I have to confess that I stalked this gorgeous wedding on Instagram. Lovely Rebecka at Jean Jackson Couture was sharing images of beautiful bride Joanne in her seventies bohemian vibe Houghton dress and I was just bowled over by her style. She adores all things bohemian, a self confessed hippie at heart and the wedding to her love and soulmate Stephen is such a reflection of that.

Joanna and Stephen, aka the new Mr and Mrs Fox (very appropriately named!) were married in Cumbria in October. I don’t even know where to start with how much I love their wedding. From the amazing bride tribe, the very dapper mod style of the groom and his men and the bride’s proud daddy. To the totally down to earth and genuinely authentic decor in their stunning tipi to the flower crowns and unbelievably natural wild flowers and foliage.

All of this is just beautiful, the reason it’s so captivating is as at the heart of it is friends and family and a strong sense of being true to themselves. The couple beam throughout, their deep love is obvious and has been captured by a photographer who is their good friend, Karly Curwen Photography. So let me hand you over to the divine bohemian bride, Joanne to tell you all about the day;

Me and Stephen went to school together, he was the typical all round popular sports guy and I was the awkward teen who loved all things bohemian and a little weird…some would say total opposites! But as I have come to realise opposites attract. After many attempts at asking me on a date (those attempts including a face book poke and an offer of naked twister) he finally went with the traditional route of asking me to have drinks and a night of dancing! It was the best date I have ever been on, we laughed, we danced, we sang until closing time…I knew this was going to be one exciting adventure from then on!

The Engagement

The engagement was one of complete surprise, we had taken a trip to Rome…knowing my love for all things natural and unique Stephen had planned a trip to the Orange Gardens of Rome. We climbed to the top of what seemed like the steepest hill which ended with two large majestic iron gates, I opened the gates to reveal a secret overgrown park filled with orange trees, the ground was completely covered in fresh oranges! As I was walking through this beautiful orchard all that you could smell was the sweet scent of fresh oranges and the powerful aroma of a million flowers (whenever I smell oranges it takes me straight back to that magical place..I always refer to it as my secret garden)

At the end of the park was an old wall, at first it looked nothing out of the ordinary but once you got there you soon realised that this wall was what held the heart of this secret garden….Peering over the wall you could see Rome in its entirety, Rome’s best kept secret view. I was overwhelmed by how beautiful it had all been, by this time some other people had joined us. As I was gazing out over Rome I could hear Stephen breathing extremely heavy and very fast, it was then that it dawned on me what was going to happen, I was so nervous.

He told me that he didn’t just bring me here to show me the secret garden, he brought me here to ask me an important question, I turned around and he was 1down on one knee, before he could start his speech (which I can only assume was going to be one of heart felt memories and all things lovely) I flung my arms around him and said yes straight away! I was so overwhelmed at how much thought he had put into it, those gardens were like my paradise and he knew how much I would love them! It was the perfect place!

Wedding Style

Joanna and Stephen planned their amazing celebrations with a bohemian feel, true to them at the heart of it;

I am very whimsical and the ultimate bohemian, I love all things natural, earthy and relaxed. The idea of having a wedding in the woods was always something that I have dreamed of. Of course, Pinterest always plays a huge part in any girls wedding, they say you need your Pinterest budget and then your real-life budget! I always knew that wherever I had my wedding I wanted it to be filled with flowers and have feels of the forest running through.

The Wedding Ceremony

My father walked me down the aisle to Songbird by Oasis. I love that this song was written about a love and it was perfect for me and Stephen. It was sung by Zoe Warren. We also had Birdy wings when we were signing the register and Florence ‘You’ve got the love’ when we were walking out of the church (all sung by Zoe)  

The wedding rings were a special part of the day as Stephen had personally designed the engagement ring with the owner or the jewellers. He was given the drawings for the design in which we have since had framed. I had a black diamond engagement ring, something unique so the wedding band was simple in contract. 

My favorite part of the day which stands out to me was the moment I got to the end of the aisle and saw Stephen’s face for the first time, his eyes were glazed and his hands were shaking, I’ve never seen Stephen cry and (I know this is complete cheese) but when I looked at his face and I just knew I was his complete world and that he thought I was the most beautiful girl in the world it was an amazing feeling and one I won’t forget.

The Photography

The couple chose Karly Curwen Photography to capture their day;

Karly is a friend of mine and I have seen her photos of her friend’s wedding and she captured the moment in the most magical ways. I knew that I didn’t want photographs that were stiff and posed, I wanted candid photos that I could look back on and remember the moment it happened…And that’s exactly what we got! I knew she would listen to what I wanted and point me in the right direction! Karly was fantastic with us, she guided us through the whole day, she gave me and Stephen direction which produced relaxed natural photos…exactly what I wanted!

Boho Hippie Forest Styling

I teamed up with the most amazing, interesting woman on this earth… Janet Wilde of Wilde and Romantic! She is a small business owner that specialises in prop hire and event styling! The imagination on this woman is unreal! I went to her with the idea of a woodland wedding and what she created was something far more spectacular.

