Gothic Romantic Fairytale Autumn Harvest Wedding

High fives to WWW readers Charlotte and Martin who pulled off their autumn harvest wedding to perfection! You’re going to love the hauntingly romantic vibe which included trailing flowers, a barn venue and sensational autumnal sunlight.

Their gothic wedding style was teamed with a fairytale touch and the result was magic. Think divine outfits, pumpkins and velvet accents. There were sparklers, an enchanting sunset and the loveliest of wedding confetti moments.

Big thanks go to Three Flowers Photography for kindly sharing these epic images of one very special autumnal day indeed!

Charlotte and Martin on WWW

Yes, I stumbled upon WWW when we were in the beginning stages of wedding planning.

I was looking for as much varied inspiration as possible, as well as weddings that were outside the “traditional” . I also was searching for a variety of different couples, so I could find people to relate to, which is not something you typically find in magazines. It was also useful to get the ball rolling in finding suppliers, and just generally opening our eyes to possibilities.

Autumn Harvest Wedding

The Proposal

5th December 2021, it was a cold wintery Sunday. We are national trust members and avid fans of exploring historical buildings and beautiful gardens. Martin had suggested we visit a national trust that day, so we decided to go to Polesdon Lacey which was a new one for us.

On the journey down, Martin had mentioned about some new camera feature on his phone but I wasn’t really paying attention. As we walked around Polesden Lacey, we found a large gated rose garden with a wishing well in the middle and luckily no one was around.

Martin told me to lean over the wishing well, make a wish and stand really still so he could use his new camera feature. When I turned around he was down on one knee holding my beautiful engagement ring.

The Vision

We always knew we wanted an autumnal/wintery wedding. We both prefer that time of year, as well as being big horror/Halloween fans and myself (Charlotte) being born in October.

We were very inspired by abandoned, overgrown buildings like the ones we often visit, as to us these are beautiful and romantic and tell a story. We quite strongly felt we didn’t want a Halloween wedding, but just to nod to that time of year – inspired by harvest/thanksgiving/guy fawkes etc.

We wanted to feel like we were in a gothic romantic fairytale, with overgrown flowers and pumpkins.

The Venue

The Barns at Lodge Farm, in beautiful Epping in Essex.

As soon as we saw the venue we knew it was the one. It had that worn-in, rustic feel but without feeling staged. As it’s a working, family-run farm, the whole place felt genuine and warm. The team were so welcoming and accommodating, which was very important to us also.

Loved the surrounding views, as well as how isolated it was, and the fact the barns are almost like a blank canvas. Our wedding didn’t have to look a certain way, we could make it whatever we wanted.

Your Outfits

The wedding dress was found at Angelica Bridal in Islington, where they have a whole shop dedicated to plus size brides and designers. I knew I wanted something off the shoulder to show off my tattoo’s, but also something long and trailing to match our vision of overgrown leaves.

Finding a dress is something I had been quite nervous about due to my size, but in the end I had nothing to worry about. And when I put on my Justin Alexander dress, I felt beautiful

Martin’s suit was much harder to find, there’s really not much options out there for big and tall men. Originally we were on search for a green velvet suit, but were unable to find what we were looking for in his size.

Eventually, we stumbled upon Abitto who do beautiful tweed suits. They’re also size-inclusive, reasonably priced, have great customer service and speedy delivery. Added with a velvet bowtie, Martin’s look was complete.

The Styling & Decor

Hayley Clements – Starry Eyed

I knew I wanted a stylist to take care of everything, and I saw Hayley had worked at the barns previously where she had created a beautiful autumnal wedding scenery. As soon as I saw her work, I knew she would be perfect for us!

I shared our vision with her, and she wasn’t scared away by the words ‘abandoned’, ‘haunting’ and ‘wedding’ used in the same sentence. She created a beautiful moodboard which instantly made me feel confident, and I also shared it with our other suppliers so they understood our vision too.

On the day it all came together, with overhanging foliage and flowers everywhere, the tables lined with pumpkins and gourds and touches of velvet, making our gothic autumnal fairytale come to life. The star of the show was by FAR my amazing, trailing bouquet which just worked perfectly with my dress and looks insane in pictures.

The Ceremony & Music

The ceremony was kept very simple, I walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of ‘Can’t help falling in love’, and one of my bridesmaids did a reading from the ‘Amber Spyglass’.

Your Photographer

Charlotte Kitchenside – Three Flowers Photography

What can I say?! Charlotte absolutely blew our minds with her crazy talent! Our wedding pictures are so beyond our expectation, and I can’t believe we get to cherish them forever. We also can’t believe those pictures are of OUR wedding, they look that amazing.

Genuinely such an amazing, kind woman who most of the time you can’t tell she’s even taking a photo. She blends in the background, is very chill, and just makes you feel so relaxed. I am just so drawn to how she manages to capture the emotion of the day through her images, and none of it is staged.

I get to relieve that day over and over again every time I look at the images. It was so special to share this day with her, and I hope we can work with her again in the future.

The Honeymoon

3 days after our wedding, we flew to Iceland for a week. It’s been on our bucket list for a while, and it definitely went beyond our expectations. Its such a beautiful country with such a magical landscape that looks like it comes from another planet.

Not only that, it’s fairly quiet in November, there’s zero crime or litter and people are very friendly. Overall a very relaxing honeymoon and definitely recommend doing the blue lagoon retreat for added privacy and luxury.

Memorable Moments

There are several memorable moments that I can think of, like queuing outside the barn with my Dad and hearing the music begin and starting to feel emotional before I even walked down the aisle.

Surprising Martin with my personalised leather jacket!

Getting to share special moments just the two of us, such as during our portrait shoots, watching the sunset, as well as sneaking off to have a cheeky pulled pork burger together.

And most importantly, I felt very strongly about doing a speech to talk about how wonderful Martin is. He held me and got me through the speech as I was very emotional.

Advice For Other Couples

It’s a cliché, but make your wedding how you want it to be. Don’t worry about family or friends expectations, or if you find a venue that tells you things have to be done a certain way – no! Find somewhere else, and make it your own!