Rustic, Indie and Colourful Wedding in the Welsh April Sunshine

by Rebecca | Apr 9, 2018 | Real Weddings | 3 comments

Rustic, Indie and Colourful Wedding in the Welsh April Sunshine

I adore this wedding, it is such a beautiful, bright and colourful wedding. Claire and Huw were married in Wales on the 8th April last year, happy First Anniversary you two for yesterday! I love the indie vibe to their day, the bold spring colours throughout and the music that played a big part in the celebrations.

These gorgeous colourful wedding images have been captured by very lovely Jess Yarwood Photography, she has a really fabulous natural story telling quality to her images. I love the way the day unfolds through the photographs from getting ready right through to the party at the end.

Also incredibly lovely is Huw’s proposal to Claire;

The Proposal

We met on a night out through friends. For our engagement Huw took me on a weekend to Edinburgh. He’d booked us a table at our favourite restaurant ‘The Kitchin’ by Tom Kitchin. All of the staff at the restaurant knew that Huw was going to propose!

Before going to Edinburgh Huw had created a photo album full of photographs of our years together. On the last page it said ‘will you marry me?’ Huw had sent the photo album to the restaurant in advance. The staff at The Kitchen brought the photo album out as if it was the dessert menu, I didn’t have a clue what was going on!!

I looked through the photo album, got to the last page and said ‘yes’. Huw had the ring in his jacket pocket! The staff at the restaurant were on hand to bring over champagne to celebrate!! We had a great weekend.

Rustic, Colourful Wedding Inspiration

For the day itself we wanted a rustic, natural style. We really just wanted the day to be a fun and colourful wedding celebration!

The Dress

As soon I walked into Dolly Blue Bridal and met Adele I knew it was the place for me as it was such a relaxed and fun place . The shop is absolutely stunning and the dresses even more so.

I eventually decided on my dress due to my sisters reaction when I put it on. Although it was my favourite, as I wanted a plain dress with minimum sparkle, when she saw it she gasped and said ‘that’s the one!!’.

We opted for fresh flowers fairly last minute as hair accessories. So it was a surprise on the day what they would look like. I then found a bright blue pair of heels from Asos.

Bridesmaids

The Bridesmaids dresses were for Asos with gorgeous fresh flowers flowers in their hair.

Hair and Make-Up

Head Office Hair Studios did our hairstyles. We all wanted individual styles and Vicky created these perfectly. I like to think we were pretty easy going so we just let Vicky do her thing.

Made Up by Harriet Morris did our make up and Harriet was just fantastic. We wanted to look like ourselves but better and she achieved that perfectly.

Photography

The couple chose talented photographer Jess Yarwood to capture their day, you must check out her work if you are looking for your own wedding photographer. Claire and Huw were so happy the chose Jess for their colourful wedding day as she captured it perfectly;

Jess came recommended to us and we liked her laid back, informal style of photographs.

Groom’s Attire

Huw looked really smart in his bespoke suit and colourful wedding tie that fitted the vibe of the day perfectly. His suit, shirt and Tie were all from Richard Smith Bespoke in Manchester. His shoes were from Barker Shoes.

Best Man’s Attire

The best man’s attire was from Pretty Green.

Wedding Ceremony and Venue

Claire walked down the aisle with her dad Paul. The couple had selected ‘It’s about time’ by Jamie Cullum for the service.

We were married at Minera Church. It is our local church in a beautiful setting. We the had our wedding breakfast and Evening Reception at Plas Isaf Country Barn and Gardens.

Wedding Rings

We wanted something simple and chose rings from Powells the Jewellers. Huw also bought my engagement ring from here. It is a vintage, diamond engagement ring.

Wedding Wheels

Claire and Huw had some awesome wheels for the day including their VW Camper and 2 Jaguar Mk2 cars as well.

Flowers

The gorgeous colourful wedding flowers were by Vivid Floral Design;

We wanted a rustic theme and basically asked the florist to create bouquets that looked as if it had just been picked up from a field.