She provided a vintage wash stand for my cake, two vintage front doors for my table plan, four real ram skulls for my top table and a host of other vintage treats. I had told her I wanted the venue to be filled with flowers and it was Janet who came up with the idea of having the flowers hanging from the ceiling…in which I had 250 jam jars (all collected between us) hanging from the rafters of the tipi some filled with wild flowers and some filled with floating candles. I had an assortment of 90 vintage gin / whiskey and Cumbrian ale bottles spread on the tables each filled with more wild flowers and in between each bottle the greenest real moss was scattered.

The Dress

As any Bride will tell you, the dress is one of the most important details of any wedding and it’s so important to get one that reflects your style. As my wedding was relaxed and bohemian I knew that I wanted a style that embodied this. The Houghton dress I chose was simple and elegant, it was flawlessly romantic and suited my body shape to perfection. I am forever dreaming of a life in the seventies and I love to generate that style and I felt this dress had the perfect combination of classic elegance with a free flowing hippy vibe…a very difficult combination to achieve!

I would love to mention how amazing Flick and Becky from Jean Jackson Couture were. When I first went to the shop I was so deflated and my confidence was at rock bottom, I actually went to the fitting with two sets of spanx on because I thought I was going to be too big for any of the dresses. As soon as I walked in they really did boost my confidence and made me believe that I was actually going to feel great on my wedding day, I had exhausted so many shops looking for the right dress but hand on my heart I can honestly say I didn’t come across two people more genuine in the whole process, they genuinely wanted me to be happy and confident it was much more than the dress and the passion they have for their brides is amazing and it shines through! I do owe a lot to these women because they gave me the confidence I needed!

Hair, Make-up and Accessories

There was nothing much traditional about my wedding so I knew when it came to my hair I would always want flowers in my hair! I chose a flower Crown to keep with the bohemian hippie style.

As a natural hippie, I knew that shoes would not remain on my feet for long so I did not chose an expensive pair. They were white barely there’s from Asos, I had them on in the church and then I felt the grass between my toes for the remainder of the day!

As a gift from Stephen I wore a Monica Vinada silver coin pendant, I also wore two bell anklets around my ankles from Dixi jewellery. I wore Chanel Chance, this is the perfume Stephen always gets me.

My hair was styled by my good friend Amy Pedan, a vintage chick with an eye for style and an amazing hairdresser. I had Great Lengths Hair extensions in which she created a combination of plaits for a relaxed up do. The bridesmaids had a halo plait teamed with gypsophila.
Our make up was done by Kate Stewart a freelance makeup artist. I had six bridesmaids all my best friends since childhood and one was Stephen’s sister, they all had their makeup done. They are all very natural and do not wear much makeup at all, so they had a subtle base with a Smokey eye.

Venue and Tipis

Following the church ceremony, continuing the boho hippie forest style Joanne and Stephen celebrated with a tipi reception;

The venue was a piece of land called Rivendell set within the Forest owned by a couple whose children I used to teach. It is a very understated yet magical place filled full of woodland life. As you walk up to the land all you can hear is the chirping of birds and the rustling of trees! You catch glimpses of foxes and squirrels, the nature that surrounded this place made it perfect for a woodland wedding. The land is owned by Joanne and Alwin Branniff who regularly host and organise music events there. The tipis from Fjell Tipis  were the perfect addition to compliment my woodland theme, they have a sense of magic and earthy feels about them.

Bride Tribe

I am not a fan of traditional formal dresses, so I wanted something that was relaxed and comfortable for the girls. As they are more like my sisters they had a lot of involvement in choosing the dress, I wanted them to like the dress colour and feel comfortable, although they would have worn anything I put them in, I wanted them to feel nice so they could be completely relaxed for the day too.

We had a few options before we picked the right one. When you have six bridesmaids all different shapes, sizes and skin tones, including one who was seven months pregnant it was difficult to find a style that suited all of them. The dresses we fell in love with were a pale grey / blue, a relaxed spaghetti strap, with cross back and a pleated bottom. The dresses were from Asos. I think it’s important for brides to understand that the price tag or label isn’t the most important, what is more important is to get the right style and something that your gals feel comfortable…makes a happy bride tribe!

They all wore their own shoes. We knew it would be a bare foot affair so shoes weren’t important. The bridesmaids had a halo plait teamed with gypsophila and I had bought them all a Stirling silver arrow arm cuff which they all wore on the day.  

Grooms Threads

Again, coming away from tradition Stephen decided a suit was not the way he wanted to go, he is a quirky character and he wanted to remain smart but true to his style. His entire outfit was bought form Threads Clothing a local business channeling the modern Mod. He wore navy carrot cut style trousers, a white oxford shirt, braces and a polka dot tie. He wore Doc marten loafers (with no socks which the priest found hilarious and made reference to this is the middle the service)    

The best man and Grooms men were in matching attire but instead of a polka dot tie they had a polka dot Dickie tie.

