Inspiration

Samuel Docker Photography really does capture weddings to perfection, and this rustic barn wedding at Nancarrow Farm in Cornwall is no exception. From the 7am early morning run with the adorable couple to the late night sparkler exit and everything in-between, no moment or detail goes un captured. It's just mind blowing photography and emotion filled pictures. Obviously it helps that the couple, their guests and the venue, decor and florals on display are utterly immense. Bride Katie's Catherine Deane gown in particular is divine and suits her down to the ground, despite initially dreading the 'wedding dress' shopping experience. The colour scheme is both classic and contemporary with a mixture of greys, white & green, and everything just fuses together beautifully. Some serious wedding goals here folks.

Dress

Katie the Bride: For those who know me, shopping is not really my strong suit unless it involves picking out a new running outfit in the Nike store. I was initially dreading the idea of having to give up whole days twirling in front of mirrors in bridal boutiques to find "the dress." Luckily, a friend told me about BHLDN which I knew instantly was going to be right up my alley, considering my love for Anthropologie. Luckily I was heading back home to America for Christmas, so I was able to squeeze in an appointment in their Boston shop. By some miracle my Mom and I found "the dress" within 30 minutes of our arrival and had it mailed to me the next day! It was the most low-key, efficient wedding dress shopping ever and I couldn't have been happier with my dress. For my accessories, I decided to wear the jewellery I wear on a daily basis, which all has meaning to me. My bracelets are from a tiny jewellery shop in Cape Cod, where my parents live and Sam surprised me with some lovely diamond earrings on the morning of our wedding.

The Grooms Fashion & Accessories

Sam is probably most comfortable in a pair of shorts and flip flips but when it comes to dressing up, he really loves a well-fitted suit. He treated himself to a new made-to-measure grey suit from Edit Suits for the wedding. I was a little concerned about the fact that he came home from his initial appointment and told me that he didn't actually try anything on, so in reality he didn't know what he was buying. But clearly he trusted the process and when we went in for his fitting, the suit turned out great. I especially loved the fact that he had his initials sewn into the jacket liner. He decided to pick out matching accessories for him and his groomsmen. He went with a knotty navy blue tie from TM Lewin and fun bright yellow socks from London Sock Company, because who doesn't love fun socks?

The Venue

The venue was probably the hardest decision we had to make in the whole wedding planning process. Considering I'm American and Sam is British, it took us a few months to even nail down a country let alone a specific venue. When we finally decided that it felt right to get married in the UK, we spent way too many hours on Google scouring every wedding venue known to man. Right as we were reaching our breaking point in the search, we came across Nancarrow Farm. It ticked all of the boxes for us. We both absolutely love the rugged outdoorsy feel of Cornwall. It was a farm, which meant a more laid-back, rustic vibe that we both like. And the owner, Steve, was just a cool guy, who made both of us want to abandon our jobs and start a wedding venue. Basically Nancarrow gave us all the feels and you just can't fight those.

Colour Scheme/Decor

We decided early on that we didn't want to have a colour scheme. It felt too 'weddingy' for us and we just aren't very weddingy. Instead we were aiming for a natural, 'Kinfolk feel.' This clearly wasn't as easy to articulate to all of our suppliers, but somehow I think we pulled it off. When it came to decor, we didn't want to buy too much stuff that we'd have to throw away afterwards, so instead we took the approach that we'd buy stuff we liked and could use afterwards. My favourite purchase was all of the old bottles we found in a vintage shop that we used as vases for our flowers on the table.

Florist

Our main thought on flowers was that we wanted them to feel very natural and not too perfect. We found HollyBee Flowers online and had a few phone calls in which we attempted to describe our vision of lots of green, big bushy displays and neutral tones. We were amazed when Holly showed up on the day and dropped off flowers that looked way better than we could have ever described! She put together our big flower displays for outside the barn, but also dropped off a few DIY buckets that our friends amazingly arranged for us while we got ready. I was most excited about my bouquet and flower crown that really delivered on the vision.

