Pretty Catherine Deane Bridal Separates and Train Rides for Woodland Inspired Leaf Wedding

by Rebecca | Apr 13, 2017 | Real Weddings | 2 comments

Pretty Catherine Deane Bridal Separates and Train Rides for Woodland Inspired Leaf Wedding

I love this wedding so much, it’s so vibrant, beautiful and fun, right from the romantic reason for it’s woodland theme to the train ride to the venue. It’s just gorgeous. Bride Fran wore the most stunning bridal separates too from Catherine Deane at BHLDN with a breath taking Gibson Bespoke necklace, such a pretty statement piece.

Fran and Iain were married in July at Liverpool Town Hall, with a stop at ‘Oh Me Oh My’ for a rooftop image before celebrating with their adorable woodland inspired reception at Leaf on Bold Street in the city. Complete with glitter confetti bombs and vintage cars, the day is just brilliant.

The whole day has been captured to utter ruddy perfection by the very lovely Emma Hillier Photography, she’s a marvel is Emma, we love her. So let me hand you over to beautiful bride Fran to tell you all about the day;

We met at primary school at 5 years of age; however never got together until we ran into each other at a local pub in 2011 age 27! A drink turned into a date a week later and the rest is history. We decided to formalize things in 2014 and got engaged, setting the date for a local Liverpool wedding 18 months later.

I was never keen on the traditional wedding planning set up as it felt like a lot of pressure to be under. So we thought we’d just have fun with it and see what evolved. Shortly before we got engaged, Iain had given me a card for our anniversary which featured a fox and a badger; in it he wrote that “every fox needs a badger by his side”. Somehow from this we decided that we would have a woodland animal theme running through the wedding …why not?!

With the woodland theme in mind we definitely wanted a relaxed and fun feeling about the day, without too much emphasis on formalities.

We knew that we wanted to have our reception in Leaf from the outset. Leaf is a venue we have frequented over the years as a gig and event space; we were able to hire out the upstairs venue space which is roomy and has great decor which suits our style. Leaf provided us with an event coordinator, Fiona, who was brilliant and so generous with her time and adding her creative flair to our ideas for the day!

bride comes down stairs to mum and bridesmaids

Liverpool Town Hall is a beautiful venue with a number of rooms which you can tailor to suit your wedding size. We decided on 70 guests and the Small Ballroom within the Town Hall was perfect to accommodate our wedding ceremony. We knew that the Town Hall’s beauty speaks for itself and we wouldn’t need to do anything to make it ‘wedding’ ready. The Town Hall were happy to have us for the ceremony and also a drinks and canapé reception before we made our way across town to Leaf.

My lovely dad gave me away, I’m the last of his 4 daughters to get married and it was really special. We walked down the aisle to Sigur Ross, Hoppipolla.

Fran and Iain chose Emma Hillier Photography to capture their day;

Iain is a musician and had met Emma several years before when she had photographed him as part of the band he was in at the time. Iain suggested that we look into having Emma do our wedding as he liked her style of photography. We met with Emma and decided to book her straight away; she is less about the formal (groups of guests standing in lines) and aims to capture the mood and ‘moments’ throughout the day. She was absolutely brilliant and our guests commented on how she managed to be everywhere capturing the moments during our day.

My dress skirt was by Catherine Deane and both pieces of the dress were bought online from BHLDN which is a wedding line from the US Anthropologie department store. I love the style of the dresses from the BHLDN line, and admittedly it was a fluke when I ordered the skirt and cami top, had it shipped from the US and loved it immediately. It was the first dress I tried on and I didn’t go into any wedding dress shops at all!

I bought the necklace from an online Irish boutique called Gibson Bespoke who sells on Etsy. Again, it was a fluke once I’d taken the risk of ordering the handmade necklace that matched my dress perfectly! I decided not to have a veil as I wanted the necklace to take centre stage. My shoes were from Kurt Geiger.

We had all of our hair and makeup done at the Powder Room in Liverpool who were so patient with us all and did a great job. We went to the salon the morning of the wedding, where we drank champagne and relaxed into the morning while they pampered us.

I chose Jo Malone’s Peony and Blush Suede. I love the floral scent and have kept it for special occasions since we got married.

couple catching train with guests to venue

The bridesmaids each chose their own dress; their brief was Navy Blue with a metallic shoe. I wanted the girls to feel completely comfortable, wearing something that they had chosen. And they did the rest. The dresses and shoes are from a range of high street stores.

Iain’s suit was tailor made by Nick Collier at Harland and Collier. Nick helped Iain choose his own fabric, lining and suit style and he looked and felt great. At 6 foot 6” he always struggles to find a suit which fits properly, so this was an obvious decision.

Again, the groomsmen wore their own navy blue suits, brought together by a burgundy knitted tie.

I really couldn’t choose a favourite moment from our day…there were too many.We wouldn’t change anything, it was just brilliant from start to finish!

We were recommended Passion for Flowers by a friend and they didn’t let us down. I had quite a specific brief (a Pinterest inspired lavender and daisy bouquet) which they recreated perfectly. The rest of the flowers were simple gypsy grass bouquets with lavender, as were the groomsmen’s button holes and centre pieces in the venue.

