Groom In Pink Jacket For BBQ Wedding On Family Farm Planned In Just 6 Weeks (!)

This stylish and relaxed pair planned their beautiful big day in just six short weeks. Proving that it absolutely can be done and there's no need to cave into pressure about having everything booked months in advance. They were lucky that the amazing Carrie Lavers was available to shoot their wedding, and that Anneka's Dad let them hold their reception at his farm, but still, the rest was pulled together with hard work and a sensible attitude. Outfits, marquee hire, flowers, food, drinks, done. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that. And I must admit, Anneka and Lee's wedding looks like one of the happiest weddings I've seen. Plus I'm loving Lee's attire - a groom in a pink jacket should be a feature at every wedding in my opinion. The pair had a very special announcement for guests, which left everyone in tears of joy. I'll let you read all about it in the report, if you haven't guessed what it was already...

BBQ Wedding On Family Farm Planned In Just 6 Weeks

Anneka & Lee: Wedding booked and planned in 6 weeks! It wasn't originally a shotgun wedding but 2 weeks in Anneka found out she was actually pregnant, so in fact it was! After a whirlwind years romance Lee proposed to Anneka on a roof top in Florence with the most stunning green sapphire ring he personally designed with Charlotte Cornelius Jewels. Blown away by the engagement Anneka threw herself into the wedding planning, she had grand ideas of a destination wedding especially after getting engaged abroad. After countless different countries, venues and wedding planners nothing quite fitted or worked out. 6 months later and they were no closer to booking a wedding or even having any idea what they wanted. If anything Anneka was more confused than ever. The planning hadn’t even started and the stress had got too much so she took a step back and some time out from the whole thing.

Registry Office Wedding

Desperate to marry each other but sick of the whole ‘wedding’ thing Lee and Anneka decided to book a registry office for 6 weeks time and said let’s just do something really small, no frills, no stress! They are both fairly impulsive so loved the thought of just going for it. The only way to keep it as small and stress free as possible and stop it from escalating they thought was to surprise everyone. They only had a few weeks to keep their mouths shut and get married, how hard could that be! So they invited immediate family and a handful of friends and swore them to secrecy. No one else knew! They hated he idea of people being offended by not being invited and the element of surprise they hoped would cushion that.

Vintage Lace Wedding Dress

First things first the dress...well Anneka had found this dress just after she got engaged over 6 months ago and put a deposit down. Suddenly the panic of will it be ready in 6 weeks dawned on her and she got in touch with the amazingly talented Jane Bourvis who had hand made her vintage lace dress. Jane was super, cool, calm and collected and said no problem. Anneka had a fitting 2 weeks later and then collected it another 2 weeks after that. Jane owns an incredible dress shop in Notting Hill and creates the most stunning vintage gowns. To finish off the look Anneka opted for a vintage flower head band which was also from Jane to give the bohemian touch she wanted. 

Family Farm Wedding

The venue was Anneka’s Dad’s house on their stunning family farm in Hampshire. The brief was relaxed summer BBQ, Anneka and Lee were so relaxed about the ‘chilled’ day they let her dad run with most of the organising. The week of the wedding a marquee turned up, 40 bottles of Bollinger (Anneka's favourite champagne, not realising she wouldn’t actually be drinking) the local pub was doing all the catering and the booze/drinks were sorted...result!

The Details

Anneka wasn’t even sure she needed a bouquet for the registry office but her sister insisted she had to get flowers. After a brief look on Instagram she found a lovely local florist (Lily Lupin Floral Design) and got in touch to see if she could possibly throw some bits together for the upcoming wedding. Lisa was amazing and really accommodating, she totally got Anneka and Lee’s style and Anneka knew straight away she was onto a good thing. Lisa also recommended the very talented Jemima Cakes who made them the most delicious gluten free banana cake with vanilla buttercream!  The whole colour theme and decor stemmed from Lee’s pale pink blazer! The more neutral, dusty pink tones are seen through out.

The Photography

It was also on Lisa’s Instagram that Anneka stumbled across the incredible Carrie Lavers Photography. With only 5ish weeks left at this point until the June wedding, Anneka never thought in a million years a photographer would be available on a Saturday but as fate would have it she somehow miraculously was! The magic of the day could not have been more perfectly captured and the photos speak for themselves.  Anneka didn’t want ‘bridesmaids’ as such but really wanted the girly morning getting ready with her favourite ladies. She is a hairdresser so did her own hair and got ready in her own salon (The Holt Hair) which is actually located on the farm itself....perfect! She had her very trusty friend/old colleague Michelle Does My Hair to do her sisters and friends hair so she didn’t get roped into ‘working’ on her wedding day. 

A Special Announcement

As you can see everything came together perfectly and it was more than they had ever imagined it would be. The relaxed summer BBQ had actually turned into an intimate, magical country wedding! All the stars aligned and they knew it was totally meant to be. Carrie sent the perfect picture the night of the wedding to make the surprise announcement, when the news broke that they had become Mr and Mrs Carter over the weekend, they were bowled over by the tremendous amount of love and support from everyone that hadn’t attended.  Finally Lee announced the pregnancy at the end of his speech, the only way to explain a sober bride and stop people getting Anneka to do tequila shots! There wasn’t a dry eye in the house and actually for Anneka and Lee to stare into the eyes of their nearest and dearest and see their reactions to the wonderful news was one of the most incredible life moments that they will never forget.

Advice

Follow your heart! Don’t get sucked into the ‘wedding business’ and let the snow ball effect actually snow you under and change what really matters to you as a couple. You can do anything you want and it doesn't need to take a year to plan your dream day or spend thousand of pounds because everyone else does. We wanted a marriage and the wedding was an added bonus. BEST DAY OF OUR LIVES.