A Joanna Hehir Gown for a Homespun, Fun Filled and Rustic ‘Wedding in a Field’

Hello lovelies, I have a wonderful homespun wedding for you this morning, this one really touched my heart. When I first looked through these gorgeous images by Dylan and Joanna from Kitchener Photography, tears pricked my eyes. They tell such a touching love story that no words are necessary, well apart from those of our lovely bride Nikki, a Freelance PR Director who shares all her secrets  on how she and her lovely husband Chris, a Finance Director, created their amazing homemade wedding. Nikki has even had three other brides ask her to style their weddings so she is now setting up her own little event styling and vintage prop hire business. The wedding day was a real team effort and all their hard work paid off beautifully as you’ll see throughout these charming photographs.

“Chris and I did everything ourselves. Chris loves making things out of wood, while I love decorating, painting and anything dusty, rusty, weathered and worn! We knew we wanted a rustic/country/French (Chris is half French) feel to the wedding so Chris made literally everything, from a rustic bar, photo booth back drop and DJ booth, to the wooden menu holders and cake stand. We had great fun at antique fairs and boot sales picking up old watering cans and crates to plant up with flowers, and we even found a vintage bike to decorate.

We wanted the day to be fun, relaxed and nostalgic, so it was a dream come true for me to get married on dad’s farm where I grew up and still keep my horse today. It’s such a special and beautiful place with heaps of family history and so it made the perfect setting.”

Photography Copyright (c) 2015, Kitchener Photography

Nikki and Chris got married on July 12^th 2014 in the beautiful village of Patching, West Sussex for a ‘Wedding in a field’. Lots of their guests camped in the surrounding fields or stayed nearby and came back on the Sunday for a big BBQ and a family game of rounder’s.  The day was a real mix of French and English which made for a fantastic fun filled, family celebration of love.

“Patching is a tiny village at the foot of the South Downs, yet despite us both living there (me since I was 12 and Chris for two years) and riding our bikes (Chris) and horses (me) in the same woods and surrounding fields for all that time, it actually took a dating site – match.com to bring us together!”

“Chris and I have lots of family who’ve emigrated from England to all corners of the world, including Australia, the US, Spain, Holland and even Belize! We were so shocked and honoured when so many of them were so keen to come to our wedding. We knew that some of our family members had not seen each other in some cases for over 20 years! So with this in mind we were really keen to make it a celebration of our families, and a reflection of our English and French heritages.

Chris and I love the countryside and anything with an authentic rustic feel and we were really keen that anything we did/made/used to style our day really reflected that. This included the bar Chris made from old wooden pallets we stored the hay on to our ‘memory wall’ where we pinned old family photographs for everyone to see.”

Nikki waited for the January sales and purchased her bridesmaids dresses for £35 each from French Connection which were inspired by her sapphire engagement ring.

Nikki wore a pair of diamond and sapphire earrings as her something blue and her late grandmother’s engagement ring on her right hand so she had a little something of her with her on the day which I thought was such a lovely idea.

Nikki chose a customised Johanna Hehir dress with the help of Nicola at Mathilda Rose Bridal Boutique.

“I knew I would be doing a lot of moving around on the day as Chris and I were keen to walk back through the village from the church. We’d also planned some photos in a nearby cornfield so I knew I needed something comfortable but that made me feel elegant. Johanna Hehir dresses don’t have any boning in them, the cut and design give you a lovely shape and are just so flattering. I tried on Johanna Hehir ‘Roisin’ first and fell in love with front, the heart shaped neckline, lace and the cut were just perfect. It was so comfortable too. The only problem was that I’d had my heart set on a low back.

After trying on a few dresses with low backs Nicola at Mathilda Rose Bridal Boutique suggested sandwiching two dresses together and ta da! My dress was born. I customised my dress further by adding a beautiful 1930’s diamante broach to the front that I found at an antique fair.”

As Nikki and Chris were becoming Mr and Mrs Lamb, Nikki’s Grandma came up with the fantastic idea of giving their guest’s mini jars of homemade apple mint jelly. SUPER!

“Organising our wedding really was a family affair, it’s was just amazing how everyone came together to help and support us. I was really keen to cherish this time and make as many special memories with everyone in the run up to the wedding as on the actual day itself. So my mum, grandma, sister and I spent a whole day making 100 mini pots of apple jelly. It was such a special day, Chris took pictures throughout of each of us together peeling apples, chopping mint and filling the jars and I used these to make a mini scrap book which I displayed on the favour so our guests could see the fun we’d had making them. “

“Dylan and Joanna from Kitchener Photography were just the most amazing photographers we could have ever chosen. We saw examples of their work on a wedding blog and they just blew us away. Their style is so different from anything we’d seen, so we just knew straightaway that we wanted them to be there for our day. Their work is so natural; they are so talented at picking up the little details, hidden smiles and the emotions of the day.