Iain has special interest in classic cars and drives a 1983 Mercedes W123 which we used as our wedding car. A friend drove me and my dad to the wedding which was lovely.

We had to make a decision about getting out guests between the venues. Both the Town Hall and Leaf are in Liverpool City Centre but it is a 20 minute walk which we felt was too much to expect the guests to do, and only a 2 minute car ride which we did not feel warranted hire of 2 coaches! We decided to contact Merseyrail who agreed to give us a carriage on the local train which was a perfect compromise. It was great being amongst the local commuters in our finery and added to the fun of the day.

We designed our own invites and table plans with special attention to our woodland theme. We hired our woodland themed décor items from Sweet Pea and Ivy who delivered and collected the items before and after the wedding.

We ordered woodland themed cupcakes from a delightful local independent cake designer Braidey Maloney of Say It With Flours. We met with Braidey prior to the wedding and explained our woodland theme to her, as well as the general look and feel of the venue and we let her do the rest. It was such a buzz arriving at the venue and seeing for the first time alongside the guests what she had created…the cakes were amazing!! And they tasted great too.

Leaf provided catering with the venue hire. We chose a “1 pot” buffet style menu which gave the guests a number of options in the middle of the table which they could choose from. Leaf also provided a DJ.

Our first dance was Wilson Picket -Hey Jude. We chose it just because it’s a brilliant tune with a lovely sentiment and you can’t help but dance to it!

For our honeymoon we drove the pacific highway in California from San Francisco to San Diego with stops along the way. We used AirBnb for all of our stops and loved every minute!

I really couldn’t choose a favourite moment from our day…there were too many.We wouldn’t change anything, it was just brilliant from start to finish!

Our advice to others, just enjoy it and put as much of yourselves into it as you can.

Sending our congratulations to Fran and Iain, thank you so much for sharing your amazing day with us, it looks like it was so much fun. Huge thank you also go to Emma Hillier Photography for these images. Emma is so good at capturing the energy of a day, tapping into the emotions and creating really gorgeous images, be sure to check out her work and say I sent you.

With love and Happy Easter,

Authentically French Secret Farmhouse Venue for a Relaxed Festival Influenced Wedding

by Rebecca | Apr 6, 2017 | Real Weddings, Travel

Authentically French Secret Farmhouse Venue for a Relaxed Festival Influenced Wedding

I’m really excited to be sharing this with you today, an exclusive first look at a beautiful new farmhouse venue. Tania and Alex were married at Haute Caussine, a beautiful farmhouse venue for weddings nestled in the Midi Pyrenees, France last August. Siting on the top of a hill overlooking nothing but fields. It is a private residence owned by a fashion designer and this was the very first wedding there.

The area is very rural and off the busy tourist routes. Nothing but hilltop villages and fields of sunflowers for miles around, complete bliss! It makes no pretense to be opulent or polished, it’s rustic, rural, authentic and full of French charm.

These lovely images are courtesy of Mark from Mr and Mrs W and captures the wedding of his brother Alex to lovely Tania at the farmhouse.

Alex and Tania met at work at work in Tania’s words ‘over a crowed office desk’ . The pair got engaged on the Top Field while at Glastonbury in 2015, so having got engaged on top of a hill, getting married on a hillside too seems like a nice touch.

bride's traditional sri lankan headpiece

They chose Haute Caussine as it fitted the feel they were looking for and they could make it their own for the weekend, along with all their friends and family;

It was perfect, it is a 15th century farmhouse and has some outbuildings that have been converted into accommodation. It can sleep 11 people in total and with a few hotels in the neighbouring village where guests can stay. There is a pool on site and we found that this worked really well for a pool party following the wedding on the next day.

The inspiration for their day was a relaxed, festival vibe with sunshine and fun. Friends and family were an important part of the day too. As well as the photographer being family, the couple’s sister in law Kristin of Mr and Mrs W (married to Mark the photographer) is a wedding planner and helped the wedding run smoothly.

Kristin really helped keep us in check and didn’t let the bride get carried away with buying nonsense! She also kept everything running to plan during the the wedding, day and evening.

She came up with great ideas and the finer touches that we never would have thought of. You only get married once so having someone there that knew and had experience of wedding days was priceless!

Tania chose her dress from bridal boutique The Case of the Curious Bride in the town of Sale

It was by designer Johanna Hehir. I loved it as it was light, not too busy and fitted so well. It appealed to me as it didn’t look like a traditional wedding dress.

My friends got me a perfume to wear on the day as a pre-wedding gift. It was Jo Malone Pomegranate and Noir. I love it and still wear it now.

I am half Sri-Lankan so wanted a bit of a nod to my Asian heritage. I and the bridesmaids wore foot jewellery as opposed to shoes (which helped as I’m not one for heels and the venue was outdoors on grass) and I wore a beautiful jewel head piece that draped down my hair.

My best friend did my make up for me. I don’t usually wear much and I knew I could be honest with her and she’d do something I was comfortable with. We kept it subtle but it was enough to make me feel special.

