a delicate combination of soft ivory silk and layers of lace.

My florist Busy bee of Axminster created the most delicate sprigs for my hair with white hydrangeas and miniature lavender which looked so perfect.

My handsome husband wore a country gent style grey wool suit from Ted Baker and tan brogues. My Dad also shopped in Ted Baker and wore dark green jacket and champaign check waist coat. The grooms men all wore herringbone bow ties and tweed waistcoats. The two best men outfits were from ASOS.

The River Cottage food was exceptional and as it was on a Sunday we went for a root vegetable and sirloin beef roast with massive yorkshire puddings. Our dessert was fresh berries, cream and chocolate all wrapped up in meringue. All our guest were bowled over by the food!

Inspired by my River Cottage venue I hand made all our favors. In May my hubby and I loaded tubs with fresh elderflower heads (290 to be precise!) picked locally to us and I set about boiling up 10 Litres of sugar and elderflower to create elderflower cordial. I then filled mini bottles with the sweet drink and labelled each one. I also made rose turkish delight which I wrapped in cellophane bags full of icing sugar and wrapped in natural string with a label saying “Eat Me”

My best advice I can give is do all your planning and making in advance and then on you special day you are the guest at your own wedding. The most important part of the day is you and your husband, so make sure you spend as much time together as possible and savor every minute as it goes so quickly.

Photography by Helen Lisk
Venue River Cottage HQ Axminster | Dress Kate Walker | Swing seat Sitting Spiritually | Shoes Rachel Simpson | Groom’s outfit Ted Baker | Hair Rosanne Dyer | Make up Laura Le Page | Band Matt Strafford Duo | Florist Busy bee | Bow Ties | Moaning Minnies | Printing Printed.com | Bridesmaid dresses Monsoon | Flower girl outfit Tut Tu De Monde.

I’m thrilled to be sharing the festival inspired wedding of Rebecca and Gary with you lovely lot on this dreary Monday morning. It is full of smiles, sunshine and colourful blooms – which, I’m sure you’ll agree, we all definitely need a MASSIVE dose of.

Like the beautiful images from Dasha Caffrey, Rebecca’s wedding report has so much heart and warmth, it’ll make you wish that you were her friend AND that you could’ve attended WedFest.

Rebecca managed to pull off this gorgeous affair with a tiny baby in tow, a lack of accommodation for family and friends due to The Goodwood Festival being held on the same weekend, AND being double booked by her original photographer. Seriously? Amazingly calm and collected!

I’m in love with her choice of flowers, in shades of hot pink, sunshine yellow and coral, they really are to-die-for…but wait until you see the giant flower ball. It is truly epic.

Rebecca The Bride: As children of the sticks a rural location suited us. We wanted one that we could play a bit with, but that had some wow about it. Grittenham Barn won us over super quick, with its chilled atmosphere, resident donkeys and understated beauty.

As our wedding was festival themed, I wanted a floaty, bohemian and vintage dress. Luella’s Boudoir has them in abundance and nothing was too much trouble for Rachel and Philippa. Without a sniff of pretention, they lifted my spirits when I felt my body was more baby than bride and I love that we had a big hug on my final visit.

Wedfest was born out of the joy we get from gigs, festivals and fields and the colour scheme was based on the colours that make me smile. I’m not selfish; Gary just didn’t give two hoots about coral, hot pink and sunshine yellow!

We sourced vintage fabric and wallpaper and made pretty much everything, from signs and bunting to a photo booth wall, a giant R & G and table names named after gigs we had been to.

Alongside my massive bouquet of oversized peonies, sweet roses and craspedia (amongst others), which I didn’t let go of until the lights went out…we had flowers hanging from chairs, in kilner jars on the tables and vintage bottles on the fireplace, even woven into the donkeys head collars. But it was the whopping great flower ball that was the most amaze of balls!

“I love you, like you love mash and peas.” Not your average wedding vow granted, but it was important to us that our civil ceremony reflected and celebrated our 9.5 years of togetherness.

“I’ve done a really stupid thing. I’ve double booked you.” The words of our photographer a week before our wedding. So began a hasty search and thank the photography lord for the lovely Dasha Caffrey, who gave up her only free Saturday for us. We have her to thank for capturing every moment of joy and the smiles of every guest. She cured me of my camera phobia and messing about with her in a field in the evening light is a wonderful memory.

Our invites set the tone for our Wedfest and probably got more compliments than we did! My incredibly talented friend Nigel designed them based on a loose brief of a festival flyer and adapted the artwork for our table plan and place settings.

