Hand Made Rustic White Farm Wedding

Love in the country with this rustic white wedding today.

On the 18^th June 2016 WWW readers Jack and Sarah said I do in an outdoor ceremony within a striking modern sculpture at Alcumlow Wedding Barn in Cheshire. They started the planning with individually listing what they envisioned and so a wooden, rustic and simple day was planned. The whole affair was a labour of love with their nearest and dearest all contributing to the DIY efforts. One of my favourite hand made touches has to be the Gypsophila bouquets arranged by Sarah and the naked cake baked by her mum.

The outfits deserve a lot of love too. Jack went for a country gent feel in brown tweed which really suited the occasion. Sarah chose a Mori Lee lace gown with spaghetti straps and miles of buttons, in which she looked stunning. Fun times all round.

Thanks so very much to Sarah Horton Photography for sharing these really special shots with us.

THE PROPOSAL | It was new years eve 2014, we had agreed to having a few nibbles and drinks at home with friends before heading out to the local country pub. Rushed off my feet I came home with just an hour to spare before our guests would arrive. Jack seemed spritely and keen on getting ready, he was dressed in his best attire to which I assumed was for the pub and not for me. He lit some candles, put the twinkly Christmas lights on and played some chilled music. Unbeknown to me he was preparing to get down on bended knee! He seized the moment in the midst of my rush to be ready and popped the big question, as he reached into his pocket I was in disbelief that he was being serious! But of course I accepted with tears in my eyes and love filled my heart even more so than before.

THE VISION | We both sat down one evening with separate pieces of paper to write down our ideal wedding plans. As we revealed the plans to each other, we uncovered similar words… Rustic, wooden, simple, laughter, love, memorable. We don’t like formalities and wanted to keep the whole day relaxed and fun with no particular time schedule. We never wanted any seating plans as our friends and family would be joined by our marriage. It was our image to have everyone happy and entertained, we had collected various games during our 8 months of planning. Among the festivities was a coconut shy, hook a duck, limbo, giant jenga, egg and spoon race. We did plan to have a sack race on the lawn area but the weather was not sympathetic to our needs.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | We wanted to keep a lot of the planning and preparation between our family and friends so it was a personal affair. We had help from Jack’s friend and mum with the design of our rustic invitations, his friend waived the fee and he had them printed as a wedding gift which saved us money. Another friend of is a DJ and offered to look after our evening entertainment, again a big help and another gift well received. My friend had previously arranged her own sweetie cart and offered as a gift to make up home made treats for us, her husband was extremely happy to play chief of tasting. My mum along with her best friend are keen bakers had agreed to make our naked wedding cake and of course we needed a trial run, which they loved making as much as eating. We were very lucky to have such generous people to help out. We wanted the day to be special for our guests as well as for ourselves. I looked into making my own wedding favours not long after Jack had proposed and I had some ideas from various web sites. I made miniature flavoured gin and vodkas and for the non alcoholics home made jams. I was so happy with them all, it was time consuming but really worth the effort. We planned the guests around a spreadsheet so to keep track of numbers, making it easy when we had to finalise with the venue and catering.  Phone screen shots filled my memory card with pictures of ideas I had found from the internet, I don’t know how people managed before internet existed??

THE VENUE | We are lucky to live in the countryside of Cheshire with rolling hills and green backdrops. We craved rustic from day one and discussed relaxed and unusual settings. We had a recommendation on a new venue from a family member. It was our 3^rd venue we had looked at and fell in love the moment we walked in. We entered via two gigantic wooden doors set aside from a blacksmiths workshop, we were met by this beautiful wooden barn with sliding doors, inside twinkly lights floated from the ceiling, a small rustic bar appeared on one side and a dance floor surrounded by hay bales the other side. It felt truly magical and we both read each other’s mind with a smile that we had found the perfect place to marry. We discussed dates and decided on a June wedding for the day after my birthday. The owners of the venue had mentioned we would be their first official wedding and that they were excited with our plans. They were very accommodating with everything we asked for and by the time the wedding approached we had made a great connection with them which made it even more special.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | I wore an unusual two toned lace and satin Mori Lee dress that I had found at the local bridal shop. On the morning of the wedding my nerves started to kick in as my hair and make up were being done. I gathered with my maid of honour and chief bridesmaid to change into my dress and at that point my nerves disappeared, I was then ready to go and meet my soul mate at the altar. My shoes were a beautiful detailed design from Harriet Wilde. I had travelled to a shop recommended by a friend, my nan had come to help with choosing. I felt like Cinderella when I had found them, although I had to wait for a smaller pair to be made for me. I opted for no veil but just simple flowers in my hair that would match the bouquet. I wanted to keep with the traditional something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. I had been given an old sixpence from the girls in Jack’s family that I had my chief bridesmaid sew to my laces of my shoes. My maid of honour had lent me her precious late grandmothers ring that I had sewn to my home made bouquet along with a new blue charm Jack had surprised me with as a gift on the morning of the big day.

FINDING THE DRESS | There is certainly truth when people say you don’t always choose the dress you first expect to wear. I had searched several shops and thought I had found the perfect dress, although completely out of budget I attended for a second trial. Thank goodness I did because it felt different the second time I tried it on. We ended our search in a local bridal shop. Accompanied by my mum and mother in law, my mum picked out the dress to which I thought looked old fashioned. I agreed to try it on, as I stepped out in front of them both it was decided that it was actually quite beautiful and kept with my unique feeling of wanting something different. The more I looked in the mirror, the more I loved it. The price was incredible as I think it was last year’s season, it just goes to show you don’t need to spend a fortune to feel amazing.