I can’t pick a best bit from the day, just the full day!! I wouldn’t do anything differently, not one thing. The hick ups made the day!

We got the bridesmaids dresses from ASOS, we had them taken up and fitted prior to the wedding. We didn’t want anything too heavy due to the weather being so amazing. The pretty flower girl dresses were from a range at Tulip and Nettle.

Alex went for a smart short and shirt look with Hugo Boss Shorts and Shirt and Timberland Shoes.

A local French florist did all the dried bridal flowers and supplied the flowers that my mother in law then arranged at the venue. We had a cheese stacked cake, bought from the French market and catering on the day from a local French company.

For Entertainment we had Agence Mess, they were amazing and came complete with a brilliant DJ that played great music into the night.

We decided to do all the invites as an online app and the table plan was Polaroids of each guest, put together by me and my bridesmaids. Because we knew it would be warm, we had fans for the guests as favours, which we bought from Ebay.

Tania walked down the aisle to ‘Porcelain’ by Moby and was given away by her son and her Dad. The couple then chose Al Green – ‘Lets stay together’ for their first dance.

I can’t pick a best bit from the day, just the full day!! I wouldn’t do anything differently, not one thing. The hick ups made the day!

My advice to other couples would simply be to just enjoy the day!

Congratulations to Alex and Tania and thanks for sharing your wedding with us, it looks amazing. Thank also to Mark at Mr and Mrs W for these beautiful images.

You wont find a website for this secret french farmhouse ‘Haute Caussine’, if you’d like more information about this enchanting private residence get in touch with Kristin from Mr and Mrs W who is the coordinator for the venue. She’ll be happy to provide you with all the information you need and can arrange visits to check out the venue.

with love

A Beautiful Beaded BHLDN Dress for a ‘Love Birds’ Inspired Texas Wedding

by Rebecca | Apr 3, 2017 | Real Weddings | 2 comments

A Beautiful Beaded BHLDN Dress for a ‘Love Birds’ Inspired Texas Wedding

So we are going stateside for the first time on Adored Bride blog today and I am so happy that it’s with this ‘Love Birds’ inspired wedding captured by Megan Biggs Photography. When I started looking for content for the blog – Megan was the very first person I contacted having seen her work on Instagram.

I just adored the colours and the backdrop of Galveston, Texas but more than anything I love the joy that comes across in the images of Stephanie and John’s day. It’s always wonderful to see and be inspired the details of the day and the care and emotions put into that by couples. I particularly enjoy though looking at the work of photographers that seek out the emotions and little moments. I think when you are choosing a wedding photographer, that’s just everything.

So please enjoy this fabulous wedding as i hand you over to lovely Stephanie to tell you all about it;

We met when we were both in graduate school studying marine biology. We were fast friends and we even started collaborating together with our research projects. After spending so much time together, we just fell in love. John proposed to me while we were on a hiking trip to “Enchanted Rock” in Texas.

I really love nature and bird watching in particular, so we went for a kind of “ love birds ” theme for the wedding.

We were married in church at Holy Family Parish, Sacred Heart Church. This is the parish that we attend regularly, and so it was important for us to be married here. My father gave me away and we walked into the traditional ”Trumpet Voluntary” by Clarke.

I wanted to design my own ring, and I have always loved red gems, that’s why I chose the garnet ring. I did not want a traditional diamond. John chose a rose gold band to match my rose gold ring.

Stephanie’s dress is ‘Cate’ by BHLDN and is just stunning!

I loved my dress from the minute I saw it. It is unique and unlike anything I have ever seen before. It is light and whimsical, but when you dance the full skirt is really beautiful. The beadwork is so detailed, and it has a new look in every different light.

I really love nature and bird watching in particular, so we went for a kind of “love birds” theme for the wedding.

Stephanie’s got ready with hair and make up at the Spa at Hotel Galvez. She went for a natural look and wore delicate flowers in her hair;

For my hair and make up I wanted something natural and whimsical. I wanted babies breath in my hair and a large braided headband. The girls at the Spa really pulled it off beautifully!

Stephanie finished her look with earrings and bracelets from Charming Charlie and a gorgeous pair of flats by Tieks in Rose Gold Glam. I love how the teal in the Tieks ties in so well with the colours of the day;

I have never been one for wearing heels, so why suffer on my wedding day? These Tieks were amazing to wear on my wedding day, and now I can enjoy them all the time!

Stephanie’s bridesmaids wore beautiful pale teal dresses from Azazie, each choosing their own style shoes to be comfortable. They also wore pretty necklaces and earrings by Kendra Scott. John and his groomsmen wore suits, shirts and accessories from Menswear House.

Stephanie and John chose Megan Biggs Photography to capture their day;

We were fortunate to meet Megan and her husband from the marine institute where we worked. She has such a beautiful, bright personality and brought a unique personal touch to our wedding photos.

The couple enlisted the help of wedding planner Janese Maricelli with their wedding plans;

Janese did a wonderful job helping me to plan out details of the wedding months in advance, and then executing the day of duties flawlessly. We couldn’t have done it without her!