Everyone tells you to take a moment because it goes too quick and it does (especially on a hot day drinking sloe gin cocktails)! Our moment was in a field above the barn. We looked back at everyone enjoying our wedding. It made us grin. Another one is get it filmed. GET IT FILMED. Do not rely on your giddy teenage daughter who will only film her friends doing silly dancing.

Finally, I am now an advocate of a mini moon followed by a belated honeymoon. Prolong the magic. We are about to head off to The Seychelles four months later and be newlyweds all over again. Come on Mr Ruffell our cabin awaits.

Photography by Dasha Caffrey
Venue Grittenham Barn | Dress Charlotte Casadejus | Boutique Luella’s Boudoir | Shoes Rachel Simpson | Hair & Make up Melissa Oldrigge | Band Fake Tan | Florist Angel Like Flowers | Stationery Nigel Gledhill | Flowergirl dresses Monsoon UK | Catering Alexandra’s Kitchen

FIT. That is the word that sprung to mind when I first saw Katie and Tom’s engagement shoot that we featured a few months back. And now we have the actual wedding and everything.

Oh my, it’s a veritable feast of rainbow hues and double treble QUADRUPLE fitness.

Love Katie’s look (and um… just her face in general) and the groomsmen look super smart in their mis-match tweed. The centre pieces are particularly clever, and the traditional fete-inspired games look like masses of fun for all of the guests.

You gorgeous lot are going to be pinning until your fingers are raw. Really.

Katie The Bride We both had a very clear idea of the kind of venue we wanted for our big day – laid back, rural, pretty and quirky, after several weeks of searching, I was sure what we had in our heads didn’t exist! After spotting South Farm on RMW, we instantly fell in love and booked an appointment to visit the following weekend. We fell in love immediately with the beautiful setting and farm animals!

My dress was the Urda by Pronovias from Allison Jayne in Swansea. I tried on lots of dresses at different boutiques, but this one felt the most ‘me’. My tip: always try on something you don’t think will suit you – I was sure a princess gown would suit me best but ended up with a fishtail!

I was lucky enough to win a RMW competition earlier this year – I won a gift voucher to spend with the fantastic Liberty in Love – I was over the moon and it took me ages to chose from all the beautiful things! I ended up plumping for the ‘Madeline’ headdress and the waterlilly pearl bracelet.

We had a pretty big wedding party with the best man four ushers and six bridesmaids. We wanted everyone to be super-comfortable and happy with their outfits so let the bridesmaids pick their own dresses and the groomsmen to wear their own tweed. We think they looked great!

We wanted lots of colour and wanted to tie the theme back to the beautiful location with a country feel. The tables were named after fete stalls/events and Tom took great pride in accessorising each table with coconuts/rope/my old riding trophies. We made a lot of the décor ourselves – from painting the table plan and tombola to all the table decorations – which was a lot of fun (really!)!

We had the fantastic Helen from Bouquets and Butterflies do our flowers – we loved the colourful blooms in her gallery and when we met her we had the utmost confidence the flowers would be absolutely beautiful.

Our ceremony was due to be outside in the beautiful gardens, but unfortunately on the day the weather wasn’t on our side so it was moved inside. Honestly, I thought I would’ve been a little sad but it didn’t matter at all – I would have married Tom in the mens’ toilets if that was what had to happen!

Waiting to walk into the ceremony with my girls and dad is one of the moments I remember most clearly from the day. I think I almost ran up the aisle (bit worried about seeing that bit on the wedding video!) because I was so excited to be marrying Tom – I saw his smiley face at the top of the aisle and just wanted to get there already!

We were after laid-back but yummy food for the main meal so chose pate to start, roast lamb for main and sticky toffee pudding for dessert – the veggies had a stacked Mediterranean salad for starter and a goats’ cheese and caramelized onion tart for main. It was all absolutely delicious!

The true star supplier for us was our amazing photographer Mister Phill, not only was he a superstar on the day and made our friends and families fall in love with him (we’ve had endless comments about how lovely and amazing he was), but he trekked all the way to London to show us our wedding pictures in person and relive the day.

My only advice for any bride-to-be is to keep reminding yourself why you’re getting married and not get too bogged-down in worrying about the colour scheme, who is sitting by who and whether your friend is upset that her new boyfriend isn’t invited. It is your day to marry your forever-person, and enjoy every single second of it.

Mister Phill
Venue South Farm | Brides Gown Pronovias at Alison Jayne | Accessories Liberty In Love | Blooms Bouquets And Butterflies | Three String Trio Manor House Music | Stationery Carly and Jan