Like my fellow soon-to-be bride Katie, every time I put a new feature together I can’t help thinking about my own fast-approaching nuptials. And the wedding I’m sharing today is exactly the sort of day I envisaged myself – spring daffodils, a relaxed rural setting and lots of lovely lace. Throw in a pair of glitzy Jimmy Choos and I’m one happy (and just a teeny bit jealous) bunny.
Callum, an assistant head teacher, and Sammy, head of account management at AOL, married at the beautiful South Farm, Cambridgeshire. It’s easy to see why they made their choice – with its timber-framed barns and pretty gardens, the venue is perfect for the relaxed, homespun celebration the couple had in mind. I hope you love these photographs too – they are the work of the supremely talented Marie Wootton.
“Neither Callum or I wanted anything too fancy or formal so we decided to go with a laid-back rustic look. We used logs for our centrepieces and we decorated jam jars for our flowers. We didn’t have a set colour theme, all we knew is we wanted a mixture of bright, colourful flowers.”
Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Marie Wootton
The day marked a whole decade of happiness. “We met through friends on a night out ten years ago to the date we married. We got engaged in Iceland – it was my birthday and Callum wanted to propose under the Northern Lights but unfortunately the trip was cancelled that night due to bad weather. Instead he proposed at Hallgrímskirkja (a magnificent church in Reykjavík), near a Christmas tree. It was perfect!”
Sammy’s dress was by Ronald Joyce, and it was a classic case of not knowing until you try: “I wanted lace detail as I love lace. I also wanted something with sleeves. When I saw this dress I wasn’t blown away… at first. Then I tried it on and I cried, it was so perfect.”
Sammy’s cathedral-length veil was also by Ronald Joyce. She completed her outfit with the most fabulous Jimmy Choo shoes and real flowers in her hair. Friend Karen was on make-up duty and that pretty braid was created by hairdresser Jo Gates.
“I loved the ceremony, for me it was simple and perfect. My amazing dad gave me away, he is one of a kind! I walked down the aisle to ‘How long will I love you’ by Ellie Goulding. When I first heard that song I knew it was the song I would walk down the aisle too, it’s truly beautiful.
“Another best friend of mine – Carly, who I’ve known since secondary school – did a reading on the day. We chose ‘The Key to Love’. One of my favourite extracts is:
The key to love is respect…
realising that you are two separate people, with different ideas;
that you don’t belong to each other,
that you belong with each other, and share a mutual bond.
“There are many beautiful readings but for some reason this one caught my attention. Callum and I have been together for a long time and been through a lot, and this reading seemed to touch on a lot of different aspects of our relationship.”
“I made our table plan and name places. Callum and I love our holidays and try to visit a different country each year, so we used a map as the table plan and named each table after a favourite part of the world. Our top table was Ubud in Bali – the destination for our honeymoon in July.”
Flowers played an important part in the day too, “Our florist Stephanie Rose was recommended to me by my auntie Jo. When I went to visit her beautiful shop I knew straight away that her style was exactly what I wanted. As I was going for a rustic theme I didn’t want my flowers to be formal – I wanted a real, springlike, laid-back look. I decided to go with bright colours and wild flowers – mixed blues, purples and pinks. When I saw my flowers I was over the moon, they were absolutely beautiful.
I continued the rustic theme with log centrepieces – provided by a family member after hours of fruitless searching online – and lots of jam jars filled with flowers and decorated with ribbons and pearls.”
“I really wanted a feature to go on the back wall in the evening. When I visited Stephanie Rose earlier in the year she had the most amazing display in her window and I just knew it was what I wanted – a large heart made out of twigs. It was my favourite part of the decoration and now has centre stage in our garden.”
“South Farm did our catering and the food was truly scrumptious – our guests are still talking about it today.
We had a naked cake, homemade by one of my best friends, Gemma. Callum isn’t a massive fan of icing so I thought this cake would be perfect. We had a few practices, which didn’t end very well, but on the day the cake was really beautiful. It had four layers of different flavours and was finished off with flowers from Stephanie Rose,”
“We don’t have a ‘song’ as a couple, so choosing a first dance song was extremely hard. I decided to let Callum choose the song as he has better taste in music than I do! In the end we went with ‘Lucky Man’ by The Verve.”
Words of wedded wisdom…
“Delegate! Get everyone involved and give people jobs. Everyone wants to help in every way they can and even the little things makes people feel part of your day. It also helps out massively!
Aside for that, enjoy every minute of it. Once the planning is over, you’ll miss it. Last but not least, don’t worry about the little tiny details, people don’t notice and it will just drive you insane!
I honestly can’t choose a favourite part of the day. The whole day was just fantastic, best day of my life. There isn’t anything I would of done differently if I went back in time – although maybe I would have had my ceremony earlier, just so I had even longer to enjoy myself!”
Big love and congratulations to Callum and Sammy, and if you’re sunning yourselves in Bali right now I hope you’re having the time of your lives!
I love a springtime wedding and I can see why it’s such a popular time of year to tie the knot. If you’re planning a wedding next spring you might like to take a look at some more lovely spring weddings or perhaps some more rustic prettiness. Enjoy!
Love Kate
Photographer – Marie Wootton
Venue – South Farm, Cambridgeshire
Bride’s dress – Ronald Joyce
Shoes – Jimmy Choo
Hair – Jo Gates
Hair Make-up – a friend of the bride
Bridesmaids – Topshop
Flowergirls – Monsoon
Flowers – Stephanie Rose
Wedding cake – a friend of the bride
Entertainment – caricature artist Josie Camus, live music The Bears
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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.
This just basically is EXACTLY what I want for my wedding in 12 weeks time. Gorgeous, her dress is beautiful, the theme, the cake, the vibrant colours-honestly perfect!