{"id":309583,"date":"2022-01-27T07:00:14","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T07:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whimsicalwonderlandweddings.com\/?p=309583"},"modified":"2024-06-12T11:22:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T10:22:16","slug":"surrey-farm-wedding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wedissimo.com\/blog\/surrey-farm-wedding\/","title":{"rendered":"Romantic & Boho Earthy Autumnal Woodland Wedding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the Surrey farm wedding<\/strong> of SJ and Joe who were married on a glorious autumn day at High Billinghurst Farm<\/a>. I really think you’re going to love their day, their story and all of the fun images by Rob Tarren<\/a> (big thanks for sharing Rob!). Let me share why.<\/p>\n

SJ and Joe’s wedding planning wasn’t without its tough times, having to find a new venue couldn’t have been easy by any means. But massive kudos to them both for sticking with their plans and making one heck of an awesome celebration of their love. It was all epic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Think woodland ceremony<\/a>, barn reception, smoke bombs, confetti, cool attire, autumnal orange<\/a> tones, masses of DIY wedding<\/a> decor and so so many smiles all day long. So great to see WWW member Entertainment Nation<\/a> providing them with amazing entertainment too. Enjoy every gorgeous moment.<\/p>\n

\"Surrey\n

\"Bouquet \"Peacock \"Woodland \"Bride<\/p>\n

Surrey Farm Wedding <\/em><\/h2>\n

The Proposal<\/h3>\n

18th January 2019: I (SJ) was on the train home<\/strong> after a very usual Friday at work and asked Joe to pick me up from the station (rather than walk back) as it was very cold and wet outside. Usually, Joe would be there without fail but this time he asked me to walk back.<\/p>\n

I was a little confused when I asked why, he said it was because he had lit our fire. I was quite confused by this as we NEVER light the fire so got a little annoyed (I was hangry) that he couldn\u2019t pick me up especially when I had no umbrella haha. Anyway, I walked back<\/strong> and when I arrived home, instead of getting my keys out to let myself in, I thought I\u2019d ring the doorbell.<\/p>\n

But there was no answer. I then took another take at the house and noticed all the lights were off<\/strong>. How strange I thought! So I got my keys out to let myself in and I saw that our living room door was shut with two candles outside it. I thought to myself, oh that\u2019s what he meant by lighting a fire, and proceeded to walk into the living room to find Joe.<\/p>\n

Joe was standing in the middle of the living room amongst hundreds of tea beautiful tea lights<\/strong> all around the room. At this point, I didn\u2019t quite register what was going on and thought he just felt bad for not picking me up, so I walked straight over to give him a hug (stepping on a bunch of roses I hadn\u2019t seen on the floor) to cheekily place my cold hands on Joe. I was oblivious and thought he just felt bad – oops!<\/p>\n

Joe looked a little nervous and asked me to stand in the centre of one room, at that point, the penny started to drop and I started to ask what was going on. Joe got down on one knee<\/strong> and said \u2018Can I keep you warm for the rest of your life?\u2019 and asked if I would marry him. I said yes without a moments hesitation and then I think my mouth fell to the floor.<\/p>\n

It was TOTALLY unexpected but such a magical and beautiful<\/strong> surprise. Once I had a moment to take in the whirlwind that had just happened, I noticed all the other thoughtful things Joe had arranged; he proposed in our favourite place to hang out, had made my favourite cocktail (Mojito), my favourite snacks, my favourite dinner, got a bridal magazine, a wedding piggybank (we since named Geoffrey) and a lovely gift to be whisked away that weekend to Ockendon Manor Hotel & Spa the next morning.<\/p>\n

Joe is so thoughtful, he\u2019d spoke to my dad about asking to marry me and even had gone to my late Grandad\u2019s cemetery rose bush (as he was so important to me too) to let him know the plan\u2026 so cute<\/strong>!!<\/p>\n

\"Rust \"Bride<\/p>\n

The Vision<\/h3>\n

Everyone must have a lot of fun<\/strong>! A big happy celebration with lots of love, enjoyment and dancing!<\/p>\n

It needed to look visually amazing \u2013 rustic, boho and earthy<\/strong> vibes with lots of attention to detail and cute little extra touches. The colour theme was green (sage, olive seaweed shades), golds, burnt orange\/copper\/bronze, white, pale pinks.<\/p>\n

We loved the idea of a DIY wedding<\/strong> so we could really personalise it and do what WE wanted. It\u2019s a lot of hard work but we loved every second of planning it, we had lots of wood\/log decorations, dream catchers, fairy lights, pampas grass, foliage, rugs, cushions, velvet materials, vintage furniture etc! Outside ceremony was a must (weather permitting!). We wanted it to be a wedding to remember!<\/p>\n

\"Rust \"Surrey<\/p>\n

The Venue<\/h3>\n

It was meant to be at a different barn venue for a September 2020 wedding but due to covid, this fell through. The owner conducted himself awfully during the pandemic \u2013 he kept the venue fee which we had paid for in full but refused to offer a feasible postponement date. It was very stressful and emotionally draining.<\/p>\n

