Faye & Eddie

If you're after a barnstormer of a wedding, then Faye and Eddie's big day is just the ticket. The pair transformed The Great Barn, Kent into the most dreamy bohemian space, including a macrame ceremony backdrop made by Faye herself. The florals are gorgeous, the bridesmaids look gorgeous, the boys look gorgeous and the bride? Well Faye looks flippin' gorgeous too. It's just a beautifully styled, full-of-fun wedding day that you'd be utterly thrilled to have pulled off if it was your own big day. I have a feeling you're going to love this one. Big thanks to the lovely Kathryn Hopkins, as always, for capturing proceedings so perfectly.

Our Story

Faye the Bride: We met, ironically, on Valentines weekend in a nightclub at the O2 in London almost 8 years ago. My friend Emma (one of my bridesmaids) asked if I would go outside with her while she had a cigarette, so as a non smoker I found myself outside in the freezing cold in the smoking area hoping she would hurry up so we could go back in! As we walked outside Emma approached these two guys and asked one of them for a lighter, she began chatting away with him, which left me awkwardly standing with his hot friend, Eddie. Not being shy, Ed broke the silence and started chatting to me, the conversation was short but sweet and we exchanged numbers. He took me out on a date the following week and at that point we realised just how much we liked each other and that was that, we’ve been together almost 8 years ever since.

The Proposal

I have a slight obsession with British Kings and Queens, in particular I’m fascinated by the Tudors. I’d badgered Ed for ages to go to Hampton Court Palace so I could see a real life Tudor home. History is totally not his thing so he was reluctant to go, but finally for my Christmas present in 2015 he bought me tickets so we could go in the spring. What I didn’t know was that he booked tickets for April time knowing the gardens would be filled with fresh blooms (as he knew how much I loved flowers). After a long day following me around the palace where I listened to a cassette based tour in every room (which must have been incredibly painful for him) we walked out into the gardens and he proposed to me underneath a blossom tree. I was speechless but so ecstatic and happy. Thankfully it was discreet and we were alone so I didn’t feel too embarrassed. It was perfect!

The Bride

Like a lot of girls I'd already pictured the type of dress I'd like to get married in. I've always tried to steer away from the norm and tradition in everything I do as I find alternative ideas and visions exciting and refreshing. Staying true to myself, my pin board grew and grew with lots of relaxed, unusual dresses and beautiful lace veils. After some extensive research through social media and the web, I tracked down a 2 of my favorite designers. Full of excitement I tried on my first dress, only to feel completely underwhelmed and not how I wanted to feel in my wedding dress. Still, I listened to my head and persisted in finding the dress I'd envisioned but after trying on several more bohemian styles I realised they just didn't make me feel like a bride. So following my heart and voice of my Nan and mother in law I decided to try on some more classic styles. I eventually found my dress in Isabella Grace Bridal where I had such a warm experience. As I walked out of the changing room in the last dress out of 10, I looked back at the double lace layered train, and realised all my lace dreams had come true. I ended up with a classic fit & flare number by Essence of Australia. Completely the opposite of what I had pictured for myself. Given my love for lace I opted for a cathedral length, lace edged veil from Isabella Grace. I loved it so much; it finished off my dress beautifully. My shoes were lace up, caged heels from Vince Camuto at House of Fraser, being high cut around the ankle made them the perfect wedding shoes for me. My F necklace was a replica of my Grandma Flo's which I had unfortunately lost at a young age when it was passed down to me. I desperately tried to find something similar so I could wear it on my wedding day. Kaizen Antiqueshave the most unusual jewelry and it happened to be where Ed had bought my engagement and wedding rings. They were so helpful and managed to find the perfect glass locket for me, they also handmade the gold F initial to go inside. It was a wedding gift from Ed and I couldn’t wait to wear it on our big day.

