Pretty, Pretty Pink ~ A Rustic Style Barn Wedding In Pastel Shades…

So wasn't it a few years ago that 'pink' at weddings was a bit…… passe?  Not any more, I cannot get enough of lovely pink.  Pink and peach.  Bring me 80's style pouffy sleeved brides drowning in a sea of peach and pink and I'll be a happy soul. Ahh, the 80's.  Brings back memories of my first proper boyfriend – that poodle perm my Mum nearly disowned me over and…. maybe I'll just stick to pink. Probably best.

You see, pink, done tastefully as it is here, is so damn pretty. And doesn't everyone want a bit of pretty on their wedding day? Even those die-hard, anti- cookie-cutter bridezillas who want something 'totes rad!' [sic.]…?

The wedding you see here come to you from beautiful Suffolk and was shot by photographer Sara Thomas, who's work has featured several times already on Love My Dress. 

Chris and Steph tied the knot on 18 June 2011 at Alpheton Hall Barns in Suffolk and their day was awash with pastel shades of the prettiest pink you ever will see.  Steph had her bespoke dress made for her back in her home country of Namibia…

I love vintage clothes especially anything from the 1940s, 50s and 60s. I knew what style of dress I wanted and what suited me. Another important element for me was the fact that I could perhaps wear it again in future. I didn’t want a purely white dress and had initially thought of grey-bluish and even silver but then my mum found a lovely ivory raw silk cloth and that decided it…."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2010, Sara Thomas

"I knew more or less what style of shoes would suit my dress however I couldn’t find exactly what I had in mind. Instead I found a dusty pink pair at House of Fraser. As they looked good and were comfortable my friend convinced me to buy them and got me the matching clutch. My colour scheme really then developed from there.

Buying my shoes was really what decided the colour scheme and in terms of flowers we had pink peonies, pink spray roses and white lisianthus…."

"We got flowers from Tudor Rose.  I had already decided on the flowers for our decoration but I wanted the bouquet to tie in with the colours of my dress. In addition to white peonies I had found two roses that I thought would match the colour of my sash but the florist unfortunately didn’t have any examples of either in the shop when we came to place the order. 

Finding examples online didn’t help much as the colour differs on screen. After a bit of advice from our florist I ended up going for the sweet avalanche rose, hoping that it was indeed going to match.  As the wedding venue was in a barn I wanted the décor to be quite relaxed but also individual. I had different ideas but in the end my sister-in-law, a production stylist, provided the necessary confidence of how it could all fit together. I had both friends and family collecting jam jars before the wedding. These were then tied with raffia around the opening.

"I really wanted a birdcage veil and actually used Love My Dress for inspiration {see birdcage veils}.  My sister-in-law made my beautiful veil out of different bits I had bought…"

"To save on cost, we bought the flowers from a wholesaler in the local area and both our families helped with the flower arranging the day before the wedding. The flowers were placed in the different sized jam jars on the tables and tied to the chairs along the aisle in the reception barn. We also bought different sized round white Chinese lanterns which were strung across the barn to fill the roof area. There were some African influences with beautiful woven bread baskets on the tables, little beaded animals tied to the jam jars as well as carved wooden elephants on the present table…."

 

"As the wedding was taking place so far away from my home and my mum thus having limited involvement, I really wanted to at least have her there with me when it came to the dress. That is why I had it made by a dressmaker in my home country Namibia.

She did a great job considering that she only had three days to make the dress before I had to leave again…" 

"With everything else I had left my hair and make-up really to the last minute. I had initially thought that I would just do it myself but then changed my mind and asked Sara Thomas, our photographer, whether she could recommend anyone. Of course as I had left it so late, everyone was already booked up but then Denise Michelle contacted me again to say that she had had a cancellation and would be available after all. I was so happy but unfortunately due to the lateness of my request, there was no time for a trial. Both Denise and her colleague Sydney did a wonderful job and it was such a treat to be made up professionally…"

 

"I wore a pair of cameo earrings which I had inherited from my grandmother…"

"A friend of Chris’ family kindly offered to drive me to the venue in a vintage Bentley. It was the most amazing car…"

"We bought Chris’ suit from Ede and Ravenscroft.  We decided that a navy three-piece suit would be best but unfortunately they didn’t have a matching waistcoat so we chose a grey one instead. The gentlemen there were very helpful and provided excellent advice…"

"My father took me down the aisle and I was so glad that he was there.  I walked in to Beethoven’s 5th symphony and we walked out to Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder – both played by the Camulos String Ensemble…"

"Chris proposed to me on a mountain in Wales on a weekend away. I didn’t expect a thing and had only been a bit surprised that he insisted on carrying the backpack all the way. So amid ferns, a beautiful view (and some sheep dung) he took out the ring…"

 

"I had looked at the venue's website as part of our search and it also came recommended. So after an initial visit and having been assured that we could decorate as we wanted, we both loved it and decided that this was the place. Nicholas Willcocks was really helpful throughout and his supplier list on the website made things so much easier…"

 

"For our first dance, we chose 'Here comes your man' by Meaghan Smith.  I first heard the song when I watched the movie 500 Days of Summer and absolutely loved it along with the rest of the soundtrack. Chris then gave me the soundtrack for Christmas and at some point I decided that if I ever got married, that would be the song I would want to dance to…"

"I love all things vintage and I definitely didn’t want the traditional wedding style. It was more a combination of things I liked and suggestions. Important elements for us both as a result of our cultures were some African references, the German wedding paper (which the guests had contributed to with funny anecdotes and pictures) and some Cypriot influences like the Greek dancing…"

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Even if the list of things to organise seems never-ending, it does all come together in the end and if something is not quite as you had imagined it, no one will know. The most important thing is to enjoy the day as, after all those months spent preparing, it is over in a flash…."

Pretty pretty pretty!

Thank you Sara Thomas for sharing these lovely photographs…

"Sara was a great photographer. She had offered us a prewedding shoot which really helped us with being at ease in front of the camera and gave us some beautiful photos. On the wedding day Sara was always around and even stayed on to cover the Greek dancing…."

You can see more lovely weddings from the wonderul Sara Thomas here on Love My Dress.  Also check out the pink, rustic and barn weddings categories for more pretty lovely wedding day inspiration.

Enjoy the rest of your day my lovelies, and do check this wonderful video post and morning blog feature if you haven't yet already.

Much love,

Annabel

♥

 

Photographer – Sara Thomas
Venue – Alpheton Hall Barns in Suffolk
Brides dress – Bespoke made in Namibia
Brides veil – Made by the brides sister
Brides shoes – House of Fraser
Brides accessories – Grandmother's earrings
Grooms Suit – Ede and Ravenscroft
Florist – Tudor Rose
Entertainment – The Camulos String Ensemble
Hair and make-up Artist – Denise Michelle