A Paloma Blanca Gown For a Barn Wedding in Shades of Pink, Grey and Copper

JL Wedding 960

Around the country, there are such an abundance of lovely old barns of all different kinds, and for those no longer used for agricultural purposes they’re leading new lives as wedding and events spaces; lending their warm and inviting spaces to many a celebration. Today’s charming, late summer wedding is no exception, and shows that barns don’t necessarily have to mean rustic styling.  In this instance, inspiration came in the form of soft blush pink and grey, breathtaking natural floral displays and accents of copper and rose gold along a geometric theme.

Assistant Venue Coordinator Laura, and Joe, a Sales and Events Manager celebrated their marriage on the 27 August 2017 at St. Richard’s RC Church followed by a reception at Southend Barns, Chichester. What’s extra lovely is that although our bride wasn’t working at Southend Barns when they first discovered it, she has since joined the staff team!

“With Southend Barns it was love at first sight! We chose our venue as we totally fell in love with it simply from the pictures online. It was the first venue I came to see with my mum, and then I brought Joe back with me a week later after seeing two other barn venues. I knew Southend Barns was the venue for us! I could picture our day here just by walking around.”

Images by Marcel Grabowski Photography

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Multi-way dresses are a popular option for bridesmaids, and Laura’s own wore flattering jersey gowns in a dove grey hue from Kate’s Dresses.

“They were such good quality and totally plain! I didn’t want any embellishment on the girls’ dresses, as I just wanted them to wear the dress, not the dress wear them! I had told the girls they could all tie them differently, as I wanted them to all be as comfortable as possible; they chose to have them all the same, knotted at the front of the neck and knotted at the back of the neck and have an open back. They looked stunning and were such good value.”

Laura wore a romantic strapless gown with a fitted lace bodice and light and flowing A-Line skirt from Paloma Blanca, which she purchased at Proposals Wedding Boutique in Chichester.

“My dress was from Proposals in Chichester, and truth be told, my actual wedding dress was the second one I chose! When I went for my measurements doing for the first one, this dress was on the mannequin and it was everything I had pinned on Pinterest! I had to try it on! It was definitely the one! I’m so glad it was there! My dress was Paloma Blanca style number 4707, strapless, romantic and super comfy!! Initially the bodice was see-through lace, but I had that modified as I only wanted the back sheer.”

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Laura’s peep-toe pumps were by Charlotte Mills, whose dreamy designs have been gracing our pages for a while now, and which can be accessorised further with the addition of funky shoe clips. Laura chose pale blue love heart clips that spelled out ‘Happily ever after’, which she swapped for ‘Mrs H’ clips during the reception (a gift from her sister).

“They are a complete set of old, new, borrowed, blue and a silver sixpence in her shoe!… They were really comfy and they stayed on right up until after the first dance! Then it was flip-flop time!”

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Laura’s bridesmaid Elysia runs Wylie Wedding Hair & Make Up (no details supplied), and created a picture-perfect look, with Laura’s hair softly curled, with the top part styled away from her face and finished with a simple, long tulle veil.

“She did a great job on the hair and make-up and made all my girls look stunning! I let the girls decide how they wanted to have their hair done and just asked that make up fitted in with the theme, so they just sat down, and it just happened! I had copper on my eyes and a nude colour on my lips as I wanted quite a natural look but some colour on my eyes! I think she did a great job and would recommend her to everyone.”

“I wore the perfume ‘Alien’ by Thierry Mugler. It’s my all-time favourite perfume. I didn’t buy it for the wedding, I wanted to feel 100% like me on the wedding day so chose to wear this as I knew I liked it and so does Joe.”

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Fellow bridesmaid Elysia gave the girls a radiant and natural make up look, and styled their hair half up, half down with loose curls and French braids.

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These beautiful flowers were supplied by Gracie at The Flower Gallery (sadly now closed).

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“My earrings were a present from my bridesmaid Elysia for my 30th birthday, but to save them for the wedding. They were pearl drop earrings from Timothy Roe. Bracelet was a gift from Joe on the morning of the wedding – it’s a 14 carat rose gold bracelet that spelled out ‘First’. The reason for ‘First’ will have no meaning to anyone else but us. As Joe and I have our two amazing daughters he likes to give me a little reminder.”

“In any card or note that Joe writes to me it is always signed off ‘I loved you first’. It makes me cry nearly every time I look at it! It’s a handmade bracelet from a company called Rachel & Joseph. They do some absolutely amazing bespoke pieces! Joe said as soon as he saw them he knew exactly what he was going to get! It’s perfect and means so much to me.”

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Our happy couple met in a nightclub almost ten years ago, through their mutual friend (and later bridesmaid) Rachael.

“Apparently I asked Joe for a drink, which I don’t remember, so I may have already had slightly too many already! We talked most of the night and at the end of the night Joe said ‘This isn’t just this’ (a drunken kiss in the only club in Chichester!)”

Their first date soon followed, and after 5 years together, Joe planned to propose (with the help of their two-year old daughter, Isla).

