A Karen Willis Holmes Sequin Dress for a Colourful and Vibrant Barn Wedding Inspired by The Lost Gardens of Heligan

As I sit down to write this, there are swathes and swathes of much-needed rain lashing against the windows, and although the poor, parched ground here in London will be thankful for it, I’m gazing at the amazing colour and beauty of today’s late summer wedding to counteract the gloom outside.

Chloe, a seamstress for Knutsford based bridal designer Emma Beaumont and Chris, who works in digital marketing, were married on the 5 August 2017 in a ceremony at Clive Church, Shropshire followed by a reception at Pimhill Barn near Shrewsbury. It was a day filled with exquisite and beautifully thought out details, taking major inspiration from the wild and untamed beauty of the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall (if you haven’t been, add it to your list!). There were also a hugely talented array of family and friends involved in many aspects of the day, including the bride herself!

“Not that we necessarily wanted a theme, but the colours and the brightness of wildflowers really made us both happy.”

Images by Catharine Noble Photography

At the time that Chloe began the search for her wedding gown, she was working at our lovely Little Book supplier Agape Bridal Boutique in Altrincham. While there, she chose the subtle sparkle of the ‘Caitlyn’ gown by Karen Willis Holmes, and I absolutely love her description of how the gown made her feel.

“Most people say to me, ‘I bet working in bridal you knew the exact dress you wanted’. The truth is totally the opposite! Having an abundance of designers, dresses and resources to make a dress was almost too much to choose from. I could have had anything I wanted and yet I couldn’t decide what.”“I had always thought I would go for a corseted gown with a gorgeous full skirt and huge train, because I’m cuvacious – but nothing lit my world on fire until we got the Karen Willis Holmes dresses. Now anyone who knows me knows how much I love sequins and glitter and a lot of it! The moment I put on the Caitlyn gown I was in love. I felt like Ariel at the end of The Little Mermaid when her dad gives her legs and she walks out in that dress – meets Jessica Rabbit!”

“The way it hugs the body, the way it swished when I walked and that back! It did everything I wanted and most of all, I felt beautiful, something I rarely ever feel. The tulle overlay then gave me the extra shape, fullness and personality that made it my dress.”

Chloe customised her gown with the addition of an ethereal high-low tulle overlay by Watters, which she then lovingly hand-embroidered (all 15 metres!) with a breathtaking floral design. It looks as though there are delicate sprigs of fresh cherry blossom adorning it – just wonderful!

“My shoes were a 30th birthday present from work; they were the ‘Grace’ shoes by Rachel Simpson. They were perfect height wise as I don’t like to be taller than Chris and we are only 2 inches apart. The mixed metallic is an obsession of mine, plus the flowers went great with the floral design of my skirt’s embroidery.”

Chloe completed her gorgeous look with her wedding fragrance – La Nuit Tresor by Lancome.

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“I wanted to make as many parts of the wedding that I could, so I made the  bridesmaid’s dresses. It took so long to find the fabric I wanted that the design changed almost fortnightly. But once I found a Guipure lace in a stunning teal colour and a Mikado to match, I knew I wanted high low skirts and different top halves, which I designed with each maid, so that they were comfortable wearing their style and also felt like they had a bit of their own personality in it.”

The amazing, kaleidoscopic flowers were by Kathryn at The Shropshire Field, and are a bright and cheerful love letter to late summertime. In Chloe’s bouquet there were long stems are orange crocrosmia together with vibrant dahlias, hydrangea blooms and fluffy mint green pom poms!

“Our florist was incredible! Kathryn from The Shropshire Field was recommended by our venue and we really wanted to keep suppliers local to the venue, firstly to support the area we love so much, but also to reduce the stress on the day.”

“We told Kathryn about our vision for the day; flowers were to play a huge part in making the atmosphere joyful, colourful and a little bit of the Lost Gardens of Heligan. She understood exactly what we wanted straight away, and she helped guide us to decide what to have as we had no idea.”