The Groom

Given that we had a rustic, early Autumn setting for the wedding, we really liked the idea of herringbone jackets and chinos rather than a formal suit. Burgundy was the original plan, but Ed wanted to tie in with the rest of his groomsmen and having an unusually big sized groom’s party we really struggled to find herringbone burgundy jackets to fit all! Ed ended up going with blue herringbone from Slaters who have such a great size range we were able to cater for all. The groomsmen had matching waistcoats but Ed opted for a brown, tweed, check waistcoat from River Island which looked great as a contrast. We found the beige chinos in Burton which complemented the jacket and waistcoat. As the suits were plain, patterned ties were a must. The Tieroom have so many great designs and colours, we finally found the perfect floral ties on their website. Ed's shoes were Jeffrey West, which he absolutely loved, they were sharp, smart and my favourite part to his outfit. He wore a beautiful engraved pocket watch that he got as a 30th birthday present from his parents earlier in the summer. It worked so nicely with his low cut tweed waistcoat.

The Venue

I'd always envisioned a rustic barn as our wedding venue. As a couple we're quite 'unpolished' and we knew a barn would reflect us best. We wanted a dry hire venue that we could make our own. It would ideally be in Kent where we both grew up and within an hours drive from home. With all this in mind I managed to find 3 rustic barns in the heart of Kent for us to view. The Great Barn was the last that we visited and we knew as soon as we walked in it would be our venue. It was so beautiful and original. Knowing I was able to decorate how I wished was also a huge bonus for me and Ed knew that would make me very happy so it was a no brainer for both of us. It was the perfect choice and probably one of the easiest decisions we came across whilst planning the wedding.

The Styling

This was one of the most exciting parts for me, being creative at heart I was in my element! I had a good idea of the type of styling I wanted but this quickly evolved with the help of Pinterest. The colour scheme of nudes, blushes, burnt oranges and browns started to come through in my imagery which formed a vintage, 70's boho vibe. Before I knew it I was buying books online and learning how to macramé. I'd seen so many gorgeous macramé back drops on social media; it wasn't realistic for us to buy one as they were quite pricey, so if you can't get it, make it! That was my thought process. I started on small pieces but over the course of 18 months I built up my confidence and 6 months before the wedding I tackled the big pieces and ended up with our double layered ceremony back drop. The dream catchers were made from pound shop hula hoops and old bed sheets from charity shops that I stripped into ribbons. Over the 2 years I collected lots of different lanterns, vintage bottles and doilies. Many of the doilies came from Crete, a place close to my family so this made them special in some way. I also collected jars, animal skulls and throws to add to the rustic, bohemian styling. The jars were decorated with the help of my lovely mother in law using cut offs from the old bed sheets and ribbons. We were fortunate enough to have such amazing caterers Home Gurrown, who really understood my vision and helped me bring it to life. They helped source everything from the lighting to the stag head. I couldn't have done it without them. Sophie was brilliant; she really helped pull everything together on the day. The sweet cart was made with love by my very talented brother Sean, and the lights were added by Ed and his partner in crime Joe! The cart blew me away and it meant the world to us that my brother had made it for our wedding day.

The Flowers

Our flower arrangements were designed and created by the amazing and super talented Rebecca, at Rebecca Avery Flowers. I wanted wild, relaxed and foraged looking flower arrangements. I knew the best person for the job, her style was a perfect match for me and she totally nailed it on the day! Rebecca created a gorgeous statement bridal bouquet for me along with 6 bridesmaid bouquets. She finished the bouquets with beautiful hand dyed silks ribbons. All our lanterns were filled with gorgeous blooms and foliage for centre pieces. Rebecca created a focal arrangement for the macramé backdrop, a flower arch in the orchard and an abundance of buttonholes. The designs were filled with big beautiful blooms, Lady Proteas and Dahlias are just a few, along with endless amounts of foliage and trailing Amaranths. All the arrangements were gorgeous, I only had to show Rebecca a few images of flowers that I liked along with my colour pallet and she pretty much took it from there. The flowers completely exceeded our expectations on the day I couldn't have been happier. 

