The Story of a Girl and a Boy and Their Handmade, Rustic Style Farm Wedding

Have you ever dreamed of walking along a field of corn in a hand made wedding dress, to wear flowers in your hair and dance under the stars? I think you might just love today’s fabulously laid back, nature loving wedding. Such a beautiful day full of hand made details, pretty dried floral bouquets, pocket watches and bow ties, lace covered jars of gypsophila and vintage keys for favours. A gorgeous wedding wrought from pure ‘made for each other’ love. This is also the wedding of blogger Hannah from ‘All of my Days With You‘ an absolute delight of a read.

Hannah and Lee (aka Girl and Boy) were married at Dovecote Barn on Bo Peep Farm, Adderbury in Oxfordshire on the 6th September this year, after a pretty cool proposal which Hannah talks about below. The couple created a day full of what they love, who they love and their love for each other which makes for the most heart warming and genuine kind of wedding celebration.  The day was captured by their friend, Essex wedding photographer, Luke Hayden and recorded in this fabulous film by some of their other talented friends at Climb the Fence.

“Having a passion for anything old we really wanted to incorporate vintage with nature together. We wanted to bring some of the outside inside by having small woodland touches like a tree stump cake stand, handmade chalkboard from tree stumps and a ivy and flower back drop for the ceremony. Then we added vintage touches like an old typewriter for the guest book table, vintage suitcases all stacked together, a very old trunk to display our table plan and many more little vintage touches.”

Photography Copyright (c) 2014, Luke Hayden

“As Lee and I are very creative people we wanted to make our wedding a handmade wedding. A day that had parts of me and him about it which for me I don’t think a wedding planner could have done. Don’t get me wrong at some stages I felt like it would have been a lot less stressful having one but I am glad that Lee and I created everything together, as a unit.

Hand in hand, we created the best day of our lives. Just how it should be.”

“I have always been a nature girl. Spending most of my free time outside on adventures and as a child this was a every day thing. Coming home from school and straight out the door again. Catching frogs, playing hide and seek in the forest, riding my bike and this hasn’t changed over the years I even still get to play hide and seek with all the babes in my life.  The boy and I try make it a regular thing to take ourselves out of the house and explore. Even if its the same places over and over again, we really do not mind. We embrace the world and take every opportunity that is given to us.

Dovecote Barn just has this feeling about it, as soon as you walk through the little door into the barn, as soon as you see the white doves perched in the bird house and even the smells of countryside that surrounded the venue, we knew it was the place for us. It only took the boy and I a few minutes to decide that yes this was the place for us. We left with butterflies in our stomachs.”

 “Our wedding cake was created by my amazing friend Sam of Sam’s Cakes. She is incredible with cake and icing. Creating the most amazing birthday cakes and wedding cakes I have ever seen. I really liked the idea of making our cake rustic looking so opted for the rustic butter icing.

Last year I had won a wonderful cake topper of my choice created by Swoon Paper Market. The quote on our cake topper is from the movie ‘The Princess Bride’ One of my favs.”

“I always had it in my head that I would never really want to go into bridal shops and if I did it was because I thought its what others wanted. I of course found out quickly that my mother and sister were more than happy for me to have what I wanted and I decided I wanted my dress handmade for me.  I also knew just the person who I wanted to make it. A lovely young lady called Emma of Grace Face Boutique.

I knew that I didn’t want a ‘traditional’ wedding dress and the only way I would get what my mum calls a ‘Hannah Dress’ was to have it made for me. My first idea was a strapless dress but then I realised that actually I am not that keen on my shoulders as I am broad shouldered. I knew I wanted lace and a big bow at the back and with a few searches on the amazing Pinterest and came up with what I wanted. I showed Emma and straight away she agreed that it would be perfect and she set to work.

My dress was what I hoped for and more and Emma did such an amazing job seeing as really she made it all by eye as we live in different counties. She made me my perfect dress. For the first time I felt completely beautiful and for that I will be forever grateful.”

