A Sarah Janks Dress For A Romantic And Lovely Barn Wedding

Hi there lovelies, we’ve got a gorgeous mid week treat for you – a beautifully romantic wedding shot by Eliza Claire.

Meet Karen-Anne, an occupational therapist, and her new husband Owen, head of business information at Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. They were married on the 27th of May 2016 at Gaynes Park Barns in Epping, Essex. The colour palette is simple, the aisle is tree-lined and it’s a truly charming wedding featuring a subtle bus theme, a nod to their beginnings as a couple.

“Gaynes Park was the first place we visited and nowhere else seemed to match it. We also loved the walled garden as well as the main barn. Having the wedding in the spring (and hoping for good weather), we opted for a fairly neutral colour palette of pale pinks with gold accents. My personal style is quite understated and classic, which is what I wanted with the décor. I loved the idea of having flowers throughout so tried to incorporate as many as we could.”

Photography by Eliza Claire

The images of this wedding by the wonderful Eliza Claire have a lovely laid back and romantic feel to them. I especially love the giddy images of the couple just after they have said their vows.

“Eliza has the ability to take wonderful photos and really captured our day perfectly – leaving us with wonderful visual memories. She is very easy to work with and immediately showed interest in us. Eliza is very personable and genuine in her love of wedding photography. On the day, she really helped and supported us throughout – helping me to stay calm and at ease. Of course, most importantly, she’s an incredible talent and I would highly recommend her to anyone.”

Karen-Anne’s something borrowed and blue was a hair slide given to her by her sister Sarah. Her Tiffany & Co. pearl bracelet was a gift from Owen 5 or 6 years ago, and her gold and pearl earrings were by Dyrberg/Kern, a Danish brand I wasn’t familiar with but is being firmly placed into my bookmarks.

Karen-Anne’s Sarah Janks dress from Les Trois Soeurs in London is absolutely stunning, and I adore the draped back which falls behind her when she’s dancing. She added a soft, single tier cathedral veil and a gorgeous pair of metallic shoes from Russell & Bromley.

“I wanted something simple and elegant. I had been to approximately five shops before this so was getting a bit overwhelmed with dresses but becoming worried that I hadn’t found one I loved.
I originally had a different dress as the fore-runner; but during a follow- up appointment to try some other dresses again (which I ruled out quite quickly the second time) by chance, I tried on this dress.”

“I feel comfortable and confident when I’m wearing it and I think that’s what made me decide to choose it (as well as my mum’s reaction). I love the simplicity, the feel of the silk, and the beautiful bead and sequin neckline with low draped back. I also liked that it was quite different from dresses I’ve seen on friends or family before.”

Karen-Anne chose beautiful soft pink dresses from DIY Dress for her bridesmaids and flower girl. The ladies all wore fresh flowers in their hair and she gave them rose gold and crystal jewellery from No1 Jenny Packham to wear on the day.

“Our beautiful bespoke, bus themed invitations and programs were designed by Lola’s Paperie. We gave everyone a bus key ring painted by my dad to match the theme. We also had cake pops from Molly Bakes as favours.”

“Owen and I met on a night bus in December 2008. The central line tube had been suspended so we were both unexpectedly on the bus home. We got talking and realised how close we lived to each other and eventually swapped numbers! We got engaged in Granada, Spain on 19th June 2014.”

“Owen completely surprised me during a mini trip we’d planned when he got down on one knee and popped the question. We were engaged for 17 months – a bit longer than we’d hoped for but we wanted to get our wedding venue date (which was super booked up) and also it gave us more opportunity to save.”

Karen-Anne’s dad accompanied her down the aisle to ‘Ave Maria’ by Schubert. The couple chose two readings to personalise the ceremony, ‘A Bridge Across Forever’, an extract from Richard Bac, and ‘Blessing of the Hands’.

“Owen found Dawn Jewellery through friends that had worked with her in the past. She made my beautiful engagement ring so we went back to her for our wedding rings.”

The groom was kitted out with a suit and watch at Hugo Boss. He then added a metallic flower lapel pin, tie and  pin from Reiss and Ted Baker shoes. His groomsmen’s suits were hired from Austin Reed.

“Doris the Florist did our flowers. She works privately through word of mouth and had done a friend’s wedding. I wanted quite a neutral palette of natural flowers to tie in with the venue.”

“I didn’t have any specific types of flowers in mind but did specify some roses in the bouquets.”

The bride’s sister Sarah got creative, making gorgeous heart streamers to hang on the tress along the aisle. Lanterns and Giant balloons from Love Me Do Balloons were also added to the path creating a romantic feel. Sarah also helped her sister to illustrate several frames and boards made by their dad placed around the venue.

“We found our very talented cake maker Kim Wenn through a friend. She made a very simple, classic cake with sugar peony flowers and square edges, decorated with gold leaf to tie in with the feel of the wedding. We also got an additional rich fruit cake and lemon sponge cake.”

The couple hired Steven Garner, a caricaturist, to entertain their guests, while Ear Candy, a string quartet played through the ceremony, drinks reception, and wedding breakfast. DJ Craig French then took over for the evening.

The bride’s father  made the sweet cart, sign posts and large initials. Karen-Anne’s maid of honour Lori decorated Owen’s grandfather’s initialled suitcase to hold cards and gifts and made the table names and guest book signs. The couple also enlisted the help of venue stylists Mediterranean Occasions to add festoon lighting and up-lighting, as well as setting up on the day.

“We had our first dance to ‘Mirrorball’ by Elbow. I loved our first dance, it was one of my favourite parts of the day.”

“I loved the whole day. I especially loved the ceremony – having everyone we loved there to witness and celebrate our love with us, and I loved having a short ‘time out’ with Owen before our wedding breakfast. There is no major thing that I would change about our day, except maybe choosing bridesmaid dresses that required a little less altering!”

WORDS OF WEDDED WISDOM

“Ensure you make time for both of you in the planning stages and build up to your day. Don’t sweat the small stuff, people are unlikely to notice if anything goes wrong on the day.”

“Savour every moment during the day as the time really flies by. Brides – sleep is a must!”

Congratulations Karen-Anne and Owen, and thank you so much to Eliza Claire whose beautiful images light up this page. More of Eliza Claire’s stunning work can be seen here.

Love Caoimhe xx