Meadow Flowers and Origami Stars – A Charming, Rustic Barn Wedding in Somerset

Good morning beautiful – Tuesday is set to be another lovely day in the UK – try to get outside if you can, these precious days of gorgeous Spring sunshine are such a treat. 

I can imagine all you brides to be sat checking in to Love My Dress this morning – eager to see a new wedding and be inspired with fresh ideas for your own upcoming nuptials. Hopefully this lovely Summer wedding will make you smile.  Heather and Sam's wedding took place on 3rd August, 2013 at Court Farm in Standerwick, near Frome, Somerset – chosen by the couple because they wanted a relaxed and beautiful outdoor venue that they could put their stamp on.  These photographs, which document the couple's wedding so beautifully, were taken by Igor Demba.

"I wanted the wedding to be informal, fun and happy, so we didn’t have a particular theme but fitted things around the venue, which had a beautiful rustic old barn, an apple orchard, and sheep, pigs, chickens and geese in the surrounding fields."

Photography Copyright (c) 2013, Igor Demba

"Sam and I met in 2005 in Bristol, where we both went to University, on a night out with mutual friends, and instantly connected over a shared love of music. Because, unlike Sam who was still a student, I had to go to work early the next morning I had to cut the night short, and didn’t get his number, so I wasn’t sure when I’d next see him.

But it became obvious to our friends how much we liked each other when the next weekend we both agreed to go to the cheesiest club in Bristol where 2Unlimited were playing that night!! (not our usual scene), so that we could see each other again, and we’ve been inseparable ever since." 

"I made origami stars to decorate the barn and our lovely friend Steph decorated the blackboards, and painted H & S letters for us. I also made homemade jam jar candles, and we bought beautiful Papel Picado (traditional Mexican paper wedding banners) to hang in the barn and in between the trees."

"My dress was ‘Flimsical’ by Terry Fox, a brilliant British designer who has all her dresses made in the UK. I got it from the fabulous Boa Boutique who were amazing from start to finish.  I didn’t want to feel like I couldn’t dance or run around and have fun on my wedding day so I wanted a dress that felt comfortable, but was also beautiful and a bit different. 

I loved that each one of the ‘flimsical’ dresses was unique as it used vintage lace sourced by Terry, and had a piece of vintage jewellery and beading on the bodice.

"We chose the same florist, Jan Waters of JW Blooms who had provided the flowers for my sisters wedding a couple of years before. She grows many of her own flowers in a flower field in Somerset, and tries to use seasonal varieties where possible. She will even grow particular varieties for you if you give her enough notice. The flowers have a real meadow-y natural feel, and I loved that. It’s also great to use a small local supplier."

"The ceremony was the best thing about the day – after all it was what we were there for – but the whole day was so special, and the best thing after marrying the man I loved, was sharing it with our wonderful family and friends. It was fantastic to see everyone (from little children to grandmas) dancing their hearts out until the last song, and everyone laughing so much during the very entertaining and touching speeches."

"I wanted all the girls to be happy with their dresses, and originally I had planned to have a range of mix and match yellow dresses, but when that was proving difficult I spotted some fabulous dresses with summer flowers on from Ted Baker, and some beautiful flower patterned dresses from Karen Millen.  The two different styles meant we still had a bit of a mix and match feel, and each of the girls really loved their dresses.

Ted Baker also did two different styles of dresses in the same design, so it also meant my maid of honour, my beautiful sister, got to have a bit of a stand out dress as well.  The girls all chose their own shoes – I didn’t want anyone to be uncomfortable or suffering from blisters on the day.

"The girls each had fresh flowers in their hair provided by JW Blooms and wore bracelets from sew-a-song on Etsy and rings from Whistles.  Also they each had a clutch bag from Accessorize."

"Sam wore a bespoke three-piece suit and shirt by Cad and the Dandy (which we highly recommend!).  He also wore a tie by Thomas Pink and blue suede shoes by Pollini.

The groomsmen wore whatever suit they wanted (or in the case of one of the best men some green trousers and a jacket as he forgot his suit!), and we gave them all a tie from the Tieroom and a pair of yellow socks from the Sockshop."

"We had a mid-evening tequila toast with home made ‘sangrita’, which was a big hit!"

