Magical Bluebell Woods Wedding with Handfasting Ceremony

Is there a more magical spot than bluebell woods for a wedding? I think not. There is something so ethereal about bluebells, fleeting and delicate, that of course, WWW readers Francesca and Thomas wished to be married there after their proposal two years earlier.

They firstly married in a church ceremony before heading to the woods to have their personal, handfasting ceremony. Francesca had two gowns, the first a floating sequin wedding dress the second a liquid mercury silver gown with quite the story, so beautiful. Thomas meanwhile looked very dapper in a traditional morning suit with oak leaf cufflinks.

Then there were the fantastic flowers and a very pretty cake. Just you wait and see.

Andrew Brannan Photography, thank you so much for sharing with us these super gorgeous images.

Bluebell Woods Wedding

The Proposal

Thom took a knee in the same woods that we got married in two years before amidst the bluebells, during a dog walk.

The Vision

We wanted a personal hand-fasting in the bluebell woods on the hill behind my parent’s house.

The woods are important for us and in early May when the beech trees are just putting out leaves and the bluebells are sprouting it is an otherworldly place.

We got married on May Day so there were some nods to Beltane but the ceremony focused on including our friends and family in our personal vows to each other in the same wonderful and serene place where we got engaged two years earlier.

The Venue

Bluebell forest on the Great Ridge, Salisbury Plain.

We were meant to have a reception at the Bake Barn in Chicklade but Covid meant we have had to postpone that part of the celebration.

Your Outfits

When I was still at school, my friend Harriet was given some silver metallic fabric. I thought it was astonishing. I vowed then and there that I would one day be married in a dress made of fabric like mercury and spent the next ten years looking in vain for something like it.

When Thom and I got engaged Harriet gave me the fabric! My mother and I designed the dress together with Leva who really made the idea a reality. I ended up with something ethereal but metallic with frosted fern fronds in the beaded coat I wore over the top.

My headdress was a reference to Early Hellenistic wreaths of beaten gold and the aquamarine earrings were my borrowed and blue.

Thom wore a morning suit with sage green waistcoat, a Van Buck tie in Liberty Tana Lawn fabric, my mother’s pocket watch, a shamrock stickpin and silver cufflinks engraved with oak leaves (a wedding present from Francesca) by Malcolm Appleby.

The Ceremony & Music

We were legally married in the small church in our village in the morning, Covid measures meant we could only have 15 people in the church but extended family stood outside and shouted ‘we will’ through the door!

In the afternoon we went up the hill to have our hand-fasting in the woods, and exchange vows which for us was the critical part.

It was particularly important to us that the guests were active participants. After all, these are the people who you are asking to witness the promises you make to each other and who will hold you accountable for them in the future. We wrote our vows separately but they ended up touching on several of the same themes which caused some amusement.

We chose all the music and readings to reflect our origins, values and where we hope to go in our lives together. We were hand-fasted under an oak tree and one of our closest friends (who is also, appropriately, a blacksmith) acted as our celebrant.

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

Andrew Brannan and Ben Tynegate. Andrew and Ben were outstanding, so professional but could also easily have been guests they fitted in so well. Ben even ran back to the house for me when I forgot my bouquet!

Our film.

The Styling & Decor

Pam of Songbird Florals (a very close friend) really pulled out all the stops on my bouquet. In the Netherlands it’s traditional for the groom to choose the bride’s bouquet so Thom worked with Pam to select the blooms, each one with a different meaning. Tulips for deep love, anemone for anticipation, ranunculus for charm, and bluebells for constancy, humility and gratitude.

We got married in bluebell woods so there wasn’t much decoration needed, but another Dutch tradition is to have a wishing tree. Guests write wishes for your marriage on a note and hang them on the branches of a tree with a ribbon. We added bells to the ribbons so the tree was full of fluttering colour and tinkling music.

My mother baked the cake and my girlfriends decorated it in the woods before the ceremony, it was very informal and everyone got involved which is exactly what we wanted.

The Honeymoon

We were due to go to Istanbul for our honeymoon which wasn’t possible with Covid and has been postponed. Instead, we took a camper van down to the Dorset coast to go fossil hunting for a week (aka beer and ice cream hunting) for a mini-moon.

Memorable Moments

Francesca: Spotting Thom waiting for me under the oak tree. I had pictured the scene so many times and after all the trials and tribulations of covid I had to pinch myself to make sure that it was all really happening!

Having breakfast in bed with my mum and sister on the morning of the wedding was really special, as was seeing my stoic father choke up during his speech. After the hand-fasting, our friends lifted us both up into the branches of the wishing tree which was a beautiful way to start our marriage.

Thom: Francesca’s arrival in the woods looking like Gaia herself accompanied by music Yann Tiersen’s Comptine d’un autre ete: l’apres-midi performed by Lavinia Meijer. My younger sister’s unexpected and excellent speech in which I was mercilessly roasted.

Advice For Other Couples

Remember why you are doing things and keep stepping back to maintain perspective on what is important and what isn’t.

Covid really focused our priorities. It was such a mammoth effort to make it happen with all the restrictions all the trivial details fell away and our main focus was getting Thoms’s parents and sisters over from The Netherlands and through the tests. We couldn’t have a reception, dinner or dancing as we originally planned but it was no less special for it.

Delegate tasks, let your wing women/ushers help.