Naturally Beautiful Simple & Contemporary Barn Wedding

Gemma and Lee tied the knot on the 11th April 2019 and I think you’re going to love their laid back and contemporary barn wedding, which is just a bit twinkly! Their day took place at Stone Barn in Gloucestershire and the surroundings are simply stunning. The venue was beautiful on its own and our pair didn’t want to overdo the décor.

The touches they did add are so pretty, I particularly love the tasselled balloons and the incredible foliage hoop suspended from the ceiling, it creates such impact.

The outfits are also totally on point. I do love the mismatched bridesmaids’ dresses, which really are rather stylish. Their different shades of pink work ever so well and the gypsophila bouquets tie them together beautifully. Gemma’s gown is absolutely divine as well, so elegant.

Ryan Goold Photography has captured their day just wonderfully. Will you just look at those amazing golden hour portraits?! Thank you so much Ryan for sharing these images with us. Enjoy everyone!

The Proposal

Hampstead Heath, Parliament Hill view point whilst on our Saturday morning run together, 21st October 2017 (there’s a great shot that some stranger took).

The Vision

The vision changed constantly….due to budget, logistics and too many ideas derived from Pinterest boards. We chose to keep it simple with a great venue that doesn’t need that much extra in terms of décor as it’s beautiful in its own right. It suits me and Lee down to the ground. We did a lot of the other décor stuff ourselves with help from friends including the signs, cakes, decorations and tables.

The Planning Process

Spreadsheets, constant lists, lots of delegation. We did everything in small little chunks making sure we enjoyed the process and didn’t get overwhelmed. There were months where we didn’t do much. More got handled inevitably in the few months that were before the big day. Surprisingly we had no big dramas. We just kept things simple.

The Venue

Stonebarn – Upper Windrush.

Just a beautiful venue that is a barn but so much better than a barn! It’s got an urban edge to it and has such a lovely warm and fun vibe.

Your Outfits & Accessories

Gemma – Mikaella Dress, Which is a Canadian Designer. Bought it from Lace and Grace, a boutique in Keynsham. I wanted something classic that I would look back at in 40 years and still love. But I also wanted it to have a contemporary edge to it. I don’t like these wedding dress fad trends, they die hard and its just too ‘showy’ for me.

My dress had just the right balance of simple but with a statement. The original dress design has a thigh high slide slit, I asked for that to be removed which suited my style more.

Shoes were a blush pink from Dune. Very comfy they lasted all day and night.

Veil was borrowed from my Maid of Honour (also bought in the same wedding shop) it was sooo long I loved it!

Hair accessories were from ‘made by Clemmie’ Her accessories are handmade and absolutely stunning. I chose these Swarovski STAR hair grips. I love anything cosmic and these were a bit different!

Lee – Suit was bought from Suit Direct. A navy textured two piece and a contrasting grey waistcoat, Reiss shirt and tie from ASOS. It was knitted to tie in with the other textures in the suit and was a taupe / coffee / natural base colour to tie in with the bridesmaids but not chosen to purposefully match.

Beauty

MUA – Elle Hitchens. So talented! I wanted Natural make up but long lasting. I don’t wear too much make up normally and I still wanted to look like me. Elle did GREAT job and achieved exactly what I wanted.

Hair – Beady Bride. Aka Sheena. Such a lovely lady. Hair up but with texture and body. Not too much volume and not too slick, just the right kind of tousled up do I was after. With the added extra stars made it super special.

Bridesmaids

All different dresses for six very different girls.
Mary – Urban Outfitters. A silky copper / rose gold cami dress.
Ali and Sarah – TFNC London – Grecian style in nude.
Julie – Phase Eight – Lacey two tier dress , dusky pink.
Aarti – ASOS – Sequin top and tulle skirt – coffee coloured.
Natalie – Her own dress.

Groomsmen

Hired Navy three piece suits from Suit Direct. Ties all bought from ASOS which were the same as the Groom’s.

The Readings & Music

Reading 1 was an extract from Captain Correlis mandolin.
Reading 2 was Robert Fulghum – Union.

During canapés we had a friend duet with his dad some acoustic numbers. He sang and his Dad played guitar. Just classic wedding vibe hits.

In the evening, the Grooms friends are DJs so they DJd. We had a Kisstory hour, some motown, and some rap and Grime for Lee (rolls eyes!).

First Dance Song – Tom Walker – Just You and I

The Details & Décor

Handmade signs, big balloons, lots of foliage on the tables and a giant hanging foliage wheel. Fresh petal confetti, an old window for the table plan on a crate with pot plants and a suitcase with lights and a collage of polaroid prints of us.

Your Photographer

Ryan Goold. Just an incredible photographer who captured the day perfectly for us. He’s not just a great photographer though, he has a lovely calming presence and is more just like a friend there on your wedding day. ?

The Honeymoon

Santorini at the end of July.

The Flowers

Bramble and Wild in Frome did the Bouquets and Buttonholes.
Table foliage was foraged from our own gardens and local markets.
Foliage / flower wheel in main barn was done by Go Wild Flowers based in the Cotswolds nearby.

The Cake

Six guests at the wedding all brought a cake. We had caramel cupcakes, lemon drizzle with dark chocolate chunks, Gluten free brownie, Chocolate berry brownie, chocolate fudge cake and Victoria sponge. All laid out on slates with the names of cakes written in chalk pen.

Memorable Moments

During the first dance and just after when we kissed in the ceremony ‘You may kiss the bride’ my dress got hitched on his waistcoat button. So we were there for quite some time trying to detach from one another. It was a funny little moment.

My brother an Usher surprised us with a bottle of Dom Perignon in an ice bucket for the top table to have and then we had a little box on our place setting from him. It was a string of light and a cork so we have kept the bottle and put the lights in it. It’s a really sweet memento. The bridesmaids did dares just after the food….one was dared to get in the high chair. She got stuck and needed a haul of people to get her out! Very funny.

Advice For Other Couples

Enjoy the process of planning and don’t over exert yourself. Remember it’s meant to be fun and you’re only (hopefully) going to do it once so make it memorable and help each other out. Im good at creative stuff so Lee left that with me. Logistics and figures stress me out so Lee volunteered for those jobs. I think its easy for the bride to take everything on (I know I did) and actually the Groom may want to help out and play a part too in creating your special day. I also dealt with the people I am closest too and he dealt with his friends and family. It was easier that way as you know them best.

Pay for the things that matter most and try and save on the things that aren’t so important. We didn’t do favours, we didn’t have over the top wedding table decorations or the most expensive flowers. There was no pop up van making pizzas outside at night and I didn’t wear a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. Yes I am sure it would have been nice to have had those lovely things but it didn’t matter in the end. It was a perfect day without all of the above.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Just gorgeous! Thank you so much Gemma and Lee for sharing your laid back nuptials with us. Rachel x