There's nothing I like more than a backyard marquee wedding, with a relaxed happy bride {in Converse!}, and an OMG Claire Pettibone wedding gown. Add in pretty handmade, shabby-chic details, sage green Dessy bridesmaids dresses, and a traditional ice-cream bicycle seller, and you've got a quintessentially English wedding. All that was missing was the rain! I love Katy's DIY'd wildflower favours, her pretty baby's breath bouquet, and all the hand-decorated jam-jar wedding details. Huge thanks to Hannah from Written With Light Photography for sending over all the pictures - enjoy!
We got married on 21st September 2013 in St Michael's Church, in West Hill in Devon, followed by our wedding reception in Tom's parent's gorgeous garden. I always knew a rural view and beautiful outdoor location was going to be a non-negotiable part of our wedding day, and as we are fortunate enough to have this on Tom's parent's doorstep, hosting our reception in their garden was a bit of a no brainer!
We couldn't risk it for a biscuit weather-wise, so we hired a traditional canvas marquee. As far as decorations go I wanted to keep things as natural as possible we had a stunning location and didn't plan on distracting from that.
In keeping with the relaxed atmosphere we wanted for the wedding, my and my bridesmaids all wore Converse trainers, which we personalised with pretty daisies.
The girls wore sage coloured Dessy dresses. We all loved them, and I liked the idea that they could all wear them differently, according to where they placed the wraps.
My dress was the Queen Anne's Lace design by Claire Pettibone. I didn't fall in love with it straight away as I think I had tried on too many dresses by that point! Also, I never planned on wearing a gown with a low neck-line, but it really was a beautiful dress and perfect for the day.
Our wedding flowers were by Dilly's Florists in Ottery. They were really helpful as I don't really know much about flowers! I just knew I wanted a wildflower look, and natural colours {nothing too bright}, and they did a beautiful job.
We used lots of baby's breath in our bouquets, and for the buttonholes, and massive bouquets to decorate the church.
I didn't wear a veil, choosing instead a pretty daisy headband handmade by my talented maid of honour! She runs an Etsy boutique called Daisy's Creations.
Tom wore a traditional morning suit from Moss Bros, with a sage green tie and handkerchief to match the bridesmaids' dresses.
I walked down the aisle to 'Echo' by Incubus, then 'Eight Days a Week' by The Beatles to kick things off as husband and wife! Our first dance was 'Reet Petite' by Jackie Wilson - an impulse choice by Tom the day before as we didn't plan on having a first dance.
My advice to brides planning their wedding, is don't procrastinate, as things will always take longer then you expect!
Our wedding photographer was Written With Light Photography. Hannah was suggested by my brother and sister-in-law, and after seeing the photos taken of my brother's wedding I made my decision - her photos really capture the personality of her subject and the atmosphere, also she is such a warm friendly person that we felt really comfortable and we loved working with her.
One of my favourite wedding details was the ice cream bike. It was a huge success with the children and adults, looked great, and the ice cream was delicious.
Our wedding band - The Jive Jacks - were also fantastic! They really know what they are doing - we said we wanted swing music that made everyone get up dace and have fun, and they delivered the perfect playlist. The dance floor was full all night and they really helped create a fantastic atmosphere.
We didn't have a planned theme for our wedding, but it ended up being a tasty mix of vintage, rustic and dirty colour tones. Any time I saw something I really liked design-wise it always happened to be something that didn't look that impossible to make so had a go and in the end we made the invitations, wedding favours and Orders of Service.
For months before the wedding, we had friends and family collecting hundreds of glass jars for my mum and me to decorate and turn into candle holders. Even our table plan was handmade with help from my bridesmaids the morning of the wedding! Getting the whole garden ready for a wedding was a huge DIY project which neither Tom or I can take credit for - that was all thanks to Tom's parents, and a lot of borrowed help from the farm staff.
We had four wedding cakes handmade by a family friend! Devon apple, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and lemon drizzle - so a bit of something for everyone. I didn't want anything fancy, just seriously tasty, and the kind of cakes people can tuck into, and slice themselves.
