The Dress
Jenny the Bride: Choosing my dress was one of my favourite parts of the wedding planning experience. Little did I know that I would find ‘the one’ in the very first shop we went in to – the lovely
Angelica Bridal in Islington. My dress couldn’t have been more different to what I thought I’d go for, but it was perfect and I felt great in it from the moment I tried it on.
I chose a long simple veil to add to the overall look but not detract from the intricate detail on the neckline of my dress. My earrings were very simple from
Azendi and I wore a bracelet from
Daisy Jewellery which was a delicate gold chain with a horseshoe detail for good luck.
The amazing Emily of
Love Moi make-up and
Tracey Ward hair stylist did the glam for me, my maids and both mine and Rich’s mums. They created a natural look which I think complimented the dresses and overall theme of the day perfectly.
Grooms Attire
Rich knew he wanted something simple for his suit – he’s never been one for a top hat or tails! He chose a lovely blue suit from
French Connection with tan brogues.
The Venue
We both agreed we wanted our wedding to feel like a big party so we were keen to find a venue which we had the freedom to put own stamp on.
Chaucer Barn was perfect – not only was it beautiful but we could hold both the ceremony and reception there but we could also have it for the entire wedding weekend, meaning we could carry on the party on the Sunday when we had everybody back for a BBQ.
The staff were great – they were involved enough to ensure everything ran to plan on the day but let us style the venue in the way we wanted. We even turned one of the ground floor bedrooms into a ‘surf shack’ bar as a nod to Rich’s favourite hobby.
Colour Scheme / Décor
Chaucer has stunning grounds and I was keen to emphasise this in the scheme so we went for a countryside theme – florals and soft colours – especially soft pinks and blues which were two colours which cropped up a lot in the barns surrounding flower beds.
Flowers
Our florist is known for her wild style of flower arranging – this was just I wanted for our wedding to reflect the laidback style of the day.
Jo visited the barn in advance to check what flowers were in bloom in the gardens, she then matched the bouquets, button holes and flower arrangements with these on the day.
She created two gorgeous arrangements of cascading flowers which stood at the top of the aisle where we said our vows. We also had stunning floral table runners for the wedding breakfast which really set off the look and feel in the marquee.
Wedding Party Fashion
I had my heart set on the beautiful Taylor gowns from
Ghost. The whimsical feel of the dresses fitted perfectly with the theme and the boudoir pink shade was an ideal match for the colour scheme. One of my maids was heavily pregnant so she wore a gorgeous maternity dress from
ASOS.
Rich wanted the groomsmen to look slightly different from him so he chose them a textured blue suit from
Next and all the boys wore the same pale pink tie as Rich.
Ceremony
The weather forecast in the run up to the wedding was not looking pretty – we braced ourselves for rain so were planning on using the central area of the barn for our ceremony. However, on the day itself we woke up to beautiful blue skies and sunshine so we chose to say our vows in the gardens.
Rich found an amazing acoustic guitarist,
Dan Wilde, who sang one of our favourite songs as I came down the aisle, Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez. We also had two lovely readings - Sandol Stoddard Warburg's I Like You which was chosen by my two oldest friends, Emily and Hollie and another from Rich’s cousin, Mark.
Entertainment
Dan also played whilst we had reception drinks and canapés on the lawn. It created a really relaxed and happy atmosphere. For the evening entertainment we had our DJ take to decks and get everyone dancing. Rich and I have quite different music tastes but Jordan was great at playing a real mix of songs that appealed to everyone. One of my favourite memories is seeing our parents raving to ‘Smack My B**ch Up’ by the Prodigy!
We also created a show reel of photos from our lives together which also featured lots of the guests. This was played in the lounge so those who wanted to chill out away from the music had something to keep them entertained.
Food
We were keen to have a relaxed feel to the food so opted for a ‘sharing’ theme for the wedding feast. Boards of meats, salads and breads were put on each table so guests could dig in. Our cake was a naked one with layers of chocolate brownie and sticky ginger cake which were chopped up and used as part of DIY ice-cream sundae desserts by
Chef Alex.
Photographer
This was an easy decision for us –
Katherine had shot our friends’ wedding the previously and we loved her style. We actually checked was free on our date before putting the deposit down on our venue! She has a really relaxed manner which puts you at ease and she has a real eye for capturing candid moments beautifully.
Final thoughts
On reflection, we wish we’d booked a videographer. A video of the day would be the perfect way of bringing the wedding to life for people who couldn’t make it.
I also would have hired a stylist. I did it all myself and enjoyed a lot of the crafting in the run up to the wedding but setting up took so much longer than I thought, even with the help of my bridesmaids and family. It would have been nice not to have that stress and to have enjoyed the immediate build up without distractions.