We can’t recommend them highly enough, they go above and beyond the call of duty and are just lovely people that put you at ease and make you feel comfortable straight away. We can’t thank them enough for the memories they captured for us.”

“My nude sandals were Jimmy Choo. I wanted something I could wear after the day and these have been perfect, I’ve worn them so many times (including my honeymoon) and it’s always nice to tell people they were my wedding shoes.”

Chris looked very handsome in his suit from Reiss with his bespoke shirt made by Gresham Blake in Brighton. He finished his outfit off with a pair shoes from Russell and Bromley and all his best men wore their own navy blue suits. Nikki and Chris gave them each a matching white shirt, navy tie and pocket square.

Nikki’s dad’s partner Jayne, a florist, created the wonderful flower arrangements.

“I was really keen for a wild country garden look and feel, nothing too formal. I wanted to have lots of flowers but stuck to seasonal blooms and planted lots of things myself to keep down the budget.

Jayne took me to the flower market in Brighton the day before the wedding to buy the flowers and we had the most amazing time choosing them. Blue (scabiosa, sea heather, thistles, agapanthus, alliums) was my main colour with lots of cream (stocks, cosmos, fuchsia, delphiniums) and green. We teamed what we bought with lots of foliage (cow parsley and teasels) we picked from the surrounding fields at home. Jayne made huge displays in beautiful old bell jars to place around the marquee and church, she even made displays in some old welly boots which we tied to the archways into the field.”

I love how Nikki’s veil was her something borrowed as was mine on my wedding day. It just feels so special that it’s already been a part of someone’s love story and now it adds to your own.

“I borrowed my veil from my best friend Sarah who’d got married 3 years earlier. I remember going along to her wedding dress fitting with her and when she put it on she looked stunning. I remember saying ‘oh wow! You have to let me borrow that when I get married!’ and that’s exactly what I did. It felt very special on the day.”

“Chris proposed by ‘getting down on one ski’ in Val d’Isère. Growing up in France Chris and his family had spent a lot of time there and for my birthday he wanted to take me on a ski holiday to show me the place. There is an old derelict farm that overlooks the whole of Val’d’isere on the side of one of the ski runs where Chris as a kid with his family used to picnic in the summer. Unbeknown to me he’d packed a picnic and the ring and proposed overlooking the valley on April 4th 2013.”

“There are so many favourite parts of the day it’s difficult to choose just one!  Saying our vows surrounded by our closest family and friends, some who’d flown thousands of miles to be there, will always be a very special memory.

One of the best parts of the day was when our poor vicar pronounced us Mr and Mrs Button – my maiden name – instead of Lamb! The pictures of everyone in the church in stitches are hilarious!”

“I walked down the aisle to “Canon in D” by Johann Pachelbel which was played by our fabulous guitarist who learned it especially for our day.

Chris and I walked out of the church to ‘I’m feeling good’ by Nina Simone, it’s got quite a dramatic intro but it worked well and put a smile on everyone’s face!”

By day Nikki and Chris had a 3 piece Jazz band and by night Chris and his best friends Tee and Ali all took turns to DJ and keep everyone dancing all night. They even had games to keep the children entertained, all inspired by French and English lawn games such asboules, croquet, a traditional horseshoe game, personalised corn hole game with team ‘lamb’ and team ‘button’ on them and Chris even made a coconut shy!

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“I think my best advice would be – Don’t be afraid to delegate! I’d worried for months about how things would get done on the day. Call me bridezilla but silly things like who’d bring the cushions in if it rained and how would people know where the guest book was, kept me awake at night! One of my closest friends came to the rescue and together we drew up a list of all the little things I wanted to happen on the day and when. From making sure the tractor left on time with all our guests on it, taking the pictures of our passed loved ones off the alter at the end of the service and putting them on our cake table at the reception, to ensuring the kids got little goodie bags.

It was a great relief to me to know that on the day there was someone (other than me and Chris!) who knew what was supposed to be happening and when. We can’t thank my friend enough, on a day that flies by so fast that you never get to finish a drink or a sentence! Knowing Veronica had everything under control was amazing and really allowed us to relax and enjoy our day”

What a fantastic wedding, I’d have loved to have been a wedding guest at Nikki and Chris’s wedding. Congratulations to you both! A HUGE thank you to Dylan and Joanna from Kitchener Photography for this wonderful collection of photos.

With love,

Christina x

 

Photographer – Kitchener Photography
Wedding Dress – Joanna Hehir from Mathilda Rose Boutique
Veil – Something Borrowed
Shoes – Jimmy Choo
Groom – Reiss suit + bespoke shirt via Gresham Blake + Russell & Bromley shoes
Florist – Potty Plants
Cake – Brides Mother
Rings – Baroque Jewellery
Catering – Afternoon Tea + A Hog Roast
Stationery – Hannah Minney
Hair – Will at Electric Hair
Bridesmaid Dresses – French Connection