Two Needle & Thread Gowns for a Colourful and Handmade/DIY Barn Wedding

It’s definitely in the air… the days are getting longer and it’s still a little bit light at 5pm. Spring it on its way!

I’m sure that today’s wedding and its glorious natural spring flowers will get you in the mood, as well as give you plenty of ideas for décor if you’re planning a DIY celebration. Hannah, an anti-money laundering manager at Barclays and Sam, a management consultant at Ernst and Young wed on 21 June 2017, the longest day of the year. They created a natural and relaxed day of love and life in the English part of their wedding celebrations which were held at Pimhill Barn, Harmer Hill, Shrewsbury, with a Sikh ceremony and reception held a couple of weeks later.

The beauty of the venue and its grounds was the perfect canvas for the couple’s vision of a vintage, country-inspired celebration with their friends and family. Cue lots of bunting, wild flowers, doilies, and mint and gold sparkles for a breathtakingly pretty effect.

Film by Neil Parry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=7s7IT5YpPrc

You may recognise this divine gown with its open back and delicate pastel embroidery as a Needle & Thread design; it looks so, so wonderful in the natural country barn setting. Hannah has some very personal reasons behind her choice.

“The combination of the English country garden feel of the dress combined with the Indian style embroidery meant that my dress just felt perfect from the start as it really encapsulated our relationship. The beautiful sequinned embroidery made my dress feel very unique and special to me.”

Photography Cassandra Lane Photography

Cassandra Lane is the talent behind these enchanting photographs. Her informal and unposed style really means she has captured the joy and love of the day to perfection.

“We wouldn’t hesitate one moment in recommending Cassandra to any couple who wants a fantastic wedding photographer! She really fitted in to all our weddings and was such a lovely presence.”The pair met on the graduate recruitment programme at Ernst and Young back in September 2012.

“We were colleagues, best friends and eventually partners in crime! Sam proposed at sunrise in Greenwich Park one chilly January morning in 2016 and we celebrated with some Chelsea buns from the local bakery and a good old cup of tea.”

With such a distinctive, detailed gown, Hannah chose to keep her jewellery simple with gold drop earrings from Marks & Spencer and a rose gold engraved Monica Vinader bracelet gifted to her on the wedding morning by Sam.

I just love the style of Hannah’s glorious Titian locks. Her boho-inspired French braid and up-do are sensational and add the perfect vintage touch.

Her hairstylist Louise Price wove in a delicate Accessorize hair vine with fresh flowers added in, and her look was completed with an ethereal veil. I love the pop of colour given to her look with bright pink lipstick.

Hannah’s bridesmaids were dressed in floor-length graceful soft green gowns from Debenhams. The perfect colour for a late spring wedding, don’t the layered skirts complement Hannah’s own gown so well?

More vintage, country feel came via the pretty flowers, styled by a friend of a friend, Jill. She cleverly matched the blooms to the dainty colours of the embroidery on the Needle & Thread gown.

“Jill makes all the bouquets from home. She was absolutely fantastic and with a very vague brief of vintage-style wild flowers with amnesia roses she managed to put together the most beautiful flowers for us. My mum bought all the flowers for the tables from local supermarkets and raided my grandad’s garden to add to jam jars on the tables.”

Sam looked country-casual in a three-piece Marks and Spencer suit, adding a quirky bow-tie from Mrs Bowtie for a touch of vintage cool.

Hannah actually stumbled across Pimhill Barn before she was engaged, and it was the only venue the couple considered for their celebrations.

“I was driving with my mum, granny and grandad to a local garden centre when we passed the sign for Pimhill Barn. I immediately looked it up on my phone and was overwhelmed with how beautiful it was. The only issue was that I wasn’t yet engaged!”

“When that day came I took Sam to Pimhill Barn to look around and it was love at first sight. It was the only venue we looked at and considered for our big day. For our English wedding, we wanted our day to be a celebration of our love rather than anything showy or fancy. We wanted our day to be as natural as possible which we could celebrate with our nearest and dearest.”

Pimhill Barns provides the most beautiful, country backdrop for weddings, and the couple and their friends pulled together to adorn it and create a wonderful makeshift aisle. I love Hannah’s style as she arrives at the barn in the iconic pillar box red Mini, adorned with swathes of mini-bunting.

The bride was escorted down the aisle by her grandad to the barn doors where Sam was waiting, surrounded by home-made bunting. The string quartet played Adele’s ‘Make you Feel My Love’ and thankfully it was a beautiful day so the guests could sit outside.

The couple’s best friends Aimee and Deep read two readings during the civil ceremony; ‘Union’ by Robert Fulghum and ‘An Uncommon Love’ by Terah Cox.

“We thought they were really beautiful and touched our hearts.”

A very talented friend made the wedding rings and Hannah’s engagement ring.

“Our wonderful friend made my engagement ring and both of our wedding rings – she doesn’t want to be publicised here but we are very grateful for such beautiful rings.”

Hannah and Sam asked Neil Parry Photography to record their day on Super 8 Film – I love, love, love the vintage feel of his videography. The video’s soundtrack of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ was also the couple’s first dance song.

“We had fantastic Super 8 vintage videography by the very talented Neil Parry Photography. He was another wonderful addition to our wedding.”

Outside caterers Oak Apple Catering came in to provide the wedding breakfast, whilst the eye-catching cake was created by Bake it Special in Telford.

“We had an ice cream van come to serve our guests in the afternoon and a free bar all day and night. Our guests initially thought that the ice cream van had taken a wrong turn so were very excited when they realised the ice cream was for them!”

The barn was decked out to perfection for the wedding breakfast, including one hundred metres of bunting made by Hannah’s gran, a fairy light canopy constructed by the ushers and centrepieces made from recycled jam jars decorated with ribbon, buttons and doilies for centrepieces.

“We hung up photos of us throughout the years on twine with gold pegs and used my substantial heart collection collected over the years. The table plan I drew on an old vintage mirror and the menu choices I wrote on place cards from M&S. We ordered the invites from Paperchase and stuck in all the relevant bits – very much DIY!”

The backdrop to the top table is simply amazing – gold and mint paper fans covering the wall.

Lisa from Bake It Special also made chocolate orange truffles which Hannah and Sam packed in little cardboard boxes as wedding favours. Later in the day, an ice cream van visited to surprise the guests. Wouldn’t this be the best treat for a summertime party?

For the reception, Hannah changed into a short-sleeved embroidered gown, also by Needle & Thread.

The music and reception sound like so much incredible fun. Nero String Quartet played a mixture of Bollywood songs combined with classical and some occasional Beyoncé, and Odd Socks Ceilidh Band played live for an energetic, outdoor country dance. Later in the evening, there was proper party music provided by Happy Sounds Mobile Disco.

“The whole day was so perfect it is hard to pick a favourite part. If we had to, it would probably be the moments of alone time we got to share with each other throughout the day – observing how happy our guests were and telling each other how much we loved one another.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Try to pick a venue with no corkage charge – it saved us a fortune!”

“Make time to enjoy each other’s company during the day as it goes so fast.”

“If planning a DIY wedding start collecting bits early. It takes a while to get everything you need.”

“With a DIY wedding the preparation and the clearing away after the wedding cannot be underestimated! We may have paid for additional help to set up and clear away if we’d known how large the undertaking was.”

Such a joyous wedding! Thank you Hannah and Sam for sharing your day on Love My Dress. I just love your embroidered gown, and the outdoor dance is my kind of party for sure. Thank you Cassanda Lane as well for your vibrant and lovely photography.

Wishing you all a beautiful day.

Ele xx