Magical DIY Autumn Wedding With All The Cosy Vibes

Welcome to the DIY autumn wedding of Emily and Stefan who were wed on the 27th September 2020 at Gildings Barns in Surrey. I have to say that their wedding day was simply magical; the rustic barn, the autumn colours, swoon!

COVID19 didn’t deter Emily and Stefan and they brought forward their wedding date, subsequently planning their wedding within 5 days. Wow. What an amazing achievement, especially when you feast your eyes on the DIY wedding decor and fabulous blooms.

I also have to rave about the stylish outfits, the cute pumpkins and the fun COVID friendly signs.

The beautiful photos and film are courtesy of The Light Painters, I cannot thank them enough for sharing them with us today.

DIY Autumn Wedding

The Proposal

Our proposal was on a trip to the seaside town of Margate for my 30^th Birthday. Stefan proposed on the beach, the sun was shining and it was a perfect weekend with our beloved dog by our side.

The Vision

We love autumn and Halloween, our original wedding date was set for 31^st October 2020, we ensigned a cosy day with carved pumpkins, apple bobbing, hot chocolate stands and lots of dancing, also including the ‘Monster Mash’ as our aisle song!

However due to the restrictions put in place on the 22^nd September Emily decided to rearrange the wedding in 5 days, bringing it forward to 27^th September, meaning a lot of the vision had to be put to one side.

Budget

15k

Have you seen our ultimate wedding checklist? You won’t want to miss it!

The Venue

Gildings Barn, Newdigate, Surrey

Your Outfits

Emily’s dress was found in a beautiful little bridal shop on Valentines day 2020 in Dorking Surrey. After many attempts at finding a dress in different shops, the welcoming nature of Hannah in Bride by Aster completely put Emily at ease, it was just the most wonderful experience, I felt calm and relaxed and Hannah just made me feel so comfortable.

The dress was by designer Modeca. I had my dress altered 2 days before my wedding so it was a very quick turnaround.

Stefan and the Brides father suit was from Cavani – we wanted a tweed style for the barn.

Groomsmen outfits were a very last minute buy from ASOS. Thank goodness for Next day deliveries.

Bridesmaid dresses again were found online 3 days before, from Next, Dorothy Perkins and Chi Chi London.

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

Our photographers/videographers were recommended to us through the venue. We first met them on our wedding day as Covid restrictions throughout the year did not allow us to meet any sooner. Hannah and David are a husband and wife team. Myself and Stefan are not used to having our picture taken, however Hannah and Dave disappeared into the background and captured the most natural photos of our special day.

The Ceremony & Music

Due to Covid restrictions, we had to completely change our original arrangements of a band as singing was not allowed, we also didn’t want to include a band in our numbers for the wedding so we decided to go with an acoustic guitarist. He played while we ate our food and it made the most wonderful atmosphere in the barn.

Check out our wedding readings and first dance song inspiration too!

The Styling & Decor

All décor was made by the Bride, I took the 5 days off of work when the restrictions hit and worked night and day to make everything for our wedding day. From designing the leather jackets to collecting copious amounts of conkers and pinecones with the help of my family we managed to get everything ready.

Myself and Stefan went pumpkin picking at our local farm 2 days before, where we loaded up our car with nearly 100 pumpkins for our autumnal day. We had the Saturday before to put everything together. The amazing help from our friends and family ensured we got everything done that we had originally wanted.

Our beautiful cake was made by my cousin. With 2 days notice she came up with a autumnal cinnamon apple cake with vanilla frosting, decorated with mini pumpkins. It was honestly the best cake I’ve ever tasted and there was none left by the end of the evening.

Our flowers were designed by a friend of a friend who again rallied round with 4 days notice. She created the most incredible autumnal bouquets for us, and the most amazing flower arch. We managed to nab a lot of the flowers the next day and we filled up our house with vases of them everywhere!

Have you seen these stunning wedding favour ideas?

The Honeymoon

We plan to go to Italy in the Summer if restrictions allow however the fact got married in 2020 was an achievement in itself!

Memorable Moments

Covid has made such an impact on the wedding industry as a whole in a lot of negative ways but in a strange way Covid made our wedding so incredibly special.

From the mask-wearing to the hand sanitiser to the social distanced dancing it will certainly be something we and our guests will never forget. We live-streamed our wedding on a Facebook group we created, so loved ones across the globe could witness our intimate ceremony!

Advice For Other Couples

You don’t need years to plan a wedding, yes all the ‘stuff’ around it is cool but ultimately we just wanted to get married, we love each other, and that’s what 2020 showed us.

Yes it would have been amazing to have all our friends and family there in person, but the situation focused us on what was most important to us : becoming Mr and Mrs no matter what.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

What an utter treat!

Emily and Stefan thank you so much for sharing your epic DIY autumn wedding with us.