Bethan and Drew – Midnight Picnics and Star Watching, A Brecon Beacons Couples Shoot

by Rebecca | May 15, 2017 | Engagements

Bethan and Drew – Midnight Picnics and Star Watching, A Brecon Beacons Couples Shoot

Aw these two are so cool, it reminds me of like an album cover. If you regularly read Adored Bride, you’ll know I’m partial to beautiful photography in raw, edgy locations and the Brecon Beacons can be pretty wild at times. Bright sunshine one minute and the mist descends the next, regardless of the time of year! It’s the perfect place to get your walking books on for a stomp across some epic scenery and perfect for a natural couples shoot.

South west based Elaine Williams captured these super cool images of Bethan and Drew on one of those wilder Brecon days, making for some pretty amazing backdrops. The couple chose the location because they often go stargazing there.

So enjoy and good luck guys with the countdown to the wedding on the 16th June (30 days to go!!!), we cant wait to see the big day itself!

We met 3 years ago in Full Moon, over a cocktail called “a jar of Green Shit”. It was my birthday night out, a few months before I was moving to the Middle East for a year to teach. We spent the summer together and kept in touch while I was abroad, as soon as I moved back to the UK we got back together and got engaged the year after, we now have a beautiful baby boy!

Elaine shot the photos in the Brecon Beacons; which was amazing because we used to take Drew’s van up there for midnight picnics and star watching.

We chose our engagement ring from Crouch Jewelers, it was the first one we saw on the day and after hours walking around Cardiff we went back to get it.

Elaine shot the photos in the Brecon Beacons; which was amazing because we used to take Drew’s van up there for midnight picnics and star watching.

Probably my favourite part of the shoot was when we had to face and look at each other and Elaine stopped us and said “You don’t have to look so serious” – I think both of us were so worried about being awkward in front of the camera we were just staring the other one down! We immediately relaxed afterwards.

My advice to others would be go for something unique and personal, the last thing we wanted were staged shots or something really commercial. Elaine managed to get photos that captured our love of the outdoors and that was perfect.

Also, enjoy it! Trust your photographer, you might feel a bit silly but you get the photos back and it’s amazing to see yourselves photographed like that, unless you’re a professional model you won’t get many more chances to have photos like this of each other!

Love it! Thanks so much again to Elaine Williams Photo for the beautiful imagery today and all our love and best wishes for the big day to Bethan and Drew, we hope you have an amazing wedding.

If you enjoyed this you may also enjoy this Bridestones couples shoot.

with love

Photographer – Elaine Williams Photography

Beautiful Naomi Neoh Gown for Pretty Shustoke Barn Wedding

by Rebecca | May 9, 2017 | Real Weddings

Beautiful Naomi Neoh Gown for Pretty Shustoke Barn Wedding

I can’t get enough a this stunning barn wedding in Warwickshire from Helen King Photography. With its beautiful lush June blooms, pretty surroundings, stunning bouquet, THAT dress and all the pretty details crafted by the bride Charley.

Charley and Ben were married on 20th June at All Saints Church with a gorgeous rustic, English country garden style barn wedding at Shustoke Farm Barn. It rained a little early in the day but it seems only to add to the vibrant colour of all the natural elements of the day, the gardens and surroundings too. Charley wore the most beautiful Naomi Neoh dress, with flowing chiffon and the prettiest floral detail on the waist, complete with a flowing veil and flowers in her hair. All the divine flowers were created by Bloom Fleuriste.

It’s a wedding full of warmth and beautiful moments, I love the way Ben looks at Charley in the car as they leave the church, with his proper cat that got the cream face. So let me thank Helen King Photography for these beautiful images as I hand you over to bride Charley to tell us more about their gorgeous barn wedding.

We met in our local pub when I was 17 and Ben was 19. Our first conversation was Ben’s amazing chat up line of asking me for some paracetamols! Of course I told him no and walked off, he didn’t give up and we ended going out with each other. 

Ben asked me to marry him during a weekend away to Dartmoor for my Birthday. He had picked the perfect spot…a rope swing overlooking a river with stepping stones…picture perfect. Everything was set for a seamless proposal…bar our springer spaniel trying to drown herself at an inopportune moment!

Charley and Ben struggled to find a venue, they had an clear idea what they wanted and knew when they found Shustoke online that a barn wedding would be perfect;

We knew right from the start that we wanted our day to be relaxed and care free, neither of us like much fuss and being centre of attention.