I really enjoyed DIY-ing our wedding favours - they were really simple, but fun! We bought a huge bag of British wild flower seeds and divided them up into kraft envelopes. Then I wrote a silly poem to sick on the back, and made the envelope pretty with a couple of stamps. I thought the wild flower seeds tied in with the natural aspect of the wedding and it's nice to visit friends and family and see the flowers growing as a reminder of our wedding.
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Before the Big Day - The Best UK Wedding Blog.
We got married on 21st September 2013 in St Michael's Church, in West Hill in Devon, followed by our wedding reception in Tom's parent's gorgeous garden. I always knew a rural view and beautiful outdoor location was going to be a non-negotiable part of our wedding day, and as we are fortunate enough to have this on Tom's parent's doorstep, hosting our reception in their garden was a bit of a no brainer!
We couldn't risk it for a biscuit weather-wise, so we hired a traditional canvas marquee. As far as decorations go I wanted to keep things as natural as possible we had a stunning location and didn't plan on distracting from that.
In keeping with the relaxed atmosphere we wanted for the wedding, my and my bridesmaids all wore Converse trainers, which we personalised with pretty daisies.
The girls wore sage coloured Dessy dresses. We all loved them, and I liked the idea that they could all wear them differently, according to where they placed the wraps.
My dress was the Queen Anne's Lace design by Claire Pettibone. I didn't fall in love with it straight away as I think I had tried on too many dresses by that point! Also, I never planned on wearing a gown with a low neck-line, but it really was a beautiful dress and perfect for the day.
Our wedding flowers were by Dilly's Florists in Ottery. They were really helpful as I don't really know much about flowers! I just knew I wanted a wildflower look, and natural colours {nothing too bright}, and they did a beautiful job.
We used lots of baby's breath in our bouquets, and for the buttonholes, and massive bouquets to decorate the church.
I didn't wear a veil, choosing instead a pretty daisy headband handmade by my talented maid of honour! She runs an Etsy boutique called Daisy's Creations.
Tom wore a traditional morning suit from Moss Bros, with a sage green tie and handkerchief to match the bridesmaids' dresses.
I walked down the aisle to 'Echo' by Incubus, then 'Eight Days a Week' by The Beatles to kick things off as husband and wife! Our first dance was 'Reet Petite' by Jackie Wilson - an impulse choice by Tom the day before as we didn't plan on having a first dance.
My advice to brides planning their wedding, is don't procrastinate, as things will always take longer then you expect!
Our wedding photographer was Written With Light Photography. Hannah was suggested by my brother and sister-in-law, and after seeing the photos taken of my brother's wedding I made my decision - her photos really capture the personality of her subject and the atmosphere, also she is such a warm friendly person that we felt really comfortable and we loved working with her.
One of my favourite wedding details was the ice cream bike. It was a huge success with the children and adults, looked great, and the ice cream was delicious.
Our wedding band - The Jive Jacks - were also fantastic! They really know what they are doing - we said we wanted swing music that made everyone get up dace and have fun, and they delivered the perfect playlist. The dance floor was full all night and they really helped create a fantastic atmosphere.
We didn't have a planned theme for our wedding, but it ended up being a tasty mix of vintage, rustic and dirty colour tones. Any time I saw something I really liked design-wise it always happened to be something that didn't look that impossible to make so had a go and in the end we made the invitations, wedding favours and Orders of Service.
For months before the wedding, we had friends and family collecting hundreds of glass jars for my mum and me to decorate and turn into candle holders. Even our table plan was handmade with help from my bridesmaids the morning of the wedding! Getting the whole garden ready for a wedding was a huge DIY project which neither Tom or I can take credit for - that was all thanks to Tom's parents, and a lot of borrowed help from the farm staff.
We had four wedding cakes handmade by a family friend! Devon apple, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and lemon drizzle - so a bit of something for everyone. I didn't want anything fancy, just seriously tasty, and the kind of cakes people can tuck into, and slice themselves.
I really enjoyed DIY-ing our wedding favours - they were really simple, but fun! We bought a huge bag of British wild flower seeds and divided them up into kraft envelopes. Then I wrote a silly poem to sick on the back, and made the envelope pretty with a couple of stamps. I thought the wild flower seeds tied in with the natural aspect of the wedding and it's nice to visit friends and family and see the flowers growing as a reminder of our wedding.
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