“My bouquet was a dream come true! I had seen a picture of a giant wild flower bouquet on Pinterest that had colourful pompoms in it and knew it was the one for me. Kathryn worked her incredible magic in recreating this for me and I cannot thank her and her team enough.”

Chloe’s talented friend and jewellery designer Laura Donovan created bespoke gold hair vines inspired by the floral embroidery on her wedding dress.

“I showed her my embroidery design and told her how I wanted to wear my hair and she just got it.. She made me a collection of gold flower and leaf vines with the odd coral sequin flower from my skirt. I love them and can’t wait for and excuse to wear them again.”

Stationery came courtesy of Emmy Designs, with a bright and cheerful design perfectly in tune with the day.

The wonderful fishtail braids in Chloe’s hair were styled by her sister-in-law, and pretty and romantic make-up came courtesy of friend and bridesmaid Sara.

“Laura Donovan also made my earrings to match my hair vines; one was a gold flower and in the other ear was a stunning hammered gold ear bar, which I frequently still wear because I love it so much!” 

Chris wore a smart blue suit from Moss Bros with a contrasting blue tweed waistcoat and pastel floral print tie from Next. The groomsmen wore their own suits and matched their waistcoats and ties with Chris.

“We hadn’t even thought about having a car, until two weeks before when Chris’ parent asked us what we were having and were shocked when we said my dad’s car. They were having none of it and they booked us a vintage car and driver from a local company. I am so thankful that they did, it was so lovely on the day to not stress about getting there, to have that precious moment in the back of the car with my dad squeezing my hand tight and telling me how proud he is.”

 

Chloe gifted her bridesmaids delicate gold bracelets by Laura Donovan, and they wore their own shoes. Her bridesman wore an incredible teal three-piece suit to match the bridesmaids, together with a tie-clip from Chloe, also from Laura Donovan.

“My bridesman is a supplier of cloth to tailors on Savile Row and used to work for a tailor so he got his suit made in a teal cloth and a waistcoat in the matching lace, which I think worked quite well, but I had to make him a little something, so I found a gorgeous Liberty fabric and made him a tie.”

“We chose to get married in a church because I’m a Christian. I’m very proud of my faith and if anything, I grew stronger in my relationship with God when planning the wedding because of reading scriptures about marriage.”

Chloe and Chris met after Chloe decided to take matters into her own hands following the failed attempt at a set-up by a mutual friend!

“I invited myself along to a night out… where I knew Chris was, we got to talking, he bought me a drink and I think I must have been talking way too much so he kissed me… The rest was easy, we started dating, found out we were strangely identical; we both had one brother who was 9 years our senior, both had the exact same obscure Foals song as our ringtone, the list goes on.”

Seven years later, whilst on their summer holiday, Chris proposed.

“Our first stop was Longleat Safari Park, a place I’d wanted to go since I was young, then onwards to Devon where he had hired us a Vintage VW campervan called Mollie, which we drove to The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, a place I had loved going to when I was a child.”

“And one day, at dusk we were sat in a secluded hideaway in the gardens when he turned to me all shaky and asked me to marry him. Obviously, I had forgotten to actually answer him because he looked a bit worried and asked me again to which I giggled ‘Yes of course!'”

The couple were engaged for two years before they were married in August 2017. It is, of course, now completely clear why they were so inspired by The Lost Gardens of Heligan during their planning process!

 

Vitamin String Quartet’s version of Coldplay’s Sky Full of Stars provided the meaningful soundtrack to Chloe’s walk down the aisle, accompanied by her dad.

“We have been to see Coldplay twice at the Etihad stadium in Manchester and both times we were blown away by the atmosphere, so it was definitely something very special to us.”

“Dad is a man of few words but when he does talk it is always something very logical or telling a rude joke! So, when my mum had told me how much he was looking forward to walking me down the aisle I was really touched. I didn’t want to forget the mums though, as they brought us into this world, they deserved to be honoured as well. So my mum walked down the aisle first with my bridesman Drew and then Gill was walked down by one of the groomsmen, Jack. I think they were pleased as punch about this, they were beaming from ear to ear.”