Barm decorated with bunting for the meal

Stephanie chose a vibrant coral theme for her florals to contrast with the pale teal bridesmaids dresses;

Our local grocery store had a great floral department and they were so easy to work with. I wanted flowers with a pop of coral color, to go with our theme.

We also got our cake from the same local grocer. I wanted an ombre rosette style. I will admit, the color did not turn out as I wanted. (I was expecting a mint to match our colors, but it turned out too green.) Oh well, it tasted great! We also had an assortment of 4 other smaller cakes from our caterer.

My mother made homemade soaps as favours for our guests and we also purchased drink kooozies (although I cant remember the name of the store we got them from!)

We had our reception at Top Gallant Room, a Mitchell Historic Property. It’s such a beautiful historic ballroom in downtown Galveston with lots of charm. We booked one of our favorite local restaurants Olympia Grill to cater for the reception. We also booked entertainment from DJ Connection.

Stephanie and John chose ‘Still Together’ by Mac Demarco for their first dance;

We both love Mac Demarco, and used to listen to this song together while we were dating.

We had our honeymoon a month later on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. We actually rented a car and travelled all over the island, staying at Air bnb’s.

My favourite moment? Our grand exit… we came down the elevator to see all of our friends and family cheering us on as we walked through the crowd of glowsticks and lights to get on our horse and carriage. We felt like movie stars, but better!

…..we came down the elevator to see all of our friends and family cheering us on as we walked through the crowd of glowsticks and lights to get on our horse and carriage. We felt like movie stars, but better!

Our advice to others is plan to have more alcohol than you think, because we ran out about an hour before it was over and had to have an emergency delivery. Other than that, I’d say it went perfectly!

Also get organized and start early! I naturally love planning but even I was scrambling to get things done (mostly DIY crafts) in the final week. Also, don’t feel like you must be extravagant in your spending. Be true to yourselves. Do what you like, and forget the rest of the fluff.

i have so enjoyed bringing you this adorable wedding and thanks so much to Stephanie and John for letting us share your beautiful July wedding, wishing you both much joy together. A really big thank you also to the talented and very lovely Megan of Megan Biggs Photography for your stunning images of their day.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our first jaunt to the States, I love the vibe of American weddings and hope this will be the first of many,

with love

A Gorgeous Ufton Court Tithe Barn Wedding by Miki Photography

by Rebecca | Mar 21, 2017 | Real Weddings | 1 comment

A Gorgeous Ufton Court Tithe Barn Wedding by Miki Photography

Officially spring has arrived! Even if the great British weather didn’t quite get the memo! Today’s wedding from Miki Photography will brighten things up. Oli and Danielle had a gorgeous summer’s day for their tithe barn wedding with a very cool ‘RumCam’ home video that got all their guests involved in the celebrations.

Danielle and her bridesmaids got ready from her parents home, I love the images of her dad getting the car dressed to go to church, her parents look so proud as they both see her. Oli got ready with his groomsmen and managed to squeeze in some pub grub and pint before walking to the church, well why not. I love the relaxed and authentic feel to their day and the fun and laughter just shows throughout all the beautiful images captured by Ash from Miki Photography.

So let me hand you over to Danielle and Oli to tell us all about their gorgeous tithe barn wedding;

Danielle and I met on the first day at Durham University, in October 2007. We both went to St Aidan’s College, and our rooms were next door to each other. We quickly became great friends, but it wasn’t until midway through second year that I plucked up the courage to break the friends zone and tell Danielle how I felt.

After university we both spent some time abroad; I was in Chicago on an internship; Danielle travelling across Central and South America. We both ended up in London, moving in together in March 2014. Some of our best times together were spent on weekend breaks to “Tinkerbelle Cottage” in the Scottish Highlands. It was somewhat inevitable I proposed to Danielle besides the wood burner in the cottage in December 2014.

We didn’t really have a theme, we pinned a lot to our Pinterest boards. We were both really impressed with weddings we’d read about where a lot of personal touches had been made. We wanted to make sure people felt that everything about the day was authentically ‘Danielle and Oli’.

It felt a natural choice that the reception was at a Tudor manor house and tithe barn (I studied Medieval History at University), and the wedding itself was at St Michael’s Church in Basingstoke. It’s the Church where Danielle’s parents got married and where Danielle was Christened. We also wanted the day to feel relaxed – more a giant party than anything else!

The couple chose Ufton Court for their wedding celebrations;

I love all things old and traditional and this space just exudes character and honesty. It’s also a charity, which was attractive to us. Danielle loved the quirkiness of the barn and the opportunity to personalize it (with very few rules!). Ufton Court assign a Wedding Coordinator to you to make sure the planning and the day itself goes smoothly. We had Verity Rickard-Lawrence – she was amazing, especially with coordinating all the suppliers.
We were so so pleased we put an open sided marquee from Magnifitents outside the barn too. It created a whole separate space in the evening with incredible up-lighting and twinkle lights. We had blankets available and this is where we placed our cigar and whisky trolley.

Ash from Miki Photography captured the day for Oli and Danielle;

There were two main reasons really why we picked Ash, his photos were awesome and interesting and he could he take a great classic wedding shot – tick! But more importantly, the samples of his work we saw were just so COOL. We didn’t want a thousand soppy close ups of us two!

