An Elegant, Backless, Suzanne Neville Gown For A Handmade Lavender Inspired Barn Wedding

Hello lovelies! For the rest of this week we’ll be posting just one post a day. This is so that we can tend to the final details of a rather big project we’ll be launching on Monday next week at lovemydress.net – Monday 2nd June is going to be rather special.

Today’s wedding is that of Gemma and Gary, both Senior Account Directors in Advertising and Creative Agencies, who tied the knot on 7th November, 2013 at Wick Farm in Bath.

“I have always had an interest in all things 30’s/40’s, so we knew this would naturally inspire how the wedding looked. It was a November wedding, but we didn’t want strong, deep, dark colours, we still wanted it to feel fresh, so lavender and purple colours seemed perfect. The venue also leant itself perfectly to the country vintage feel. The key thing we were both set on was that our wedding completely represented ‘us’, so we handmade everything, from the favours, to the name cards and bottle labels, all of the music was selected by us and we even decorated the venue and made everything as bespoke as possible.”

Photography Copyright (c) 2014, My Beautiful Bride

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

“Gary and I met at a creative agency when working in Bristol.  At first we were great friends, but a few years later circumstances meant we could become more than that and it was very quickly love at 1st (ish) sight! We got engaged 2.5 years later, and married within 9 months of getting engaged. Gary surprised me with a trip to Paris (I thought we were going to Edinburgh for Valentines), and he popped the question in our beautiful boutique hotel in Saint Germain – it was totally perfect, just us two in the most romantic city in the world! Plus the ring (completely chosen by him) was the most amazing engagement ring I have ever seen!”

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

“Our venue, Wick Farm in Bath, was between both of our families and a beautiful country location – it won over and above everything else we looked at. So simple but stunning!

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

“I wore a gown by designer Suzanne Neville that I purchased from The Mews in Clifton.  I loved that I had never seen anything like it, it was simple but so elegant. I also loved the sleeves that gave a hint of Autumn/Winter due to our November wedding.

My veil was also purchased at the Mews. I chose long to give the simple dress that little extra impact! I had the veil during the day, but replaced this with a dried flower slide, purchased from a supplier on notonthehighstreet.com, called ‘The Artisan Dried Flower Company’.”

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

“Our photographer was Michael at My Beautiful Bride who was fantastic, listened to everything we asked for, was very accommodating on the day, and provided us with hundreds and hundreds of shots afterwards. Would completely recommend. He even helped us set up a last minute vintage photo booth on the day, with about 1 weeks notice!

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

“Our florists were Bella and Fifi  – they are fab!  Everything about these guys is completely bespoke to fit you, your wedding, likes/dislikes. It was nerve-racking initially as there is no book of examples – but afterwards, I realise why. The flowers were stunning and exactly what we wanted. I have no knowledge of flowers so these guys were perfect and incredible value for money.

The flowers were the first thing we really looked at, the style, colour and different flowers really helped us shape the rest of the wedding. I love lavender plus the other flowers were ‘not your everyday’ and kept with that vintage theme perfectly. We had pure gypsophilia for the bridesmaids and flower girl, which was cheap, looked beautiful and was totally in keeping with the theme.

Purple and pale blue wedding bouquet

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

“My shoes were from Debenhams – I was less fussed as you could not really see them. In the evening Gary and I wore personalised Converse, which had our wedding date down the heel!”

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

“For decoration we used mainly wicker hearts and candles, it did not warrant more than that, and the candles created a whole different atmosphere and ambience – they looked beautiful in the evening. Apart from that, we wanted the mis-matched look so had all shapes and sizes of candlesticks and hearts etc.”

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

“My incredibly emotional dad walked me down the aisle.  When we first started seeing each other, the song ‘Just the way you are’ by Bruno Mars  became our song, so we walked down the aisle to an acoustic piano version by The Piano Hero’s.”