The Cake

Our cake was from NV Cakes . It wasn’t a traditional wedding cake. We had a naked cake with buttercream. The bottom tier was chocolate sponge with baileys buttercream. The middle tier was vanilla sponge and white chocolate buttercream and the top tier was chocolate orange sponge and orange buttercream. It was divine!!!

Stationery and Favours

We created the table plans ourselves in a crate full of herbs.

We also had favours. All guests had a miniature drink and mixer. They ranges from gin & tonic, Vodka, whiskey etc. All top table guests had their personal favourite drink. The children had a ‘goody bag’ to keep them entertained.

Entertainment

Music was a big part of Huw and Claire’s day and they had some fantastic entertainment for their guests; their friends band Blue Genes and the Snowdonia String Quartet in the day and at the church and then in the evening the amazing Marblehead Johnson, (A Bluetones reference..I LOVE the Bluetones) an indie covers band.

Honeymoon

Huw and Claire has a mini-moon to Edinburgh;

We then honeymooned in New York and Sorrento, Italy. It was amazing.

Favourite Moment

It was all fantastic! Our friends, Blue Genes wrote us a song to be performed in the church called ‘you make love look easy’. It was so thoughtful and personal and it’s not everyday someone writes a song just for you! The Best Men’s speech was great too!!

First Dance

Claire and Huw chose ‘Baby I’m Yours’ by the Arctic Monkeys as their first dance;

When we first heard it in 2006 we said that if we ever got married that would be our ‘first dance’.

Advice from the Couple

Relax! Don’t let it stress you out! Don’t aim for perfection as it doesn’t exist, just enjoy everything as it comes. Enjoy preparing your special day!

Congratulations to Claire and Huw and I hope your first anniversary celebrations this weekend were amazing. Thanks for sharing your beautiful welsh wedding day with us and every happiness for your future.

Massive thanks to wonderful Jess of Jess Yarwood Photography for these amazing images of the day too,

with love

Laure de Sagazan for Cool Boho Farmhouse Wedding

by Rebecca | Aug 7, 2017 | Real Weddings | 1 comment

Laure de Sagazan for Cool Boho Farmhouse Wedding

I adore a boho inspired wedding and Emma and Phillip’s day is just the most gorgeous, cool, bohemian, rustic, spring affair. Captured by Ali Paul in his signature natural, slightly edgy, honest and beautiful style. The couple knew exactly the type of setting they wanted for their day, a rustic barn they could make their own, when they found Farbridge they were smitten. They set about with their family and friends to create a day that was relaxed, beautiful and that brought everyone together. I totally love that they made centre piece containers from concrete, there is nothing I love more than a bit of industrial mixed in with the pretty, also check out the image in the big concrete walled outbuilding thing, love it!…anyway I digress;

Emma’s dress is an absolute ruddy stunner by Laure de Sagazan from The Mews of Nottinghill and she looks the epitome of the boho beauty that she is wearing it and the flowers are incredible too. So with out further ado, let me pass you over to Emma to tell you all about their boho spring day;

Boho Inspiration

Philip and I knew we wanted lots of grey and white tones with greenery. We love plants and wanted to create a rustic bohemian relaxed style wedding.

The Venue

The couple chose Farbridge in West Sussex, a beautiful barn venue for their day;

We really wanted to get married in a barn and looked at lots of venues. Farbridge, ticked all the boxes for us. We felt they understood exactly what we were looking for from the beginning, and were happy for us to decorate the space as exactly as we wanted to. The setting is beautiful, surrounded by rolling hills and spectacular rural landscape.

The Dress

Emma wore ‘Allen’ a beautifully boho dress by Laure de Sagazan;

I am not really a dress person, but knew I wanted something timeless, floaty with a bohemian feel. I loved the Mews of Nottinghill straight away. They were so friendly and helpful and not your typical wedding shop. I cannot recommend them enough. Their dresses are stunning and I would have been happy wearing any of them! I decided to go for the dress I felt most comfortable in, the lace detail and silk was stunning.