Secondly, we clicked when we spoke to him on the phone and during the engagement shoot – he came across as someone who could have been just another one of our friends. This was really important as you want the photographer to blend in during the day and for the photography aspect to be enjoyable!

Danielle’s dress came from Anya Bridal and was by Essence of Australia.

I really loved the experience at Anya Bridal. I booked a luxury appointment, which means you get the entire ‘barn’, full of dresses, to yourself. I went along on an October Sunday with my Mum, Nan and friends. I just fell in love with the first dress I tried on. It fitted so well and had all the detail I was after (including intricate lace and low key sequins for shimmer).

I wore a vintage-style hairpiece from Anthropologie and a fingertip-length veil with small pearls sewn into the edging ( which worked well with the hairpiece). The shoe choice chopped and changed quite a few times before the wedding day! For the day I ended up wearing the same shoes as the bridesmaids from Vince Camuto. Sparkly heels! I wore ‘Diamond’ tear earrings by Carat London, Selfridges. I didn’t want anything to distract from the neckline of the dress.

Danielle chose hair and make up artist Kirsty Fraser to create her lovely natural look with a with a French pleat. The bridesmaids had a similar hairstyle with small pearl topped pins. Kirsty also did the Mother of the Bride’s makeup (again a natural look).

The bridesmids wore Little Mistress beaded top maxi dresses from House of Fraser in grey. All the bridesmaids went shopping together in London (Grace, Danielle’s cousin, flew over from Ireland). The flower girls wore dresses from Monsoon.

Oli’s morning suit comprised a of a smart jacket made by “A Suit That Fits” and a cream doublebreatsed waistcoat, trousers and tie by Favourbrook. Oli also wore silk braces by Turnbull and Asser, shoes by Russell and Bromley and the finishing touch,vintage lucky sixpence coins cufflinks.

The groomsmen hired their morning suits from Debenhams and we all wore the same black and white stripy socks.

Daneille’s Dad Terry gave away her away and they walked down the aisle together to Mendelssohn’s Wedding March.

We got our wedding rings from Channing’s in Hatton Gardens – the same jeweler where I got Danielle’s engagement ring. These were some of the first things we bought on a very exciting Saturday morning. I have a plain platinum band, Danielle has a platinum band with a twist and Diamond shoulders.

One of my favourite moments of the day was driving off in the Land Rover from the Church to Ufton Court – just the two of us. I think we just kept repeating ecstatically “Holy Sh*t we’re married!!”

We used my family Land Rover Defender as the wedding car. My sister also used it for her wedding so it only seemed fitting. I used to give Danielle lifts to the university library in it during our time at Durham University.

Danielle chose Miss Mollies Flowers for her stunning wedding flowers;

Our florist Miss Mollie’s Flowers were recommended by a friend. Claire was fantastic – so relaxed and personal. I met her with my Mum. Claire showed us round her workshop (at the back of her garden) and we just loved her ideas.

The cake was kindly bought for us by my (Danielle’s) grandparents. It was made by a friend of Nan. It was a beautiful, four-tiered cake with Victoria Sponge, Carrot cake, Lemon, and fruit cake. There was an intricate lace design along with flowers made out of icing.

My best friend Steph is an incredible designer (she works for Boden) and designed all the stationary for us and my Dad Terry is a printer and printed them all.

Our style was shabby chic to a certain extent, but not over the top. We had wood log slices for the cake stand and for the centerpiece flowers to go onto. With festoon lighting from Lex Marquee Hire. We picked up an old suitcase that we lined with custom “D&O” paper and placed that at the entrance to the barn for wedding cards. We also had hurricane lamps dotted about the place. Oli’s favourite piece was the Whisky and Cigar trolley. The trolley was a vintage desert trolley parked under the open sided marquee outside the barn. A humidor and whisky decanter sat on top.

The couple gave their guests some lovely favours, including gorgeous baked cookies by Danielle’s Mum Pauline;

My mum made beautiful baked cookie favours and these were on everyone’s place mats in custom-made bags. We also had sugared almonds at the entrance to the barn, along with little chocolates with “D&O” on them. We also wrote handwritten, personalized thank-yous and tied them to everyone’s forks.

Light up LOVE letters by Typical Type with band in front.

We didn’t have a film on the day but we made a RumCam ourselves. We bought a 1.5 litre bottle of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum and strapped a camcorder to the bottom of it. Oli then edited the footage using MovieMaker 2012 and put it up on YouTube;

We got married on the Friday, had a family bbq on the Saturday and went on honeymoon on the Monday for 3 weeks. Singapore for a couple of nights, then Bali and neighbouring islands. It was sheer bliss. All arranged through Kuoni. Our favourite places were The Elysian Boutique Hotel in Semanyak (Bali) and the Alila in Ubud . Going diving off Gili T island was a major highlight.

For our first dance we had Ho Hey by the Lumineers. We just really like it. We saw them at Glastonbury a few years back.We had a 5-piece band (with a DJ set in breaks) all supplied by Under The Covers. These guys are just awesome. The whole experience from enquiry to end of the wedding night is just so easy and fun working with them. Can’t recommend them enough.

