Good evening everyone and I hope you’re all having a jolly week! Get set to be inspired by a very heartfelt tale and a ton of wonderful ideas for bold, bright décor and flowers, with this delightfully colourful wedding, as you view these stunning images by Suzy Wimbourne Photography. Rachel, a paediatrician, and Phil, who works as a sports journalist, married on 7th June at Copes Farm, a beautiful barn venue in Buckinghamshire. They didn’t have any particular theme in mind, but were keen for lots of colour and also wanted to design their own ceremony, as Rachel sadly lost her mum very suddenly a year before their wedding.
“All I knew was that we wanted our wedding to be multi-coloured and, thanks to our incredible florist, The Pink Peony, our rainbow dreams came true! We also knew we wanted a barn wedding after attending some of our friends weddings and falling in love with the detail. When we walked into Copes Farm we knew we’d found it. It felt so modern and different, and Jess the owner (who married herself there the previous year), had decorated the building in the most unusual way with indoor plants, timepieces and frames everywhere.”
Photography by Suzy Wimbourne
The five maids wore divine short floral gowns from Ted Baker, paired with New Look heels and necklaces found via Etsy. I am in total love with their dresses – they add a vibrant splash of colour and completely fit in with the fun and quirky vibe.
And how about this brilliant idea for very personal favours for all the guests?
“The favours were one of my favourite tasks. We decided to get everyone individual favours and wanted to give some money to charity. We were thinking of donating a sum, or buying some charity pins, but after looking at ideas in a wedding magazine, we came up with buying books from charity shops.”
“We scoured the shops and found an individual book for all one hundred and twenty of our guests. It was the most time consuming, but most rewarding task. A few examples were, for Phil (my new groom) ‘You’re Mine Now’ and for my sister’s long-term boyfriend, ‘You’re Next’ (and he was, they got engaged two months later).”
The florist made Rachel’s dream for rainbow colours a reality and the results are simply incredible, as I’m sure you’ll agree.
“Laura at The Pink Peony literally made my day. She understood the mangled, floral, multi-coloured jumble in my head instantly and came up with so many perfect creations. From my ribbon-tied bouquet, the two perfect headdresses, the floral arch she created at the end of the aisle, to the beautiful jars of flowers she distributed. The flowers stunned everyone, and I couldn’t have imagined them more perfectly. S
he read my mind, and I owe her creativity so much. It helps that she is also the nicest woman in the world.”
“The sister of one of my closest friend is a trained hair and make up artist who works in the film and TV industry and does freelance work. I don’t usually wear make up and have NO idea about hair. Chloe did the most incredible job on me and I can’t recommend her more highly.”
Rachel chose an exquisite White Rose Bridal lacy gown, via Cheadle Bride, with adjustments by Cupids Treasure, and had the help of her two best friends for a little support.
“Trying on wedding dresses without my mum was pretty emotional, but two of my best friends, Sophia and Ali, came with me to my first appointment and kept me smiling. The dress I found was the first dress I picked out and tried on. I’m still not sure what drew me to it, but I adored the thick lace pattern, and it was so flattering on my curves that I just felt beautiful, which is apparently exactly how you’re meant to feel. I went on to try on ten to fifteen more dresses at a variety of places, but I couldn’t get the first dress out of my mind.”
For the groom and his groomsmen, they all sported jackets, shirts, trousers and waistcoats from Topman, shoes from River Island, and a tie from Ben Sherman. And to top off their stylish ensembles; a pair of bright red socks.
“Phil and I met during the first week of university in Sheffield. Phil was living with one of my best friends from school, who I had gone to visit. I took the mickey out of his hair and his voice, and a beautiful friendship was formed. We started dating soon after and our first date was getting his eyebrow pierced – a present from his grandma for his birthday – and our second date was spent getting his hair bleached!”
