Inspiration

It's no secret that Team RMW love a little gin once in a while. I mean what is life without a bit of fun?! So when Camilla and John's gin inspired wedding hit our inboxes, it was a no-brainer that we were going to feature it. We also love this wedding because Camilla and John have managed to pull off a stylish and pretty affair on a budget - with some clever shopping and DIY styling to save themselves some money. Camilla's gorgeous dress of her dreams for example, is second hand. The empty bottles of gin decorating the tables? Just a normal part of the weekly shop ;) Wedding parties in all-white à la Kate Moss always make me happy inside too. How gorgeous does this bunch of beauties look? Oh and look out for the adorable Dachshund!

The Fashion

Camilla The Bride: I love the bohemian style of the Rue De Seine dresses and always knew I wanted that kind of dress, but at the time Rue De Seine was only being stocked in Brighton and living in Glasgow it was too far to travel. After a few failed shopping trips, I came across Still White website and the Chloe dress was on sale in my size, I’d been obsessing about this dress on Pinterest for months, I loved the long sleeves, high neck and the embroidered 60/70s boho design, and it was a shop sample dress so a total bargain. It was a bit of a risk as I hadn’t tried it on before but got it shipped over from Australia and it was perfect - fitted like a glove, just the length that needed altered! I wore it with my gold Bertie heels (and a pair of gold Converse for the night), I kept accessories to a minimal, just a ‘something blue’ ring and my Grandma’s gold bangle. John kept it simple and wore a navy blue Kenneth Cole suit from House of Fraser with a burgundy tie and black brogues.

The Venue

We wanted a really laid back, relaxed vibe to the wedding - basically a big party with friends and family, so decided on a barn as a venue, somewhere we could style ourselves and bring in our own suppliers. We chose Pimhill Barn in Shrewsbury, which is close to my parents’ home. It’s a stunning converted barn - a blank canvas so we could put our own mark on it plus you have it for three days so no rush in setting up and although it was a big chunk of the budget we knew we could keep costs down elsewhere.

The Decor

We kept the décor fairly simple, luckily I run an event styling business in Glasgow, Love Vintage Events, so was able to use a lot of my props and accessories to keep the costs down and our family and bridesmaids’ helped decorate the barn on the Friday. We went with a relaxed rustic theme with a hint of boho and used candles and fairy lights to give the barn a warm cosy feel. We're both gin lovers, so all the tables were named after our favourite gins, using the bottles as decorations. The stationery was designed by Jessa at The Fabled Papery who I found on Etsy, her designs are beautiful. We ditched the idea of favours and instead donated money to Dogs Trust (we love dogs too, our dog ‘Ziggy’ was also at the wedding). I also got a few vintage touches in there too with retro furniture, Polaroid camera guestbook and a vintage VW camper van converted into a champagne & cocktail bar, courtesy of Champavan.

The Flowers

We used The Shropshire Field for all the venue flowers and bouquets, and Kath did an amazing job, I loved the rustic bouquets and the top table feature was incredible. We placed the bottles of wild flowers around the barn and along the tables, and I made a simple backdrop for the ceremony from hanging Ruscus down from a large branch.

The Music

During the day we had The String Beans (buskers from Manchester) playing modern rock/indie songs with a gypsy jazz twist and then the Andy Williams ‘Motown’ band in the evening, we also created a Spotify playlist of our favourite songs and recommend songs from guests to play during the meal. We had Cat Power ‘Sea of Love’ and Spiritualised ‘Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space’ during the ceremony and our first dance was to David Bowie ‘Heroes’. Our friends Scott and Jimmy also DJ’ed till the early hours. One of the highlights has to be finishing the night with LCD Soundsystem ‘All My Friends’ jumping around the dancefloor arm in arm with all our closest friends and family.

The Food

We used Cheryl Jayne Catering. We wanted a homely style menu, and you can't go wrong with a roast dinner! We had a few canapés to start, Olives, bread and dips during the speeches, Roast beef with Yorkshires (served on vintage plates I’ve collected over the years) and a trio of desserts. For the evening we had veggie Thai green curry, served in bamboo boxes. The beautiful cake was made by Sarah's Boutique Cakes – each layer was a different flavour.

The Photography

I found Leah on Gumtree – she was so reasonably priced and did both photos and video. I really liked her style of photography, so natural and relaxed plus she also uses 35mm and instant Polaroid film which I love. Leah and her assistant Jenn were amazing on the day, we tried to spend as little time as possible getting our photos taken and they did such a great job of getting the right shots in such a short time. We’re not big on posey pictures either but they made us feel comfortable in front of the camera and they really captured all the special moments. Such great memories to look back on.
Fern Godfrey

Written by Fern Godfrey

Bride: Rue De Seine | Via: Still White | Groom: Kenneth Cole | Venue: Pimhill Barn | Styling & Prop Hire: Love Vintage Events | Champagne Van: Champavan | Favours: Dogs Trust | Stationery: The Fabled Papery | Flowers: The Shropshire Field | Jazz Band: The String Beans | Band: Andy Williams | Catering: Cheryl Jayne Catering | Cake: Sarah's Boutique Cakes | Second Shooter: Jenn Brookes

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