Quirky Multicolour Barn Wedding with Happy Relaxed Vibes

“Quirky, colourful, happy, relaxed, laid back, fun.” is how today’s couple Kiera and Rob described their glorious wedding celebrations to me. They tied the knot on the 20th July 2019 at The Old Barn in North Devon with a multicolour scheme and a lot of fun!

What I love most from their wedding report has to be their wise words of advice at the end, it will be sure to relieve any anxious couples out there. But of course I just love their wedding style, think quirky décor with rag bunting, lanterns, chalkboard signs, fresh florals and the most awesome dessert table you ever did see.

These two looked really gorgeous in their chosen attire, they travelled in style in a super cool campervan and even got to ride the dodgems on site. Amazing!

Huge thanks goes to Joshua Rhys Photography for sharing with us these tremendous images. Wow.

The Proposal

It was December and we’d just put up Christmas decorations, so the flat looked lovely. Rob asked the question. It was simple and beautiful.

The Vision

The most important thing for us was a relaxed vibe, and for everyone to enjoy themselves. A bit festival like, but more practical. We didn’t want to commit to one colour, so we had all of them. We wanted people to genuinely enjoy themselves, not feel like they were being dragged from pillar to post. We think we achieved that.

The Planning Process

First, we found the venue. It wasn’t local, so we booked most of our suppliers at the venue’s wedding fair, a few months later. I tracked most of my stuff through Bridebook and put together a Pinterest board – but the suppliers took the lead on the planning. I didn’t want a lot to do with it, because I’m scared of stress and knew they’d do it better. We attended maybe 2 meetings. Didn’t see the cake, flowers, styling, or taste the food until the big day. We wanted the wedding to look and feel like ours. That’s harder to achieve when the setting is venue led. But we weren’t massively fussed on creative control. We wanted to avoid stress (and waste) where possible, and we knew professionals would do the job better.

So, we booked a venue stylist (Katie Stevens at Best.Day.Ever) and gave her a Pinterest board and some basic direction around what we wanted. She hooked us up with Heather (Church Park Flowers) who created the most stunning displays and bouquets. She also worked with Emma (Mrs Smudgers Kitchen) to present our cake / desert table as an artistic masterpiece.

Budget

10,000 (approx.)

The Venue

The Old Barn at The Milky Way, North Devon. A DIY venue at the back of a theme park, where we could also rent out the dodgems for our guests (the dodgems really sold it for us). We chose The Old Barn before we’d been to see it. It ticked a lot of boxes and had features we hadn’t even realised we wanted. It had the right feel for us. When we saw it for the first time at their January wedding fayre in 2018 we knew we’d made a brilliant choice. Not only did we love the venue itself, we were able to start booking suppliers who knew The Old Barn well. From there, it all came together naturally.

Your Outfits & Accessories

I wore a lacy, ivory dress from Wynter Isabelle Bridal Boutique in Barry. I always knew I wouldn’t wear a “big” dress, but the dodgems really sealed the deal.

Rob wore a tweed jacket and navy bottoms from Anthony Brooks Menswear in Fleet.

Beauty

Hair by Svieta (a friend) and make-up by Christina Tsenti (my sister).

The Readings & Music

Reading (Julie)

In life, one of the best things that can happen,
Is you find someone who sees everything you are.

They see your potential and endless possibilities.
They won’t let you be anything less.

And through their eyes, you start to see yourself the same way.
As someone who matters.
As someone who can make a difference in this world.

If you’re lucky enough to find that, never let it go.

Reading (Christina)

Never forget the feeling.
When you knew for the first time, you’d found the person worth spending your life with.

It changes you.
Suddenly, you see the world in a softer glow, and you want to be so much more.

Hold on to that.
As time ticks by, and life tends to get in the way.
Always remember how you felt, the moment you realised they were it.

Music:

Down aisle – Bright Eyes, First Day of My Life
Out ceremony – Wheezer, Island in the Sun

The Flowers

By Heather at Church Park Flowers.

The Cake

By Emma at Mrs Smudgers (salted caramel and dark chocolate).

The Details & Décor

Katie at Best.Day.Ever.

Your Photographer

Josh at Joshua Rhys Photography.

Your Filmmaker

Nicole Machado

Bridesmaids

Christina, Robyn, Laura. Dresses from Little Mistress.

Groomsmen

Darren, Tom, Ross. They wore their own clothes, it wasn’t coordinated!

The Honeymoon

Barbados (not yet happened).

Memorable Moments

6 rounds on the dodgems, the whiplash 3 days later. The band playing Tenacious D at the end of the night to a packed dancefloor. But seriously, all of it. We’re so glad we had the day we did.

Advice For Other Couples

Trust your suppliers, they’ve done this before. Even if you know what you want, they’ll do a better job bringing it to life if you give them the freedom to use their expertise. They made our wedding day everything we hoped for and so much more. Before the big day, we were anxious. We tend to skip excitement and hang out there a lot, so we thought we’d be pleased when it was over. The reality was completely different, it’s all we wanted to talk about for weeks. We’d do it again if we could.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

What a truly splendid day!

Kiera and Rob, thank you both so much for sharing your wonderful wedding story xo Lou