A Village Fete Themed Wedding Inspired by the Bride and Groom’s Grandparents…

 

"The inspiration for our wedding were our Grandparents! Chris & I want to be old and grey together sitting in our garden holding hands reflecting on what a wonderful life and marriage we have had together 50 years from now. My grandparents had thatI could talk forever about my Wedding. It was truly the best day of my life. It was a handmade day that we are both immensely proud of.  It really was a perfect day…."

 

Morning lovers 😉 This is definitely one of those 'every once in a while, a wedding comes along' type affairs that will get you *right there*.  It has also taken an age to prepare because gorgeous bride Jen has so kindly shared as much information to inspire you with as she could think of – I am so incredibly grateful to her.

Say hello to Chris & Jen – they tied the knot on 13th April 2012.  Ladies, you might want to keep this once for your lunch break – it makes for a wonderful, moving and inspiring lunch-time read…

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – All Photography on this page Copyright (c) 2012, Emma Case

"We were married at St Marks Church in Dunham Massey Village and had the reception at the village hall a short walk down the lane.  Chris & I wanted a relaxed, easy going wedding day. We didn’t want anything too traditional but we wanted it to feel like a 'real wedding'…"

"We spent nearly two years looking for a venue that suited us. We looked at lots of traditional venues and many were lovely but just not very us or just too expensive.

It seemed that few venues offered any flexibility from a set format & only allowed you to choose the colour of the bow on the seat covers, Chicken or Fish for the meal or whether you wanted expensive drinks package A or more expensive drinks package B…"

"Chris’ suit was from Reiss and was ridiculously easy to find. He wanted a 3-piece so he could take his suit jacket off & still feel like a groom. We didn’t want traditional tails given the relaxed bohemian garden party we had planned and he wanted something that he could wear again. He bought a pink linen tie from there also. 

I bought Chris & the groomsmen some matching Striped Paul Smith Socks.  His shoes were black brogues from Dune.

 I had a gorgeous mint green angora cardigan from Acne (everyone needs something to cover up with at an outdoor wedding in England!). I love wearing it now, it goes with everything. When I wear it, it takes me right back to my wedding day

"We didn’t know what we wanted for a long time but we knew what we didn’t want, we became disheartened with wedding planning and after eighteen months of being engaged we were no further along in the wedding planning, we’d given up searching for venues, we were fed up of answering the question “so have you two set a date yet?”, we were irritated when couples who had only been engaged a few months were suddenly husband & wife (cough and mutter …Kate & Wills!)" 

"Then last year I was a bridesmaid for my best friend. Like Chris & I, Helen & Rich had met when we were all in the same halls at Uni. We had such a fantastic time at their wedding that we were determined to get on & plan our own day…"

"The next day we sat down & discussed what we really wanted for our wedding day.  We had never considered alternative style/DIY weddings before this time because none of our friends had ever done it & our heads were very much filled with pre-conceived ideas of “traditional weddings” but my friend had said something to me few days earlier & it made an impact.

She said, “….your wedding day should be filled with all the things you love, it should reflect your personality as a couple, why don’t you imagine what you would want to do if you had been given a day to do whatever you wanted & just do that”

"So Chris & I sat there with a cup of tea & some left over wedding cupcakes from the day before & made a list of things we loved;

“We love… tea, cake, cupcakes, more tea, afternoon tea with finger sandwiches, sweets,  knitted tea cosies, homemade crafts, vintage shops, charity shops, wearing our Wellies & walking through Dunham Massey, being outdoors, hiking, riding our bikes, ice cream, eggs, fish & chips, camping, VW campers, festivals, drinking Pimms outside in summer, folk music, rock music, old English style village fetes!"

"….that’s where our village fete themed wedding with afternoon tea came from…"

"We hired a marquee company called Posh Frocks & Wellies. Again another small independently run business based in Cheshire. We picked their rose garden theme. The fee included the marquee, furniture, lighting, linen, flowers on the table (from Fletcher & Foley), the amazing rose lamp shade and lots of bunting. The floral, pretty, vintage & rustic theme we were going for they catered for perfectly.."

We then added our own vintage details.  I know that term is thrown around a lot these days but they really were vintag; the decorative items we used were all treasured family possessions that had special meaning and memories for both Chris & I (I think you’ve seen the letter I sent to our photogarpher, Emma, which tells the story…)…"

"We then made other decorative details: We crafted chalk boards out of off cuts of wood for the drinks menus and order of the day. We made chalk boards out of old photo frames for the table numbers.  We crafted confetti cones out of old music paper, except I didn’t want to use the original music paper so we photocopied some of the pages and then aged the paper using tea bags.

