Olivia & James

Olivia and James' wedding at Hazel Gap Barn in Nottinghamshire is beautiful with blush pink bridesmaids, 4 four best men, bridal portraits in a bluebell wood, and a gorgeous sparkler exit to end the day! Blush Pink & Copper remains such a popular colour scheme as you can really run with it as little or as much as you fancy. I think this couple worked with the scheme in a really delicate subtle way and let's be fair Hazel Gap Barn would suit anything! Hazel Gap Barn is a member of our exclusive handpicked directory, solely curated for the RMW bride, The List and it's a real treat for us to see it on our pages.  Of course, the bride is shining in an ever-elegant Mikaella Gown from Clifton Brides and the day is captured by Pear and Bear Photography.

Brides Fashion, LK Bennett x Jenny Packham Flat Shoes, Canadian Designer Gown by Michaella by Paloma Blanca 

Olivia the Bride: When choosing my dress, I literally had no idea as to what I wanted, all I knew was that I didn’t want a sweetheart neckline. I had been recommended by a few friends to go to Clifton Brides in Bristol. Michaella was so helpful and asked if I wanted to look through the dresses or whether I wanted her to pick them out for me, I opted for the latter as it was so overwhelming. I ended up with the first dress I tried on, it looked very underwhelming on the hanger, but I felt amazing in it! As the dress had a high neckline and was detailed with pearls and diamantes, I didn’t want too many accessories, so I opted for some teardrop earrings from Swarovski (actually a wedding present from my husband – I did a lot of hinting).  My (now) husband, is only slightly taller than me so I knew I wanted some flat shoes, I felt worried about this as all the wedding shoes I had seen were silk ivory and I really didn’t like them. I was lucky enough to be gifted a pair of wedding shoes of choice from LK Bennett and fell in love straight away with their Capri style flat shoe, they have a slight silver tint to them, and they weren’t silk – result!  I had tried on a veil with diamante edging at my dress fitting, and it made me feel like a proper bride, I couldn’t afford to buy the one from the boutique so searched on eBay and found an almost identical one for only £30, I was dubious as to what it would be like for that price, but it was perfect. I had always wanted my hair down for my wedding but finally decided (through lots of persuasion from mother of the bride) that it would look better up. As my dress was quite plain I knew I wanted something in my hair, so I found some hair wires from eBay, that my hairdresser Sophie Amelia fitted perfectly into the style.

Hair and Makeup

I used my usual hairdresser Sophie Amelia, as I am so fussy with my hair and completely trust her, she always does an amazing job. I changed my style completely the day before the wedding and loved it!  I wanted the bridesmaids to have their hair half up and half down so it looked different to myself. Sophie and her team spent hours washing, blow drying, curling and pinning out hair the night before so that on the day it didn’t take so long! The Spotted Dog Flower Company supplied some beautiful blossom and ranunculus for the bridesmaids hair. I chose Amy Martin for Makeup as I Knew her from school and had seen her makeup from other people I know, Amy was so professional and absolutely transformed all of us with the most amazing makeup! I really wanted a natural glowy look and this was exactly what Amy did!

Groomsmen

James had 4 best men, so with my Dad, we knew we needed 6 suits so opted to hire due to costings. We had found Regency Groom on Facebook and liked the look of their 3 piece wool suits, James tried his on and instantly loved it, he wouldn’t let me see until the day!! Which I was a little concerned about, but absolutely loved them!

Venue, RMW The List Member, Hazel Gap Barn

Hazel Gap Barn was the second venue we viewed, and we knew from the moment we pulled up there that that was where we wanted to get married. We really wanted a fun, informal wedding that we could invite all our family and friends to, and this is what hazel gap barn could offer us. We also love the rustic barn theme, and loved how beautiful it was naturally, so knew we wouldn’t need to add much decoration to the place (we only had 7 months to plan). Not only did we love the inside of the barn, but we also loved the outdoor space and we could instantly envisage our wedding happening there.