The Wedding Party Fashion

I love a bargain and when I saw that JCrew was having a big sale on their bridesmaid dresses, I jumped at the opportunity! Considering we are all scattered across the globe, it was easiest to go with a matching look. I really liked the neutral grey colour and the one shoulder look made the dresses feel slightly less conventional. For the groomsmen, we didn't want to force anyone into buying a new suit so we just asked the guys to wear a 'mid-grey' suit of their choosing. Apparently we caused a lot of anxiety in the group because 'mid-grey' is a relatively loose brief! Despite wearing different suits they all looked great together and their matching ties and socks was the perfect finishing touch.

Ceremony

I think we both went into our wedding thinking that the ceremony was just the bit you have to go through before the party can start. I can honestly say now that the ceremony turned out to be my favourite part of our whole wedding day. The one thing we really wanted was for the ceremony to feel personal. My goodness did it feel personal. We had the best celebrant, Cristina. She managed to weave personal antidotes, jokes and tear jerkers throughout the entire thing. To the point where afterwards quite a few of our guests came up and asked if she was a friend! I think the hardest part of the ceremony was the fact that it was so much more emotional than either of us anticipated! Standing up in front of all of your friends and family, with your mom crying on one side of the aisle and your father-in-law on the other side of the aisle... and Sam tearing up next to me, it was a battle for dry eyes!

Entertainment

For our ceremony and drinks reception, we found an awesome local acoustic folk duo to play. Dave and Freya were incredibly low-key, professional and talented. I was a little worried about having live music during the ceremony, but it was fantastic and really livened up the barn. After dinner and speeches, we wanted the rest of the night to be all about the dancing! We hired The Low Down as our evening band and I can honestly say they kept that dance floor full until it was time for them to pack up. They managed a line-up that appealed to everyone, young and old, Americans and Brits alike. When they announced it was the last song, there was definitely a collective groan. They were great and none of us wanted to leave!

Food

Chef Darren at Nancarrow did all of our food, including our wedding cake which was incredible. Funny enough the thing that everyone loved (and still continues to mention to this day) was the wood fired cheese toasties that he made for our late evening food. Apparently after a long day of drinking and merriment, it's hard to beat a cheese toastie!

Photographer

Picking out our photographer was definitely our favourite 'wedmin' task. Neither myself or Sam are very natural in front of a camera, so we wanted someone who would be able to make us feel a bit more comfortable. Sam Docker was a dream. We had him come to London to capture our 'legal ceremony' with just our parents which turned out to be a great ice breaker for our actual wedding in June! By the time he showed up at Nancarrow it was as if we were all old friends. He blended right into the crowd and is probably one of the most talented minglers I've ever witnessed. Everyone loved him! Not to mention he went above and beyond on the job, meeting us at 7AM to photograph us running along the cliffs of a local beach and staying at the party until the very end! Aside from being an all-around great guy, we both continue to gush over all of the amazing photos he captured. He is a true talent.

Best Piece of Advice

When you start planning your wedding, you quickly realise that trying to incorporate everyone's ideas can quickly move everything away from the vision you had at the start. The best wedding advice I received was from a friend who told us to pick five words that describe our vision and make sure that no matter how many little details change, you remain true to those five words. This was the best! Any time that someone suggested we do something that we weren't really on board with, we just explained our words to them. It was a great way of getting everyone in on the dream!
Lorna Shaw

Written by Lorna Shaw

Featured suppliers

Dress Designer: Catherine Deane | Boutique: BHLDN | Bridal Shoes: KMB Shoes | Bridesmaid Dresses: JCrew | Grooms Suit: Edit Suits | Tie: TM Lewin | Socks: The London Sock Co. | Venue / Catering / Cake: Nancarrow Farm | Florist: Honeybee Flowers | Stationery: Pirrip Press | Entertainment: Dave & Freya from Alive Network | The Low Down from Alive Network | Hair & Make Up: Make Up By Ione
Toggle all article tags

Inspirational articles you may also find useful