After a long battle with our insurance company to regain the money we had lost, we managed to find the only like for like venue with availability for the following year \u2013 High Billinghurst Farm in Dunsfold<\/strong>. And what a delight that place was!! They say everything happens for a reason<\/strong> and we are SO pleased we ended up here. It was a blessing in disguise.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a DIY venue<\/strong> so everything that went into the day, was planned and organised by Joe and I. The only thing it came with was wedding breakfast tables\/chairs, everything else was our vision\/suppliers. Our wedding stylist, Lauradana from Wedding Creations was AWESOME on the day, bringing our ideas to life.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s got a main barn with a smaller side barn (where we had the wedding breakfast and dancing), a courtyard (where we had the reception) and plenty of fields\/woodlands for outdoor ceremonies<\/strong>. They\u2019re a super helpful, accommodating and lovely team there. Nothings too much trouble.<\/p>\n

\"Surrey \"Surrey \"Peacock \"Peacock<\/p>\n

The Ceremony & Music<\/h3>\n

We had the wonderful Hannah Osmond as our celebrant<\/strong>. We wanted our ceremony to be wrapped up in nature, totally unique and personal \/ true to us. We wanted to take aspects from other civil & religious weddings we had experienced and loved, and create our own bespoke version to reflect us as a couple \u2013 both epic and intimate. And Hannah was great at helping make this happen.<\/p>\n

The ceremony was held in High Billinghurst Farms woodland area<\/strong>, dressed with autumnal bohemian flair including wild meadows, gorgeous flowers, rustic pampas, ribbons, macrame. Everyone said they felt like they were in an enchanted forest and kept expecting fairies to pop out of the trees!<\/p>\n

We had the guests sit on benches, and the aisle was made up of lots of \u2018vintage\u2019 rugs. The ceremony had a beautiful wooden arch<\/strong> dressed with flowers which Joe had made, which was the centrepiece we got married in front of. And Joe and I had two peacock chairs to sit on throughout the ceremony when our story was being told by Hannah or someone was doing a reading. We felt like bohemian king and queen!<\/p>\n

The guest arrival, entrance music, songs and exit music was performed by some of our band (Tux Fizz) and included a keyboardist, violinist and chello. The entrance music was Moon River<\/strong> (to link in SJ\u2019s Grandad to the day, as that was his funeral song) and our exit music, Queen of Sheeba<\/strong> as that\u2019s what Joe\u2019s grandparents had.<\/p>\n

Then we had two readings<\/strong>; SJ\u2019s mum read a beautifully personal poem she had written for us about us, and Joe\u2019s dad read the lyrics to Otis Reading, That\u2019s how strong my love is, which was suggested by us as we love the song and it felt very relevant.<\/p>\n

We had two \u2018singalongs\u2019, one emotive and one fun. They were Sting, Fields of Gold and Queen, Crazy Little Thing Called Love<\/strong>. We had everyone crying and then everyone up on their feet singing, being led by our amazing band\u2019s singer, Chris.<\/p>\n

Joe and I had our story shared by Hannah, personal vows that we had written ourselves and formal vows (including a silly group promise for the guests!). There was lots of emotion!<\/p>\n

\"Surrey \"Surrey \"Woodland \"Woodland \"Surrey<\/p>\n

Your Outfits<\/h3>\n

SJ \u2013 \u201cElora\u201d, Madi Lane Bridal<\/strong> from The Wedding Gallery<\/strong> in St Albans. \u2028I tried on hundreds of dresses but this was one of the first and it felt like every other dress I tried on after, I would try to recreate it. It was floaty, romantic, ethereal, botanical, lacy, boho inspired gown.<\/p>\n

I felt so elegant and magical in it, plus very comfortable \u2013 which was so important as I love food and dancing and didn\u2019t want to feel constricted and not myself on the day. I tried on lots of different styles, but this one was something DIFFERENT and I knew I\u2019d never get the chance to wear something as beautiful as this again \u2013 I felt like a BRIDE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, after I bought the dress, I came across a Pinterest board I started way before I went dress shopping and then went on to forget about, and I had pinned this dress as my favourite!<\/p>\n

Joe – Slim fit Sage Tweed Suit from Moss Bros<\/strong> worn with a waistcoat from Next, and a burgundy velvet bowtie that was his late Grandfather\u2019s. Brown shoes from Bertie and bright yellow (his fave colour) socks from Fenwicks. Joe would never wear a formal black\/blue suit, he wanted something traditionally rural and timeless, that fitted with the day and represented his chilled relaxed personality<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This suit went amazingly with the colour theme, was stylish, comfortable and looked great.<\/p>\n

\"Surrey \"Confetti \"Confetti \"Surrey \"Woodland \"Barn<\/p>\n

Your Photographer & Filmmaker<\/h3>\n

Photographer: Rob Tarren<\/p>\n

Filmmaker: Adam MacInnes, Rota Films<\/p>\n

\"Bottle \"Terracotta \"Terracotta \"Bottle<\/p>\n

The Styling & Decor<\/h3>\n

Where to begin!! Highlights were:<\/p>\n