Reverend Harhoff conducted the ceremony at Clive Church, something very special, as he retired after Chloe and Chris were married. For their Bible reading the couple chose John 15:9-17.

“A verse about how Jesus told us to love each other as he has loved us. This was important to me because although we were there to join together as husband and wife and celebrate our love, we were also asking our friends and family to help us in our marriage, the people we love and also cherish. It just felt very fitting to bring them into the ceremony too.”

“The sun was shining the whole morning at the church, which meant all our guest were able to park in the field opposite. It stayed sunny until the very second me and my bridal party entered the church, and I mean second! It then proceeded to rain torrentially throughout the whole service, with the addition of lightning and a well-timed thunder-clap the moment Courtny finished her Bible verse reading! Someone was clearly well pleased with this union.”

The second reading was The Promise by Heather Berry.

“A poem I found on a midnight Google search, it was beautiful and also quite spiritual without being from the Bible as I didn’t want to alienate any of our guests who weren’t Christians.”

Together with their vows to one another, the couple exchanged rings, which they had purchased from Goldsmiths.

“They were so helpful and knowledgeable. We both went for a plain rose gold band and we got an amazing bargain as they had a sale on!”

Rather than carrying bouquets, the bridesmaids instead wore lovely flower crowns, while bridesman Drew wore a large buttonhole tied with multi-coloured ribbon.

The couple’s nephews were pageboys, and wore matching shirts and blazers from John Rocha.

“I wanted them to be comfortable in the outfit so let them choose what to wear on the bottom half, plus they were growing so fast that I thought it safer for their parents to sort!”

“I have no idea where the idea came from but I felt very strongly about having our table plan on an old window! I had found one on eBay that I fell for and there were the exact amount of panes to tables. We both love music and there had been a variety of albums that have meant so much to us over the years that we decided to name the tables by albums as well as numbers.”

“We printed and framed the album covers for each table as the centre pieces, which I loved as it was like looking out on all of our relationships history alongside the people we loved so much.”

After the ceremony, everyone made their way to the gorgeous, rustic setting of Pimhill Barn, a venue Chloe and Chris visited and immediately fell in love with.

“We were struggling to decide where we wanted to get married. I’m from Yorkshire, Chris is from Shrewsbury but we live in Manchester, so we had a plethora of options. Then one day at work I had a day of appointments with brides who were getting married in Shropshire, and it felt like a sign.”

“The last one of the day was getting married at Pimhill Barn and she told me to look it up… I fell in love! It’s really hard not to, a stunning barn in the back drop of wonderful countryside with the most friendly and helpful owners – Ginny and Ian. Nothing was too much trouble and they had great ideas from all the weddings over the years that helped us plan everything.”

Two large milk churns were filled with flowers by Kathryn at The Shropshire Field, and were placed at the entrance to the barn. Inside the barn there were more floral delights dotted along the tables, with vases of seasonal wildflowers and potted lavender plants, together with brightly coloured streamers intertwined with hanging foliage.

Illustrator and designer (and sister of jewellery designer Laura Donovan) Alex Jones made the couple’s wedding cake.

“Honestly this family are the most talented, gorgeous and generous people ever! Alex was my boss at Agape before she left to become a freelance illustrator. She is very gifted. When we were discussing the cake I requested two things, flavour and a gold tier. The top tier was lemon and the bottom almond, they were exquisite!”

“Once I had the invitations back and sent out Alex had the great idea of painting the bottom tier with the same motifs and the outcome was pure perfection. Alex fast became a close friend after we met at Agape in 2014, the year she got married. I wanted to honour her for all the help she had given me throughout planning so I got our florist to make her a flower crown too.”