After getting engaged we knew we wanted to get married locally, but soon realised that what we were looking for from our wedding venue was going to be hard to find…relaxed, rustic charm with something a little extra and definitely not formal. After spending ages trawling the internet on our lunch breaks we found it, Shustoke Farm Barns. It has everything we wanted and more.

We had the same problem with trying to find our photographer as we did with the venue. We didn’t want forced formal shots and as I mentioned earlier we are both camera shy at the best of times!! Luckily we found the lovely Helen King, we fell in love with her cinematic relaxed style. She put us at ease as soon as we met her with her hassle-free style and made it feel like a friend photographing us rather than a stranger.

Charley wore a stunning dress, Clementine by Naomi Neoh from The Stamford Bridal Rooms;

I didn’t want your traditional wedding dress or to look like toilet roll doily. I wanted to feel like myself and didn’t want to feel like I was playing dress up with my Mum’s clothes. I tried on countless dresses and none made me have that feeling that everyone talks about you are meant to get. I thought perhaps I’m just not going to get that feeling until I tried on my dress THE dress that made me feel amazing.

Charley’s pretty veil and hair accessories and her pretty Mimosa shoes by Rachel Simpson were all from Cicily Bridal. The pretty bridesmaids dresses were Two Birds Classic Ballgown style in the Heather colour, again from Cicily Bridal.

The bridesmaids all chose their own shoes as one of my bridesmaid’s was heavily pregnant so I wanted to make sure she was comfortable…she gave birth the week after!

My bridesmaids and my hair were done by the super talented team at Francesco’s Group Tamworth. Our makeup was done by Ben’s Cousin, who is a professional make-up artist, which meant the world to me that she could be a part of our special day.

Ben and his groomsmen wore smart trousers, waistcoats and jackets from Moss Bros with shoes from Marks and Spencer. Ben’s shirt was from Reiss and the groomsmen’s shirt were from Ralph Lauren.

The couples transport for the day was a totally epic ride, a 1950’s Chevrolet provided by a family friend.

At the church Ben didn’t look back at me while I was walking up the aisle as he was too busy trying not cry!! I cried during the rehearsal, but didn’t on the day so it was a bit of a role reversal!

Charley walked down the aisle with her father to traditional church music.

Once married and signing the register one of Ben’s best friends Sam Seamark sang and played on the guitar Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ in the church.

We didn’t want your traditional wedding flowers and were so pleased when we stumbled upon Hannah’s website, Bloom Fleuriste. We immediately fell in love with her free form style of arranging and it was exactly what we were looking for…flowers that could have been picked straight from the garden.

One of my best friends Becca Yates made our cake. We wanted something simple that would tie in with our table centre pieces so we went for plain white icing decorated with hessian, lace and flowers. We are not overly keen on the traditional fruit cake so we went for Victoria sponge, lemon drizzle and double chocolate.

All the catering was provided by the venue Shustoke Farm Barns, with entertainment sound and lighting by Ashmore Acoustics Live Music. The couple highly recommend them both.

The couple sourced their weddings rings in Victoria James in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham.

I didn’t want anything to take away from the beauty of my engagement ring so had a plain platinum band. Ben also had a plain band in palladium.

I made all of the wedding stationary myself…it took over my life for a short time, but it was totally worth it!!

For favours we had horseshoes which also doubled up as name plates. We wanted them to look rustic so got used ones from my brother who is a farrier which was handy. Ben just had to put several hours into re shaping them in the fire and then buff half of them up for a contrast.

I made all of the table centre pieces myself and created them from collecting old bottles and jars and covered them in lace, hessian and jute twine.

Our first dance tune was John Legend’s ‘All of me’. The first dance was never going to be the highlight of our wedding as we are not the greatest dancers so we couldn’t wait for everyone else to join! Having said that we still embraced the moment we had together on our own.

Two weeks after we got married we went on our honeymoon. We spent four days in Garonga Safari Camp in South Africa and then we travelled to Mauritius for 10 nights and stayed at 20 Degrees Sud. It was a lovely holiday and we would definitely recommend it.

Ben – For me the favourite part of the day was sitting at the meal and looking at my beautiful wife and all our wonderful friends and family and realising how lucky I was.

Charley – I think my favourite part of the day would have to be the speeches…I laughed, cried and winced and so did everyone there.
We wouldn’t have done a thing differently all the imperfections made it our day and we wouldn’t change it for the world.

Our advice to others; do exactly what you, as a couple, want to do and not what family or friends want. We made a couple of decisions at our wedding that raised a few eyebrows within the family. But at the end of the day it’s your day and no-one else’s so be selfish if you have to be!