The Wedding Party

My gorgeous bridesmaids were made up of my 3 best friends, my cousin, sister and niece. Our little flower girl, Blake is our youngest niece and she looked adorable in her pretty dress by Julian Macdonald at Mothercare. I wanted the girls to be comfortable and happy; I had a 13 year old bridesmaid and wanted her in the same as the adults so I had to be mindful of the style. ASOS have so much variety and are often much more affordable than Bridal shops. They offer a modern edge to bridesmaid dresses and I knew that would be a great first place to look. The bridesmaid shopping experience was really pleasant, the beauty of ASOS returns made it so much easier. I finally came across their gorgeous nude open back dresses; I loved the contrast panel down the back and knew it would be suitable for the 13 year old. They each looked incredible in the dress and they were comfortable and happy so it was a win, win! I couldn’t wait to see them all dressed up on the day, they really did me proud!

The Ceremony

This is one of my most memorable parts of the day. That time where you remind yourself to take in every minute as you'll only do it once! I walked down the aisle to ‘Can't help falling in love’ by Haley Reinhart, it's one of my favourite songs of all time and her version is stunning. I couldn't help but smile as I walked towards Ed and he was smiling back at me. We were both beaming, it was an unforgettable feeling. We had a lovely, warm registrar and service. My sister in laws Lisa and Eds sister Lois each did a reading. We chose 'Carries Poem' from Sex & the City and 'I will be here' by Steven Curtis Chapman. The words said it all, Lois broke into tears after the 1st sentence and that was it, she had the room sobbing. It was an emotional start to the wedding but it couldn’t have been nicer start the day.

The Food

Home Gurrown were amazing to work with, they don't have set menus, they don't charge corkage and as event planners they help plan and organize your wedding day with so much advice and help on styling. Having the freedom of picking our own menu, we wanted a real unusual mix of food. We opted for an antipasti of sushi, garlic king prawns, chicken gorgons and bococino mozzarella to start. For mains we had a 'stack a burger' option with lamb marinated burgers, chargrilled chicken, avocado and bacon, sweet potato fries and onion ring with a mix of side salads and homemade chutneys. For dessert we served the 'bake off' cakes, we had lots of lovely cakes made by our friends and family, it worked out so well as it got people up chatting and swapping the different cakes around tables. For the evening we had usherettes of hot dogs and cheesy nachos. The presentation was beautiful and in keeping with the rustic styling. Home Gurrown made the whole planning process so much easier and we're great at putting my mind at ease. With The Great Barn being a dry hire venue we needed everything from kitchen equipment to tables, chairs and crockery. Nicci at Home Gurrown bought everything in for us which meant we didn't have to deal with organizing lots of different suppliers. Sophie at home Gurrown was great at helping me with all the special details. She's incredibly talented and managed to copy our stag head logo and transfer onto our signage boards for the day, she also made our superhero table plan. Our wedding wouldn't have been the same without them. We had so many compliments throughout the day about the delicious food and friendly staff.

The Photography

Kathryn was a very easy choice for us. She has a soft, romantic style to her photography that I simply love. I think it's easy to become part of a conveyer belt when it comes to suppliers and you can sometimes get lost in the 'clientele'. I'm lucky enough to know Kathryn on a personal level where we used to work together some years ago. Her photography is true reflection of her personality. She's incredibly kind and imaginative and puts her heart and passion into each couple and their wedding. Kathryn gave me endless amounts of advice and support when it came to styling and sourcing props. She goes that extra mile to make you and your wedding feel special which I think goes along way. Kathryn has an eye for detail and planned in plenty of time to capture all the special moments and décor. She made us feel relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera, and for someone like me that usually lacks confidence in photos, it made a big difference on the day. We were so thrilled with our photos and I can't thank Kathryn enough for all her hard work and help over the last 2 years, she’s been amazing throughout the whole planning process, it was lovely to have her capture our big day.

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