“The biggest part of our décor after the flowers, were the metres upon metres of pom poms, which I made but was greatly helped by a team of people – my bridesmaid Courtny, my mum, aunty Carol, bridesman Drew, mother-in-law Gill, and Chris even made a couple – which he was surprisingly good at! We hung them from the ceiling teamed with loads of fairy lights, and although I loved it, I don’t think I quite realised how big the space was and really it wouldn’t have hurt to have made more.”

Following delicious canapes, everybody enjoyed a wonderful wedding meal by Cheryl Jayne Catering.

“Based in Shropshire Cheryl Jayne Catering were amazing! Not only was Cheryl friendly, calm, talented and flexible with whatever style of food we wanted to try, her staff on the day were a well-oiled machine.”

“All our guests commented on how great the canapes and main meal were. At your own wedding you rarely have time to enjoy all the little details you have planned for your guests, but we were hunted down and brought our very own plate of each canapes and we were so grateful, they tasted amazing.”

“For starters we had a sharing platter for each table of lots of breads, oils and mezze foods. Our guests then had a choice between creamy chicken or braised beef.”

“The flowergirls (our nieces) dresses were an incredible find; they were from Monsoon and they matched with every aspect of the wedding – the wild flower print, the sequin embroidery on top, even the hem matched the teal of the bridesmaids and man!”

The accomplished lenses of Catharine Noble Photography caught all of the colourful beauty of the day with a natural touch suffused with soft light throughout.

“I had met them whilst at Agape as they did so many gorgeous photoshoots of the shop and dresses. I loved their style because it was so fresh and the colours just stood out, which was perfect for the vibe of the day.”

“We really got to know them throughout the process and would definitely count them as friends as well, they are just so personable and professional at the same time. We were overjoyed with the photos when they came back, all the little details we had worked so hard on were captured perfectly so that we could relive the day over and over again.”

They found it a difficult task to decide on a first dance song. As massive music fans, there were a multitude of choices, but some didn’t feel quite right, and some the couple wanted to keep just for themselves. The song they eventually landed upon was Weathered by Jack Garrett.

“I remember Chris sending me a link to the video one morning with the caption ‘first dance?’. I cried so hard as I listened to the lyrics and thought of our lives together after marriage. Chris has always had a playful and adventurous personality and I have been mostly the grounded one who guided us gently into responsibility, so together we are a pretty balanced partnership. To me this song represents us growing old together, through ups and down, all the adventures life has for us and knowing that we keep each other young at heart, so that we can be joyful and grateful for all we have.”

“If I could give anyone planning a wedding one piece of advice, book your entertainment early! We found this one of the most stressful parts of the process.”

After a few false starts, Chris found the perfect band in Manchester based Groovy Revolution.

“They didn’t disappoint. I don’t remember the dance floor being empty for the whole time they were on, apart from the giant conga line that went outside and back in again. I loved every minute, especially when they got my friend Alex up to sing the Lulu part in Take That’s Relight My Fire.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“I’ve said this a lot to brides I have worked with over the last few years: Planning getting married to the person you love so much you want to be with them until the end should be joyful! If you are not having fun or are in any way too stressed out, then you need to take a step back and look at it with some perspective. Yes, it is important, but what is more important is your sanity and relationship, do not let anything compromise that.”

“Ask for help and be grateful to those who give it. Be true to who you are as a couple and try not to worry too much that your décor doesn’t look like that Pinterest board you have been obsessing over since before you got engaged.”

“Take a moment on your day to stop, breathe and look at all these people who have come to celebrate you as a couple.”

“The whole day was blissful, everything went according to plan but didn’t at the same time. One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is that there was a thunderstorm on the day. So, I would have to say – I don’t have a favourite moment, but what I remember most – is the weather.”

Chloe and Chris, what a joy it’s been to write about your bright and beautiful day, and what a wonderfully gifted array of loved ones you have who so brilliantly stepped up to help deliver the day you wanted. Chloe, I’m also hugely in awe of your design and sewing talents, too. Thanks also go to Catharine Noble Photography for their charming images.

With love,

Laura