“Our photographer was our friend and Luke Hayden. Luke is a truly talented soul and my inspiration for my own photography. I knew the day we got engaged who I would be asking to take our wedding photos. Luke’s photos capture the real moments in a wedding, the smiles, tears and laughter. He is fun to work with and doesn’t stick to the norm when it comes to wedding photos.

Luke is funny and really helps his clients relax. He is the perfect choice and I would recommend him to anyone. His work is natural, delicate and in my eyes perfection.”

“I really love it when people ask how Lee and I met as I find sometimes it shocks people. We actually met through a dating website called Plenty of Fish. Which nowadays seems to be the done thing. I really wasn’t expecting to meet anyone on there and in fact I didn’t really want a boyfriend as I had just returned from a wonderful adventure to Canada. However Lee had this way about him that I was instantly attracted to.

Our first date we went bowling. I felt slightly like a school girl going on a bowling date. Lee was late arriving due to travelling an hour away to meet me but when he arrived I could see him from across the car park. This big beaming smile bounced towards me and smacked a huge kiss on my lips (this was our first time meeting) it shocked me that someone I had never met could do that but it really broke the ice and well, we have been together ever since. He stole my heart with a kiss… How cheesy”(How romantic!)

“The proposal? So here’s how it went. ‘Hannah can you look in the post box’ said my mum. Opening the letter box I found a envelope with Hannah written on it. In confusion I opened the tiny envelope and inside were pictures of my dear Keri-Anne and her girls, a map of my parents house and a note saying ‘Facetime us we can help’. So I called her.

‘Your first clue is inside the potty inside the spare bedroom’ I dashed upstairs, still not really understanding what was going on to find another little envelope waiting for me. Inside were pictures of some more friends and a note saying, you will receive a text message from us soon. True to there word a picture message came through with another clue on it. ‘Your next clue is in the suitcases’ I dashed downstairs to find mums stack of suitcases.”

“Inside the next envelope were pictures of my dear Canadian Soul Mate, Amber. This is when I started to tear up. Inside was another clue. ‘My Facebook status will help you on your way’. True Amber style she forgot to do the status but Lee had done one for her. ‘I wish I was in the girl guides tin in the lounge’ Searching for the tin, I started to get this giddy feeling inside but was uncertain so I kept going. My next clue was from my Instagram friend Katie ‘Look at my latest Instagram picture’. Katie had tagged me in a picture of a dolls house she had drawn. This was an easy clue and I went straight to the dolls house upstairs and found the next clue.”

“Inside were pictures of my best friend Martin. ‘You haven’t called me in awhile’ I picked up my phone and straight away dialled his number. “I’m supposed to give you a clue” he said “Its in a dark place where fire goes” I laughed at this so called cryptic message and went straight to the fire place in the lounge. Nope not there, next fire place. Nope not there.  ] Then mum said there is one in the kitchen (hint hint) This is where I found my second from last clue. It was my Dad. ‘Give me a text, I know where your last clue is’ 10 minutes later I received a text from my Dad saying ‘Look in the freezer’Strange place to hide a clue but it was a decoy really to get me to face away from the windows so him and my Dad could run past and get to the garden.”

“Inside the last envelope was a key with found written on it and a map with X marks the spot on it which lead me out into the garden. I waited a few minutes to catch my breath as I was so excited. I took a deep breath and walked outside to find my Dad and all the males of the family sitting outside and Lee standing in front of me. He got down on one knee and said “Will you marry me?” 

“My heart skipped and of course I said YES!”

“So there you have it – my boy’s proposal. A thoughtful and amazing proposal that involved everyone I love most in the world. Never have I felt as much love as I did at that moment and I felt so blessed.”

Lee’s modern vintage style attire was from a range at Topman, (I totally adore the pocket watch, spot on vintage bling!) The grooms mens trousers were from Zara with shirts from Marks and Spencer and all with matching bow ties;

“The boy’s bow tie was the same as my Dads and his Best Man (his Dad). This was actually the first thing bought for the wedding. My folks were in America and came across them at a vintage shop and just had to buy them. My parents know me so well and knew that I wanted burgundy bow ties, so when I saw them I was over the moon. They were perfect and clip on as well. So much easier for the men to put on.”

