Fun Relaxed & Rustic DIY Barn Milton Keynes Wedding

Wow Natalie and Chris, thank you so much for sharing with us your stunning Milton Keynes wedding today. Set at Furtho Manor Farm in Buckinghamshire, their day was absolutely darling!

A real DIY rustic celebration with fairy lights everywhere, cute succulent favours and gin bottles galore in the decor. There were atmospheric rainy portraits, sensational sweet treats and some seriously beautiful attire to name just a few.

WWW wedding supplier Thyme Lane Photography was there to capture all the fun, thanks so much to them for sharing with us these incredible shots!

Milton Keynes Wedding

The Proposal

The weather we experienced during our weekend away to Bath (early December, so really what did we expect) was a sign of things to come for the big day, with much of the trip spent dodging/embracing the pelting rainfall. To quote Chris (a proud Yorkshireman), there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing!

The proposal itself wasn’t entirely unexpected after 5+ years together at this stage, however what was unexpected was a distinct lack of something shiny, instead taking the format of what became a very soggy Haribo ring presented during a muddy walk up a very steep hill! Although he did eventually make up for it by substituting it for his grandmother’s beautiful engagement ring.

The Vision

DIY. Twinkly Lights. Succulents.

We always wanted a fun, relaxed day with everyone we love in a space together, and after all of the delays due to the pandemic, we can safely say we achieved exactly that! We both love all things casual and rustic and aren’t afraid to get stuck in so were more than happy to start from the ground up to make the bespoke day we were after.

Budget

We initially opted for the DIY avenue as a cost-saving measure vs other packages, however, this soon appeared not to be the case thanks to our inexperience of wedding planning, Covid, and champagne taste with ginger beer money.

In hindsight, knowing the final cost would’ve been handy for budgeting purposes, however if we had to do it all again we wouldn’t change a thing!

The Venue

We knew we wanted a rustic setting and due to family being spread all over the UK and beyond, weren’t tied to any particular area.

We visited Furtho Manor Farm for a wedding fair and both fell head over heels for the ex-sheep barn, dovecote and redundant church all on-site, and booked it there and then!

Your Outfits

Although not what I originally envisioned, I fell in love with a beautiful lace dress by Maggie Sottero from George James Bridal with the biggest train (which soaked up all the puddles on the day!).

Chris has always wanted a tweed suit, so this was a great excuse to dress himself and the gents in the party in outfits that tied in perfectly with the setting and the time of year from the wonderful Chimney Formal Menswear.

The Ceremony & Music

Furtho has a tiny yet stunning redundant medieval church on site, so we were lucky enough to be one of the few able to have a wedding blessing there each year and even had the real candles lit for us. Natalie walked down the aisle to Chris’ piano rendition of Jose Gonzales’ Heartbeats and we both danced out after the ceremony to Gypsy King’s Bambaleo!

Natalie eventually convinced Chris that having a ceilidh was the way to go, and if the photos are anything to go by, he (and everyone else that couldn’t help but get involved) loved it! It was so nice to see people of all ages dancing together, with the flexibility to dip in and out of “sets” or just take in the chaos!

The Styling & Decor

With the help of McGees we covered the barn in fairy lights. In the lead up to the wedding, we collected and propagated many succulents and accumulated umteen gin bottles to get the look we were after.

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

The WONDERFUL Noemi and Pal at Thyme Lane Photography. We originally had another photographer booked but when we had to postpone the wedding they were unable to do the new date, which was a secret blessing!

We had seen Thyme Lane Photography shooting at our friends wedding the year before and we had no doubts that this was who we wanted! They are the best couple and so professional, friendly and really made us feel at ease.

The Honeymoon

We managed to have a minimoon in the Cotswolds but the real (delayed) honeymoon is in a few weeks time where we will visit our dream destination of Cuba.

Memorable Moments

Sneaking in a Stormsy song as one of our church hymns.
Dancing out of the church!
Natalie’s dad sobbing his way through the Father of the Bride speech.
Photobooth by Waterfall Photobooth.

Advice For Other Couples

Set a budget in advance!

Do what you want to do, invite who you want to invite, and not make choices to please others.

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Oh my, so very lovely.

Natalie and Chris thank you so much for sharing your fantastic Milton Keynes wedding and for your valuable words of wisdom that I couldn’t agree more with!