"We were having afternoon tea & so we thought it might be nice to ask the guests to get involved and make a cake. We were quite overwhelmed by the response. Nearly every guest made a cake!  We had an immense amount of cake and still have some in the freezer!

One of my work colleagues made us a full sized wedding cake with bunting icing – It was incredible with a chocolate cake at the bottom, lemon drizzle in the middle and a fruit cake on top, one of my bridesmaids made an amazing gluten free pistachio & rose-petal cake, another friend made Cookie Monster cup cakes.   The variety was incredible and a good talking point on the day. I loved that people put the time in to make these for our wedding, it meant so much to us & I loved that our guests were so involved and invested in the day…"

"We had several favours for our guests;  we had made them each a hand sewn drawstring bag which we filled with organic “tea-pig” tea bags (in keeping with the tea party theme).  My mum made homemade lemon cheese from an old family recipe. It is a fave of mine & reminds me of the times we had breakfast at Nana's house when we were children. Chris’ mum decorated all the jars with recycled material and red string.

We also made little brown envelopes which we filled with Sunflower seeds for guests to take home & plant in their garden as a reminder of our wedding day.  And finally, we had some tomato plant seedlings which Chris & I had grown. These we picked as a bit of a joke because Chris once grew a tomato plant which all our friends knew about because it grew so tall it hit the ceiling and we named him Doug, it never produced a tomato.  Also tomato plants just reminded us both of our grandparents, Chris’ Nona grew hundreds of tomatoes in Italy and my Nana used to grow them in her greenhouse too."

"We used yet another small independent Manchester based company, Little  Limos. We hired Barney the VW camper. Chris & I love VWs, we hired one to travel around New Zealand during our gap year and it is our dream to own one of our own. Barney as well as being extremely photogenic was extremely practical as he managed to sit me, my four bridesmaids, my flower girl and my mum in…"

"The driver was ace, after a few wedding photos he drove me, Chris, Emma & Pete around the back lanes and hills of Dunham. It was so much fun we were all squealing & laughing like it was a roller coaster ride, it was a little time out from the Wedding Party & definitely one of my fave memories from the day."

"The next thing we did was Google the idea, that’s how we stumbled across Love My Dress and other blogs like The Natural Wedding Company and it’s actually how we were led to the blog of Emma Case.  There was so much inspiration on these blogs & the mere fact that people had had weddings like this before suddenly made everything seem so much more realistic, achievable & not such a crazy whim of an idea! We were so excited!"

"As if by fate, the next weekend Chris & I went for a cycle ride along the canal near our house & ended up in one of our favourite places, Dunham Massey. I have been visiting this place with my grandparents since I was a little girl, but I had never really taken the time to stop & look at the village hall there, nor had I previously noticed how beautiful the church along the lane was but the two places jumped out at me on this day.

I imagine the feeling I had is something similar to when you buy your first house because both of us had butterflies& fell in love instantly, we knew this is where we were going to be married. It catered perfectly for our village fete idea. It wasn’t overstated or expensive; it was just natural & quintessential & perfect…"

"Before Chris & I moved into my Nanas house we lived in a flat in West Didsbury, the home of the White Closet. It’s a beautiful bridal boutique. Chris & I used to walk past it most days & I would stop and look through the window, I lost count of the number of times I banged my head on the glass peering through. I was lucky enough to get a last minute cancellation slot on a rainy winter evening…"

"The ladies who work in there (Emma, Eve & Steph) are so lovely and the dresses are really beautiful vintage inspired pieces. I have quite broad shoulders & hips & found that original vintage pieces didn’t fit me well. These dresses were the next best thing.  I tried on about 6 dresses, I kept thinking “this is nice …next”, but the last one I tried on was 'Claire Pettibone Queen Anne Lace'…

 

"I didn’t get that 'yes this is the one', moment but I reacted differently to this dress compared to the others. I didn’t want to take it off, I just kept looking at myself in the mirror, and I was very comfortable in it. I loved the simplicity of the dress, but it has beautiful delicate lace trims and lovely blush coloured ribbons which just made it so special without being overstated.  I felt like a character out of Pride & Prejudice. I love it..."

 

"I initially wanted the girls to wear different dresses to reflect their own individual personalities but then I saw this dress in Monsoon (Etienne) and it fitted the vintage, delicate lace, pretty theme I had going that I couldn’t pass them up…"

"The girls all looked beautiful in them. I asked them to buy their own shoes & accessories to add some individuality. I’m a big fan of cardigans so they all bought their own cardigan too..."

"My shoes wer from Rachel Simpson.  I came across these shoes at the designer vintage wedding fair last autumn. They are so beautiful. I bought 3 pairs! I ruptured my Achilles tendon in October & was in a cast until mid January.  Comfortable shoes were essential.