Flowers

Flowers were the most essential part of the wedding, I love fresh flowers and the affect they have in any environment. My flowers were done by the talented by Vanessa Adams I wanted fresh wild flowers everywhere to get the sense of a wood / Forest type theme. I had 250 hanging jars filled with wild flowers including Dill, Mint (the smell was amazing) Solidago, Treefern, Asparagus fern, Bupleurum, astrania, French ruscus, eucalyptus, wax flower. and 90 vintage gin / whiskey bottles again filled with wild flowers as the above,

My bridesmaid bouquets were natural greenery a combination of poppy heads, hard ruscus, eucalyptus, gypsophila, fatsia leaves, tree fern, leather leaf, my bouquets was compiled with dark flowers purple calla lilies, white mini gerbera, poppy heads, hard ruscus, French ruscus, Eucalyptus, leather leaf and tree fern, I wanted a huge bouquets to stand out against the simplicity of my dress. Every table had five bottles of wild flowers and fresh moss scattered throughout, the smell inside the tipi was unreal.

The table plan was two vintage doors covered in Fatsia leaves wax flower, gladioli, French ruscus (again the greenery just gave the effect of a secret garden) The vintage bike was filled full of asparagus fern, tree fern, French ruscus, gypsophila and solidaga.

The Food

I had a three tiered natural cake by Custom Cakes by Debbie Louise, laced with fresh lavender flowers rested upon a vintage washstand and protected by a rams skull. We donated the entire cake to our local retirement home the next day. During the day we had a BBQ and in the evening we had a mix of hog roast and bacon sandwiches by Border Hog Roast.

The Wheels

We hired transport from Lake District Vintage Cars. The bridesmaids and groomsmen arrived in a 1964 VW Camper van, called Gertrude. Me and Stephen arrived at the venue in a 1973 VW Cabrio white beetle named Gwendolyn (we had the roof down that day).

Stationery and Favours

I wanted something natural, simple and earthy for my invites, I had natural brown card, banded with hessian rope and slotted within the card fresh leaves. The table plan was two vintage old doors, reminded me of the doors to the secret garden they were covered in greenery. Within each pane of glass was the table numbers (the table numbers were small blocks of wood that had been hand painted and designed by the tattooist Stephen goes to).

The favours were homemade sloe gin, in small medicine bottles aptly named…Rivendell sloe gin. What was funny about the favours is no one realised that they were supposed to be mixed with something…so everyone drank them like a shot! This was definitely they reason everyone was so merry aha! I also had small pieces of card which had the words ‘love and lavender’ on and then people names. Inserted within the card I placed a fresh piece of lavender, the smell was divine!  

Decor

The couple had such an amazing and eclectic array of beautiful bohemian decor, ladders with fresh plotted plants, a wash stand for their cake, bottles, feathers, rams skulls, pretty hanging jars on shepherd hooks all up the path and yards or festoon lighting.

I had acquired an old gypsy wheel from a farming friend. I painted it bright yellow and decorated with bunting on the day and took an old vintage bike decorated with a huge basket of flowers. We had crates that we used for the arrival drinks, with glass dispensers filled with Pimms and huge tin baths for the peroni bottles.

Honeymoon

The honeymoon was spectacular. We did one month around Asia stopping in Bangkok (white water rafting and waterfall trek, floating markets), Phuket (caving, James bond island), phi phi (maya bay, monkey island, island, blue lagoon) Vietnam (Mekong delta, chi tunnels) and Bali blow hole, surfer’s paradise).

First Dance

The couple chose Bob Dylan – Mr. Tambourine Man as their first dance;

This is a song that I have listened to since I was little, my dad used to play it to me all the time and when I hear it I think of growing up and I think of my dad and how he moulded me into who I am. Me and Stephen are both very close to our family and we value family very much, and this song has always been a song close to my heart, Stephen suggested this song as he said it always reminds him of me because I constantly have it on the record player.

When we had finished our first dance a lot of family members and older people had approached us and said that the song had transported them back to growing up and the good times and listening to that song in the kitchen while their mam was cooking tea…I loved the idea of that because that’s what the song did for me too, very nostalgic, I know traditionally a first dance song is about the bride and groom and has some romantic connotations but for us it was something different.

When I was 16 me and my girls took a trip to see the kooks in Liverpool, we had the most amazing time and from then on we have always said the song Naïve was our song, Every wedding that’s been Naïve is the second song to play and all us girls get up and dance…and so sticking to tradition my second song was Naïve and arm in arm with my best girls we danced our hearts out to it!

Advice from the Bride

Stick to your own styles and stay original. Keep your integrity and remember this is a day for you as a couple. Enjoy every moment and love every moment. Take the time to sit and enjoy the day…one of the best things I did was take five minutes to sit outside in front of the outdoor fire pit with a gin in my hand and remembered the day and watched all the people go by. That was one of the best moments over the day…taking the time to take the day in just allowed complete happiness to wash over me, I would not change a thing.

Massive congratulations to Mr and Mrs Fox, you are a right pair of foxes and we love you and your wedding day! Massive thanks too Karly Curwen too for these beautiful chilled and gorgeous images.

love