Inspiration

This wedding is utter perfection! The bride, Olivia, wore a strapless Lillian West wedding dress and looked so beautiful. But you'll be surprised to know that most of the styling and decor for the day was DIY'd by the couple! Olivia is an interior designer, so the styling and aesthetic were a high priority for this couple's big day. They chose a classic romantic style that matched Recommended supplier, Cripps Barn perfectly, which was already decorated with lush greenery galore. It is not one to miss!


Strapless Lillian West wedding dress

If you’re on a budget, choose a handful of things that are important to you and prioritise them. Ours was a beautiful venue, photography and the styling of the space. Inevitably it meant that other things got less of our attention but we’re happy knowing we had the important things. In fact, we didn’t send physical invites. As beautiful as they are, we knew they would sit in a drawer, so we decided to mock up a digital invite and send them to guests instead. It worked really well (plus we saved money and trees)!

Olivia & James

Lillian West wedding dress

Olivia & James says the highlight of their wedding was seeing each other for the first time and exchanging their personally written vowsWriting their own vows is something the couple never initially thought of, but because it wasn't a religious ceremony and they didn't have any readings, they decided it was the perfect way to make it unique to them. Music was also a big part of the day, the couple chose to have a string quartet for the ceremony, which set such a magical atmosphere. They chose Adele's 'Make You Feel My Love' as the song Olivia walked down the aisle to. Their ceremony sounds like a fairytale but for us, the highlight is that strapless Lillian West wedding dress. That's one we wish we could wear every day.

DIY Wedding

Olivia & James used inspiration from Instagram and Pinterest to decide on the style of the wedding. They chose a soft, romantic styling with pink, red and whites throughout the decor. The couple chose to DIY and personalise a lot of things to make them unique. They used table names of places they had travelled to together and handmade decor, including a ribbon badminton net for the garden. Olivia & James both love DIY projects and wanted to add a fun yet stylish addition to the lawn area. Luckily their hard work paid off and it was a huge hit, especially as the sun was shining all day. The couple has nothing but praise for Cripps Barn, who bought their vision to life and, being tucked away, felt like a place to escape and enjoy their own private celebration.

Mood boards are an easy way to focus on the vibe of your wedding. Especially if you're planning some DIYs!

We mainly did a lot of our research on Instagram as we found it the easiest way to decide what look and feel we wanted for the wedding and then contacted suppliers which fit that. We're both very visual people and had a good idea of what we wanted so needed to be sure that suppliers were on the same page.

Olivia & James

Do you love the Lillian West wedding dress, too? We have all the info you might need for finding THE dress. Looking to have your own DIY wedding? Well, good for you! We have compiled some helpful tips and tricks on how to have your own DIY wedding!

Leah Blundell

Written by Leah Blundell

Featured suppliers

Venue: Cripps Barn | Photographer: Magda K Photography | Entertainment: DJ Iam Will | Florist: Go Wild Flowers | Cake Maker: The Cake Shop | Hair Stylist: Lauren Gosling Hair | Makeup Artist: Pati Sanchez Makeup | Bridal Outfit: Lillian West | Bridal Boutique: Silver Sixpence Bridal | Bridesmaids Outfits: TFNC London | Groom & Groomsmen Outfits: Clifton Suits | Shoes: Stuart Weitzman | Stationery: Etsy

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