GROOM’S ATTIRE | Jack wanted to keep in with the rustic theme and had his heart set on a mix match of a tweed jacket and plain trousers. His inspiration came from an article on a wedding website. He found his perfect apparel Marc Darcy, which is a London based company on the internet. He chose his trousers, shirt and tie from the local high street retailers. The rest of the groomsmen wore the same waistcoat, trousers and shirt but with the addition of matching bow ties, leaving Jack to stand out in his matching jacket. The clothing just seemed to match the venue, theme and everything fell into place just lovely.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | We had chosen the music quite late on in the preparation. We wanted some live music but had left it too late. I cherry picked a beautiful version of Hallelujah sung by a friend of mine for the walk down the aisle, it was an emotional and exquisite version that had touched me from the moment I heard it. He recorded a special version for us to play as he couldn’t make it to perform on the day. Our first dance was chosen from the lyrics in the song, Eagle Eye Cherry: Falling In Love Again. We also wanted something we could dance a little to rather than a slow ballad.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | There was no doubting on who my bridesmaids were to be. My maid of honour, my chief bridesmaid and bridesmaids have all played an unforgettable part in my life and what an honour for me to have them by my side on my special day. As a special reminder of the day I had rings made for them all from the blacksmith on the site of the venue, I wanted a little keepsake to say thank you to them all that they could remember. I always had vision of a dress that wasn’t the customary bridesmaid dress. We looked at lots of dresses and thought we had the ideal array only to find a fault in them just weeks before the big day!! In a mad rush we found the perfect dress (even better than the first chosen) from the online company ChiChi. And for the little ones we managed to adorn lovely Monsoon dresses that complimented the big girls. They just all looked so stunning, I was a very proud bride!

THE FLOWERS | I had always known I wasn’t going to spend a fortune on flowers but I also wanted something special. I had the idea to make my own bouquets from gypsophila, the idea came again from a screenshot/internet find. Me and my mum had a trial at making them which we found quite easy. I also personalised the individual bouquets for the girls with charms that they could keep for afterwards. The day before the wedding (my birthday) was spent with my nan and mother in law making flower arrangements of bouquets and button holes, it was probably one of the best birthdays ever! Very proud of the end result.

THE CAKE | All credit goes to my mum and her best friend. I showed them pictures of naked rustic cakes and they delivered one of the best I had seen. They designed a masterpiece of light sponge with a lemon and buttercream filling that tasted divine, they decorated it with flowers and dusted with icing sugar. The cake was used as part of our dessert to cut back on catering cost. My dear friend had created the cake toppers for me. I had seen a felt design of birds that adorned similar designed weddings. Jack has dubbed me his little birdie so I felt that they were perfect. She crafted them to match our rustic theme and even adding a top hat and flowers, I felt very fortunate to receive again such a lovely wedding gift.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Sarah Horton was recommended by a close friend of ours. I looked her up and saw that her pictures were beautiful. We had been urged to find a good photographer for the day as others had not and regretted it. Sarah came to the house, she was lovely and her ideas of relaxed and informal really harmonised our vision. Sarah was extremely accommodating with our request of ‘the night before’ shots.  Jack was staying at his aunt and uncles just down the road from our house, where they were having a family BBQ with drinks to celebrate his last day as an unmarried man. Whereas I was having a birthday pamper with my girls and the beautician preparing our nails. Sarah captured some lovely moments that may have been missed in memory of the anxious day ahead of us. Throughout the whole experience with us, Sarah felt like a friend and shared our emotions with us but also kept the utmost of professionalism. Looking back on our pictures just confirms that Sarah was the perfect choice and I could never recommend anyone else to share your special moments. (Thank you Sarah! X)

THE HONEYMOON | We had looked at Italy but could not decide on which place to choose. We eventually opted for the Greek island of Rhodes and it was perfect. With rose petals dressing the stairs and bedroom to our very own swimming pool. It was a time where myself and Jack needed the relaxation. The weather was perfect and a few day trips out seeking some history had completed our short week away, we would have loved to of stayed longer so we have decided to return in the next year or two so to reminisce the whole experience.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | Where to start? We loved everything. Although it was quite a stressful time, with not everything falling quite into place it was certainly memorable. At times tears were shed but in the end it’s the laughter we remember, the love that was so very apparent not just between myself and Jack, but between our friends and family. My memorable moment was walking up to Jack at the end of the aisle and him saying “Wow” (brings tears to my eyes even now). I think Jack’s memorable moment will be getting through the ceremony without fainting!!

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE | The credits go out to our wonderful friends and family for all of their help and support. To the beautiful Beverley and Todd at the venue. And to the stunning connoisseur Sarah Horton who has captured the best day of our life. We want to Thank you all xx

Photography | Sarah Horton Photography

Venue | Alcumlow Wedding Barn

Shoes | Harriet Wilde

Bridesmaids | Chi Chi

Suit | Marc Darcy

Ahhh so lovely.

Thanks so much to Jack and Sarah for sharing their amazing story today xo Lou