“Another part of a traditional wedding I was dead set against was having someone I didn’t know doing my hair and makeup. I’m not that keen on makeup as it is and rarely wear it so I wanted someone that knew me through and through and when my dear friend Aimee said she would be happy to do my hair and makeup I was over the moon and what an amazing job she did. I could never have done what she did to my hair or my face. I felt a million dollars.”

Hannah’s lovely chief bridesmaids dress was from Debenhams, the other pretty bridesmaid dress was from Monsoon with shoes fromBHS. The girls look was accessorised with simple flowers in their hair.

“Flower crowns are one of my loves. I adore them. Originally I was going to purchase a dried flower crown but I came across a stall in London selling silk flower crowns and only cost me £3! I like a bargain. There was no brand name or website.”

Hannah opted for the gorgeous Christian Dior, Miss Dior Cherie scent for the big day.

“My bouquet and the bridesmaids bouquets were created by the wonderful and talented Artisan Dried Flower Company. There bouquets and flower crowns etc are simply stunning. A piece of art and such great quality. Having dried flowers means I can keep my bouquet forever. I even used snippets of it to put in tiny little glass bottles as gifts to my closest friends and my family as a thank you for helping me with wedding prep. Least I could do really.”

“My wonderful and warm hearted Dad walked me down the aisle. I am so lucky to have a Dad like I do. I know we all love our Dad’s but I don’t think mine realises how much I love him. From a young age I was always a Daddy’s girl. He has supported me through so much growing up. He taught me to be who I want to be, to not let people get me down. He is the best Dad I could have ever asked for and I would not have had anyone else walk me down the aisle. He didn’t let me fall.

I walked down the aisle to –Requiem for Water by Imperial Mammoth.”

“Lee and I had the option to create our own promises and I already knew what mine would be straight away. As my favourite movie is Braveheart I decided that my promise would be a quote from that and no it wasn’t ‘FREEDOM’it was ‘I will love you my whole life, you and no other’. Lee’s promise was a little longer than mine and was a M83 lyric. ‘I look into your eyes, diving into the ocean. I look into your eyes, falling. And if you are a ghost I’ll call your name, you, always.”

“My best friend Keri-Anne Pink, a UK lifestyle blogger, wrote the most perfect little story as her reading for us. From the first line I was in tears. Keri-Anne captured me in the story. All my thoughts, hopes and dreams in one little story.”

‘Once upon a time, there was the most enchanting young girl with cotton candy hair and tiny freckles on her nose.
She had the goldest of all the hearts and the kindest soul there ever was.
But some days, this girl was sad.
She longed for a boy who she could spend the rest of her life with.
A boy that would dance with her in the corn fields at sunset.
A boy that would count all the freckles on her face and tell her how much he loved them so.

Then she met him. The boy.
He would fill her bicycle basket up with flowers and count the stars with her.
He would dance with her in the corn fields at sunset and how tell her everyday how beautiful she was.
They had a love like no other.
Like a fairytale love, the kind of love every person wishes so hard for.
He was her boy and she was his girl and he loved her, of course but better than that, he chose her.

Day after day.’

“We didn’t want anything fancy for our wedding rings so we opted for plain bands. We went to Birmingham Jewellery Quarter for them.”

“Lee and I created all our stationery ourselves. We wanted the wedding to have a touch of us. Our invites were designed and printed by us. Our table plan was created using a very old trunk, moss, leaves and bits of nature. In fact my Mum pinched a bunch of berries and apples from the venues grounds to decorate the trunk with. See where I get my creative side from. Our order of the day was on a huge chalkboard, our table placings were created using doilies and letter stamps etc. I created lots of mini chalkboards out of tree stumps as well.”

“We hand made pom poms for the bar area, we used ivy, flowers and twinkle lights for our ceremony back drop, we used vintage suitcases, created our own chair banners and hessian table runners with the help of my friend Katie from Atomic Doris I handmade all the decorations for our tables including the decor on the tea light jars.”