I bought a beautiful lace ivory pair called Dolly for the ceremony & changed into a sage green pair of flats later on.  The third pair were coral t-bar sandals. I haven’t worn them yet; I have them saved for a wedding I’m going to in August. I also have my eye on her new collection; a gold pair called Ginger has made it onto my wish list..."

Some of you may recognise this photograph. It is of some stairs. We like stairs and we love the way that photographer Emma Case makes the simplest things that you might overlook on a day-to-day basis look so beautiful – makes you stop and think…

"I spent ages looking for the right florist. I needed to get the right 'vibe' from the people I hired; I needed to have faith that they had the same vision I did. I discounted any florist that had black wall paper, silver mirrors on the walls, red balloons and carnations. I wanted something natural, seasonal, pretty & British. I wanted it to look like the flowers had just been picked from a meadow…"

"The marquee company we hired recommended Jo Fletcher who owned a boutique florist only 5-mins from my house. I knew she was perfect for me when I stepped in the door because she had old leather books & tea cups on the shelves, a Singer sewing machine in the corner of her store decorated with flowers and rustic buckets full of beautiful stems. I sent her a few pictures of things I liked and she just produced my beautiful bouquet. She is extremely talented and a lovely lady. I have pressed some of the flowers from my bouquet & hope to make a picture or something with them.
 

For the bridesmaids I wanted something delicate & lacy to match their dresses but simple so not to detract attention from the detail on the dresses. We went with a simple posy of Ivory Gypsophilia…"

"We planned everything ourselves. As soon as we knew what we wanted it all fell into place easily.  We were so lucky that we had so much support from friends & family.  I had 4 fantastic, beautiful friends as bridesmaids who helped out so much before & on the day. Our mums & bridesmaids all helped making favours. Chris’ aunty & uncle arranged flowers for the church. The entire bridal/groom party helped set up the marquee the day before the wedding. The bridesmaids served Pimms & scotch eggs after the ceremony. The best man (Chris’ brother) was taking buckets of empty bottles to the recycle bin throughout the day.

They all helped tidy up to the day after. We could not have done it without them, I’m so grateful to them all. They really helped make our day special."

"I'm such a hippie at heart. I wanted bohemian loose curls and plaits…."

"Chris bought me a silver Tiffany bow necklace as a wedding present which was given to me on the wedding morning.  I had pearl earrings which I bought in Chester whilst at a vintage wedding fair.  I also wore my Nana’s diamond & sapphire engagement ring … it was my something blue, old & borrowed. 

I had a blush pink knitted bag to carry the essentials in. I decorated it with vintage brooches. 

My garter was Lenora hand made by 'Silver Sixpence In Her Shoe' (another West Didsbury independent business). It was ivory & blush pink & so matched my wedding dress perfectly…"

"Make up I did my own, I don’t wear much make up usually. I was afraid if I hired someone they would cake it on my face & I wouldn’t look like or feel like myself. I’m not very graceful & I was worried if I wore too much makeup I would just end up with it all on my dress! I had a lesson at a Laura Mercier stand in Manchester a few weeks before, bought some of their yummy products and had a few practices myself beforehand. It wasn’t flawless but I was in control and in the end I happy with the results…"

 

"Lily is the two year old little girl of my friend & bridesmaid Helen. She is so gorgeous and funny. We bought her a little floral dress from Next but it came with a neon plastic pink belt which we decided to switch for mint green ribbon. She wore pink converse trainers which she was really comfortable in. She carried two knitted daffodils that I picked up a local food market and a bag of blue delphinium petals to scatter outside the church…"

"I didn’t pick the Veil, Emma at the White Closet just put one on me whilst I was wearing the dress & I wanted it. The dress is quite simple, delicate & understated but the veil was elaborate, full length with lace detailing that matched the dress perfectly. It worked well for a church wedding.

My mum walked me down the aisle. My dad died a year ago, my mum was the next natural choice, she did so much for my brother & I when we were growing up. I really had a fantastic childhood due to her…"

After the ceremony, the couple moved on to their marquee wedding reception and enjoyed a relaxed afternoon with tea and cake…

 

"Because we had so much sweet cake at our wedding, we decided we needed something savoury to balance it out. So we got a cake of cheese from a small independent shop in Didsbury called The Cheese Hamlet. Chris & I got to go Cheese testing which was super fun. We picked an “Aged Organic Red Leicester”, a “Creamy Crumbly Blue Lancashire” and then an “Organic Somerset Goats” cheese on top.

We topped the cake of cheese with knitted bride & groom mice which we found on “Etsy” and we bought locally homemade Chutneys from local foodie markets..."

