Inspiration

Take one devoted couple with a love for all things at their home town and you have an adorable Church ceremony where all the guests waited outside for the bride to arrive before entering for the I Do's, followed by a greenery filled stretch tent reception on the grounds of the brides old Primary school. The field was further transformed with an array of coloured ribbons, vintage step ladders laden with potted planted. Plus antique furniture for guests to chillax on and soak up the seriously fun atmosphere. Tub of Jelly you've done it again guys. Hats of for capturing such a unique wedding.

Venue

Ciara the Bride: I did a bit of research online to find the designers that I thought would suit my style and found The Mews in Bristol who have the most gorgeous selction of dresses. I knew I wanted something a little bit different but quite simple. The girls at The Mews are fantastic, they made the whole experience so relaxed & enjoyable and I ended up deciding on a Delphine Manivet dress and lace top in the space of an hour! I don't think my mum and bridesmaids thought I'd make a decision so quickly but it's true what they say...when you know, you know!

The Grooms Fashion & Accessories

Ricky wasn't quite as quick when it came to finding a suit! He had a look in mind with separates instead of a full matching suit and I'm so glad he went for it as they all looked amazing. He tried on loads of suits and eventually went for a jacket from Suit Supply and trousers from Reiss. We got the groomsmen jackets from House of Fraser and their trousers were also Reiss. He completed the look with suede shoes without socks in a nod to his Italian heritage, and selection of ties in various blues.

The Venue

We always knew we wanted to get married in the village I grew up in. The local priest is a close family friend and I could walk to the church which is something I'd dreamt of doing since I was little! We also knew we wanted a blank canvas to create our own reception and were lucky enough to be able to use the local school playing field. We found a stretch tent through Freestretch and hired some great old sofas from Modular Moods in Sheffield. We did a lot of DIY - from knocking in posts to hang lights from, to cutting ribbons. It was a lot of work and the whole village pitched in to help but it was worth it seeing our ideas come to life.

Colour Scheme/Decor

We decided on quite simple colours for the bridal party of white mixed with greenery. We wanted a lot of plants & greenery around the reception venue & hired in some gorgeous plants - and palm trees(!) from a local garden centre. This meant we could then add bursts of colour with the ribbons & balloons without it clashing.

Flowers/Florist

The bouquets and flower crowns for the birdal party were done by the brilliant Tracy & her team at Campbell's Flowers in Sheffield. Tracy knew exactly what I wanted from one phone call. Because we were living in London - we did a lot of planning via phone calls and emails and having a supplier like Campbell's who just 'get it' makes the whole thing a lot less stressful! With the help of some friends and my sister-in-law - my mum took charge of all the centre pieces with vases and bottles we'd collected at charity shops and cuttings from mum's & neighbours' gardens. And the cherry on the cake for Ricky and I was Benjy at the local Garden Centre Darfoulds Nursey. We had this image in our heads of loads of plants (not flowers!) in both the reception area and the church. And Benjy didn't let us down! He turned up in a van loaded to the brim with plants and even put an olive tree inside the church. The two giant palm trees by the ribbon walkway were one of my favourite bits of the reception. On top of all this my bridesmaid Chloe and her mum also helped dress the home-made giant tipi and provided a lovely pink bike dressed with flowers. It was a real team effort!

Bridesmaids

I always knew I wouldn't have the bridesmaids in the same dress. It wasn't a rebelious bride thing - it was simply the fact that my bridesmaids are all gorgeous, stylish women and I wanted them to be 100% happy and comfortable in what they were wearing on the day. I asked for them to look for something white and short and the rest was up to them! I think they all looked fantastic and I loved seeing their own style shine through. We tied them all together with the headpieces, bright shoes from River Island and the same pink Mac lipstick.

Groomsmen

Ricky and I both loved the idea of separates for him and the groomsmen - it had a bit of an Italian feel which was a nice nod to Ricky's family. I can't take any credit though as Ricky did everything when it came to dressing his boys. He hunted for weeks for the right trousers, shirts and jackets and even boxed everything up complete with ties & shoes to give to them the night before the wedding. I think it's safe to say his attention to detail was better than mine!

Ceremony

The church for us was the most special part of the day. It was the part we were both most looking forward to and it exceeded all our expectations. We decided to start the ceremony outside with me and the bridal party walking up the path instead of the aisle. Ricky and I are used to going to church but we know it isn't this way for everyone so we wanted to created a relaxed atmosphere that people could enjoy. When I walked up the path with dad all our guests started clapping and cheering and it was an incredible (unplanned) moment! Any stresses or nerves dissapeared immediately and we both had giant smiles on our faces from that moment onwards.

Rings

Before the wedding we went and made our own wedding rings with a company called Cast Experience in Sheffield - this was so special as it meant we could have Ricky's late mum's wedding ring melted in to our 2 bands. Exchanging the rings in the church was a very special moment as I know we were both thinking of her.

Entertainment

At the drinks reception we popped on a playlist of our favourite songs and then we had the awesome 'Under the Covers' band in the evening. We'd actually seen UTC at 2 of our friends wedding previously and they were so good we had to snap them up! The dance floor was choca-block all night. My dad (who it turned out had some serious hidden wedding planner skills!) organised fireworks at midnight which was another lovely moment.

Food

We are lucky enough to have an incredible family friend who is also something of a Masterchef and did all the food for the wedding. Gareth sat and listened to what we wanted and made it all come to life. He didn’t even freak out when we decided we wanted afogatto for nearly 200 guests! We knew we wanted Italian food so we had antipasti to start followed by lasagne and a trio of Italian desserts. I'd heard that the bride and groom don't usually eat much but Ricky and I ate the lot - I'll put this down to Gareth's talents!

Photographer & Videographer

I struggle to find the words to do justice to the incredible David & Betty at Tub of Jelly. We knew as soon as we saw their website that they were the kind of photographers for us. We didn't want any of the traditional 'standing in a line' poses and we wanted something that reflected the relaxed atmosphere of the day. They exceeded all our expectations and we'll never get tired of looking through the photos they managed to capture. They also happen to be 2 very lovely people who seemed to blend into the background made us feel so comfortable when doing the couple shots.

Advice

I know we added a lot of work to the wedding by building a venue from scratch. And yes, there are certainly things you don't think about before embarking on such a project (cutlery & plate hire anyone!?) But honestly we wouldn't change a thing about the way we did it. My advice to any couple going on this journey is to try and enjoy it as much as you can & never lose sight of why you're doing it in the first place. It's not always a walk in the park and things will go wrong but it all comes together on the day and it's true what they say - it really is the best day of your lives.
Lorna Shaw

Written by Lorna Shaw

Dress Desiger: Delphine Manivet | Bridal Boutique: The Mews Bristol | Bridal Shoes: Anthropologie | Marquee: Freestretch | Florist: Campbell's Flowers Sheffield | Sofa Hire: Modular Moods | Band: Under the Covers | Grooms Suit Jacket: Suit Supply | Trousers: Reiss | Groomsmen: House of Fraser | Bridesmaids: Various High Street Dresses | Bridesmaid Shoes: River Island
Toggle all article tags

Inspirational articles you may also find useful