Laura & Matt

Self-confessed ravers, Laura and Matt attend Glastonbury festival whenever they can, so naturally their wedding had a bit of a party theme. With RAVE light up letters and even a Glastonbury themed table plan, their big day spelt out (literally!) exactly what guests could expect. And party hard they did. RMW recommended venue, Stone Barn, is the perfect venue to throw a massive party, the food is excellent, the spaces are totally yours to customise and the dark roof is so striking when night falls and the fairy lights start to twinkle. Enjoy this one loves, the gorgeous images come from Meghan Lorna photography.

The Bride

It took me a few months of looking to find my dress, I’m not very girly and therefore didn’t have much of an idea about what I wanted. I went to a few boutiques both in London and in Warwickshire (where I’m from) and tried on around 20 dresses but none of them felt right. I had a break for a couple of months then went to JS Couture with my friend Katie. I tried on a few dresses by Enzoani (the designer) and things started looking a bit more positive. The dress I found (January from the Enzoani Blue collection) in ivory was perfect in every way – beautiful, timeless, flattering, not fussy, comfortable with a little bit of sparkle. Katie looked at me and said “you have to buy that dress” and so I did. As the dress was so beautiful in itself and I’m not a big jewellery wearer I kept accessories to a minimal. I chose a long ivory veil with scattered diamantes to pick up the sparkle in my dress. For my jewellery I wore a simple diamond necklace which was a gift from my parents for my 21st birthday and a Pandora charm bracelet which I borrowed from my sister (something borrowed). I’m not a big heel wearer therefore kept my shoes low key.

The Groom

I had my suit made to measure at a cool Savile Row tailors called Cad & The Dandy. I wanted a three-piece suit, but it order to make it less formal and more countryside I went for a bespoke Harris tweed feature waistcoat. Knitted burgundy tie was also from Cad & The Dandy. Shoes from Joseph Cheaney & Sons. The Groomsmen got their three-piece suits from Yardsmen which is the sister company of Cad & The Dandy. We went for similar coloured ties with paisley details to distinguish the ushers. One nice personal touch Matt organised was all the Groomsmen wearing matching ‘Pickle’ cufflinks as both Matt & Laura call each other “Pickle”.

The Venue

We got a lovely warm feeling when we visited Stone Barn. We had heard great reviews about the food (with the giant indoor BBQ) and we loved how all you could see if fields surrounding the venue. It suited us perfectly as we and provided such a great atmosphere throughout the day and the evening.

The Décor & THAT Glastonbury Themed Table Plan

Stone Barn is a stunning venue and it doesn’t need anything to make it look good. We chose a rustic these of hessian and lace to compliment the barn. This theme was reflected in our wedding invitations and menus also. With flowers I wanted to keep things quite simple and rustic, an array of greenery, creams and whites including wild flowers and eucalyptus. Beth at Go Wild Flowers was such a great choice and I felt in very safe hands with her. For my bouquet I chose cream roses, eucalyptus with other wild flowers and gypsophila and I wanted it to be quite messy rather than a tight circle – Beth got this just right. We had a huge centre piece wheel to go in the old barn where we had our wedding ceremony. This was stunning and we had loads of comments on it. We also had two milk churns with flowers in to move around the venue at different points in the day. We also had quite simple table decorations, cute jam jars of all different sizes with seasonal wild flowers. These complimented out rustic theme. Matt and I both like raving so we decided to incorporate this into our wedding. We hired a light up RAVE sign and gave all guests glows sticks for the party! We were told by the hire company (Aisle Hire It Ltd) that we were the first couple ever to request a ‘RAVE’ sign – we were quite proud of that! And of course, we had a Glastonbury themed table plan, designed by Matt.

The Wedding Party

For the Bridesmaids I wanted something quite classic that would look good and be practical for all shapes, especially as one of my bridesmaids was due to give birth a few weeks before the wedding. I looked at quite a few dress options but felt they were all quite fussy and some impractical and then by chance came across the duck egg dresses from Marks and Spencer. The dresses are very good quality material and they can be worn in 5 different ways, not to mention all my girls looked stunning – an all-round winner!

The Ceremony

We had a civil ceremony and therefore chose two readings which were relevant to our relationship. We chose Union by Robert Fulgham which is a lovely reading about two people coming together and also an extract from A Bridge Across Forever by Robert Bach. The latter took ages to find as we were looking specifically for a reading about soulmates which wasn’t too cheesy. In our ceremony we also decided to write our own ring promises to each other. This gave the ceremony an added personal touch and everyone commented on how touching this was. I would definitely recommend to anyone having a civil ceremony to make your own promises to each other.

The Entertainment

We had a great band recommended to us who could fit the vibe we were going for...5 piece acoustic set (Double bass, Banjo, Trumpet etc) for during our drinks reception...and a full 8-piece for the live entertainment in the evening. The band were great. Modern, upbeat, and fitted in a bunch of our requests.

The Food

I knew from day one that I really wanted a semi naked cake, I just think they are absolutely stunning and are such a good match for a barn/ rustic venue/ wedding such as ours. The only element of the cake I needed to source was the taste! The Cakeri was recommended to me by one of my bridesmaids and is also local to where my parents live. We went to the Cakeri and sampled some of the cake flavours, it was simply divine and we couldn’t stop eating it. We chose a four tired naked cake with a carrot cakes, chocolate salted caramel, Victoria sponge and gluten free Victoria sponge layers. I might be biased but it is the best wedding cake I have ever tasted.

The Photographer

We met Meghan and Andy (Meghan Lorna) at a Wedding Fair in London and immediately warmed to them. They were both so relaxed and down to earth (not to mention their cute little dog) so we decided to book them for our wedding. We did an engagement shoot with them in Victoria Park London which went very well. We felt so at ease and could have a good laugh with them both. On the big day Meghan and Andy were great, they captured our day perfectly and most people didn’t even notice they were even there. I would 100% recommend them as you can see that their photos are amazing!

Stealing The Show

A really unique part of our day was the cycle Tour of Britain passing through Bouton-on-the-Water where the Bridal party were staying. The Sprint Stage finishing line was directly outside our hotel, with the roads closed and supporting crowds everywhere. Laura made it into the local newspaper (“Beautiful Bride steals the show”) pictured with her bridesmaid on the finishing line with her VW Campervan waiting to whisk her off to get married, cheered on by the crowds!