{"id":305266,"date":"2021-11-04T07:00:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T07:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whimsicalwonderlandweddings.com\/?p=305266"},"modified":"2024-06-20T10:28:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T09:28:09","slug":"essex-barn-wedding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wedissimo.com\/blog\/essex-barn-wedding\/","title":{"rendered":"Colourful Relaxed & Fun Barn Wedding For 20 Guests"},"content":{"rendered":"

A very warm welcome to Storm and Alex who are sharing with us their colourful and relaxed Essex barn wedding at The Barns At Lodge Farm<\/a>. Their day was full of love, smiles and laughter, which was super intimate thanks to their guest list of 20. Despite their change in plans, going from a large wedding to a micro wedding<\/a>, they had a total blast!<\/p>\n

Storm and Alex recently moved back to the UK from Pakistan and Lebanon respectively and I love that they injected some influences from their heritage and travels. Storm looked beautiful in her chic sleek gown which she teamed with a block printed scarf and they also had their Pakistan \u2018Truck Art\u2019 painting of their engagement displayed on the day. Gorgeous<\/em>!<\/p>\n

I love all the stylish outfits, the colourful flowers and the very cool transport too. What a special day indeed.<\/p>\n

Three Flowers Photography<\/a> thank you so much for sharing these joy-filled images.<\/p>\n

\"Dress\n\"Couple \"Ceremony \"Painted \"Buttonhole<\/p>\n

Essex Barn Wedding <\/em><\/h2>\n

The Proposal<\/h3>\n

(Written by Alex)<\/em><\/p>\n

So after planning to propose in Thailand, we were trapped in Pakistan (where we used to live) after things heated up in Kashmir and the airspace was closed\u2026 Eventually, we managed to plan a holiday to Indonesia<\/strong> and I carried the ring around in my backpack waiting for the perfect moment.<\/p>\n

On the top of a volcano\u2026 too many people\u2026 on a beautiful island\u2026. too many selfie sticks. In the second week of our hols we hiked Mount Rinjani<\/strong>, an incredible volcano on Lombok – it was the perfect place.<\/p>\n

On the top of the crater rim, I knelt down on one knee, Storm giggled, and we were engaged!! Cunningly we were out of mobile reception for the whole trek so we could share the moment just with us<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Milk \"Bud<\/p>\n

The Vision<\/h3>\n

Originally we had planned to have a much larger wedding (160 people plus some extra party guests). Storm is from a very big extended family and we have lots of friends from overseas, so we wanted this to be a chance to bring everyone we love together. At the end of the night we were also hoping that some of our guests would go glamping.<\/p>\n

Overall we wanted our wedding to feel colourful, relaxed and fun<\/strong>, with lots of people we love involved. We were going to have Storm\u2019s sister\u2019s function band, our friend Hettie was doing the flowers and Alex\u2019s mum painted the design for the invites.<\/p>\n

We also just prioritised everyone having a good time<\/strong> so wanted to make sure it was good food, music and a very accessible and flexible venue. The Barns at Lodge Farm were a dream! The team there seemed so lovely and as a family run business you instantly felt at home. The venue itself was beautiful and also very reachable.<\/p>\n

For food we chose Gather and Feast for good food we knew would be ethically sourced<\/strong> and would feel sociable on the day. Then of course Charlotte was the perfect photographer to choose for the natural and special moment shots!<\/p>\n

Unfortunately like many others, our original date was cancelled<\/strong> due to COVID. We definitely moved between decisions but all our suppliers were so flexible and helpful. In the end, our new date ended up still looking like there would be restrictions, however, we had already agreed that we wanted to keep things much smaller for the safety of our guests and because we were now expecting a baby!<\/p>\n

In the end we had twenty guests<\/strong> to include our closest family and oldest friends. Whilst we missed lots of our family being there sharing it with our parents, sisters, grandparents and oldest school friends was perfect.<\/p>\n

Whilst it was very different we loved our day and at the end we actually did feel it was one of the best days of our lives<\/strong> (neither of us had ever expected it would be!). Because it was so small we felt like we were really present on the day and spent so much quality time with people and each other, which would be more difficult with a larger day.<\/p>\n

We have thought about doing a larger, more informal wedding party but we will see how we feel once the baby arrives!<\/p>\n

\"Essex \"Bouquet<\/p>\n

Budget<\/h3>\n

Won\u2019t share this, but we will say that because it was a smaller wedding it meant we could go that extra mile<\/strong> to have specific details like the wedding favours. We particularly loved the masks we got made from a charity called March in Lebanon that supports youth employment and peacebuilding.<\/p>\n

\"Pet \"Long<\/p>\n

The Venue<\/h3>\n

The Barns at Lodge Farm<\/strong> were a dream to work with. Bryony, Nina and the rest of the team made it so much fun. My catch-ups with them always felt like I was catching up with friends. Because it had so many different spaces it meant that we could easily adapt to the change in guest numbers.<\/p>\n

\"Long \"Long \"Glass \"Glass \"Glass<\/p>\n

Your Outfits<\/h3>\n

Storm bought her dress second hand from Still White<\/strong> (an online second-hand wedding dress shop). I went to do one fitting so I knew the types of styles that suited me (essentially sleek, simple and structured) and thought it was more environmental and economical<\/strong> to look for something second hand.<\/p>\n

Still White is a great option as most brides are happy for you to try their dresses on and are super welcoming. The dress I chose ended up being an Alexander McQueen<\/strong> that in the end had not been worn.<\/p>\n

As I am half Indian (Storm) and we had both lived in Pakistan, I accessorised with a block printed red scarf<\/strong> and wore the necklace my mum wore at my parents’ wedding.<\/p>\n

Alex bought his suit from Charles Tyrwhitt<\/strong>. Both of us wanted to have outfits that we much more summery and more informal.<\/p>\n

\"Place \"Groom \"Essex<\/p>\n

The Ceremony & Music<\/h3>\n

We had the ceremony in the old granary at The Barns – it is so beautiful.<\/p>\n

Our sisters – Hannah and Brooke entered first and Storm was accompanied by her mum, dad and unexpectedly the family dog.<\/p>\n

We wrote our vows together<\/strong> which we repeated to each other. Storm also wrote a poem to read on the day which focussed on family and love. Alex\u2019s dad, Phil, read an excerpt from Captain Corelli\u2019s Mandolin<\/strong>. The whole wedding was very intimate and personal.<\/p>\n

We still wanted lots of people involved. Alex\u2019s mum, Pauline, painted the orders of service, Storm wrote and read a poem as one of the ceremony readings and Hettie did our beautiful flowers. Whilst we did not have Brooke\u2019s live band\u00a0Rebels and Records<\/a> (as we were unsure if we would have a dance floor and we had a small guest list) we still played her original music on the day.<\/p>\n