Orange Shoes, Sequins, Pretty Flowers and Lace…

It looks like this week is going to be a pretty colourful one when it comes to real weddings on Love My Dress; we started out with this colour burst of retro fun and yesterday morning, and today, I'm delighted to be sharing the celebrations of Charlotte and Dan, whose wedding day took place on 1st May 2012 at Smeetham Hall Barn at Sudbury in Suffolk.

The couple were looking for a relaxed vibe on their wedding day to suit the laid back nature of their venue. Everything works beautifully and the bride and her maids look so very pretty in their ivory frocks and beautifully bright and colourful bouquets.

Charlotte wore a pretty Benjamin Roberts frock chosen for it's lovely lace and sequin detail. 

"Initially I didn't want a strapless dress but I fell in love with this Benjamin Roberts design as soon as I tried it on. I have had a lifelong obsession with beads and sequins, this dress had them all in abundance!

It was really light so I was able to move and dance easily which was really important too…."

 Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Mckinley Rogers 

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

"When we first got engaged we sat down together and decide what feel we wanted our day to have, we knew we wanted it to be fun, relaxed and full of love.

The 'theme' for styling our wedding day grew quite organically throughout the process, I am constantly inspired so didn’t want to commit to a theme too early on…"

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

"My cousin Jill Davies did all our flowers for us. To me the flowers were the most important part of the wedding (aside from the vows) the barn was naturally beautiful so I didn't want anything too structured or contrived to fight against it.

There's nothing more gorgeous than freshly picked flowers so we went with a mix of tulips, ranunculus,  roses, delphiniums and peonies to name a few to give amazing colour combinations – they exceeded my expectations a million times…."

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

"I used the natural beauty of the venue, my wedding shoes {which I brought before my dress} and my love of colour as a starting point for styling ou wedding day and went on from there…."

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

"My hair accessories were all handmade by me – see my blog for more details.  If anyone would like me to make them some I am more than happy too.

I knew I wanted coloured flowers in my hair but couldn’t find what I was after so i made my own, using a mix of corals and pinks to match my shoes…"

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

"My Auntie is incredible at making cakes so she created a three-tier (Fruit, Chocolate & Red velvet) cake for us.

I wanted something really simple but again with loads of flowers and ribbons to match the rest of the décor…"

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….


Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

"In a dream world we would have got married outside but in the UK its just not possible to plan anything like that. We wanted the venue to have a outdoorsy feel, be flexible in terms of suppliers  that we could use and let us have creative control.

Smeetham Hall Barn fitted the bill perfectly, this was the only venue we looked at as the day we enquired there was a cancellation on the date we wanted so we booked it straight away. Bridget was a dream to work with she accommodated all our ideas  and gave us some great pointers too…"

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

"We were lucky as our venue, Smeetham Hall Barn, gave us free reign on how we decorated.

Obviously the flowers played a major part in the overall look. The theme was colourful  so I used a mix of coloured sashes on the chair backs to inject some colour into to the ceremony and around the tables; if you are hiring sashes this is a great way to make things more original without additional costs…"

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

"I sprayed the vases on the tables myself using a combination of large metal tins and lace sprayed vases which turned out brilliantly.  We moved from Barn to Marquee throughout the day – each time our guests entered a new space we tried  to make it different, for example we added a cocktail bar and photobooth in the marquee for after the Wedding Breakfast and then put large lanterns and candles into the barn for dancing to create a magical atmosphere.

They were only simple touches but definitely kept the atmosphere alive throughout the day and gave guests talking points…."

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Plan ahead and enjoy the whole process! The last four months before the wedding Dan and I pulled a list of what needed to be done each month then broke it down by week. It made the planning so much more manageable and meant that we could focus on the task in hand.

I aimed to enjoy the process as much as possible and not get too stressed out, what could be better than spending a year trying on dresses, tasting food and working with wonderful people to make your day as special as possible. If you get a feeling a supplier doesn't love weddings as much as you then don't use them…"

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

"There are so many things but the most important would be; have a cut off point where you stop worrying about the details of the day, it gets to a stage where there is nothing more you can do, so just sit back and enjoy,  it really is the most incredible day don’t waste it by stressing out.

On the day take a step back with your new husband and take a moment to look and listen to all your guests.  One thing I remember is when we were away having our photo’s done is listening to everyone laughing – hearing everyone having a good time definitley made all our efforts and glue gun injuries  worth while!"

Benjamin Roberts wedding dress, orange wedding shoes, Smeetham Hall barn wedding….

Congratulations Charlotte and Dan on your beautiful wedding day, and thank you so very much for sharing with Love My Dress readers.  Thank you too Penny at Mckinley Rogers for as always sharing your glorious and so very beautifully shot photography. 

You can see more from Mckinley Rogers on Love My Dress here. Be sure to also visit the orange, red, pink, colourful and Benjamin Roberts links 🙂

Which element of this lovely wedding do you love best and why?

Much love all,

Annabel

Heart

 

Photographer – Mckinley Rogers
Venue – Smeetham Hall Barn
Brides dress – Benjamin Roberts from Confetti & Lace
Brides Shoes – Charlotte Olympia
Brides accessories – Tiny diamond earrings via Rust Jewellery + necklace via Christopher J  Vinten
Grooms Suit – All suits, shirts and ties were from Moss Bespoke
Bridesmaids – Julie Elmore dresses + Dune shoes
Florist – Jill Davies
Cake – Brides Aunt
Catering Company – Chimneys
Entertainment – Glen Parish + The Regulars
Cars/Transport – Lexden Executive Car
Hair – Styled by a friend
Make up Artist – Tess at Beautique22 {Estee Lauder base, blush, Dior eyeshadow, Clinque lipstick in pink-a-boo}
Flowergirl and Page Boys – Roco clothing

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

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