It is such a beautiful, beautiful morning over here in the North East of England. Beautiful sunshine flooding the rooms just as it does the imagery on the page here today. This is Charlie (the bride) and Nick, who tied the knot on 29th September in the local village church where Charlie grew up, followed by a reception at Charlie's parents farm.
I love the laid back, rustic nature of this wedding, and Charlie looked quite the picture in this beautiful lace gown by Sassi Holford - a purchase from the award winning Ellie Sanderson in Beaconsfield...
"It was very hard finding something I liked as much, until I had an appointment at Ellie Sanderson with my sister, Lucy. All the dresses in this lovely shop are stunning and the staff, in particular Eira, were very amenable and patient as I wanted to try them all! Sassi’s ‘Mia’ dress has a very classic cut and elegant structure, plus stunning guipure lace from head to toe and gorgeous button detailing all down the back.
It’s not the sort of style I’d usually wear and I guess a bit of a gamble to try something new on your wedding day but I loved it, and I wasn’t disappointed with the choice."
Love My Dress Wedding Blog - Photography Copyright (c) 2011, Dasha Caffrey
"I’ve always had a soft spot for the church we got married in, St. Mary Magdalene, as it’s quiet and tucked away and very pretty, but many years ago I visited it with a friend who came to stay from up North and she wrote in the visitor’s book ‘My friend Charlie Bowden is going to get married here someday…’ so that sealed it really – years before I’d even met Nick. The reception was held around the corner on my parents’ farm (also where I grew up). You may ask, did dear Nick have a say? Well, luckily for me he also likes where I’m from and was pretty happy to go with the Dorset option. Plus he got his way in other aspects of the day.
I can’t say we had a strong theme for our wedding, or even a colour theme really. It was a bit of a mish-mash, but I quite like things like that. I guess the overriding factor was ‘suitable for a day on the farm’. That said, my parents poshed the place up A LOT so it wasn’t like we were tramping around the cow shed in our wellies. In terms of decor, we had lots of candles and fairy lights! Bunches of white and pink gypsophila in washed-out cat-food tins. Bunting made by a friend. A disco ball as a centre-piece. Hops hops and more hops. And lots of trees hired to us as a favour from the local garden centre, Groves."
"I kept it simple with some fresh flowers in my hair - spray roses and white gypsophila prepared by the florist, Beaminster Flowers, and finished off by Mum. I also wore a string of freshwater pearls I’ve had for many years and some small stud pearl earrings that I’d bought from family friend jewellers, Wessex Jewellers in Bridport, the day before."
"We met in a pub in North London that was Nick’s local and a first-time haunt for me. Nick was at the bar with a friend and apparently my jumper caught his eye (nothing special I can tell you!). When I was at the bar buying a drink for my pal, he said ‘that’s a nice jumper’ or something equally blinding. Then as my friend and I got up to leave (much later, not because of said blinding compliment) he persuaded us to stay for a drink. And the rest, as they say...
Nick proposed to me 18 months later on a skiing trip in Italy on New Year’s day. We were sat in deckchairs at the top of the mountain on the only sunny day we’d had on the holiday so far. The snow was sparkling as much as the beautiful rock he presented to me. We were married just over 9 months later."
"I’d wanted a bit of colour on my feet and originally opted for some peach court shoes from Selfridges. Beautiful shoes in themselves but what on earth was I thinking pairing them with a cream wedding dress?!! They stood out like a sore thumb and completely detracted from the dress. So I swapped them for a pair of LK Bennet Shilo patent leather court shoes in off-white, which were perfect – and soooo comfy."
"My veil was handmade by one talented lady called Helen Martin in Norfolk. I can’t remember how I came across her website but I contacted her through it and she replied immediately outlining various options, with photo examples and a list of costs. She even sourced a sample of the exact lace from my dress and sent it to me to be extra doubly sure of the match. From start to finish Helen was incredibly helpful, patient, honest, and professional. And the veil was flipping gorgeous, I had loads of comments on it on the day. "
"Our Florists were Beaminster Flowers - a local supplier who had done the flowers for my best friend’s wedding the year before, which were beautiful. So it was a no-brainer to use them for our wedding. Both Leah and Helen are wonderful and achieved just the right balance between listening to what I wanted as well as bringing their own ideas and creativity to the bouquets. I was after a simple bouquet for both the bridesmaids and me - just green and cream. And ideally flowers that were in-season. I could spend hours looking through the florist books dreaming up combinations but in the end we opted for simple cream spray roses with white gypsophila and green foliage including the herbs rosemary and sage.
My thinking was that the smell of the herbs would help calm my pre-wedding nerves on the day. In the event I completely forgot this clever idea of mine but nay matter, they looked beautiful. My one weakness in the bouquet was Craspedia, a weed really that’s native to Australia and NZ but they added a fun element and a pop of colour that looked great. They also looked great in the men’s button holes.
I should also mention local lady in the village, Jessie Barratt who does the church flowers each week. She and my mum worked tirelessly the day before the wedding on displays for the pedestals, the church pews, the candelabras and the windowsills and made the church look even prettier than it did before. The result was stunning especially with the sunlight pouring through the stained glass windows. "
"The bridesmaids dresses came from Boden, I can’t remember the name of them but they were a simple above the knee v-neck dress with capped sleeves in cream. They all looked blooming amazing so it was worth the gamble of ordering online which I’m always a bit wary of doing, especially as my cousin who lives in Paris didn’t try hers until the week before the wedding.
They all wore their own jewellery and it was all different but looked fab. As a thank you gift I bought them matching bracelets from a shop in East London called Luna & Curious. They stock a brilliant collection by largely British designers and after much deliberation (I wanted it all), I ordered 4 gold bracelets with a delicate heart charm by the designer Karin Andreasson. Karin, and Rhianna, one of the shop owners, were super helpful in creating a bespoke bracelet (based on Karin’s ‘Love Hearts Necklace) to suit what I was after, as well as my budget and I was so pleased when they arrived. They were stunning."
"I’ve always had a soft spot for the church we got married in, St. Mary Magdalene, as it’s quiet and tucked away and very pretty, but many years ago I visited it with a friend who came to stay from up North and she wrote in the visitor’s book ‘My friend Charlie Bowden is going to get married here someday…’ so that sealed it really – years before I’d even met Nick. The reception was held around the corner on my parents’ farm (also where I grew up).
You may ask, did dear Nick have a say? Well, luckily for me he also likes where I’m from and was pretty happy to go with the Dorset option. Plus he got his way in other aspects of the day."
"Dasha Caffrey was our amazing photographer and comes highly recommended by us. She really captured the relaxed, fun atmosphere on the day and we barely even noticed her being there (in a good way). Her service was professional but personable from the start, and the photos?! Well, they speak for themselves don’t they? We’ve had so many lovely comments from our guests about them."
Continue reading "Sassi Holford Lace for a Laid Back Rustic Style Farm Wedding" »