Emma completed the boho look with her mum’s pearl earrings and pale grey heel shoes by River Island.

Hair and Make Up

Emma’s friend and bridesmaid, Krystle Gohel created her boho look for the day;

Krystle is an amazing hair and makeup artist. I felt privileged she offered to do my hair and make up for the wedding. She usually has celebrities and models to work with not little old me. I am not very confident in front of the camera and with her skills I felt amazing!

Boho Bride Tribe

Emma’s bridemaids wore pale grey dresses by Elise Ryan that she sourced from Asos. The pretty flower girl’s dress was by Monsoon.

The Grooms Threads

Phillip’s suit was by Jennis and Waremann and great value for money. He wore a Zara tie, shoes by Kurt Geiger and accessories that belonged to his granddad.

His Groomsmen wore their own suits and the little page boy outfits were from River Island.

The Ceremony

For their ceremony Emma and Philip had a reading from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin read by best friend Liz Swift. They also chose Grow Old with you by Adam Sandler, sung by friend Joseph Swift.

It really set the tone and felt special. My engagement ring was left to me by my nan when she passed away. My mum had been keeping it for me since I was a little girl, and Philip knew this was my dream ring.

Our wedding bands were made by Philip’s extremely talented Cousin, Max James. He is an exceptional jewellery maker so we were very lucky to have the opportunity to call on his services.

The Photography

Emma and Phillip chose Ali Paul to capture the day for them;

We loved Ali’s style of photography, and when we met him he was so relaxed you could tell he was a true professional. He was absolutely amazing and really captured the feeling of the day. He was so subtle and fitted in with our day, everyone was so impressed with his pictures.

The Flowers

The couple created their own floral decor, choosing Laura at Wild Willow to make the bouquets flowers crowns and button holes;

I was very particular about the style of flowers I wanted whimsical, nothing structured, just beautiful wild flowers. I came across Wild Willows website and knew instantly it was the right choice. They were more beautiful then I ever imagined and she was so relaxed and friendly it was brilliant!

Catering

All the catering at Farbridge is provided by their in-house caterers, Cuckoo. Run by husband and wife Nickie and Simon.

They were unbelievably flexible with all the food you could have for the day. We went for a good old classic Sunday roast with all the trimmings, and it was top class. Sharing platters of whole roast chicken and slow cooked roast pork, every single guest said they had never had such good food at a wedding before. Our desert of salted caramel chocolate brownie sundae was a serious talking point.

Philip and I knew we wanted lots of grey and white tones with greenery. We love plants and wanted to create a rustic bohemian relaxed style wedding.

Boho Details

We made a lot of the decorations ourselves and pulled in lots of friends and family to help us out. A lot of inspiration came from Pinterest and wedding blogs.

Philip and I made all the grey concrete pots for the tables, it was really easy to do and very cost effective. We brought all our flowers and succulents from New Covent Garden flower market 3 days before the wedding. Philip’s mum, Sue, made the lace table runners.I sourced all the teas lights, and made the favours and kids entertainment bags for the table. Philip’s brother, Mike, sourced all the wood for cake stands and decoration.

All the table invites and wedding invitations were designed and printed by myself. We used old windows for signs/table plan and Philip built some wooden ones as well, and I did all the writing.

Entertainment

Ellie, Philip’s brothers wife owns a kids party/event hire company, What About the Kids and kindly brought along some brilliant entertainment, like teepees, bouncing cows, bubble machine and a fancy dress box for the little guests. We had a lot of children of various ages at the wedding and it really added an element of fun to the wedding.

Philip also made the photo booth background, and we brought all the props and cameras. It was a really simple idea and ended up with some brilliant snaps.