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

“During the ceremony, we had our two closest friends undertake readings.  Our friend Edward read ‘On Your Wedding Day’ (Anonymous)

‘On Your Wedding Day :
Today is a day you will always remember
The greatest in anyone’s life
You’ll start off the day just two people in love
And end it as husband and wife.
It’s a brand new beginning, the start of a journey
With moments to cherish and treasure
And although they’ll be times when you both disagree
These will surely be outweighed by pleasure
You’ll have heard many words of advice in the past
When the secrets of marriage were spoken
But you know that the answers lie hidden inside
Where the bond of true love lies unbroken
So live happy forever as lovers and friends
It’s the dawn of a new life for you
As you stand there together with love in your eyes
From the moment you whisper ‘I do’
And with luck all your hopes and your dreams can be real
May success find its way to your hearts
Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys
But today is the day it all starts’

“Our friend Sarah wrote her own reading, and even included lines from our first dance song ‘A Wonderful Whirlwind’.”


Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography 

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

“I handmade the wedding favours and as Lavender was our primary flower I made heart shaped lavender bags, with Cath Kidston style material. I also bought some old fashioned bottles and as it was a Somerset wedding, we filled them with local scrumpy cider for the men – my friend designed the labels for us with quotes from the Wurzels song, Drink Up Yer Zider! They went down well!

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

“Neither of us are massive cake fans, so we opted for lots of different cupcakes, with one sponge cake on top to cut. A friend of mine recommended her mum, who runs classiccupcakes.co.uk she listened to everything about the wedding and suggested using real lavender in the cakes, they were perfect and reflected the rest of the wedding brilliantly.

Very simple, stylish and easy to dress up on the tiered cake stand using dried lavender and gyp. She was lovely to deal with and arrived on the day to help set up. Fantastic value for money – would definitely recommend.

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Strawberry Fields catered at our wedding – they came with the venue. I can not recommend these guys enough. They exceeded all our expectations and every single person commented on how fantastic the food was, which can be a rarity at a wedding. We opted for lots of smaller dishes so people could pick and choose, tapas style. This is because Gary and I are huge fans on the ‘lounge picnic’ and it seemed exactly right, all our guests totally loved it.”

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

“Don’t give yourself extra work, delegate, and enjoy every second! The planning for me was all part of the once in a lifetime experience, and I loved every second.

Don’t bother having the “I am doing everything for this wedding, and you are doing very little” conversations with your fiancé as no matter what, that will always be the case, and lets face it, you kinda like it that way!

My favourite part was sealing the vows and walking back down the aisle with Gary as a married couple! We also took other peoples advice and managed to steal 15 mins together part way through the day, just to breathe and say hi, otherwise you never see each other!

In the final two weeks the stress hit me straight in the face and I ended up with an eye infection, feeling under the weather and bad skin! I can’t stress enough how important it is to not over do it, top up on vitamins and be kind to yourself, your body and mind are going through so much more than you think they are, and they will let you know at the WORST time unless you prep!

In hindsight, the only thing I would have loved (if I could have afforded) was a videographer!”

Suzanne Neville Wedding Dress // Wick Farm Wedding Bath // My Beautiful Bride Wedding Photography

Huge thanks to Michael at My Beautiful Bride for sharing these images and to newlywed couple, Gemma and Gary, for sharing their wedding day with us too.

Love Annabel

Heart

Photographer – My Beautiful Bride
Venue – Wick Farm in Bath
Brides Dress – Suzanne Neville, via The Mews in Clifton, Bristol
Veil – The Mews in Clifton
Brides shoes – Debenhams + personalised Converse in the evening
Grooms Suit – Simon Carter suit from House of FraserMoss Bros
Bridesmaids Dresses – Courtesan Boutique (Brighton) + Dune shoes
Flowergirl Dresses – Monsoon
Pageboy – Next
Florist – Bella and Fifi
Cake – Classic Cupcakes
Rings – John Titcombe
Catering – Strawberry Fields
Hair Stylist – Artizan
Makeup Artist – The Body Centre

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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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