Amy & Andy

I'm in love. I'm in love with the stunning perfect pom pom dahlia bouquets. I'm in love with the fact that Groom Andy wears his kilt he was given on his 18th birthday, and I'm in love with the fact that Bride Amy & Andy chose to have their reception at Amy's parents nursery. The glasshouse reception is truly spectacular. I also adore all the vintage references, especially the 1920s carousel, making for some truly sweet portraits captured by Joanna Nicole Photography. The ladies' gowns also pay homage to the 1950s era, with sweet tea-length numbers in pretty floral ditsy prints and polka dots, with those bright dahlia bouquets making the perfect finishing touch. Such a fabulous DIY 'at home' wedding, incorporating all of this couple's favourite things with a little help from their family, friends and a few thousand fairy lights.

The Dress

Amy The Bride: I love all things spotty, so ever since I had seen a picture of a 1950’s style polka dot dress on Pinterest, I knew that was the dress for me! As soon as I had tried the Polka Dot dress on in Candy Anthony it was love at first sight. I had to be coaxed out of it to try on a few other dresses but within 15 minutes I was back in it again. Then came the dress anguish; justifying its £2000 price tag. Luckily a search on Preloved revealed a near perfect size match and I was able to purchase “The Dress” second hand for a quarter of the price it was going to cost me to buy new. I couldn’t have been happier with a second hand dress as I knew it meant I would relax and have fun rather than constantly worry about damaging it. Going for a knee length dress meant I could really go to town with my shoes! I found a pair of dance shoes online which perfectly matched my gorgeous yellow silk bow. On the day, Andy wrote me a letter. Knowing it would be a tear jerker I postponed opening it. This proved to be a bad move as I completely forgot to read it as the preparations took over. My dad asked me about the letter when we were on our way to the church and I realised with horror that I hadn’t read it. A quick U turn and a few tears later I had read the letter, had a gorgeous customised bracelet on my wrist and was only 10 minutes late for the ceremony! I also wore my Mums necklace and Aunty Margo’s earrings.

The Grooms Fashion

Andy opted to wear his own kilt which is in his family tartan of Lauder (that had been his 18th birthday present).

The Venue

Where to have the wedding was an easy decision to make. My parents are retired growers and we were lucky enough to have a huge glasshouse at our disposal, complete with fields that could accommodate a wedding campsite drink and of course the 1920’s carousel!

Colour Scheme/Décor

There was no theme to the wedding; we just made our decisions based on the things that we liked. Converting a working glasshouse into a wedding venue took approximately 30000 fairy lights, 2000 cable ties and 1000m of hessian!

Flowers/Florist

The flowers were an absolute triumph and testimony to my very talented friends. I visited the flower farm the week before the wedding with the brief to “cut what looks good” and my goodness they did just that!

The Wedding Party Fashion

The bridesmaids kept with the 1950’s style and wore dresses from Lindybop in a gorgeous floral print.

Ceremony

My sisters read an adapted version of Dr Suess “Oh the places you’ll go!” that included references to our VW campervan Wanda and our honeymoon adventures around the Scottish Highlands.

Entertainment

A totally awesome band called Murdochs Crazy Eyes followed by a DJ to keep the party going into the wee small hours.

Food

We have to thank our very talented friends who own and run a local farm shop for the delicious food; sausage rolls, pork pies, scotch eggs, cheese straws and sharing picnic hampers full of tasty treats like tartlets and local cheeses served with chutney, piccalilli and chilli jam made by my bridesmaid Catherine. Pudding was local West Sussex ice creams and our wedding cake (made by Aunty Pam). In the evening we had BBQ sausages and an amazing cake table courtesy of talented guests.

Photographer

Jo is amazing! She captured the day perfectly and is a truly talented photographer. Andy and I have run out of superlatives to describe the photos of our big day but I think “Wow” pretty much covers it!

Advice

Andy and my brother in law Adrian upcycled some old pallets into wedding furniture for the straw floored “Ranch Bar”. We installed a gigantic log burner into the glasshouse which was great when the evening got a bit chilly. I hand drew all of the stationery and then got the design printed onto Kraft paper. People said the day would go quickly…I think a blur is a more accurate description, so make sure you enjoy the preparations and clean up as much as the big day. We had a BBQ and games on the Sunday which gave us a chance to share memories and eat up the left overs!