The couple booked Mighty Fine Entertainment for the evening;

Mark our DJ from Mighty Fine Entertainment was great. We met up a few weeks before the wedding and discussed what type of music we wanted. He was very professional.

The Cake

We are very lucky to have a close friend who makes the most delicious cakes! Caroline created exactly what we were hoping for, beautiful and elegant, and as always it tasted soooo good! My mum’s close friend Maggie also made two yummy lemon drizzles to go beside it. We didn’t want a formal looking cake, just simple, honest ingredients, you can’t go wrong.

Advice for Others

If you are going to create a lot of the decorations yourself I recommend starting early like we did and being super organised so you are not manically trying to get everything made last minute. The few days leading up to your wedding should be fun and relaxed, we loved every minute!

I absolutely love this wedding and it’s completely authentic feel. Huge congratulations to Emma and Phillip on your wedding and thanks for sharing it with us. Thanks too go to Ali at Ali Paul Photography for these epic images of the day.

If you are a photographer, couple or supplier that would like to submit a real wedding to be featured on Adored Bride, you can find out more here.

with love

Sparkle and Blooms Contemporary Rustic Owen House Farm Wedding

by Rebecca | Jul 5, 2017 | Real Weddings

Sparkle and Blooms Contemporary Rustic Owen House Farm Wedding

Such a stunning rustic meets contemporary wedding for you on the blog today! Gorgeous Jade and Dom were married on the 29th of April 2017 at Owen House Wedding Barn , a really cool event space, on a farm in Cheshire. It’s just a bit different to your usual rustic barn and Jade and Dom fell in love with the space and knew it was perfect for their modern rustic wedding day. Gorgeous blooms by Dreamweavers, a stunning cake by Bloomsbury Cakes, sparkly glam bridesmaids dresses in peachy pink blush and sequins and THAT dress!

These amazing images are by talented (and very lovely) husband and wife team Paul and Kel of Paul Joseph Photography. I really love the work of these two and was so happy when they sent over this beautiful day. You need to check out their website, their top tips for weddings include this ‘Forget traditional, you’re cooler than that”, yes you are!

Here’s beautiful bride Jade to tell us more about how she and Dom met and all about their wedding;

pretty shoes from Dune for rustic barn wedding

The Love Story

I am from Northern Ireland and Dom is from Manchester. We met in Edinburgh in ‘The Candy bar’ on George St. I was over for the weekend apartment hunting as I was moving there in a few weeks time and Dom was on his cousins stag party! We caught eyes across the bar and it was love at first sight!

Dom flew to Belfast to take me to dinner the weekend before I moved to Edinburgh and even though he spilled wine all over me (!) it was so romantic and I knew that this was something special! Needless to say my stay in Edinburgh was short lived!

The Proposal

Dom proposed to me at Lymm Dam; we made a wish on the wishing bridge then he took me to a little bench and much to my surprise, pulled out a scrapbook he had made. As I was reading through all the memories and pictures, he got down on one knee (into the mud!) and I said YES!!

The Dress

My dress is by Kenneth Winston at Ella Rosa. I found it in Forever Bridal boutique in Belfast.

I initially booked the appointment as a bit of fun, and when I took a look at the dresses I was overwhelmed and didn’t think there was anything that I liked. I had a look by myself and picked out a couple to try and to my surprise I was completely blown away. My dress was the second option I tried on and I kept putting it back on and just staring at myself – I felt so amazing. I didn’t bother going dress shopping after this, I knew it was ‘the one’ and eventually went back and got it.

My shoes were Dune bridal collection, with Rose Pearl earrings from Links of London. I chose to wear Elie Sabb ‘Le Parfum’ as it is such a gorgeous, romantic scent and I wore it a lot when I first met Dom.

The Rustic Venue

When we found our venue, we knew that we wanted everything about the day to just be very ‘us’. I was always on Pinterest seeking inspo! We wanted the style to be very relaxed and effortless, not quite ‘Boho’ but just really dreamy and pretty, ultimately we just wanted everyone to have fun and it to be an amazing day.