The only thing we’d do differently was we needed to factor in more time for speeches! Dinner was a little rushed as we had speeches before dinner.

If we have any advice for others it would be don’t leave the planning to the last minute otherwise you won’t enjoy it. Take time off before the wedding (we took the full week) – it was so much fun doing the final preparations with friends and family. On the day – don’t worry about anything. It’s too late to worry!

Such a beautiful wedding at a totally stunning tithe barn setting, I particularly love the ‘RumCam’ totally genius idea!

My huge congratulations to Oli and Danielle, wishing you both a wonderful future together. Big thanks for letting us share your day and to Ash too from Miki Photography for these awesome images.

with love

A Lovingly Handmade, Sunny, Sunflower and Aussie Inspired Wedding

by Rebecca | Feb 23, 2017 | Real Weddings

A Lovingly Handmade, Sunny, Sunflower and Aussie Inspired Wedding

So, as February continues to be a little (very) grey, I am delighted to bring you a major burst of sunshine on the blog today, courtesy of Lee Maxwell Photography. Helen, our beautiful blond bride, married Sammy our gorgeous brunette bride, in an outdoor wedding ceremony in August. It was a gloriously sunny Devon day, surrounded by their wonderful families and friends.

The couple were engaged in Australia, where they lived for 5 years and wanted to bring an Aussie feel to the day, as it was such an important backdrop to their love story. I love all the handmade touches, the surfboard seating plan, the bright sunflowers and floral details which the couple and friends all created themselves! Just stunning and all the thought and time that they have spent over every detail, with help from some very talented friends.

Helen and Sammy chose Lee Maxwell to capture their day. They really appreciated his unobtrusive style, documenting the day, recording the main event, along with all the little moments that make up memories. I love the images of the speeches which look like they were very entertaining and oh the dancing too!

So please enjoy this joyous splash of colour of a wedding, inspired by sunny Aussie shores;

Lee maxwell photography - bridesmaids dresses

We met in 2010, we are not dinner and drinks kind of girls so our first date was a day out at Go Ape adventure centre where we spent the day swinging through the trees on high ropes and zip lines! The adventure continued from day 1 and we moved to Sydney Australia in 2011 after traveling for a few months on the way. We got engaged in Port Stephens, a gorgeous coastal area on the East coast of Australia.

After 5 years in Australia we definitely felt influenced by the relaxed and coastal lifestyle we led overseas. So we introduced rustic wood and coastal blues with a pop of yellow to remind us of the beach and our adventures together.

The couple chose Beaconside House for their wedding celebrations;

We chose this venue as we wanted to have the venue for the whole weekend and it be more of a celebration combined with a holiday with our nearest and dearest rather than a single day where we would be rushing to speak to everyone (Sammy has a rather large family!). We could do and chose everything ourselves, from the caterers to the table décor. We also really wanted to do our own free bar for guests and Beaconside allowed the flexibility of having your own alcohol and bar staff at the venue.

Our venue offered enough accommodation in the main house, cottages and camping for 50 guests from the Friday to Monday. The venue had 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, a massive kitchen and beautiful grounds. It was amazing to have the whole weekend with so many loved ones in such a beautiful venue and surrounds.

The owner was great, around as much or as little as you wanted to assist with getting the venue ready. They also supplied the marquee for us.

Sammy and Helen chose the talented Lee Maxwell Photography;

We loved Lee’s photo style, it was so relaxed and non invasive. Pictures were relaxed and captured moments you didn’t even know had been taken. We don’t remember seeing him at all during the day yet managed to capture every moment, emotion and guest. He was also a really lovely guy.

We planned and styled our own wedding, we made all of our wood and floral centre pieces, signs and the surf board seating plan. We bought our flowers from a wholesaler and made everything from the pinholes to bouquets. Luckily Helen is rather crafty and Sammy takes direction well!

Helen found her dresses at Bellissima Weddings. The boutique was recommended by a friend. She chose a beautiful Mori Lee dress that she initially saw online in their shop and fell in love with it, it was the second dress she tried on and she bought it straight away!

On the day she wore gypsophila flowers in hair and pearl grips from Accessorize. Her shoes were from Rainbow Club.

Both of our favourite moments were seeing each other come down the aisle, as we had not seen or talked about what the other would be wearing. It was a really emotional moment with not a dry eye in the house! It was also amazing walking back down the aisle as newly weds with such beautiful rose petal confetti being thrown over us.

Sammy found her Maggie Sottero dress in Pirouette the Collection in Exeter and chose a more vintage style dress to match her engagement ring. The dress fitted perfectly and Sammy fell in love with it; initially it was too long for her taste, however the seamstress was amazing and used the excess train to make bows for 4 dogs a headband for her niece and added flowers to the straps of her dress. Her teardop necklace was her something borrowed.

Sammy wore blue shoes to pick out the theme of the day and were from Kurt Geiger at Debenham’s Collection and with the aptly named design ‘Samantha’.

