Natural & Rustic Hand Made Yellow Wedding

Rustic and natural was order of the day, with a little festival vibe thrown in for good measure. It’s time to share Sally and Pete’s nuptials held on the 31^st July 2015. Yippee.

They chose Donington Park Farmhouse Hotel in Derbyshire to host their wedding and the rustic barn was the perfect backdrop to their day. There was a subtle yellow colour scheme throughout which included delightful dried blooms and colour pop ties.

The décor was all hand made and included rag bunting, wool pom pom garlands and tongue in cheek stationery to name a few. Sally found her lovely gown in Debenhams,  while Pete wore a check suit from Moss Bros. Oh the style.

Many thanks to Ed Brown Photography for providing the stunning images.

THE PROPOSAL | Pete took me on a surprise holiday to Croatia and proposed on a small island called Lopud – I had no idea where we were going until I got to the airport, it was a nightmare to try and pack when you don’t know what the weather’s going to be like!

His plan was to propose at a romantic meal that had been organised for our 2^nd day away. Unfortunately, on the 1^st day the weight of the ring had become too much to bear, and after a couple of drinks we walked down the pier and Pete popped the question. I cried so much because I was happy, it took me about 15 minutes to say yes, Pete was more than stressed by this point….

THE VISION | Rustic and natural. We wanted a relaxed, ‘festival’ feel to the wedding.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | Being in my final years of university the planning process was very stressful! It was difficult because we were living in Bristol, but getting married in the midlands. I had to send my mom and sister around looking at venues for us, which took a long time to find the right one. As well as this, Pete’s mom had to build a connection with the church, as it wasn’t our local parish. This meant she had to attend Sunday Service for 3 months – she quite enjoyed it, but Pete’s dad wasn’t so keen on being dragged along…

One of the problems was that we had a long time to plan, which sounds a bit odd, but it gave us time to plan stuff, and then change it!

BUDGET | Around £15000.

THE VENUE | St Bartholomew’s Church, Hints – ceremony. Donington Park Farmhouse Hotel – reception.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | Dress from Debenhams. Flower crown and accessories from Artisan Dried Flower Company.

FINDING THE DRESS | This took a long time! I hadn’t realised I was so fussy! I bought several dresses, and had to send them all back until I find the right one.

GROOM’S ATTIRE | 3 piece suit from Moss Bros, Paul Smith shirt and tie and copper cufflinks from ‘Alice Made This’ – (the copper was to match the rose gold wedding ring).

THE READINGS & MUSIC | 2 readings were read by mothers. Bible reading by Pete’s mom – Song of Solomon chapter 2 verses 10 – 13. Poem, ‘I’ll be There’, written and read by bride’s mother. Hymns: Jerusalem, Give me Joy in my Heart, Make me a Channel of your Peace. When we got the reception venue, for the first dance, 2 of my bridesmaids played acoustic guitar and sang a medley of songs, it was beautiful. Following that we had a band play; they kicked off with Back in Black by AC/DC, which gave the older guests a bit of a shock, but Pete loved it!

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | 5 in total – 4 best friends from primary school and matron of honour was my sister.

THE FLOWERS | All from the Artisan Dried Flower Company.

THE CAKE | Marks & Spencer with additional flowers from company above.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Ed Brown and second photographer organised through him.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | Almost everything was handmade – to add a personal touch and to keep costs down.

THE HONEYMOON | We went straight to a hotel in Windsor from the wedding venue, where we stayed for one night. The next day we flew to Bali for three weeks, where we stayed at 3 different hotels across the island.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | One of the most memorable moment for Pete was when 3 Italian Job classic minis turned up at his house to take him to the church. I’d spent ages telling him we couldn’t afford cars, which really annoyed him. He loves cars, used to have old minis, and the original Italian Job is one of his favourite films, it was like a childhood dream for him to drive in a convoy of minis like in the film!

The first dance was amazing, it meant so much to have two of my best friends perform it for us, it was much more personal than a band or a DJ just playing a standard song.

We both loved the reception as well, drinking Pimms in the sun, then all of the dad dancing when the band were on and everyone had had a few too many to drink!

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Remember that it is your day! Don’t sacrifice what you want just to please all of your guests; you’re the one’s that will remember the day for the rest of your lives.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photography | Ed Brown Photography

Venue | Donington Park Farmhouse Hotel

Flowers | Artisan Dried Flower Company

Hair & Make up | Claire Salter

How very gorgeous.

Many thanks goes to Sally and Pete for sharing their lovely wedding story this morning xo Lou