Sweet DIY Floral Pastel Village Hall Wedding

This sweet day is filled to the very brim with love, smiles and gorgeous pastel tones.

WWW readers Sarah and James tied the knot on Saturday 20^th June 2015 at The Chantry ( a decommissioned Baptist chapel) in East Sussex and headed to Punnetts Town Village Hall for the celebrations afterwards.

The whole day was light and fresh with a touch of vintage in the home made styling. There were reams of bunting, a floral cake and afternoon tea to delight their guests. I really adore the blooms here today, fluffy roses and peonies worked perfectly alongside daisies and gypsophila. Sarah looked so very beautiful in ‘8465’ by Justin Alexander, a stunning lace and tulle tea length number, while the maids wore pretty floral frocks. Gorgeous.

Thanks so much to Helen Strong Photography for sharing these wonderful images with us.

THE PROPOSAL | James had had the ring for a couple of months and had asked my Dad for permission, he was just waiting for the perfect moment to do it! On a sunny bank holiday in August, we decided to spend the day at Studland, a beautiful National Trust beach in Dorset. Just as we were getting ready to leave for the day, he suggested we take a walk along the beach. We were exploring the dunes and I heard the Velcro on his swimming shorts go behind me… wondering what the hell he was doing (considering there is a nudist beach at Studland!), I turned around and he was down on one knee! He asked me if I would marry him, I asked “are you serious?!” then said yes and cried!

THE VISION | We knew we wanted something rustic, homemade, with a vintage feel, definitely featuring bunting!

THE PLANNING PROCESS | We had nearly two years to plan the wedding but started doing research as soon as we got engaged, then started looking at venues and booked our venues shortly after. We would go for months without doing anything, then have a flurry of activity, book a few things, make a few things, then not do anything again for a few months! The couple of months leading up the wedding, things picked up the pace and we spent most weekends crafting for the wedding!

THE VENUE | I found The Chantry on a photographer’s blog, while researching what other couples had done in terms of vintage type weddings in Sussex! The Chantry is a decommissioned Baptist chapel, nestled in the middle of the East Sussex countryside. We arranged a visit and fell in love with it as soon as we saw it for our ceremony. It had little white pews and even some bunting already up inside! We could also have refreshments in the owner’s garden which was right next door. For our reception venue, the owner told us that a lot of other couples had used the nearby Punnetts Town Village Hall. We went to have look and it was perfect; the village hall would fit perfectly with our homemade, vintage idea, and we could make it into a mini village fete, including tea and cake and fete games on the field!

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | Justin Alexander tea length 8465 tulle dress in ivory with lace, peep-toe shoes to match and a birdcage veil.

FINDING THE DRESS | I arranged a wedding dress shopping day with my mum and bridesmaids in Bournemouth. After visiting a few shops and not being blown away by anything, we visited Pascali and I tried on a strapless, 1950s tulle dress with lace and beading on the top half. It wasn’t what I had imagined myself in at all, and I’d thought that a tea length dress wouldn’t work as I am not overly tall, but it was perfect! I just couldn’t stop smiling as soon as I put it on and knew it was ‘the one’.

GROOM’S ATTIRE | James’s suit was from Burton, as well as the waistcoats and trousers that the rest of the wedding party wore. James’s waistcoat was from ASOS and the shoes from Topman.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | I walked up the aisle to one of our best men playing Toothpaste Kisses by the Maccabees on the ukulele. He played Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World as we signed the register and Good Riddance (Time of Our Life) by Green Day as we walked out of the chapel! Our readings were The Future by Emma Salmon and Us Two by A. A. Milne.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | Tabitha, my friend of 20 years was the maid of honour, Lindsey, my university friend, and Rose, my sister. They all wore mint green dresses with little pink flowers on from French Connection.

THE FLOWERS | I went for flowers that you would find in an English country garden, in pastel colours. We had little posies in jam jars dotted around the reception. They smelt amazing!

THE CAKE | Homemade by James’s sister Lindsey. Three tier fruit cake with mint green icing with little pink flowers, to match the bridesmaid dresses!

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Helen Strong Photography. Helen is a friend of James’s sister; she travelled all the way from Bournemouth to photograph our day! We loved how she managed to capture all the special moments which made our day so special.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | Nearly everything was homemade by friends or family! Save the dates, invitations and table plan designed by Jemma, my school friend. Metres and metres of bunting handmade by James’s mum. The photobooth and all the games made by James. Favours were homemade jam made by me. The vintage crockery we hired from a local supplier and we served afternoon tea on it as our wedding breakfast. Evening food was a local fish and chip van parked outside!

THE HONEYMOON | We went on a ‘mini-moon’ to Chantilly in France for four nights straight after the wedding. Then, thanks to the generosity of our guests, we were able to go to Sri Lanka in December/January, spending two and a half weeks touring around this beautiful country.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | Crying (happy tears) on our wedding morning, when I received a gift from James – a print, designed by our maid of honour Tabitha, featuring the score of our first dance (You and Me Song by The Wannadies), framed by my Dad. James’s best man Richard, instead of a speech, sung a song about us that he’d written, even getting all the guests to join in on the chorus! Eating fish and chips in my wedding dress and a leather jacket borrowed from a friend!

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Enjoy the process, it goes so quickly. Hand making things for the wedding is a lot of fun and saves money but don’t underestimate the time it takes! It took me weeks to make our mini-bunting save the dates and the jam making was fun but very time consuming! Take time on the day just to look around and take it all in, it really does fly by. And don’t sweat the little things, especially on the day.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photography | Helen Strong Photography

Our ceremony venue and Sue also organised the afternoon tea | The Chantry

Venue | Punnetts Town Village Hall

Flowers | Infusion Flowers

Our maid of honour, who designed the print of our wedding song, as well as a beautiful print of our wedding venue | Tabitha Mary

Wedding dress shop | Pascali

Bar | Mobile Bar 4 Events

Chairs and table cloths | Speedwell Catering Hire

Our band | Replica Radio

Fairy lights hire| Cinemattag

Bridal shoes | The Perfect Bridal Company

Simply perfect.

Thanks so very much to Sarah and James for sharing all about their lovely nuptials with us xo Lou