Inspiration

Jes & Tommy's big day is filled with colour and joy and it made me very happy putting it together for you all, the colourful lanterns, bunting and bright yellow sunflowers are just so pretty. Jes is a primary school teacher and her year one class sang during the ceremony which must have been really special and made for some totally adorable photographs (speaking of which, they come from fabulous photographer Jessica Reeve, whose natural, light filled style we adore). The couple decided to have a music festival feel for their wedding day, with lots of cool places to chill out outside, different styles of music playing and of course, delicious food and cocktails to keep everyone happy. And just wait until you see the back of Jes' Ronald Joyce dress - the detail is beautiful!

The Bride

Jes The Bride: We chose to have a festival wedding but I still wanted a dress that made me feel special. I chose to wear high shoes a veil and my gown for the church ceremony but changed the back detail of my dress and added a colourful headpiece for the reception to suit our festival theme.

The Groom & Groomsmen

Tommy: I wanted a slim fit suit that was different we chose the Noose & Monkey Suit With Shawl Lapel In Skinny Fit Blue. All my best men, grooms men and both father of the groom and bride were dressed the same suit.

The Venue

The Letchworth Centre for Healthy Living. We chose this venue as we felt it suited our theme perfectly. It provided the perfect setting for our festival themed wedding. We were given the freedom to decorate the grounds as we wished. The venue were great at supporting us with the planning and were open to our ideas to make our day special.

The Decor

Instead of choosing one colour scheme for our wedding we decided to opt for lots of colour instead. Whilst the Bridesmaids dresses and flowers were yellow we introduced bursts of colour at any opportunity. I think our photographer was fantastic at capturing all of the wonderful colour and designs we had chosen for our day. The dance floor was covered with hanging lanterns, which I feel really bought the marquee to life. Many guests commented on all the final finishing touches we had planned. Each guest was provided with a personalised wristband and a cocktail as our wedding favours. Guests were given lots of different areas to discover and explore throughout the day. Our photo booth consisted of props and selfie-sticks. We included a chill out area complete with vintage sofas, beanbags and fire pits.

The Flowers

We wanted to go for a very natural, rustic feel with our flowers. Having most of our wedding outside we felt it important to use our surroundings. The bridal bouquet included 3 large sunflowers, white Dahlia’s, Thlaspi, white Gypsophila and whisps of wheat running through. The flowergirls, still in keeping with the rustic feel, had loose hand tied design using Tanacetum Daisy and tied with natural raffia. The grooms buttonhole had mini Sunflower with whisps of wheat running up the back and white Gypsophila around the base with rustic brown string round the stem and a pearl pin to attach. The groomsmen has slightly simpler buttonholes with a mini Sunflower only with a pearl pin to attach.

The Wedding Party

The groomsmen suits were exactly the same as the groom. As an extra piece for the Groom I bought him a gold pocket watch as a wedding present that he opened the morning of the wedding. The flower girls were aged between 7 and 14 years and so I wanted to get them all something they would feel comfortable and beautiful in. We chose some yellow pleated dresses from Next and paired with gold gladiator sandals from John Lewis.

The Ceremony

I am a primary school teacher and so was lucky enough to have my class attend and perform whilst we signed our marriage certificate. My year 1 class were so excited to sing at my wedding, they performed two songs, a thousand years by Christina Perri and It Must Be Love by Madness; there was not a dry eye in the church!

Music Festival Wedding

Our wedding was very much built around music from the moment our guests arrived we have live musicians. During the welcome drinks Charlie Hole performed providing a chilled ambience. Later in the day the A- list performed and got everyone up on the dance floor. As the sun set we then had 3 DJ’s, all experts in their own genre of music, the Winchester Collective.

The Food

Again we went for a very chilled out and relaxed approach for our food choices. Guests were welcomed to the venue with a glass of Pimms and a range of delicious canapés. Following the speeches we had a BBQ for which guests could help themselves and sit where they wanted. For desert we hired an ice cream truck. And finally, during the evening guests could create their own pizza’s which were then cooked outside in a mobile pizza oven.

The Photography

Our photographer, Jessica Reeve, was truly amazing. From the moment she stepped into my house the morning of the wedding I felt so comfortable with her. She set off taking beautiful pictures of my dress, accessories and flowers. We had originally booked Jess as we wanted really natural photos that showed everyone having a good time. We were blown away by how many magical moments she caught of our family and friends on our special day!
Fern Godfrey

Written by Fern Godfrey

Bride: Ronald Joyce | Shoes: Faith | Veil: Phase Eight | Florist: Hello Flower | Venue Styling & Decor: Fleur de Lace | Bridesmaids: Next | Groom & Groomsmen: Noose & Monkey | Stationery Printing: Solo Press | Transport: Timebus

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