Dreamy Burgundy & Blush Barn Wedding

Oh Chris and Ruth, what a delight it is to be sharing your blush and burgundy barn wedding today! Chris and Ruth were hitched on the 20th April 2019 at Dewsall Court in Herefordshire in the stunning Wainhouse Barn. They described their day to me as “fun, relaxed and family orientated“, all the perfect elements to a really special celebration, which it certainly turned out to be.

Let’s begin with the flowers shall we? Seeing as they are so opulent, they really took my breath away. There was a moon gate flower arch at the end of the aisle, flower chandeliers in the barn, the prettiest bouquets and wooden boxes filled with blooms for centrepieces. The resulting look was so wonderful.

I also love the outfits, Ruth wore a lace gown and veil, Chris opted for a blue suit with tweed waistcoat and burgundy tie to match the custom bridesmaid dresses. So stylish. Do also keep an eye out for a really special naked cake, twinkling lights and smoke bomb fun.

Jarek Lepak thanks ever so much for sharing these really remarkable images with us. Enjoy it all folks!

The Proposal

Chris had put a lot of thought into the proposal. I thought I was going out for dinner with my friends and when I walked down stairs in our house he had written me a note to put my coat and boots on with an arrow pointing towards the door, where there was another note directing me to the end of our drive, when I got to the end of the drive I could hear ‘A Thousand Years’ playing in the field opposite our house where he was down on one knee holding the most gorgeous ring and popped the question. He had bought a bottle of champagne and we both shed a few tears. It was perfect!

The Vision

We both knew that we wanted our wedding to be really relaxed, lots of fun and a day that really reflected us. We kept everything quite rustic and added in our own touches with my riding boots and Chris’s wellie boots filled with flowers. My mum handmade the favour bags, one of my bridesmaids wrote out the name tags for everyone and we made the table plan. We went for a burgundy and blush colour theme with tweed country thrown in.

The Planning Process

We were pretty organised and had everything booked within the first few months. I work as a makeup artist and luckily already knew a lot of amazing suppliers in the area. I had a planner and we did a spreadsheet to keep on top of what needed to be done. It was a total joint effort and I was very lucky that my husband helped with every aspect of the wedding.

The Venue

As soon as we arrived at Dewsall Court we knew it was the venue for us! It felt like the perfect fit, with its stunning gardens, beautiful lake and the house felt like a home away from home. We were able to all be together as a family for the entire weekend and everyone was blown away by Dewsall Court. There are lots of different options for the wedding ceremony and we opted to have the ceremony and wedding reception in the impressive Wainhouse Barn. It is a beautiful stone build barn with wall to floor windows along one side looking out at the gorgeous gardens, it was magical!

Your Outfits & Accessories

I looked at A LOT of dresses! But finally found ‘the one’ from a boutique in Northern Ireland (where I grew up) called the White Gallery. They have the most beautiful selection of dresses and I could have quite happily bought a few from them. I decided on a blush ‘Tara Lauren’ gown, fitted with a low back and beautiful lace detail. I also got my veil from them which had blush lace sewn around the edges. I wore Steve Madden blush heels. Jewellery was from ‘Liberty in London’ and I wore fresh flowers in my hair.

Beauty

As a makeup artist I was back and forth about having another artist doing my makeup but I am so glad that I did! Our makeup artist Nikki was fabulous and I’m so glad I met her. She was such a calming influence and everyone was delighted with their makeup, even my mother in law who hadn’t worn makeup in 20 years loved her subtle glow! We all had a relaxed updo with natural flowers put in, Angie was our fabulous hairdresser who got everyone’s look spot on, I think we were so lucky to have a dream team making us all feel beautiful on our wedding morning.

Groomsmen

Chris bought his suit from Bill Child Formal wear in Hereford, the groomsmen also hired their suits from the same shop. They all wore a navy three piece suit with a tweed waistcoat. Then bought a burgundy tie and pocket square from Master Debonair and the shoes were from Debenhams.

Bridesmaids

I designed the bridesmaid dresses and we had a wonderful dress maker to make them for us. The girls wore a burgundy midi dress with a high neck and beautiful lace back detail. They all had similar colouring and I was so delighted with how the dresses looked.

The Readings & Music

We had Emily White playing the piano and singing during the ceremony, she sang ‘A Thousand Years’ as I walked down the aisle which was the same song that Chris proposed to me with. I still cry now every time I hear it! One of my childhood friends read ‘The One’ during our ceremony and my brother blessed our marriage during the ceremony. It was all very special.

Your Photographer

Our photographer Jarek again was the person we knew we wanted as soon as we got engaged. We didn’t want the typical ‘posed’ photos, we wanted the real joy and fun of the day to be captured which he does so brilliantly. Our day was a real party and Jarek really got involved and our pictures all tell a story of how the day went. We found it so hard to narrow it down for our wedding album as we loved them all!

Your Filmmaker

We also had a videographer arranged through Jarek and we are so glad that we did as the whole day goes past so quickly that its lovely to watch it back and re live it all again.

The Flowers

Our florist ‘Issy & Bella’ exceeded our expectations, I met Jo a couple of years before we got married and she was always going to be our florist. We told her our colour scheme and theme and totally trusted that she would do an amazing job and we weren’t wrong! We had a half moon flower arch at the end of the aisle, our bridal bouquet had burgundy and blush ribbons attached and the boys had a rustic buttonhole. She is just the best!

The Cake

We had a three tier semi naked cake with fresh flowers made by Danielle’s Delicious Delights. It was delicious and we still have some in our freezer!

The Details & Décor

Being a creative person I think all the little details can make all the difference. We wanted everything to be quite personal for the wedding favours we had chocolate truffles made which all went into a handmade bag (made my wonderful mum). We both grew up in the country, Chris is a farmer and I have grown up riding horses. We had my riding boots and Chris’s wellies at the end of the aisle filled with flowers. Our invitations were handmade, each one hand tied with twine and we had a wax stamp made with C&R to seal each envelope. My Dad is a carpenter who painted signs down the walk way from the house to the barn with a verse from ‘Love is Kind’ on each one, we attached them to copper torches which looked so amazing especially at night.

We also had all of our chairs decorated in burgundy material. The stylist wrapped the chairs with the fabric draping down. It brought the whole look together and looked fantastic in the pictures.

So many guests commented on how unique we made our day and how all the little details really do matter.

The Honeymoon

We booked 5 days away straight after the wedding to the ‘Cyder Barn’ in Cornwall. It was a little slice of heaven after a manic couple of weeks. We ate in all the local restaurants, had a indulgent spa day and generally switched off from the world. We then went on our ‘Proper Honeymoon’ to Croatia for 10 days, we stayed in a beautiful hotel on sunset beach in Dubrovnik for the first 7 days and then moved to an island called Kolcep for the final 3 days. It was the trip of a lifetime.

Memorable Moments

One of our favourite moments was the singing waiter that we had arranged as a total surprise. He acted as a waiter all day, and then raised a toast to us and burst into song! Everyone went crazy, dancing on chairs, doing the konga round the barn and singing sweet Caroline to my lovely mum. It really got the party started and I remember looking around the room and smiling at all of the happy faces, it was exactly what we wanted the day to be like.

Advice For Other Couples

Enjoy your day! When it comes to the day, just let yourself enjoy it, all the hard work is done and now its ‘your time’. When people say it goes so quickly it really does, be sure to take a few quiet moments with your partner and appreciate having everyone you love all in one place.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Just incredible.

Chris and Ruth, thanks so much for sharing your stunning barn wedding with us, it’s been a pleasure xo Lou