For us the day was pretty relaxed and we didn’t plan the first look, however Helen’s dad came in ready for his fatherly duties and couldn’t hold back the tears as he noticed her adding the final touches. Sammy and her dad had a beer together!

Both of our fathers gave us away, it was truly special and amazing, they both cried like babies! We walked down the ailse to song 6 George Ezra. The whole drive to our engagement weekend we had this on in the car, it reminded us of our 5 years in Australia and how we came to be engaged.

We had amazing friends with hairdressing and makeup prowess Sara and Kayleigh and Jamie and helped everyone get ready. The theme with our bridesmaids was to feel comfortable and natural so they all had what they felt was to their taste rather than anything we chose.The bridemaid’s dresses were from a collection at For Him and For Her We allowed our bridesmaids to chose their own individual dresses from the collection but in the same colour twilight blue. Interestingly they chose the same three dresses! Our ‘man maids’ wore their own charcoal grey and navy suits.

We bought and chose the flowers from a wholesale florist Peamore Flora. Helen then made ceremony displays and table centre pieces from sunflowers, gypsophila, chamomile and green fern. Bouquets for brides and bridesmaids with opposite ribbon (navy or navy and white striped) for bride and corresponding bridesmaids. We each had a meaningful charm draped around our own bouquets. We lined the aisle with bunches of gypsophila and slate hearts that we stenciled ourselves with our initials and wedding date.
We loved the bright sunflowers and how they reminded us of the sand and complimented the beautiful bridesmaid dresses. We also had yellow rose petal confetti as we walked back down the aisle and yellow rose button holes all from peamores.

Sammy and Helen’s wedding rings came from Brown and Newirth;

We chose this company as they allowed us to get the same bands in different carats (to correspond with our individual engagement rings) and offered a complimentary engraving service.

We collected jam jars and bought a combination of tea lights, holders, floating candles and pillar candles for the centre pieces. We had a sweets table filled with pick & mix in hessian sacks in a personalized stenciled crate. Our friend Claire designed a map (that matched our invitations) connecting Australia and the UK for guests to sign and we ordered a wedding book with our own photo on the front from not on the high street.

We kitted out our bar with rustic chopping boards, 8 litre mason jars for pimms and water and thatchers beer mats. We had a crate of flip flops on the dance floor for when people got sore dancing feet and needed to kick of the heels!

Our cake was made by Sammy’s mum and we chose a cupcake tower of vanilla cupcakes with chocolate centres and vanilla icing with a sponge cutting cake on the top, our colours were navy and white with a wood personalized cake topper from Etsy. We stained this to match the wood from the rest of our wedding customized items.

Our friend Claire designed the invitations and then we then printed them ourselves. Helen resurfaced an old surfboard, spray painted and stenciled it for our table plan. We had stickers with our initials and wedding date designed by our friend Laura and then had them dishwasher proof printed, we then put them onto mason jars as favours. We also had stubby holders made with our names/ wedding date for guests. Each guest had a wine clip with a personalized photo of themselves.

We decorated the marquee ourselves, we bought paper lanterns from The Hanging Lantern Company. We ordered the table runners from Etsy and the napkins from ebay. We then bought wood from Milverton Sawmill and created signs, centre pieces and table names using our own self made stencils. We also bought some old crates from gum tree and painted/stenciled them to hold ciders and beers. Our friend Kiara from Flossy Fleur made crate liners so they were able to hold ice and be waterproof but yet still match our colours.

We had lots of help on the day and are so grateful to all our family and friends who helped us with the wedding. Sara and Kayleigh for all their help making us look and feel beautiful, our bridemaids for being part of our special day and such an epic hen do making us dress up as kangaroos and take part in It’s a Knock Out in Bristol, where we beat every other team, including the boys..at football… where they actually almost cried!

We are so grateful to our friends Kiara, Claire and Laura for their design prowess and all of our friends and family who helped get the venue, marquee and ceremony ready and made our special day and weekend so amazing.

We danced to L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole, we didn’t plan a dance but just did what felt right and then everyone joined us after spinning each other around the dance floor!

In the evening we had Mr T BBQ Man for a more luxurious approach to an aussie barbie with salmon, steak and pulled pork. For the entertainment we had the band iRock. I can’t explain how amazing this band were at getting the party started, our guests were extremely complimentary and not one seat was occupied during their set-everyone was dancing!

The readings were also a really special moment for us that were really appropriate to us as a couple and made us and everyone have a lovely giggle. We wouldn’t change a thing about our day, it was amazing and so was everyone that could share it with us.

Our advice would be doing a lot of it yourself can make it more personalized and save on costs but it can be stressful getting everything ready in time. Make sure if you do it yourself you have a whole day to get ready to set everything set up. Beaconside does not have a back up plan for larger wedding parties if it rains so make sure you have your own! We bought some gazebos as back up but luckily did not have to use them- we ended up needing sun screen!

Also as a couple know what you are both good at and divide and conquer but come together for final decisions. People love having jobs and helping on your special day, so don’t try and do everything, take the help!

I think that Helen and Sammy’s wedding looked like an absolute blast, so much joy and laughter. Huge thanks to the happy couple for sharing their amazing wedding with us and all it’s fantastic aussie and handmade touches. Wishing you both much love and joy for your future together.