“Eight years later Phil proposed to me in Mdina in Malta, with my Dad present, whilst on a scuba diving holiday. Unfortunately I had no idea he was about to propose, as I had decided that was the day that I would throw fashion sense out of the window and wear an oversized tiger jumper, denim shorts and thick grey tights with green fake ray-bans. I really have never looked so beautiful. I look back at my engagement photos and it’s pretty funny now.”
Rachel’s dad drove her to the ceremony in her much-loved mini, which proved a tight squeeze! The couple chose plain rings from Fraser Hart for their ceremony and Rachel was walked down the aisle to a majestic song that suited their theme perfectly.
“My amazing Dad walked me down the aisle to ‘Les Fleur’ by Minnie Riperton. If any bride hasn’t yet found their song, I’d urge you to have a listen. The lyrics are beautiful and it has a wonderful crescendo where you can walk in and make your grand entrance. And it fit in perfectly with our floral theme.
“We ended up deciding on a humanist ceremony, which I would strongly encourage other brides to look into. It was so wonderful as our celebrant Pat Winslow came around to our house, asked us lots of questions about how we met, our family, friends, what’s important to us and our likes and loves, and then designed a unique ceremony around us.”
“As the venue wasn’t licenced, we signed the wedding papers the day before at Aylesbury Registry Office, where my parents had married thirty years previously. This meant that we could design our own humanist ceremony, which was especially important to me, as I lost my mum suddenly a year before I got married. Anyone who has lost someone close to them will understand how bittersweet a wedding ceremony can be.
Phil and I really wanted to include my mum in the day, but at the same time it was such a delicate balance, as I wanted it to be a celebration. Our celebrant Pat Winslow handled this wonderfully and I truly believe that choosing to create our own ceremony gave us the perfect platform.”
“We were introduced to Suzy and Alex from Suzy Wimbourne Photography through a friend and neighbour, and we are so glad. They’re based near Manchester but happy to travel. They are the most easygoing and flexible couple, so very talented and they struck a brilliant balance between reportage and posed photos. I genuinely enjoyed having Suzy there at the morning of my wedding, and as they work as a couple we have great photos from Phil getting ready too.”
Rachel’s pretty veil with lacy edging was from Cupids Treasure, her French Connection heels were found via Selfridges and she wore a necklace bought for her by two bridesmaids, Lucy and Nina. And she was lucky enough to have two gorgeous floral crowns created by her florist Laura from The Pink Peony. Rachel’s hair and makeup was by Chloe Muton-Phillips and she was so happy with the results.
Take a look at this absolutely fabulous table plan with very quirky table names – “Ruptured Achilles Tendon” is my personal favourite!
“Our table names came from a fusion of sports and medicine (our careers), and were named after sporting injuries. We created our own table plan as a stepladder that I’d seen on Pinterest.”
The bride and groom designed all of the stationery and added their own quirky touches to the decor and favours.
“The majority of the décor was already there, but Laura our florist did a wonderful job of finishing it off. We also bought some room dividers on Ebay to separate the ceremony from the tables set out for the wedding breakfast. We personalised our tables with magic 8 balls and fortune-teller fish to keep people interested. We left instructions and equipment for people to play a game called ‘The Animal Game’ (a five-second drawing game which is so much fun) and attached name cards to miniature farm animals – thank you to Lucy and Nina for your endless hours of super gluing!”
“Like many brides, as a money saver I was planning to make my own cake, but then a few weeks before in a panic I realised that I wouldn’t be able to create a cake as good as one I’d seen on Pinterest. I outsourced the task of finding a last-minute cake maker to my maid of honour Sophie, and I’m so glad I did as she found Jenny North Cakes who created an identical cake, and also made it gluten-free. How she managed to make it taste as good as she did, I’ll never know.”
“I hadn’t seen the cake before the ceremony, and as a slightly different approach (mainly as it was so beautiful), we had the cake on display at the end of the aisle. There’s a great photo of my walking down the aisle with my dad and it looks like I’m over the moon at spying my husband-to-be at the end, but I know that it’s really me seeing my amazing cake for the first time!
And our cake toppers were made by my talented friend Sophia.”