I hope you have been inspired by Charley and Rob’s beautiful barn wedding, congratulations guys, we hope you have a fantastic anniversary next month. A special thanks goes to Helen King Photography too for letting us share her beautiful photography on Adored Bride today, such a talented lady, be sure to check out her website.

If you enjoyed this wedding, you may also enjoy this Devon barn wedding.

much love

A Ballet Inspired Bridal Fashion Edit – Felicity Cooper Authentic Luxe Collection 2018

by Rebecca | Apr 28, 2017 | Fashion, Inspiration

A Ballet Inspired Bridal Fashion Edit – Felicity Cooper Authentic Luxe Collection 2018

If you are currently pinning designers and dress ideas like crazy, in search of the perfect dress…. let me gently nudge you towards British Designer label Felicity Cooper Bridal and this ballet inspired shoot. Fiona, the designer behind Felicity Cooper has been creating bespoke pieces for brides since 2010 and last year launched her own collection to bridal boutiques at London Bridal Fashion Week. It was a massive success and today I’m exited to share with you her latest designs from the 2018 Authentic Luxe Collection. They are a little bit gorgeous.

Images Lucy G Photography. Behind the scenes film Paul Kyte Photography

Fiona is a good friend of mine and I’ve been so excited to see how the brand has just sky-rocketed in the past year and it was great to work with the team behind this shoot. I sourced a venue for the shoot, a gorgeous high vaulted ceiling ballet studio, with huge windows, so we used a little bit of ballet to inspire the shoot for the collection.

Fiona’s dresses are beautifully made, with divine lines, gorgeous cotton lace, flowing chiffon and silks with beaded details, they are so versatile too and look epic in every setting from a tipi wedding, a country house, a wedding in NYC and everywhere in between.

Barm decorated with bunting for the meal

The dresses appeal to the relaxed bride, fun loving and fashion thinking bride. The bride who knows her own mind and style, who wants to be comfortable yet look breath-taking.

These images were captured by our very own Lucy G Photography, flowers supplied by Chloe Robinson Designs, the behind the scenes film by Paul Kyte Photography, stationery by Hattie Boo Designs, styling by Pretty Creative at Adored Bride and delicate cake by lovely Marie Antoinette Cakes.

I asked Fiona to tell us a bit about the collection;

It’s been really well received by the boutiques and brides and I’m so excited about our upcoming trunk shows. The dresses appeal to the relaxed bride, fun loving and fashion thinking bride. The bride who knows her own mind and style, who wants to be comfortable yet look breath-taking.

The 2018 collection has a relaxed feel, I have taken inspiration from so many things including interior design trends, bohemian fashion and the brides I meet. I’m really happy with this collection and cannot wait to see all the gorgeous brides wearing them on their wedding days.

If you’ve fallen in love with these gorgeous dresses you can catch the collection at the Felicity Cooper Trunk Shows and meet designer Fiona. The next one is this weekend at The White Yard on Monday 1st May and then at Kimberley Ann Bridal Boutique on Saturday the 8th and Sunday 9th July.

You can also see the collection at their other lovely stockists including Frock n Soul, Halo and Wren, The White Boutique, Millie Couture Bridal and Brides by Zoe.

A Natural, Bohemian Luxe Cornish Coastal Elopement

by Rebecca | Apr 26, 2017 | Inspiration, Real Weddings | 2 comments

A Natural, Bohemian Luxe Cornish Coastal Elopement

I’m sharing with you today a Cornish elopement, a breath taking, natural, wild and authentic coastline inspired shoot. It’s filled with beautiful imagery, stunning landscapes, delicate florals, a stunning dress and pale blue detailing. There is something so magical about the setting of the Cornish coastline, the light, even on stormy days is incredible.

These gorgeous photographs are from Irina and Chris who are amazing wedding photographers from Germany who love to travel. They love to photograph, in Irina’s own words, ‘couples crazily in love’. So I just knew I was going to adore their work!

With this evocative bohemian luxe elopement they have captured the light, the love, the connection between the couple and created some truly gorgeous images.

Lovely Irina explains about the inspiration behind the images;

When we planned backpacking a little bit through Cornwall, I knew that would be the perfect place for an aquamarine, natural, bohemian intimate wedding elopement. A coastline inspired wild and back to the roots elopement, that was our vision.

We just love natural coastlines and I particularly love that aquamarine water colour that you can find in lakes, usually in the mountains (we found them in the Rocky Mountains in Canada). So when we discovered the greenish blue hue at the beach lakes of Cornwall when the tide is in, we really wanted to shoot on location. I collected brass candle holders and soft blue candle sticks in advance, knowing some day I would realise the vision in my head, which I’d had for some time.