“Leading up to the proposal, we had been going out for lots of walks and runs, so on this particular day, I had gone to work, and Joe said, we’ll go for a run after work, so I said ok! When I got home, Joe wasn’t in his running things, but I got changed, and he gave me several opportunities before we left the house to change into something other than running shorts and a t-shirt, but I was stubborn and said, no its fine, let’s just go!”

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“We went to the Trundle in Chichester, and Joe got a bag out of the car, all I said was, ‘Well I’m not carrying that!’ So off we went for a walk to the top of the Trundle, overlooking the whole of the Southdowns – it was very picturesque. We sat down and that’s when he started talking – I now have no idea of what he said because I had then clocked what was happening! But I also thought he was joking! Unfortunately, as my ring is bespoke, it wasn’t ready for the actual proposal, so I got a Haribo gummy ring instead.”

The following day, the couple headed to St. Austell in Cornwall for the night, and happily when they returned, Laura’s engagement ring  (designed by Joe) was ready.

“My ring was made at Amoeba Jewellers in Chichester, a lovely family run jewellers. The following morning, Joe got up with our daughter, Isla, and she came into our bedroom wearing a t-shirt that said ‘I hope you said yes!’ and when she turned around, on the back was a sketch of the ring followed by ‘P.S. I can keep a secret!’ Such small details but it just made it all the more perfect.”

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Joe chose a handsome navy blue three-piece suit from the Herbie Frogg collection at Astares, paired with a pale pink tie and pocket square, and the groomsmen all wore contrasting grey three-piece suits, also hired from Astares.

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“The pew ends were hand tied bunches of Gypsophila. I didn’t go mad on flowers at the church, just a little something! We did have two large milk churn arrangements outside of the church which matched the table centrepieces, They were then brought back to Southend Barns and used as decorations on the lawn. They looked amazing!”

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Laura travelled to the church in a slick white Porsche, before walking down the aisle with her father to Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in D. 

Joe’s cousin Amanda read their first Bible reading of the service – Corinthians 13:4-13, and Laura’s sister and maid of honour Jessica read the second, Matthew 5:13-16. Along with their heartfelt vows, the happy couple also exchanged rings, which they purchased from Amoeba Jewellers.

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Following the ceremony, everyone headed to Southend Barns, where they were entertained by steel pan musician Alex Clifton.

“We had Alex Clifton as our entertainment through the drinks reception. He played the steel pan to a backing track. We first saw Alex playing as part of Steel Strum, busking on the high street in Chichester back in 2013. From then I knew I had to have them at the wedding! …It added such a summer vibe to our wedding! And everyone commented on how amazing he was!”

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It’s a treat to be able to share the work of photographer Marcel Grabowski for the first time on Love My Dress, with a set of thoughtful and creative images, which beautifully reflect Laura and Joe’s radiantly happy day. Marcel was initially recommended to the couple by a friend, and Laura has some lovely words of praise for him.

“He didn’t disappoint! We met him in a pub in Brighton as it was kind of half way as he is based in Eastbourne. His enthusiasm for what he does is like no other! Over a beer, he showed us past weddings, one being at the barns already, and other work from car racing to incredible photos of people all around the world.”

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“Joe kicked my leg under the table within about two minutes of meeting him! This was his seal of approval! He captured every moment we could have thought of, and he was a delight to have around and everyone commented on what fun he was! I’d love to class him as a friend now, and hope to see him here at the barns more over the next coming years! I can’t recommend him highly enough!”

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“Our videographers were Storybook Films. We chose these as they have documented two of our friend’s weddings! We loved their work when we saw the finished product… They are so discreet! We can’t wait to see the wedding video. I’m sure tears will flow if it’s anything like the others we have seen from them!”

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Laura had a clear vision for decor in the beautiful barn space, but it was a vision that changed over time. She initially thought about rustic decor, but when she began to work at Southend Barns, swiftly realised that she wasn’t just restricted to one theme.

“I decided to mix the rustic old barn, with really modern geometric lines, and coppers and rose golds. I love the mash-up of old and new together. The barn works really well for any theme as it is literally the most beautiful blank canvas. I knew that I wanted white roses, as being a Yorkshire girl that was really important to me to have that representation there.”

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With the addition of muted greys and soft pinks, the whole scheme looked wonderful within the setting, with towering table centrepieces from florist Gracie, stationery designed by Joe’s brother, and Cancer Research pin badges as favours.

“We chose Gracie as she just got it. Everything she said was just as I had pictured it! We chose to have tall cylinder vases, with twigs in, the flowers that sat on the top were a lot of foliage mixed with some blush flowers, the white roses, and popping out of the top were some copper grasses just to keep it all tied together. For our top table I wanted a long table runner, this looked phenomenal, it draped over the edges and looked exactly like the picture I had sent her!”

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Laura and Joe also hired giant letters spelling out the word ‘Love’, along with a cinematic lightbox from The Wedding People.

“I loved the LOVE letters and they looked amazing on the dance floor! The cinematic light box was great to put a hashtag on (#heppilyeverafter)! They leave spare letters so your guests can leave you messages! Looking back through the pictures people sent us was hilarious!”