“Our table flower of choice had to be the delicate gypsophila. It is a beautiful flower that lasts for so long and looks great when dried. Back in March I was lucky to be a production assistant on set of a huge wedding photo-shoot and I got to meet a lovely lady called Emily Campbell of Manic Botanicwho created all the wonderful flower decorations. As soon as the shoot was done I asked Emily if she could provide us with the flowers for our tables.”

“Our wedding favours were vintage keys which we gave to couples and singles. This was probably one of the most costly parts of our wedding. Real old keys aren’t cheap you know. ☺We spent months searching for them and a lovely shop called Pip ‘n’ Mix gave us a great offer on lots of very old French keys so of course we had to have them.”

“Our wedding breakfast cakes were made by my amazing Auntie Lesley. No one makes coffee cake like she does and it was an honour to have her make our desserts.”

Hannah and Lee chose New Folium for all the catering with entertainment in the evening provided by Stage-Technology Disco.

“As our ceremony and reception were in the same place and only ten mins up the road we didn’t feel like a car was important. It was a cost we really didn’t need to spend. It wasn’t until early this year that my friend Charly said she would drive us in her fancy car and wow was it fancy. We are truly grateful to her for doing this for us and now I am really glad we had something nice to turn up in as I don’t think a taxi would have looked great.”

“Our first dance track was –‘Turning Page’ by Sleeping At Last.”

“I don’t think I could choose a part of the day that was our favourite as it was all what we hoped for and more. If I do have to choose, I think it would be that moment when I saw Lee at the end of the aisle. That was the moment that I knew my story would really begin. When I knew that that day would be the best day ever. It was a realisation that all the heart break before that moment was all worth it. For that very moment I was walking towards my forever. There is nothing I would have done differently and I think I can speak for Lee on this one too. It was a perfect day with everyone we love and cherish.”

“Our wedding videographer’s were our friends Will and Alexandra from Climb the Fence. A great duo of incredibly talented souls, who captured every emotion. Who produce the most heart warming wedding videos I have ever seen. They are two of the nicest people I am lucky to know. You can see our wedding video here.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“I would say take a moment to look into your partners eyes. Cherish that moment because those are the eyes that will look at your every morning and every night, those eyes will share tears with you, smile with you and laugh. Every emotion eyes express. Look deep into them and remember that moment for that is the day you fell even more in love with that person, more in love than you can ever imagine. So when ever you look into those eyes like you did that day, you will remember that moment, the day you said YES to becoming a us and a we.”

Hannah and Lee, thank you so much for sharing your awesome day with us, such a fabulous celebration, we wish you the most wonderful future together. Many thanks to Luke Hayden also, for the brilliant photographs of their utterly joyful day.

Are you planning a farm wedding? I adore Hannah’s choice of a dried floral bouquet, it matched the day so well and it must be so lovely to be able to keep forever. Are you thinking about what style of bouquet you might choose? Annabel has some beautiful wedding flower pins to inspire you over at Pinterest.

Love and hay bales

Rebecca x

 

 

Photographer – Luke Hayden
Videographer – Climb the Fence
Venue – Dovecote Barn
Brides Dress – Grace Face Boutique
Brides Shoes – Topshop
Chief Bridesmaids Dress –Debenhams
Bridesmaids Dress – Monsoon
Bridesmaids Shoes – BHS
Flowers – Manic Botanic
Dried Flower Bouquets – Artisan Dried Flower Company
Grooms Attire – Topman
Grooms Accessories – Bow Tie from a Vintage store in America
Best Man/Groomsmen Attire – Trousers from Zara + Shirts from Marks and Spencer
Rings – Birmingham Jewellery Quarter
Wedding Cake – Sam’s Cakes
Cake Topper – Swoon Paper Market
Vintage Key Favours – Pip ‘n’ Mix
Entertainment – Stage-Technology Disco
Catering – New Folium