Good morning my loves, here's something mighty pretty for you this morning - the kind of which that brings Midsummer Nights Dream to mind with all it's pretty floral styling and laid back, rustic, outdoorsy vibe.
Lucy and Sam tied the knot on 30th June 2012 at Eyam and then Shatton in Derbyshire and these charming English country wedding photographs were sent in by photographer Matt Brown. Lucy didn't half look the prettiest bride in her Sassi Holford wedding dress and floral crown...
"I was quite clear about the atmosphere and theme I wanted to create. I wanted our wedding to be as outdoors as possible, laid back and rustic. The overall theme was ‘midsummers nights dream’, I wanted it to feel like a magical evening for us and the guests.
My Sassi Holford wedding dress wasn’t the type of dress I expected I would get! But I loved the materials and I felt amazing in it. Despite trying quite a few on, it was the dress I kept dreaming of..."
Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Matt Brown Photography
"Since childhood I had dreamed of the time when I would walk up the aisle, so the most memorable moment was just outside the church when I just got out of the car. I felt so happy and when I saw my mum we both got a little tearful.
We had spent many years talking about weddings and I was about to walk down the aisle in my beautiful dress to meet the man I love, with all my family and friends around me. It was a magical moment..."
"Sam and I met 8 years ago in Leeds, we have had many adventures together – living and working abroad, travelling, and building our careers. We had talked about our wedding for several years and we knew what we wanted.
Sam proposed at the time when we felt settled, we’d just bought our first house, had our pets, and felt secure in our careers, it was the perfect time to set our plans into action! We were engaged for 18 months."
"As sometimes bridesmaids can sometimes be compared I wanted mine to feel really special in their dress and it to look unique so I choose the colour and material and they all chose an individual style from B2 and Belsoie."
"I knew I wanted lots of ivy and greenery to create a rustic theme, I liked the muted pink roses added a good accent colour. I loved my flowers, I think they fitted the theme perfectly and transformed the venue from bland to beautiful. We also had rustic wicker hearts and slate boards, and used moss to make it feel earthy and natural."
"We chose the church in Eyam as it is where my grandparents were married and my father christened. We wanted our reception to be laid back and to be as much outdoors as possible, we found the barn and field in the little village of Shatton which we thought was perfect. For us it was also a ‘blank canvas’, so I could decorate and set up in a way we wanted rather than it being very prescriptive.
We used Papakata teepees which added the space and a rustic, outdoor style to the venue."
"We hired vintage cars, I found this company called Avrils Cars on the internet and went to go and meet them. John and his friend Steve were so enthusiastic about their cars and they have been lovingly restored. They were so friendly and accommodating on the day, and really helped make our wedding special, the cars looked fantastic too!"
"I had no ideas about the cake, so my mum and dad organised this for us via Cakes by Rachel Edwards. They took the theme to the supplier and design it for us. The first time we saw the cake was when we walked into the venue- it was a really lovely surprise."
"In terms of decor, we had lots of flowers, lots of ivy, wicker hearts and I used slate boards to write notes to the guests. I wanted the every guest to feel that they are an important part of our lives and that we were grateful that they could come and help us celebrate, so I hung photo of each guests all along the wall of the outside barns. It was really nice to hear our guests sharing our stories with each other.
Also in the outside barn we hung little tea lights from mini vases from the ceiling, with twisted ivy, it looked incredible when it started to get dark and were all dancing in the celeidh. We also provided free beer which we asked our illustrator to create a caricature of us to stick on as labels, we called it ‘the ramblers’ given our love of trekking. Going to weddings there is nothing worse than sore feet when you want to dance. So I ordered a big pile of slippers and guests helped themselves when their feet got sore from their heels."
"Matt Brown, was our photographer. He did a great job and really captured the unique and special elements of our day. He was great at getting the shots without our whole day being taken up by a series of ‘photo shoots’. It was a priority for us to be able to enjoy our time with our guests, and he very much respected that but was still able to get great shots of us, and our family and friends. We love looking at our pictures as we feel it shows a great story of what our day was like. We would definitely recommend Matt to others."
We sat down with the vicar a few months before the big day and went through our vows, what we wanted to include and what we didn’t. It was great to be given a choice and having that time together meant we really understood the meaning to our vows. My brother and Sam’s brother read in the church for us. We chose a religious reading and an excerpt from ‘The Prophet’ by Kahil Gibran.
We felt that it represented what we mean to each other and the vows we made – that we will give each other love and support by respecting each of our differences, to stand together through life."
"As I wanted a Midsummers night dream theme I thought that favours should be little love potions. I bought little bottles and filled them with fruity rum (our favourite drink) and added a note to each."
"We didn’t want a formal sit down meal so we opted for a sharing platter for starter and a buffet dinner."
"The most emotional part was definitely the speeches, Sam stood up and said a really lovely speech about us as a couple and then, at the end, made the announcement that we are having a baby! Apart from our immediate family no one else knew so the whole room cheered! It felt like the perfect time to share our big news, and next big adventure, and it meant even more celebrating. We wouldn’t have done anything differently.
As many guests said it was a perfect day that suited us. I loved that it was a little different, that I got to be creative, and people had fun."
"We chose ‘Underneath the stars’ by Kate Rusby. We love her folk music, it was also the song we listened to practically non-stop when we travelled round New Zealand and Australia."
"As Sam’s dad was a folk musician we decided to have a celiedh. We put lots of lights in the outside barn and had everyone up dancing together. The floor was full for the whole 2 hour set, we had aunts dancing with friends."
Words of Wedded Wisdom...
"Enjoy the planning stage, I loved this bit. It is a chance to spend quality time with your family and close friends, and really get them involved. People will love that you have asked them, and they will enjoy making it the perfect day for you. I have lovely memories of my family and friends helping to decorate my venue the day before."
Isn't that lovely? I LOVE dogs at weddings! You can see more charming Midsummer Nights Dream inspired weddings and more too from photographer Matt Brown on this blog. You may also wish to lose yourself in a wild frenzy of blissful bridal inspiration over on our rustic, outdoor weddings, pink and tents/tepee weddings pages.
And, guess what...
"We are due our
first child in February. We were two months pregnant when we wed and have
had a lovely six months together as newlyweds and parent’s to be."
Hoorah and congratulations Lucy and Sam, that really is the very best of news! And any day now then! Lots and lots of love to you both - you have such an amazing journey ahead.
I'd love to see some sweet reader comments about this wedding - what say you?
Much love all,
Annabel
Photographer - Matt Brown
Venue - Eyam and then Shatton in Derbyshire using Papakata teepees
Wedding Dress + Veil - Sassi Holford
Brides Shoes - Next
Brides Floral Crown - Florist (we're waiting to find out the supplier & will post here soon)
Grooms Suit - Grey suit from T.M.Lewin
Bridesmaids - B2 and Belsoie
Flowergirl Dresses - Monsoon
Florist - (we're waiting to find out the supplier & will post here soon)
Wedding Cake - Cakes by Rachel Edwards
Entertainment - Folk Ceilidh
Cars/Transport - Avrils Cars
Catering Company - Chequers Out