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Working with lots of great wedding suppliers in the course of her job role meant that Laura got some great ideas. For copper tea light holders and grey table runners, she chose To Have And To Hire Events.

“We had several signs created – a welcome sign, dance floor rules, a …lantern and also a sign for our hat stand, and these were all done by Maisie from Maisie’s House. They were admired on the day, and fitted exactly the theme that we had chosen with the geometric lines!”

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Everyone enjoyed an incredible barbecue buffet by Southend Barns’ in-house caterers, Field & Fork.

“We chose 3 different salads to go with it and the freshly cooked bread was amazing! This worked well for us as we couldn’t decide on once choice on the menu to serve to everyone! It all looked amazing! We had 3 mini desserts for our pudding which was really nice as people could choose what dessert they wanted or have a taster of all 3! The service was amazing right from the initial catering meeting through to the many emails I may have sent! … I can’t thank them enough!”

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The elegant grey, blush and copper toned wedding cake was the work of Foxwood Wedding Cakes. The grey tier had the most amazing marble effect, and the copper tier was actually a dummy (as copper leaf isn’t edible).

“I like to put my full trust into the suppliers as it is their creativeness that makes you want to pick them, so I didn’t want to be too particular…When I got the sketches I was delighted! … It was sensational! We chose to have chocolate with chocolate ganache, lemon sponge and the top was carrot cake, which is my favourite! It lasted ages and was a delight to eat every day for a good week after the wedding and to hand out extra to friends and family! They all loved it!”

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“Another amazing part of the day was as we entered the barns when all our guests were seated, we had a video countdown made. It was a timeline of our relationship documenting all the big events in our life, and how many days until the wedding from the event, the music over the top was Sigala Ft. Ella Eyre, as soon as we heard it we knew it was the perfect song for our entry into the barns. Lively, loud and we ‘came here for the love!’ We sneakily watched as all our guests watched the video and was great to see them all dancing and singing along! When we walked in it was the most amazing atmosphere!”

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The drinks reception was one of Laura’s favourite parts to the whole day.

“I got to stand and speak to so many of my lovely guests and friends and family that I hadn’t seen due to them living up north. For them to make the effort to travel and stay for the weekend just meant the world to us! We had Alex Clifton playing the steel pan, he was incredible and set the party going mid-afternoon, even learning a Macklemore song for Joe! The weather completely made it a summer garden party too, we were so lucky, especially on a bank holiday!”

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Ed Sheeran’s Tenerife Sea was the sweet first dance song choice for Laura and Joe, as they felt such a connection to the words.

” ‘Should this be the last thing I see, I want you to know it’s enough for me, ‘cos all that you are, is all that I’ll ever need…….So in love!’ It was just perfect, and not the usual Ed Sheeran song that a lot of people pick.”

“For our evening we chose DJ Benny E rather than a band. This was just a personal preference of mine! As much as I love live music, the fact Joe and I had met in a club, I wanted it to be club like! We gave our DJ a ‘Do NOT play’ list and asked him not to take requests – again, this was basically so he played all the music Joe and I Liked! He didn’t disappoint! The dance floor was full all night and there were definitely some crazy shapes happening! We also had a lighting technician, again just to make it more club like! They worked amazingly together and again I would highly recommend After Dark Productions, and Benny E together! They were amazing!”

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Words of Wedded Wisdom

“I know it’s said all the time but, don’t worry about the little things! The most importing thing is that you are there to marry your best friend and the one you want to spend your life with. All the small worries (and crazy nightmares!) become totally irrelevant. Enjoy the planning together so the day is a reflection of both of you, and have fun! The day goes so fast, be grateful that all your family and friends that support and love you are there to celebrate with you and wish you well in married life!”

“Pick suppliers that you have a connection with. We found that if they had the same visions as us we hired them! Someone who gets your vision just the way you do will really help you bring the day together and it makes you worry so much less and you know they’ve got this! When it comes to picking a photographer, pick one as crazy as ours! You spend a lot of time with them. Marcel became our friend and we felt totally at ease having him around us, and the smallest details – he captured! Simply amazing!”

“Don’t always go for the cheapest option. There are ways that you can save money, do things yourself if you want to. Bear in mind that you get what you pay for! People’s skill, time and expertise go into bringing your wedding dream to life, the editing hours that go in to your photography or wedding video, or the designing and making of your wedding cake…..sometimes spending just that little bit more can make all the difference.”

“I wouldn’t change a thing about our day, we chose everything we wanted, had the most incredible suppliers too! I would relive it exactly as it was! the memories are just amazing!”

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Thank you, Laura and Joe for sharing such a gorgeous day with us, and for your words of wisdom – and thanks also to Marcel Grabowski for these stunning captures.

Until next time!

With love,

Laura

Credits & Thanks

Laura Callan

Laura Callan View all Laura's articles

Laura is a freelance writer and content creator who loves telling stories. She has keen eye for photography and art, and lives with her husband, cats, and huge amounts of books.

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