Epic Modern White, Foliage and Gin Inspired Country Wedding by The Crawleys

This breathtaking wedding captured by The Crawleys is such a stunningly beautiful day. A charming Cheshire church wedding, an epic confetti throw, a country pub reception and cool marquee wedding breakfast. A marquee decorated with two huge real trees, fairy lights, festoon lighting, silver pineapples, gramophones, lots of foliage and white blooms with metallic accents and gin favours. The couple’s friends and family all got involved, there was a gin bar, ping pong table, photo booth and hay bale seating around firepits for toasting s’mores. It’s just a brilliant day.

I have been so excited to share it with you because it features two of the nicest people, my friends Rob and Jem. Not only is it’s their first wedding anniversary, (congratulations you beautiful beings) …. but their wedding just also happens to be flippin epic too!!!  Jem looked incredible in her bespoke Emma Beaumont two piece dress and her beautiful Sophia Webster flats. I love the subtle boho feather theme too in the brides shoes, the stationery and the grooms cuff links.The whole bridal party looked fabulous, including gorgeous Buddy their dog and there is so much joy and laughter in these pictures.

Rob and Jem chose to have their day captured by the brilliant Liam and Bee of The Crawleys and the images are wonderful. The Crawleys are exceptionally talented and some the friendliest, most down to earth folks you’ll meet and that is exactly what you want at your wedding;

The Engagement

We were walking the dog at sunset one evening and the proposal was a complete surprise. Rob had been down in London, I had been away in Glasgow for work – I bought him some Percy pigs he bought me a Tiffany engagement ring!

We planned our wedding in 11 months and went for a white and green colour theme with mixed metallic accents in rose gold, silver, gold and copper throughout. We were looking to create an informal feel with olive trees, succulents and eucalyptus festoons. The feel was slightly scandinavian, a clean white look with wood, metallic candle holders, terrariums, exposed metal poles etc so slightly industrial. Gin was also a theme!

The Dress

Jem wore a stunning bespoke two piece by Emma Beaumont Design in Knutsford Cheshire.

I went with a Pinterest board to Emma and a strong idea of what I didn’t want. It was an organic process of design guided by fabric choices and Emma’s eye for modernity with classic touches.

Jem completed her amazing look with a beautiful Emma Beaumont veil and a Folky Dokey dried flower crown.

Hair and Make Up

Gareth from Gareth West Hairdressing created all the hairstyles on the day, with Jayne & Laura at Sensoria from the Wild Boar, applying everyone’s make-up.

Both parties came to my mum’s house to prep us there and we all had manicures and pedis the day before. Gareth, Jayne and Laura were all really efficient and a real calming presence.

Bride’s Accessories

I wore Seraphina flats by Sophia Webster, they were a gift from my sisters who were my bridesmaids. They bought me one shoe each!

I wore pretty earrings from Daisy Jewellery and my bracelet is a family heirloom, a diamond bracelet. Plus I borrowed my Nana’s rose gold Monica Vinader friendship bracelet for the day too.

I had pre-chosen Oilily Flowers perfume but Rob surprised on day with Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia (had also treated both mums and himself to new smells) so I wore both!

The Groom and His Men

Rob wore a jacket and waistcoat from Remus Uomo that he found in Jepson’s of Nantwich. With trousers from Jack Wills, Ted Baker shoes and a Marks and Sparks shirt. Rob wore arrow cufflinks from Massimo Dutti, that fitted with the subtle cupid arrow theme.

The best man and groomsmen wore assorted jackets, all from Jepson’s of Nantwich with trousers from Jack Wills. I really like the look as it reflects their own individual styles but still has a cohesive overall feel. Very smart lads!

The Ceremony

We were married at St Peter’s Church at Little Budworth, it’s local, small and accommodating to pets, so Buddy our dog could be involved!

My daddy gave me away and we walked down the aisle to It’s all about you by Mcfly. We walked back down the aisle to Feel so close by Calvin Harris. Both were played acoustically by Mac Bros who also played during the signing of register.

Rob chose my engagement by himself from Tiffany’s in London, we then both took trip to Bond Street to choose wedding rings.

buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church
Stationery

Our stationery was a custom order by Hattie Boo Designs. She designed the table plan, invites, names, tags for gin and order of service. Emma is great and has lot of useful contacts and an amazing studio. She took on board all of our ‘creative’ requests re wording and styling of the invites.

