Eden Barn Socially Distanced Wedding with Outdoor Picnic

Photography by Jo Greenfield Photographer

Rob - "By embracing the coronavirus restrictions, we actually ended up with some fantastic quirky aspects that we'll be talking about for years to come." Hell yes, Rob - like the beautiful outdoor ceremony at Eden Barn, the socially distanced picnic in the Lake District and the incredible spirit and happiness of the bride, groom and all their guests that these two could wed during such a difficult time. Make sure you read, every word written by the happy couple, and savour every capture taken by Jo Greenfield Photography because this wedding is special and will make your heart burst with joy.

Eden Barn wedding venue in the Lake District

Wedding decor with festoon lights, foliage and drift wood

Dried flower bridal bouquet for socially distanced Eden Barn wedding

Flower girls with dried flower crowns cuddling

Bride in Willowby Watters wedding dress with her parents

Bride and bridesmaids in dusky pink dresses at socially distanced Eden Barn wedding

Bride in halter neck Willowby Watters wedding dress

Bridal entrance at outdoor wedding ceremony at Eden Barn

Bride with braided up do and dried flowers

Best woman in tweed suit and orange platform shoes

bride and groom just married at socially distanced wedding at Eden Barn

COVID wedding at Eden Barn in the Lake District

Wedding guest in blue dress with lace detail

What Made Our Day Unique
COVID 19!! We knew that we couldn't have a reception, but we still had 22 guests, who were travelling from all across the UK to see our ceremony. We wanted to give them a special experience for making the trip. Luckily, we had already hired a vintage double-decker bus and it is still legal to travel on public transport, so we asked the bus to take us to a beautiful spot near our venue and provided our guests with a picnic. We made sure everyone was kept to their own social bubble once we got there to stick to guidelines.
Rebecca & Rob

Eden Barn

Rebecca and Rob perfectly tailored their intimate Eden Barn wedding to comply with social distancing guidelines. Hosting an outdoor ceremony (where Rebecca could hear sheep whilst they said their vows) and enjoying a simplistic, and quintessentially British picnic in the Lake District where everyone kept to their own social bubbles. To quote Rob: "I love that this would never have happened if it hadn't been for the pandemic." Plus, how fabulous are the wedding party portraits captured by Jo Greenfield Photography with families sticking to their own social bubble, benches? Very! As are the bride and groom portraits along the country lanes. There is no denying this fabulous couple were deliriously happy and had the best time at their COVID wedding. Can we also just say how fabulous everyone looks, we're especially loving Rebecca's updo entwined with dried flowers that was done by her sister. Goals.

Inspiration & Styling
We both wanted a chilled out vibe for our day. Even before COVID hit, we had wanted it to be outdoorsy and natural. Both of us are into folk music and really wanted to go back to an old English traditional wedding that we could imagine taking place in a village green. A timeless, vintage feel was our ultimate aim. We started with the venue. We had visited a few near Milton Keynes, where we live, but as soon as we went to Eden Barn we fell in love. They then suggested the hotel we stayed at and using the Classic coaches. We knew we wanted to use Branch Out MK for the flowers, as Rebecca loved their ethos of supporting people with autism on their allotments. We also wanted our flowers to be locally grown and plastic-free. Jo, our photographer, was a last-minute addition and we found her due to her doing a styled shoot for Eden Barn. We loved her shots and enquired about 4 weeks before the wedding. Originally, a friend was supposed to do our photos, but due to restricted numbers was unable to attend.
Rebecca & Rob

Socially distance wedding party portrait at Eden Barn by Jo Greenfield Photography

Socially distance wedding party portrait at Eden Barn by Jo Greenfield

Bride and groom portrait at their 1st August 2020 wedding at Eden Barn

Groomsmen portrait standing in front of a vintage double decker at Eden Barn

Bride and groom kissing on the wedding bus

Bride showing off her ring for socially distanced Eden Barn wedding

Bride and groom kissing on the vintage bus

Bride and groom kissing on a vintage wedding bus

Hand tied dried flower wedding bouquet for Eden Barn wedding

Flower girls in white dresses, denim jackets and dried flower crowns at Eden Barn wedding

Flower girl with braided up do and customised denim jacket

Bride and groom portrait in the Lake District for Eden Barn wedding

Bride and groom at socially distanced wedding in The Lake District

Lake District bride and groom portrait by Jo Greenfield Photography

Groom kissing his brides neck in a Willowby Watters wedding dress

Bride in Dr Marten boots for Lake District wedding

Wedding special, vintage, double decker bus for Eden Barn wedding

Socially distance wedding party portraits in the Lake District

Groomsmen in wool suits and flat caps in the Lake District for Eden Barn wedding

Special Thanks
We both wanted a chilled out vibe for our day. Even before COVID hit, we had wanted it to be outdoorsy and natural. Both of us are into folk music and really wanted to go back to an old English traditional wedding that we could imagine taking place in a village green. A timeless, vintage feel was our ultimate aim. We started with the venue. We had visited a few near Milton Keynes, where we live, but as soon as we went to Eden Barn we fell in love. They then suggested the hotel we stayed at and using the Classic coaches. We knew we wanted to use Branch Out MK for the flowers, as Rebecca loved their ethos of supporting people with autism on their allotments. We also wanted our flowers to be locally grown and plastic-free. Jo, our photographer, was a last-minute addition and we found her due to her doing a styled shoot for Eden Barn. We loved her shots and enquired about 4 weeks before the wedding. Originally, a friend was supposed to do our photos, but due to restricted numbers was unable to attend.
Rebecca & Rob

Socially distanced picnic in The Lake district

Wedding guests cradling a child at Eden Barn wedding

Individual picnic boxes for COVID wedding at Eden Barn

Individual picnic boxes for socially distanced wedding

Bride holding her dried bouquet and a can of Mojito at socially distanced picnic

Socially distance wedding picnic in the Lake District for Eden Barn wedding

Wedding guests enjoying a picnic wedding breakfast

Rustic wedding cake with mouse cake toppers for Eden Barn wedding

Bride and groom cutting the cake at socially distanced wedding picnic

Wedding guest taking a picture on their phone at socially distanced wedding picnic

Bride and groom kissing in the Lake District at Eden Barn wedding

Groom in world suit and Bride in denim jacket walking in the Lake District

Bride and groom running in the Lake District at Eden Barn wedding

Bride in Willowby Watters wedding dress and groom in wool suit running along the country lane

Bride in brown Dr Marten boots for Eden Barn, Lake District wedding

Groom in wool suit twirling his bride in Willowby Watters wedding dress

Groom picking up his bride in Willowby Watters wedding dress and boots

Bride and groom at socially distanced Lake District wedding by Jo Greenfield

Bride in halterneck wedding dress with boots and braids for Eden Barn wedding

Wedding photography by Jo Greenfield for Eden Barn, Lake District wedding

Advice
The current circumstances are changing all the time and there is no denying that it is very stressful. The best advice that we have for this time is to accept that you can't have complete control, but you can control some things. Take hold of the parts you do have control over and smother them in your own personality. Take advice from your suppliers and you'll find that with their help you can still create something truly special. We found that by embracing the coronavirus restrictions, we actually ended up with some fantastic quirky aspects that we'll be talking about for years to come.
Rebecca & Rob

As I type wedding receptions up to 30 people have been granted permission to take place on August 15th 2020. This was after the initial date to ease lockdown restrictions on the 1st August 2020 was postponed. To keep up to date with all the government guidelines, we've put together a COVID-19 hub full of helpful advice, other socially distanced weddings and DIY projects you can try during lockdown.