A Charlotte Balbier Dress for a Misty Welsh Farmhouse Wedding

Happy Friday afternoon everyone! Welcome to this beautiful Pembrokeshire wedding set against a background of rolling fields and an old farmhouse. There’s DIY aplenty from the bride and groom as well as gorgeously colourful flowers grown in their own veggie patch!

Rebecca, who is a nurse and also owner of vintage crockery hire company St Brides Vintage Hire, married her beau Edward, owner of Etsy Shop Drift Niceties at a  country wedding on the 21st of September last year in the 7th Century Hywel Church followed by a reception in the gardens of The Old Farmhouse in Pembrokeshire using a marqee hired from Country Marquees.

“Our inspirations included our travels, our coastline, and essentially our love of all things rustic, floral, country and vintage. We really wanted the day to be as fun and relaxed as possible whilst still holding on to some traditions.” 

Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Jason Siegel

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“We met at university in 2007 and three years post uni we decided to go travelling around the world for 18 months.  After spending months travelling in our camper van, Ed proposed on the beach whilst we were staying in the Daintree rainforest in East Australia!  He often makes the joke that where he proposed he could have been eaten by a crocodile, bitten by a snake, eaten by a shark, and stung by a box jellyfish, however they are nothing compared to asking the question!

We live in Pembrokeshire, a beautiful part of the country so it wasn’t a hard decision to get married there! Originally wanting a rustic barn for the reception but not finding anything suitable, we bumped into Edward’s friend’s dad who owns the Farmhouse and offered his land as a site. It was perfect!   It was also important to us to have a Christian ceremony and we were so lucky to have our Canon marry us, he made everyone relaxed and expressed the true meaning of marriage and partnership beautifully.” 

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“My dress was ‘Delilah’ by Charlotte Balbier, bought from White Bride in Narberth, Pembrokeshire. I tried to have an open mind, I knew what I  didn’t want and I have a little bit of an obsession with lace so this dress  was perfect! It made me feel elegant, pretty and yet completely myself at the same time. I also wore a beautiful 2 tiered veil with a border of lace.”

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“My shoes were Mimosa in pale mint by Rachel Simpson. I love these shoes! They remind me of my younger years spent ballroom dancing.”

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“I did my own make-up and my incredibly talented bridesmaid Kerry did my hair and nails. I knew I wanted a relaxed feel to my hair and to incorporate braids somehow. The flowers were decided on the day!” 

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“My bridesmaids dresses were from French Connection. I felt these dresses suited every girl and really fitted in with the country feel of the day.”

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Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“My dad giving me away was really special. Holding his hand walking into the church with the organist playing I am not sure who was gripping whose hand tighter! When I finally saw Edward I relaxed and enjoyed every minute of the ceremony! Turning around at the end to see everyone we love in one place was an amazing feeling.” 

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“Edward bought his dusky blue suit from Favourbrook in London. I loved the mother of pearl buttons on the waistcoat and he spotted his Aldo shoes in the window of the New York store beneath the Empire State Building!” 

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“Our photographer was Jason Siegel who we met whilst living in Sydney where he was on a photography trip. We were so excited when he agreed to come to Wales for the wedding as he really captures not only people’s emotions but landscapes too. We had glorious weather leading up to the day and then woke up to a very misty day! Jason thrived in this atmosphere though.” 

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

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Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“Our friend Zoe and her mum made the amazing floral arch with flowers from their own garden. I made 50 metres of bunting made from recycled vintage fabric and collected all the vintage crockery. Our wedding favours were little pots of my mum’s chutney, covered with scraps of fabric left over from the bunting!”

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“We really wanted to do a lot of the work ourselves and as well as the stationery, we also ended up making all of the decorations.  In my madness (having never grown anything before) I decided to grow my own flowers! I grew sweet peas, cosmos, cornflowers and marigolds then bought roses and gypsophila. The bouquets were finished with vintage lace and I had all the bridesmaids flower arranging on the morning, with my brother’s fiancée putting the buttonholes together.

The flowers were displayed in vintage bottles found in the countryside, decorated in lace and placed next to the slate seating plan on a wooden step ladder, adding a burst of colour as you stepped inside.” 

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“Edward made all of the stationary including the order of services and the place cards. He also made the seating plan, the menus and each table name using slate. The tables were all named after a country we have visited to-gether. He now creates and sells these to order on his Drift Niceties Etsy page.”

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Paper Garland Chair Back_0080

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“Our friend Andy, at the time head chef at our favourite restaurant Cwtch, set up barbeques outside the marquee to create an incredible buffet feast. It was really important to us that the food was sourced using local farms and producers including lobster and mackerel caught by Edward’s uncle in the lead up to the wedding.”

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

“The cake we cut was a plain iced sponge cake from Marks and Spencer topped with Lego Star Wars characters (Ed painted the hair to look like us!). Instead of dessert we asked our guests to bring a homemade cake or dessert and it was incredible how everyone wanted to contribute! We had so many wonderful creations from cupcakes and trifle to pecan pie!”

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Words of Wedded Wisdom…

“If you are planning a DIY wedding ask for help! We couldn’t have done it all without the help our amazing friends and family. The weather is the one thing you cannot control, don’t worry about it! The most important thing is to relax and soak in every aspect of the day!” 

Charlotte Balbier, spring wedding

Such a pretty wedding! Thanks to the lovely Rebecca and Edward for sharing! The mist gave a magical feel to the outdoor images captured by photographer Jason Siegel.

Rebecca and Edwards’s DIY efforts were so successful in fact that they can both offer their services for your own big day. All the crockery and bunting can be hired from Rebecca through St Brides Vintage Hire and the personalised slate signs and can be purchased from Edward’s Etsy Shop Drift Niceties.

Have a lovely Friday afternoon everyone,

Caoimhe x

 

Photographer – Jason Siegel 
Bride’s dress – Charlotte Balbier at White Bride 
Bride’s Veil – HM Veils at White Bride 
Bride’s shoes – Mimosa by Rachel Simpson 
Groom’s suit – Favourbrook
Groom’s shoes – Aldo
Bridesmaid’s dresses – French Connection 
Venue – The Old Farmhouse, Pembrokeshire, Wales using Country Marquees
DJ – Edd, Aberystwyth
Cake – Marks and Spencer
Decor – St Brides Vintage Hire and Drift Niceties
Stationery – Etsy Shop Drift Niceties

Caoimhe Anderson

Caoimhe Anderson View all Caoimhe's articles

Caoimhe will never tire of beautiful wedding dress and a blooming flower crown. When she's not lusting after a gorgeous wedding she will be trying new vegetarian recipes, knitting very slowly or capturing a pink sunset from behind a camera lens.

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