We also hand painted wooded pallets for the menu, order of the day and welcome sign. Our metallic confetti pouches were from Sixpence Paperie on Etsy, which we filled with natural confetti from Shropshire Petals.

buddy the dog in the church
Leaving the Church by the crawleys
Photography by The Crawleys

Rob and Jem chose the talented Liam and Bee of The Crawleys as their weddings photographers. They have won countless accolades having been named in the top 150 wedding photographers in the world, the WORLD!!  I remember Rob telling me they’d booked the Crawley’s, he was so excited. As a photographer himself he is a huge fan of Liam’s work and these amazing images speak for themselves.

I had 700 images to choose from for this blog post and it has been so hard to get the images down to anywhere near a sensible number. Eventually I arrived at these 160 amazing images! But ..sorry not sorry because each one is incredible and every single image I didn’t include was amazing too.

Rob was long time admirer of Liam’s work, especially his documentary style, which is non invasive. Liam was the 2nd thing we booked after the church. He was really supportive, communicative and the pre-wedding shoot and questionnaire help a lot. Ive particularly enjoyed seeing the photos that I’m not in of how other people were living the day. A very good capture takes you right back to the moment.

The confetti throw by the crawleys
buddy the dog in the church
the crawleys epic wedding confetti shot
buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church

We were walking the dog at sunset one evening and the proposal was a complete surprise. Rob had been down in London, I had been away in Glasgow for work – I bought him some Percy pigs he bought me a Tiffany engagement ring!

buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church

Choosing a favourite moment is hard….It’s a cliche but having everyone you love all together in one place, it’s overwhelming, all the feels, no tears just insane euphoric delirious smiles.

buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church
The Venue

We had a gorgeous marquee in the grounds of the Cholmondeley Arms, we chose it for the casual vibe, it’s location and it’s very good gin selection! The Cholmondeley Arms catered with chilli and nachos (Rob’s favourite and last meal on earth choice) it’s easy for veggies too. Followed by the peanut butter choccy brownie.

buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church
The Bride Tribe

The bridesmaids wore stunning 2 piece midnight blue dresses that complimented the design of Jem’s dress. They were also designed and made by Emma Beaumont. The girls wore sparkly flats from Office and Folky Dokey dried flower crowns in their hair. Their accessories were rose gold Chakra earrings, bracelet and rings from Daisy Jewellery.

buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church
buddy the dog in the church
The Preparations

Julie, Jem’s lovely mum helped massively with the wedding preparations and organisation, including locally sourcing the amazing real trees in the marquee, that were later planted at their family home.

I’m eternally grateful to my mum, she made endless phone calls, emails, chasing suppliers and was overall master coordinator, vision of the marquee when I was struggling with not being able to see it set up before.

We used Rebecca at Pretty Creative – to help us collate ideas, to make final decisions (as we were being very indecisive!), to help source key props like the gramophone and to calm late wedding eve panic.

Beautiful rustic cake by The Frostery
Light up LOVE letters by Typical Type with band in front.
speeches
bride and her mum
The Speeches

Rob and Jem had a drinks reception in the Cholmondeley Arms itself and did all their speeches there before heading into the Marquee in the gardens for their wedding breakfast. Such a good idea as it is a beautiful relaxed space and meant that the Groom, Best Man and Father of the Bride could get all the nerves over and enjoy their meal!

Beautiful rustic cake by The Frostery
bride and her mum
speeches
Light up LOVE letters by Typical Type with band in front.
bride and her mum
Beautiful rustic cake by The Frostery
bride and her mum
speeches
Light up LOVE letters by Typical Type with band in front.
bride and her mum
Beautiful rustic cake by The Frostery
The Flowers

Jem and Rob chose Heather from Living Colour for their incredible flowers.

Heather’s style is ideal, natural, informal not chintzy and lets the flowers speak for themselves. She made all of the bouquets, button holes, the arch at church, table arrangements, the foliage from the festoon chandelier, the ‘trees’ in the church and marquee. We had definitely wanted eucalyptus as the base and lots of foliage and went from there, including white peonies!

My mum sourced two large Hornbeam real trees for in the marquee to create a huge focal point. The wedding car flowers were done by auntie Clare.