I love the couple's pretty table plan idea – how lovely!

"Our photographer was Igor Demba, who I couldn’t recommend highly enough. Not only are his photos beautiful and full of the emotion and spirit of the day, capturing all the love, fun and happiness, but he was also a fabulous person to have around on the day. It felt just like having another friend there, and we had so many compliments – both about how nice he was on the day, and the photographs."

"My earrings were a wedding gift from my Mum. They were designed and made by the most amazing jewellery designer I’ve ever seen – Sarah May Marshall, who has an award winning boutique in Richmond. They were rectangular gold and diamond post studs with organically shaped removable grey and white pearl drop sections."

"I walked down the aislde to Nils Frahm’s beautiful piano piece ‘Said and Done’.

For the ceremony we wrote our own vows and decided to say the same thing to each other and to write them together, which was a really wonderful thing to do (if a bit teary!).  My Mum read a beautiful poem by one of Sam’s favourite poets, Paul Laurence Dunbar, called An Invitation to Love.

Our rings were made by the wonderful Sarah May Marshall who also made my engagement ring and my earrings. We both chose our own designs – Sam’s is a brushed and hammered, thin gold band, which looks really organic – I love it – and I went for a bit of bling with a diamond chip-set thin gold band."

"Sam’s Kitchen provided the most delicious wedding food I’ve ever had. The canapés were out of this world, and there was plenty to go around! We had a tasting session with a few options for the main meal in their pop-up restaurant in Bath, but we couldn’t chose between them so we ended up going for both! So we had lemon and pomegranate chicken and slow roast pork belly with salsa verde, accompanied by some delicious sides, which were served banquet-style in the middle of the tables. This meant everyone got stuck in and helped themselves, and it was a really fun meal. The Green beans with pecorino and pine nuts were a particular hit!

Our friends and families made some wonderful deserts for the wedding, and my Dad and step Mum made and decorated some beautiful traditional fruitcakes, which we cut as the wedding cake." 

"Our first dance had to be to Miss Jamaica by Jimmy Cliff.  We used to dance together to it in The Railway, a pub in Tulse Hill close to our first flat together, and it’s been a favourite ever since."

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"The best words of wisdom I could give would be not to worry about organisational details. You honestly won’t care on the day, the only thing that will matter is that you are getting married to the person you love, with your loved ones around you.

Having said that I’d suggest trying to learn to delegate and take help when it is offered. I remember saying quite a lot, ‘no don’t worry about it, we’ll sort it out’ when I should have been saying – ‘yes, thank you so much for offering!’ – although I couldn’t have done it without my wonderful family, and bridesmaids – particularly my sister!

We had thought that doing it ourselves to a large extent might make things a bit cheaper, and that certainly wasn’t the case, which is something I would warn people about, but I don’t think we would have done things differently, even if we had known the final cost beforehand!"

I love this style of wedding; totally laid back, relaxed and unfussy – the perfect day and captured wonderfully by Igor Demba.  You can see more from Igor by the way on Love My Dress here.

Brides, if you love this style, you might also want to check out more weddings in these pages; Summer weddings, barn weddings, rustic weddings and outdoor weddings – you can also see more from the very talented British Designer Terry Fox on Love My Dress here.

Love Annabel

Photographer – Igor Demba
Venue – Court Farm in Standerwick, near Frome, Somerset
Wedding Dress – Terry Fox via Boa Boutique
Brides Veil – Silk tulle veil from Boa Boutique
Brides Shoes - Rachel Simpson via Luellas Boudoir in Wimbledon
Brides Hair Accessories – Fresh flowers from JW Blooms
Bride's accessories – Sarah May Marshall
Groom's Attire – Cad and the Dandy suit + shirt + Thomas Pink tie + blue suede shoes by Pollini
Bridesmaids – Ted Baker + Karen Millen
Flowers – JW Blooms
Cake – Friends
Cars/Transport – Andrews Coaches
Entertainment – iTunes playlist
Additional Styling – Papel picado
Rings – Sarah May Marshall
Catering – Sam’s Kitchen
Stationery – Thatnoisegallery on Etsy
Hair Stylist – Scarlet & Courtney at Melanie Giles in Frome
Make-up Artist - Kate Kelvin
Wine – Majestics

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