It all came to realisation with the fabulous effortless look that the dress and the floral bouquet gave to the scene. The dress is handmade by a German designer we know Light and Lace Couture. It is perfect for the beach; lace and chiffon and a backless design, so alluring and elegant too.

We found florists Becca & Maz from The Garden Gate Flower Company through Instagram. They are true artisans. Their bouquets are pieces of art. They look so effortless as if you picked them yourselves at the fields and still they are so nicely composed. It totally matched the easy breezy flair of our shoot.

Our model couple, Emily and Tom, are a true Cornish couple. They are actually engaged and so, though it is a styled collaborative shoot, it has some true story in it: True love of two people who appreciate each other and embrace their life by the Cornish coast.

Huge thanks to the talented team involved in bringing us this beautiful shoot, the wonderful Irina und Chris Photography, Garden Gate Flower Company and Light and Lace Couture. You should be super proud of your stunning and amazingly natural shoot.

Are you planning an elopement? You may also enjoy reading this,

best wishes

| Photography – Irina und Chris | Bridal Designer – Light and Lace Couture | Florist – Garden Gate Flower Company |

Liberty Prints and Feathers – A Rural Cheshire Maker’s Wedding

by Rebecca | Apr 24, 2017 | Real Weddings

Liberty Prints and Feathers – A Rural Cheshire Maker’s Wedding

This fabulous wedding today is a beautiful hand crafted affair, entwined with pretty blue liberty prints, vintage haberdashery props and stunning hand made textile details. It’s so lovely to feature this wedding as it’s my friend and super talented Cheshire gal Kaye Hannabuss’s own wedding day to her lovely Richard. You might recognise some of the stunning details if you are a regular moocher around the lovely artisan Cheshire Makers Markets as Kaye is the talent behind Kaye Hannabuss Textiles.

Kaye and Richard were married at Sandhole Oak Barn in June, which is set in the most beautiful rural countryside setting. Kaye looked amazing in her House Of Mooshki dress that she paired with a beaded lace cape during the day and a gorgeous diamante stole for a different look in the evening.

I know you are going to enjoy all the details from the day that Kaye made herself, I particularly adore the pale blue silk shoes bows and Eliza the dog’s Liberty print lead and collar, just so sweet. Huge thanks to Gray Weddings for sharing these images with Adored Bride;

We met at primary school at 5 years of age, we always liked each other, but nothing ever happened right through all our education.Then 4 years ago at a very sad memorial service of an old school friend we met again. Both single and still an attraction. We went of a few dates and within 6 weeks we jetted off to Cape Town, for Richard to meet my dad, who emigrated there 20 years ago. We got on so well, laughed, re lived our youth.

Richard proposed 2 years later, he was secretly in the jewellers whilst I was supposedly out having a coffee with my mum, looking at wedding rings. He had the shock of his life when he looked up and we were peering through the window at the gems, he dived onto the floor and hid, all 6 foot 3 of him!

We wanted a small wedding and soon, we didn’t want to waste any more years!

We didn’t have a theme as we like everything visual and I have an eclectic taste. I’ve always had a love for British prints such as Liberty and a love of birds and feathers, so these colours and textures played heavily through out the day.

We wanted a relaxed wedding, being creative and having creative friends I naturally enlisted them to help.

We chose Sandhole Oak Barn in Congleton Cheshire, We loved the natural feel the venue. A farm with a purpose built wedding barn, accommodation in the old stable blocks. A beautiful sun deck overlooking a lake a beautiful country side. Sheep in the neighbouring fields. Also, we could bring my Dog Eliza!

After several dress shopping sessions, not being afraid of trying on different silhouettes, I opted for a simple floor length, Duchess satin fit and flair silhouette. I agonised over the length, initially wanting a tea length dress, then realising they were ‘on trend, but decided I didn’t want to be fashionable and then look dated in years to come. I was only planning to do this once, so to be a classic bride I went with some volume and a train.

The dress ironically came from the House Of Mooshki‘s British range, which specialize in Tea length gowns, I bought one of the only floor length gowns in the collection and added a puddle train.

I wore a beaded lace cape for the ceremony as I wanted different looks through out the day and created my beaded head dress which had a vintage feel and a simple long Tulle Train. I then changed in the evening and wore a diamante stole and accessorised with one of my handmade clutch bags.

I made my garter from vintage lace from my Auntie’s haberdashery stash.

Kaye wore some simple ivory satin shoes from Debenhams;

I made soft blue bows to coordinate with the rest of the wedding party, it formed my ‘something blue’. Richard arranged a gift of a pair of vintage drop pearl and diamond earrings to be delivered to my dressing room the morning of the wedding, an emotional moment, I now wear these most days.