I had looked online for ages but as soon as I saw Owen House, I had to go see it. It was the only venue we saw and we booked it as soon as we got home!

Owen House Wedding Barn were so great on the build up and on the day. Vanessa and Dan were more than helpful and really couldn’t have done enough to ensure it all went perfect on the day. We really didn’t have to think about anything other than enjoying ourselves and that was just amazing.

The Ceremony

We had a lot of family meet with us the night before for some drinks to mingle etc then Dom went to stay with his family and I went back to our house. It was so special when I saw him at the top of the aisle!

My mum came with me and the bridesmaids in the car to the venue and took me to my dad who walked me down the aisle

Rachael Gladwin the harpist played Pachelbel – Canon in D. It was so romantic and I felt so emotional and happy when I was walking down the aisle towards Dom. It was such a special moment I will never forget it.

The Photography – Paul Joseph

The couple chose the brilliant Paul and Kelly of Paul Joseph Photography for their big day;

We saw some of the guys work in connection to Owen House on social media, then met them at a wedding fair at OHWB and they were just fab. They were really fun and we just knew they were the right fit! On the day they were just brilliant, so great with all the guests and we just felt at ease with them, they did such a great job!

Hair and Make-Up

I’m actually a make up artist myself so I did my own make up and a good friend of mine Shealeen Savage who I used to work with at Bobbi Brown, did my bridesmaids and mum’s make up. Shealeen, who is now a make up artist for Charlotte TIlbury, did an amazing job – I didn’t have to give her much direction, I completely trusted her to make the girls look flawless!

For my own make up I was conscious to choose a look that would be timeless, so I kept it simple – glowy skin and pretty pink lips & cheeks. I absolutely LOVED the So Sue Kim lashes I wore they were gorgeous and completed my make up perfectly.

Terence Paul in Hale came out to the house and did our hair. The girls were amazing they really did above and beyond on the morning, helping with bits and bobs to make our morning run smooth! I wanted mine and the girls hair to be just very pretty and in a relaxed style.

The Bridesmaids

I wanted something different for the girls. I had seen something similar featured on a fashion boutiques social media and just knew it would be perfect. The skirts are Little Mistress which I found on ASOS and the tops I found on an online retailers website. (sorry I can’t remember where) The girls got their own shoes, they were both different but similar in style – strappy and rose gold!

They wore some pretty gypsophila flowers in their hair, and I got the girls a stunning pair of SWAROVSKI crystal studs to wear too.

The Grooms Threads

Dom found a gorgeous Ted Baker suit in Slaters in Manchester – the team there were absolutely brilliant with everything from fittings, alterations and so on.

Dom’s shoes were brown Dune brogues which looked amazing with his navy suit. His cuff links and tie pin were a wedding gift from myself for him to open on the day, they were from Moss Bros Manchester. The Best Men and groomsmen all had the same suit as Dom – a navy Ted Baker fitted suit.

Catering

We had Barretts Event caterers – who were really just fab. The food was absolutely delicious and they were such a great supplier to work with.

The Cake

Our cake was made by Bloomsbury Cakes in Altrincham. Marise did an amazing job – it was 3 tiered, each tier was a different flavour! We had lemon curd, raspberry and white choc and chocolate orange – DIVINE! It had a buttercream finish and was so pretty with some of our flowers placed around the tiers.

We got a lovely little cake topper from Ginger Ray online which Marise placed on top.

Wedding Rings

Our wedding rings are from David M Robinson in Altrincham. My engagement ring is from there so it was natural that we went back there to get rings to match.

Honeymoon

We went to Aruba in the Caribbean. It was the most amazing and special place ever. It was a long plane journey but well worth it. The weather was hot, the sea was an incredible turquoise with fish swimming right up to shore and the people were just so friendly.
We really had the most romantic time. Our resort was the Riu Palace Aruba. Wow – check it out. We even got a free upgrade of room. The most attentive resort and staff, we will definitely be back!

