Boho Festival Homespun Wedding

Do Monday’s get any better? I think not and we have WWW readers Natalie and Stu to thank for that! Their wedding was quite simply a delight, with boho festival vibes all round.

They hosted their wedding on the 21^st July 2018 with a church ceremony followed by a reception at a family barn in Somerset. Much of their day was homemade, with family and friends coming together to help them craft their perfect celebration. One of my fave DIY elements has to be the giant festival letters sign made by Natalie’s brother. Aren’t they just amazing?!

Natalie’s bridal look was on point, with her beautiful floral gown teamed with a dried flower crown and floral belt. Beautiful! Meanwhile Stu and the boys all looked really dapper in blue suits and floral ties. Such a gorgeous wedding, which was captured just superbly by the brilliant Matt Bowen Photography. Thanks so much Matt for sharing these wonderful photographs with us.

THE PROPOSAL

23^rd July 2017. We walked up a mountain/hill in Norway. I was taking a photo, looked down and Stu was down on one knee. I screamed and cried a lot! Stu had packed some celebratory bourbon for us to drink.

THE VISION

We always knew we wanted to get married in Stu’s parents barn. After going to Green Man festival, we knew we wanted it to be a festival wedding. We walked to the Church and knew it was the right place for our ceremony. I wanted to make as many things as possible! My brother George made our Barkerfest letters and the festival type signs.

THE PLANNING PROCESS

Planning process started the day after we were engaged! We had already decided on the barn and then found the Church when we were home from Norway. We used Instagram and Pinterest for inspiration! I also knew that I wanted a different dress and I was so glad I found my dress at Halo and Wren. I wanted to get my dress from Hemel (home town) and something else special from Bristol. We had my ring made at Clifton Rocks. I made the ribbon decorations and everyone helped to collect gin bottles and glass jars for the tables. George made our favours and we decided to pair them with mini hip flasks filled with gin. As soon as we met Kate’s Kitchen and tasted their food, we knew they would be amazing caterers. We used different wedding blogs to find our bar, DJ, flowers, tent and other bits.

THE VENUE

St James Church, Regil and Stu’s parent’s barn.

THE READINGS & MUSIC

We found the reading that George did by searching online. We chose it because of the lovely nature references. We each chose a hymn for the ceremony. I chose ‘If I were a Butterfly’ and Stu chose ‘Jerusalem’. My hymn was mine and my friends favourite when we were at primary school. It was lots of fun singing and doing the actions in the Church.

THE FLOWERS

We wanted to have wild flowers for the wedding and found Wild About Flowers on Instagram. They were great and all of the flowers were exactly as we wanted.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES

Shop – Halo and Wren Bridal

Dress designer – E & W Couture

Flower crown – Florence and Flowers

Converse – Custom Converse

I had heard about Halo and Wren as it is in my home town. As soon as I saw my dress, I knew it was the one and would suit the theme of the wedding perfectly.

GROOM’S ATTIRE

Stu bought his suit, his best man, ushers and Dad’s suits from Moss Bros. His waist jacket was also from Moss. Ties were from ASOS. His cufflinks were personalised with our Barkerfest logo.

THE CAKE

My friend Abigail made our cake. We wanted it to be semi naked. She did an amazing job and it tasted and looked beautiful.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER

Matt Bowen Photography

THE HONEYMOON

We went to Scotland for our ‘mini-moon’. We spent 10 days travelling around different places. We did lots of walking and spent lots of time outdoors. Next year, we are planning on going to New Zealand for our honeymoon.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS

I asked my 3 best friends, Charlotte, Hayley and Jess, to be my bridesmaids. Hayley came all the way back from the Cayman Islands to come to the wedding.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

Everything was so memorable. It really was the best day ever.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES

Be as organised as possible – I had lots of colour coded spreadsheets on the go!

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Hooray for festival boho wedding style. Thanks so much to Natalie and Stu for sharing their epic wedding story with us xo Lou