Thanks goes to the talented Lee Maxwell too, who captured the day and all the wonderful emotions and moments perfectly,

Jenny Packham for a Stunning, Rustic Anran Glass House Wedding

by Rebecca | Feb 15, 2017 | Real Weddings

Jenny Packham for a Stunning, Rustic Anran Glass House Wedding

I really can’t stop looking at today’s wedding! It’s just full of things I love, the best photography by Abi Riley, a relaxed and charming couple, the most delicate florals, a stunning Jenny Packham dress and a venue that suits the couple down the the ground. Their venue Anran is just breathtaking, I simply cannot get enough of botanical, slightly edgy Glass House weddings! It’s beautiful and Fran and Grant have created everything so perfectly for their day.

This amazing wedding is by photographer Abi Riley who has in my opinion such an incredible natural style that captures those soft, tender moments as well as all the laughter and joy of the day. I think she and her husband Keith have really bottled the essence of Fran and Grant’s wedding day and I am so happy to share it with you on Adored Bride.

Fran and Grant met while working in shoe shop in Covent garden during their studies in the capital;

On our eighth wedding anniversary we dined at the same restaurant we went to on our first date, it’s the place we try to go to every year for our anniversary.

After we’d finished eating Grant pulled out a ring and proposed, which took me by complete surprise as he’d always said he didn’t want to get married!! After the proposal we went down the spiral staircase in the restaurant and I was met by all our friends cheering and we partied the night away to celebrate.

The couple returned home to Devon for their wedding, choosing a church service followed by a reception at the amazing venue of Anran in Ashburton for their celebrations.

The styling of the day was very natural with just a slight rustic touch. Fran chose a petal inspired palette of ivories, blush, pale pinks, greens and just a hint of darker pink to blend with the natural surroundings of Anran.

Fran wore a breathtaking Jenny Packham gown, a soft layered silk slip with a beautifully beaded overlay with stunning neckline and pretty cap sleeve details. It’s gorgeous!

To complete the look Fran wore the most delicate and intricate floral crown by florist Joanna Game, along with a stunning bouquet with soft blooms and dainty foliage.

The couple knew the type of photography they were looking for and came across Abi Riley’s work during an online search;

We came across Abi’s website while searching for a wedding photographer and loved her natural style. For us, we didn’t want a set of posed awkward photos but photos that captured the day as it was. We had a Skype call with Abi and Keith and straight away had a good feeling about them. They both put us as at ease and we were impressed by their ideas and enthusiasm. The night before our wedding they met us at the church and the venue where we stayed, which was great and showed their commitment to doing a good job.

Place settings with little wooden heart favours

On the day they were an absolute pleasure to have around, putting everyone at ease and blending into group – we got lots of comments from our guests about what a great couple they are. We had no doubt the photos would be great but they did truly capture every moment of the day. They have a skill for capturing those moments that may seem insignificant to most but they show natural emotions and the photos evoke wonderful memories for us.

After the church ceremony they walked to the courtyard at Anran in the sunshine, to be met with canapes and bubbly.

Fran really put her heart into the day, arranging everything herself from the china teacups to the hay bales and even designed the couples stationery too.

“I designed The Guardian style “Guide’ magazines for our guests staying on site and the order of service which was printed on newsprint paper in a broadsheet style as Grant loves newspapers”

The Glass House is naturally filled with foliage, teamed with the natural long wooden seating and tables, just looks incredible. They added season blooms veronica, astrantia and thlaspi on the tables to pick out the details and colours of the day. With vintage crates filled with flowers too for that rustic touch.

The couple chose caterer’s Dartmoor Kitchen for their day and selected the Devon feast for their guest which was served in the Glass House. Guest’s sharing a spread of slow cooked shoulder of lamb and sides on the centre of each table. Sounds divine.

…don’t just follow traditions. Think about what will really make you happy, what is worth spending money on and don’t just get something for the sake of it.

To kick off the entertainment Brass Junkies performed a medley of Mardi Gras inspired sounds followed by a set by DJ’s The Allergies.

They mix vintage sounds with influences from funk, soul, disco, hip hop and breakbeat. They were absolutely brilliant and no one left the dance floor for the whole evening!

In the evening guests got to play in the homemade polaroid photo booth while any hunger was kept well at bay with a feast of Tom’s Pies, a cheesboard and wedding cake by Konra’di Cakes complete with a malteser pinata layer.

We put a lot of though into the day trying to think about the experience for us and the guests. Food and music are so important. Food is something guests always remember and we got so many comments about how delicious it was. Having the sharing feast really was fantastic and the great music kept everyone on the dance floor all night.

Our advice to others…don’t just follow traditions. Think about what will really make you happy and what is worth spending money on and don’t just get something for the sake of it.

Huge heartfelt thanks to lovely Abi Riley for sharing these beautiful images with us today and all our love and congratulations to Fran and Grant. I have fallen in love a bit myself today and shall be detouring to Anran the next time I head to the southwest.

Are you having a slightly botanical, glass house vibe to your own wedding day? Would love to hear all about it,

with love