We had all of our hair and makeup done by Caroline Ashcroft, who came to the venue the morning of the wedding where we got ready in the lovely relaxing dressing rooms.

My friend and maid of honour Vicky wore a complimenting soft blue pleated dress from Chi Chi, and Richard’s daughter Evie wore an ivory satin pleated dress from Monsoon I made the bows and belts. Vicky wore her own actual wedding shoes, from her special day the year before.

I had collected over the months, vintage haberdashery, buttons, threads and tape measures, we added vintage football memorabilia, books, glass bottles and porcelain vases, pheasant and guinea fowl feathers were mixed in the varied clusters of flowers.

Richard wore a Donegal blue tweed jacket and navy chinos with brown leather brogues, a crisp white shirt and a navy Waistcoat. We wanted a casual look, and items he could wear again as a reminder of the day.

Kaye made all the blue floral Liberty print neck ties and matching cufflinks.

The Grooms men wore similar relaxed outfits. The button holes were made by Richard’s mum, using ivory flowers, foliage, feathers and twine.

We didn’t do a first look, I was very late down the aisle, Richard thought I wasn’t going to make it!

My dad travelled form South Africa to give me away, I’m his only daughter, it was an emotional walk down the aisle. We had the venue blessed by our South African friend, who left Rose quartz in each room for good luck.

Kaye and Richard chose Gray Weddingss Photographers;

We met Beki at a wedding fair, I instantly fell in love their actual stand and presentation, it looked like my lounge, Tweed, Persian rugs, Chesterfield, countryside elements and very British Heritage feel.

The images were natural and raw, textured and quite dark, but it felt fresh and new to all of the other wedding photographer’s I’d seen where everything was polished and felt a little staged. We got chatting and it turned out that Beki and her husband also got married at Sandhole the year before, so it was meant to be!

I styled the wedding myself, with collected items and many props from our home, we didn’t want the wedding or venue to look too themed and let the simplicity and beauty of the venue speak for itself. We used natural decoration for the chairs, decorated the venue with planted Wellington boots and old watering cans to carry on the British heritage and country feel.

I designed and made all of the invites with the help of a friend, using kraft card and Liberty print fabric, a huge job, but enjoyable. The table plan was a selection of herb pots with lollipop stick name tabs. I made the favour bags form the Liberty fabric and we added a bag of Maltesers, (a long and funny story!)

Their florist was talented Lisa from Red Door Design;

Lisa worked tirelessly with me to create an eclectic look with the flowers and the table decorations. My bouquet was a large relaxed hand tied, with simple shades of ivory and greens. This look was recreated in smaller versions for my maid of honor and flower girl.

I had collected over the months, vintage haberdashery, buttons, threads and tape measures, we added vintage football memorabilia, books, glass bottles and porcelain vases, liberty print details, pheasant and guinea fowl feathers were mixed in the varied clusters of flowers, from roses, nigellas, foliage.

We had festoon lighting for the ceremony and animated rustic initial letter lighting for the wedding breakfast room to complete the look.

Our best Man’s wife Rebecca created a naked 3-tiered cake for us. Each layer being a different flavour. Victoria sponge, chocolate and lemon drizzle. It was amazing! I could eat it gain now. It was decorated with flowers and feathers.

The venue provided a choice of two caterers, we chose Sue Le Bonne, who we felt offered a personal service, with premium food and the chef Ben designed a menu with a specialist South African style canapes for us to honour my Dad and his wife.

The couple had a live band and a Photo Booth for evening entertainment;

We chose a live band called Champagne Skies, they were fun and fresh, a bit grungy but played some pop classic too. We also hired a vintage caravan photobooth for the evening for a bit of fun from Natty Bee’s Vintage Hire.

Our first dance was Etta James, ‘At Last’, sung by the band, which was amazing.

We went to Bali for total relaxation and some Culture. We stayed in the created and arty inland area of Ubud at a breathtaking Hotel called The Viceroy.

Advice to other couples? I would let others help more with the planning, and not obsess over the smaller details. I know this is what all brides say afterwards and I wish I’d taken their advice! On the day relax and enjoy, it passes so quickly.

Huge thanks to lovely Kaye and Richard for sharing their beautiful day with us and to Gray Weddings Photography too for these fabulous images.

If you’ve been inspired by Kaye’s gorgeous day, be sure to check out her Instagram feed for all her latest designs and if you are in the Northwest you can meet Kaye at the Simply Cheshire event in May.

With love,