Blush Pink & Copper decor and colour scheme

I chose the colour scheme, Blush Pink & Copper after finding the bridesmaid dresses from ever pretty, they were an absolute bargain and I knew the style would fit all the different shapes and sizes of my beautiful bridesmaids.  I also wanted to add copper, metal, rose gold theme throughout, due to the huge copper bar at the barn! One of the selling points of the barn was its beauty so therefore we felt we didn’t need to add much decoration, and we chose to add natural decorations where possible. I made all the boards, I had searched high and low for what I wanted for the welcome board and for the table plan, and everything I found was super expensive. So, I decided to make them myself. I was very nervous about doing this as I am not artistic in the slightest. I got lots of ideas from Pinterest and gave it a go. I got the boards from B&Q, spending a total of £30 and got a white pen and spent hours getting them to look how I wanted, and  I was really pleased with the result. 

DIY Favours using Clay from Hobbeycraft

We had decided to not bother with favours as whenever I have been to a wedding I have always forgotten mine and left it. I did want to give my guests something though, so I decided to make name places out of clay and stamp peoples name in so they could take them home. I got air drying clay from Hobbycraft and stamped all 120 with guest’s names, I then tied some string into the top to make them into little hanging signs and added ivory. This fitted in with our plain, and natural, woodland theme, that fit perfectly within the barn.

Garden Grown Flowers

We chose our florist as she lives locally to my parents, and a selling point was that she grows all the flowers herself in the garden and is passionate about British flowers. Linda from The Spotted Dog Company met with myself and she understood instantly what I wanted, I really wanted a leafy theme with hints of white and pink running through and this is what I got!  Linda looked at my dress and decided that an asymmetrical bouquet would work best with the shape of the dress. I really wanted some copper/brass/ rose gold theme to be incorporated into my décor, so I bought some different shaped hurricane vases for the tables and Linda put a ring beautiful flowers around the vases. Something that was really nice was Linda added a flower to my bouquet that matched only James’s buttonhole. 

Ceremony, Indoor Confetti!

The ceremony was beautiful, as it was raining we had to do the confetti inside, and I’m so glad we did as the backdrop for the photos was gorgeous – they are my favourite photos! We had two lovely readings, one from my family friend and one from James’ aunty, tear-jerking moments. 

Cake, Three-Tier White Iced Cake With Metallic Foiling By Bakehouse 94

I was absolutely in love with my cake, I changed it completely 3 weeks before the wedding. I had initially ordered a plain white 3 tier with flowers on top. I felt closer to the time I wanted to add a bit of the copper, metal, rose gold theme, so contacted Maxine and Bakehouse 94 and she was more than happy to change my plans and I’m so glad I did, it was simple but perfect and a real talking point and fitted in perfectly with the theme!

Photographer, Anna Dunleavy from Pear and Bear Photography

I found Pear and Bear photography on Instagram and instantly loved the style of her photos. As soon as I contacted Anna she was so friendly and I knew I wanted her to capture our wedding, as after all, I was going to spend the majority of my day with her! Anna did not disappoint and she captured the most beautiful photos!

Videographer, Rob Potter Films

Rob Potter is the brother of a friend of mine, I had seen his wedding videos and absolutely loved them! Rob captured our day beautifully!!

Advice, tips and favourite bits.

• Use Instagram and the hashtags as got loads of ideas from there, also I used Pinterest non-stop and had a board for every aspect of the wedding. 
• Try to make things where you can as not only does this make things unique it also saves a lot of money. I was lucky to have such a beautiful venue so was able to opt for the ‘less is more’ and let the beauty of the venue shine through.
• We really wanted a relaxed ‘party’ style wedding and this is what we got from a barn wedding, it was so nice that the guests could arrive for the ceremony and stay therefore the day.
• James and I (And pretty much all of our family and friends) are massive foodies, we loved the banquet style of hazel gap barn, food was served on big board and you serve yourself.
• In addition to this, we had a sweet and chocolate table and filled hampers with nearly 400 of our favourite chocolate bars – our guests absolutely loved this and we were shocked that they all went!! 
• We also had giant marshmallows to roast on the fire pits and sparklers for a sparkler exit and a bit of fun, which the guests all commented that they loved!
• We didn’t have any formal entertainment but instead made a Spotify playlist of all our favourite songs to have on in the background in the day. 
• In the evening we had a photo mirror which was so funny and they provided a guestbook of photos which was hilarious to look through the next day!