Rachel and Phil were keen for great entertainment for their guests and found a great band to get the party underway, followed by a fantastic DJ for the evening to keep everyone partying into the wee hours.
“Just after we got engaged we were in a local pub and heard the most beautiful voice, and in my drunken post-engagement excitement, I decided then and there she had to sing at our wedding. Rachel Button and her band were so professional and did a wonderful job of getting the party started. I don’t think they do many weddings so we were honoured that they agreed to play for ours.”
“We had really struggled to find a DJ that suited us, as we wanted someone who would strike the right balance to play music that would please all types of guest, and also Phil who is a self-proclaimed music snob. During a late night internet search, we came across our saviours, Disco Shed. They allocate you a personal DJ who you can discuss all your preferences with. Phil LOVED this, and we got on so well with Jack our DJ who played the perfect set until 2am. All our music was pre-1990 (think Blondie, Prince, Elvis etc), except I managed to sneak in one SClub7 and one Backstreet Boys number. They also provided us a microphone and speaker system for the day, and the music for the ceremony AND outside games. We couldn’t recommend more highly.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“Don’t worry about the weather. Just don’t. Mother nature will do what she wants and you can’t change it.
If you’re missing someone special from your wedding, think long and hard about it and how you want to include him or her. I had a photo of my beautiful mother on her wedding day. I spent some time the day before thinking about just her, and what she would have thought about my wedding, and my dad said the most perfect words about her in his father-of-the-bride speech.
And if possible, I would highly recommend getting reading in your family house. We both managed to do it and it added an air of nostalgia.”
What a delight this wedding was to share – so much colour, so many little personal touches and such a sweet tale. A very big thankyou to Suzy and Alex for capturing these fabulous shots of Rachel and Phil’s rainbow-filled day and I wish the lovely couple a lifetime of fun, laughs and adventures.
Did you see this beautiful colourful country garden handmade wedding we shared last week? Be sure to take a look for even more inspo if you’re planning on bold and bright colours for your big day.
Here’s to a wonderful rest of week lovelies!
Love Jo x
Photographer – Suzy Wimbourne Photography
Venue – Copes Farm
Ceremony – Celebrant Pat Winslow
Dress – White Rose Bridal gown, via Cheadle Bride (alterations via Cupids Treasure)
Veil – Cupids Treasure
Shoes – French Connection heels via Selfridges
Jewellery – Necklace as a present from two bridesmaids
Floral Crowns – The Pink Peony
Bridesmaid’s Dresses – Ted Baker
Bridesmaid’s Shoes – New Look
Bridesmaid’s Accessories – Necklaces via Etsy
Groom and Groomsmen – Topman + River Island shoes + Ben Sherman tie
Florist – The Pink Peony
Rings – Fraser Hart
Catering – Eclipse Catering
Cake – Jenny North Cakes
Makeup and Hair Artist – Chloe Muton-Phillips
Entertainment – Rachel Button and Disco Shed
Jo Singletary View all Jo's articles
Jo hails from and lives in sunny Australia, is currently working towards her dream of being a career coach and a few of her favourite things are watching the sunrise over the ocean, morning walks on the beach, butterflies, and supporting the guide dogs charity.
I commend you both, not only on creating a beautiful looking day, but also for your dedication to the cause of finding a suitable book title for each and every guest! Amazing! In my experience humanist ceremonies are pretty special. They appear so well researched that they make the celebration truly personal, in a way that I’ve not seen in other ceremonies. Humanist celebrants seem to have a lovely way with words. I’m sure it was wonderful. Congratulations and best wishes for your future together xx
What a delightful day it was. It was a real pleasure working with Rachel and Phil. They were so creative and great fun. I loved the quirkiness of their gifts for the guests – all those books! Marvellous idea. These photos bring back warm memories. I wish them every happiness for the future.
Thanks Pat, as I said in my previous comment, I’m sure you added a wonderfully personal touch to their celebrations. I’m so glad that it was a lovely day 🙂