Nature Inspired Burgundy Barn Wedding with a Cascading Bouquet

Happy Monday lovely ones! I hope you had a cracking weekend, guess what, a month until Christmas today. I think we’re allowed to mention it now right? And although this real wedding was held in mid summer, it has a wonderfully cosy, luxe vibe in green and burgundy tones.

What a delight it is to be joined by WWW readers Kim and Mike who were hitched on the 3rd August 2019 at Kingshill Barn on the Elmley Nature Reserve in Kent. They described their day to me; “Our wedding was incredibly relaxed, with an organic feel. Nothing too formal or structured. We wanted to the day to flow in a natural way without anything feeling forced or staged.” and I have to say it was just so so beautiful! Inspired by Mike’s love of birds they incorporated bird table names and feathers throughout.

Their flowers really were dramatic and opulent. I especially adore Kim’s large cascading wedding bouquet which was magnificent, featuring protea, eucalyptus and astilbe to name a few. Wow! They also had a fantastic cake table featuring a donut wall, sensational outfits – hello Karen Willis Holmes bridal separates and Hugo Boss jacket, not to mention a twinkling fairy light canopy in the barn.

Sandra Reddin Photography I really cannot thank you enough for sharing these utterly beautiful captures. Oh so wonderful.

The Proposal

Mike’s proposal was super personal, was literally just us in his parent’s garden. I remember being so annoyed at him for dragging me out of bed as I’d been out the night before and wanted to be left alone!

The Vision

The vision for our wedding was always based around nature. We knew we wanted to get married at Elmley even before we were engaged as it was our favourite place for a little get away in the country and we wanted our theme to tie into the surroundings. Mike has always been into nature and particularly birds of prey so that formed a large part of our vision, with lots of focus on birds and feathers and giving the overall look a very natural, organic feel.

The Planning Process

I was very organised during the planning process, keeping spreadsheets and trackers galore! I am very particular and love to use boards to help me plan things out, I used this method for the flowers, layout of the barn, even the welcome nibbles, everything was planned out visually.

The Venue

Elmley National Nature Reserve

Your Outfits & Accessories

My dress was a two piece from Karen Willis Holmes, it was the only dress I wanted and was the first one I tried on! I tried on a couple more for fun but knew all along it was going to be that dress. I teamed it with some lace converse high tops. Mike’s suit was a mix of styles, the main suit was from Next with a Hugo Boss Italian made jacket, mixed with a vintage Versace tie and pocket square.

Beauty

All the hair and beauty we did ourselves sitting around the farmhouse table!

The Readings & Music

Readings:

True Romance.

Elvis Presley, The Wonder Of You.

Music:

Eternal, Angel Of Mine

Florence and the Machine, Never Let Me Go

Justin Timberlake, Mirrors

Simply Red, Stars

The Flowers

All the flowers were done by my incredibly talented sister in law, Hollie. We sat and ordered them together from the wholesalers using our vision board and Hollie spent two days putting them together. The bouquet was incredible, more than I could have wished for.

The Details & Décor

All the décor was handmade, I spent a long time cutting and dyeing muslin for the table runners and cutting beer bottles to make the tealight holders! It was a labour of love! The table names were all birds, scanned pictures from Mike’s childhood bird book. The rest of the stationery had the same bird theme, which Mike designed himself. We also had an incredible arch we got married under which my father in law made and sister in law decorated with muslin and flowers. We wanted the flowers to be the star of the show, which I think they were!

Groomsmen

All groomsmen’s outfits were from Next with TM Lewin shirts.

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids dresses were a bargain at £11 each from ebay!

Your Photographer

Sandra Reddin

Your Filmmaker

Our amazing wedding film was actually made as a surprise by one of Mike’s friends who came to the wedding.

The Cake

We had a small cake which was made by my (other) sister in law, which was accompanied by the donut wall and stands!

The Honeymoon

We kept our honeymoon very simple with a week in the Cotswolds…and picked up a puppy on the way home!

Memorable Moments

My favourite moment was probably being on Mike’s shoulders on the dance floor while we all danced to Bohemian Rhapsody!

Advice For Other Couples

Don’t ever worry about timings, it all goes out the window. And take peoples help, they want to help so let them!

Credit Where Credit Is Due

So much style and a lot of love to boot.

Kim and Mike, thank you both ever so much for sharing your gorgeous wedding with us xo Lou