Inspiration

Bride and Groom, Lucy and Jon had a glorious outside wedding ceremony at Elmely Nature Reserve with the picturesque countryside making a heavenly backdrop for their vows. They then partied the night away in the fabulous barn reception, which looked absolutely breathtaking covered in an abundance of colourful wild flower arrangements by the oh so talented Joanne Truby. It also included lots of homemade wooden signs, and a fabulous plant pot table plan, which I know will ALL be pinned within an inch of their lives. Bride Lucy looks truly beautiful in an Alice Temperley gown, as do her bridesmaids in dusky pink beaded gowns from ASOS, all adding to the laid back boho vibes of the day. And capturing all this loveliness is the fabulous Lola Rose Photography, whose dreamy documentary style make this wedding even more special.

Bridal Outfit

Lucy the Bride: I’d been to a few bridal shops before I stumbled across my dress in Bicester Village. It’s by Alice Temperley and I fell in love with the floral applique and crystals on the bodice instantly. As the venue had a lot of grass wedges were a must – I found the perfect pair of gold ones in LK Bennett. Our rings came from a local independent jeweller Denis Green.

Grooms Attire

Having researched online, Jon decided to have his suit made by Edit Suits in Liverpool Street. Shoes were Russell & Bromley, shirt and tie were from Charles Tyrwhitt.

Venue

The venue was Elmley Nature Reserve in Kent, we were blown away by the location and the wildlife there, the views were spectacular! As it was a beautiful hot July day we opted to have the ceremony and drinks reception outside with the wedding breakfast and band in the barn. We loved that the barn was a real blank canvas and we were able to customize it to suit our wedding.

Colour Scheme/Decor

We didn’t have a strict theme per say but our one stipulation was that we wanted a lot of colour! We made a lot of the decoration ourselves, including recycling wood we’d salvaged from skips to create signage and backdrops to a DIY photobooth, as well as placing LED tea lights along the beams of the barn. We created our own table games of ‘would you rather…’ by up cycling old jars, used potted plants from our garden to decorate the outside of the barn and had an old style suitcase which we used to collect wedding cards.

Florist

Our florist was Joanne Truby who did an outstanding job with the flowers. When we met with her before the day our brief was that we wanted it to look as if all the flowers had been picked from the nature reserve itself with lots of vibrant colours and that was exactly what we got. Each table had its own wooden crate of flowers alongside beer bottles and coloured candles in brass holders that looked incredible on the day.

Wedding Party

I found the bridesmaid dresses on ASOS and the groomsmen all wore blue suits with shirts and ties from Charles Tyrwhitt. Hair and makeup for bridesmaids was Topps to Toe.

Ceremony

We chose to have Bridget Sapiano perform the ceremony. By using a celebrant we were able to make the ceremony more personalised as Bridget told stories of how we met and got engaged, as well as including our own vows to one another.

Entertainment

The Festival Foxes were our evening band who performed our first dance music and were so great – we didn’t want them to stop by the end of the evening!

Catering

Emma Ainsley catered our wedding and the food was exceptional, after canapés we had fillet of beef for main followed by a trio of puddings for dessert. Emma also created a huge croquembouche that we had in place of wedding cake – it was delicious! We also hired Kent Mobile Bar Company for the evening who alongside the usual drinks were serving rum punch and old fashioned cocktails.

Photography

Photographer was Lola Rose Photography who did a fantastic job of capturing the day and all the different moments of the day. She made us feel very comfortable and we were very pleased with the end results. Bride in Alice Temperley Gown | Groom in Edit Suits Co | Lola Rose Photography
Lorna Shaw

Written by Lorna Shaw

Dress Designer: Alice Temperley | Bridal Shoes: L.K Bennett | Jewellery: Denis Green | Grooms Suit: Edit Suits Co | Grooms Shoes: Russell & Bromley | Grooms Shirt: Charles Tyrwhitts | Bridesmaid Dresses: ASOS | Bridesmaid Makeup: Topps to Toe | Venue: Elmley Nature Reserve | Florist: Joanne Truby | Entertainment: The Festival Foxes | Bar: Kent Mobile Bar Company

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