The Flowers and Styling

The couple chose Dreamweavers venue stylists from Middlewich to help create the look for their day;

We had seen the ladies work at Owen’s House at a wedding fair and I fell in love. They’re style was so dreamy and pretty, it matched exactly what we wanted and thought would look great in the barn.

For inspiration I did a lot of Pinteresting! I found some amazing pics and took inspo from that. I wanted it to look really romantic and dreamy – lots of blush, peach, white and greenery. They did the most amazing job styling the venue it looked incredible!

We had a ‘candy cart’ which we got from Candy Hearts – they again were fab, loads of old penny sweets which the kids absolutely loved! They also supplied us with ‘LOVE’ letters which were behind the top table.

Entertainment

We had Six15 entertainment and they were amazing! The DJ got everyone up on the floor with some amazing music after the wedding breakfast and then later in the evening two of their guys, Tom and Kami came and played Sax and Percussion – it was a crazy/amazing atmosphere and everyone was up on the dance floor. It was such an incredible feeling – it sounds cheesy but it really was incredible entertainment, it just made our day so special and we will never forget it.

During the ceremony and drinks reception we had a harpist Rachael Gladwin who was just amazing. Her playing was so perfect and added a real romantic touch to the day.

Transport

We used Nostalgic Campers and had a blue VW van take us to the venue. The van was so cool and they supplied a little bottle of Moet for Dom and I to have after the ceremony.

Stationery

Our stationery was a variation – our save the dates we just used a picture of us when we got engaged and got it printed in a polaroid style and sent it out to everyone. We found Norma & Dorothy on Etsy and used them for our invites- (they are based in Manchester) – they were gorgeous! They even let me incorporate a little drawing/map I had drawn into their design and we were super happy with them.

We didn’t have favours but I did make a few little booklets for the kids so they could draw and colour etc while the wedding breakfast was going on.

First Dance

We had Jason Mraz – I won’t give up. It really is ‘our song’ and always makes me well up when I really listen to the words. We just new it had to be our first dance because the words mean so much to us. We had everyone come on the dancefloor about half way through which was nice as it is such a romantic song.

Favourite Moment

It gives me butterflies thinking of when I was waiting to enter the ceremony room with my dad, I could hear the harp and when the doors opened and I saw some friends and family I just became so overwhelmed, I was so happy to see Dominic, I had to take a deep breath and keep my composure because I knew he was so emotional and it was such a special moment.

At the end of the night there was this amazing moment that I don’t think we got any photos of but I will definitely never forget. All our family and friends were all holding hands and dancing in a circle and Dom and I were dancing like lunatics in the middle, it was just so fun and everyone was having the best time. I will always remember the feeling I had looking at everyone and just thinking wow we are so lucky. – makes me well up thinking about it!!

The day was so perfect I would do it all again and never change a thing.

Advice from Jade and Dom

The build up can be stressful, especially paying everything off. Just try and enjoy the planning and everything that comes with it, remember why you are planning it in the first place.

Loads of people told us to take some time out for ourselves and that is exactly what we did. Every so often we would take 5 outside to just chat and be with each other and reflect. It was the best advice!

It’s easy when adrenaline is running high to forget to eat and drink a little too much, but the last thing you want is to wake up the next day and not remember anything or be ill! We had fun and enjoyed ourselves for sure but waking up and remembering / going over the day start to finish was just so amazing. Those butterflies will stay with you!

Love and congratulation to the new Mr and Mrs Hill, aka Dom and Jade, such a fabulous day, thank you so much for sharing it with us. Big thanks to Paul and Kel too, of Paul Joseph Photography. If you loved this be sure to keep an eye out for another fabulous wedding we’ve got coming up on the blog from these guys in the next few weeks, an awesome relaxed back yard wedding.

with love

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 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

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