 

"We filled the cones with vibrant blue delphinium petals from Natural Confetti.  We had garden games to keep our guests entertained. We bought Giant Jenga, Quoits and Croquet second hand from EBay. We also made a splat the rat with an off-cut of wood chip board, an old pipe, made some rats out of old socks, sewed on buttons for eyes and filled them with lentils/dried peas. We stood the board against an old pair of step ladders we found in my granddads garage. Bish Bash Bosh!"

"Afternoon-Tea was catered by 'The Dish & Spoon', (a gorgeous boutique cafe/bakery in West Didsbury) with vintage crockery from 'For the Love of Vintage' and we had an ice cream van called Ginger from 'Ginger's Comfort Emporium'.

Anna, Sharon & Claire are the owners of these 3 superb independently run Manchester businesses respectively..."

"Anna {The Dish & Spoon} makes the most amazing brownies which she has just starting selling in Manchester Selfridges. Chris & I visited her cafe in West Didsbury many times. We had afternoon tea there to celebrate the Royal Wedding and when we decided we wanted afternoon tea for the wedding breakfast we hoped she would be able to help. She then introduced us to her friend and colleague Sharon {'For the Love of Vintage} who has the best collection of vintage crockery available to hire.

Claire, the owner of Ginger's Comfort Emporium makes all her own ice cream. It is really the most inventive and most tasty ice cream I’ve ever come across. We met her when she was serving at a local Chorlton Food Market; she even has a book coming out next year. “Ginger” is very photogenic!

I felt so privileged to have had these three lovely ladies at my wedding, the service they all provided was superb and so personal.  These ladies were a pleasure to work with and I was so happy to see them on the wedding day. I would definitely recommend supporting local independent businesses where possible…"

"In the evening we decided on Friday night fish & chip night. My Nana & Chris love fish & chips! We hired “The Wedding Fish and Chip Catering Company”. They were super. I loved that the guests could just go down to the van, collect their order and head back into the tent with their box of Sausage, Fish and Chips & mushy peas. It was so informal and relaxed and the food was really good! Not a soggy chip in sight!

Readers, the book below, The Vintage Tea Party Book, is one of the most gorgeous books I own, you can buy it here. It was written by the fabulous Angel of The Vintage Patisserie – she who got through on the Dragons Den, with funding from deborah Meadon…

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"Do things & use things that mean something to you both and are special to you both. If you have good family and friends, let them get involved, let them do things, our wedding was so special to so many people because they had invested themselves in the day and they all threw themselves in to the DIY nature of the day. Everybody at that Wedding tried to make the day special for Chris & I, I am so so grateful for that. We had very little wedding politics that I understand most brides get, we did things our own way entirely and our friends and family supported it 100%.

Also if you can use independent local businesses, from my experience the service they provide is so personal and to such a high quality. I am so proud that my wedding is going to be used on Love My Dress as it is such a good opportunity to show case some of these fab Manchester businesses!

And I guess try not to lose sight of why you’re doing what you’re doing … cos you love your boy (or girl)."

"I cannot describe in words how much I admire & love Emma Case & her husband Pete. They are two of the nicest, kindest, friendliest, most decent people I have ever met. I am so glad they were both at our wedding.

Chris & I are quite shy we only invited our closest friends & family to our wedding. We wanted people there that knew us as a couple & would support our marriage and our slightly alternative wedding day. It’s funny because I don’t think people expect to find that in their photographers but we really did. Plus we have some absolutely stunning photos … even if they are pictures of old 70s carpet."

There are barely any words left to be said, except, Chris and Jen, thank you so, so much for sharing so passionately your wedding experience with us all, I couldn't be more delighted to share this with my readers.

And congratulations!! 😉

I'd love your feedback on this beautiful wedding ladies and gents – which is your favourite element of this gorgeous day?

Much love,

Annabel

 

Photographer – Emma Case
Venue – St Marks Church in Dunham Massey Village + marquee at the village hall
Marquee hire – Posh Frocks & Wellies
Brides dress - Claire Pettibone Queen Anne Lace via White Closet
Brides green angora cardigan – Acne
Brides veil – White Closet
Brides shoes – Rachel Simpson 
Grooms Suit – Reiss, Bloom Classic Mid Grey 3 piece
Bridesmaids – Monsoon, the Etienne dress
Flowergirl – Next
Flowers – Jo Fletcher
Cake – Guest brought their own + cheesecake from The Cheese Hamlet
Catering – The Dish & Spoon + For the Love of Vintage + Ginger's Comfort Emporium + The Wedding Fish and Chip Catering Company
Transport – Little  Limos
Entertainment – Live Wires
Confetti – The Natural Confetti Company