The marquee
The marquee
Favours

For favours everyone was given homemade rhubarb gin and each place setting also had a small potted succulent from Okells Garden Centre.

speeches
bride and her mum
bride and her mum
Beautiful rustic cake by The Frostery
Light up LOVE letters by Typical Type with band in front.
Light up LOVE letters by Typical Type with band in front.
The Cake

Jo’s Cakes created our wedding cake, with a Victoria sponge, chocolate fudge and lemon curd sponge layer, dressed with lots of flowers and fruit. We also had yummy cheese wedding cake sorted for us by Rob’s mum Jane.

The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
Mini-Moon

We went with the dog to Wales for 3 days, it rained a lot, we were very tired and just ate, drank and slept, you will need a short break after but was nice to then wait and look forward to another trip.

The honeymoon was 6 weeks after wedding and was 4 weeks in Malaysia and Indonesia – but that’s a whole epic story in itself…

It was also really nice to attend a wedding soon after ours as a newly married couple, we made very appreciative guests!

The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
First Dance

We chose ‘You’re the one that I want’ from Grease as our first dance, for the comedy, ironically cheesy and to get people moving. It was a good moment for a confetti cannon !

The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
Favourite Moment

Choosing a favourite moment is hard….It’s a cliche but having everyone you love all together in one place, it’s overwhelming, all the feels, no tears just insane euphoric delirious smiles.

The best things are likely to be those that you can’t plan for, like the hilarity of the cake collapsing or the impromptu family dance circle including those from aged 15 to 80!

On reflection, we wouldn’t have done anything differently, everything that happened to plan (or otherwise) is now a part of a unique amazing day.

The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
Entertainment And Decorations

The rustic gin bar was supplied by Cholmondeley and was a big hit with everyone. We had hay bales around fire pits for s’mores, a ping pong table, large balloons spelling ‘L O V E’ and a Photo Booth from Booths dot co ( who were very efficient). We sourced all the table wear we needed from Corkscrew Hire. 

Our festoon lighting and rustic festoon chandelier were supplied by Hipswing. With acoustic music in church from the Mac Bros band, (friends of the bride — through Warble Entertainment)

We borrowed lots from family friends; tablecloths, hanging tea lights, vases and crates. We spray painted pineapples and silver birch branches and bought plant pots white hydrangeas and herbs for fragrance and to have at home after. All the candles were from good old Tk Maxx and B&M.

It was a big team effort the day before including all the bridesmaids, groomsmen, parents, siblings and we’re very grateful to them all, it was the day of Brexit vote!

The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
Advice From the Couple

I’d say don’t underestimate the groom! He can be so helpful, even those areas you might assume he’s not actually bothered about! Don’t try to take on too much yourself, when I was stressed about the hairdresser Rob sorted it within half an hour, lots of contacts!

It’s truly about YOU two, as a pair and as individuals. Also don’t check the weather forecast like a maniac it’s literally out of our control, don’t let last minute guest issues get to you either, or political referendums …

The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee
The marquee

Isn’t it just an amazing day? Huge congratulations to Rob and Jem and massive thanks to Liam and Bee, aka the Crawleys for these gorgeous images.

with love

Rebecca

Photography – The Crawleys | Venue – Cholmondeley Arms | Bridal Designer – Emma Beaumont | Brides Shoes – Seraphina by Sophia Webster | Bride’s and Bridesmaids Accessories – Daisy Jewellery | Brides and Bridesmaids Floral Crowns – Folkey Dokey | Bridesmaid’s Shoes – Office | Hair – Gareth West Hairdressing | Make up — Jayne & Laura at Sensoria | Groom’s and Groom’s Mens Attire – Jackets – Jepson’s of Nantwich, Trousers – Jack Wills, Shoes – Ted Baker | Groom’s Cuff links – Massimo Dutti | Flowers – Living Colour Floral Design | Cake – Jo’s Cakes | Stationery – Hattie Boo Designs | Props and Styling Assistance – Pretty Creative | Band – Mac Bros | Lighting – Hipswing | Photo Booth – Boothsdotco | Confetti Pouches – Sixpence Paperie on Etsy | Natural Confetti – Shropshire Petals | Tablewear – Corkscrew Hire |

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