An Iridescent Pronovias Gown for a Festival Inspired, English Country, Barn Wedding

Hello readers! We have a wonderful, English country, barn wedding for you this sunny Friday afternoon, featuring an elegant bride wearing an iridescent Pronovias gown. Neil and Alex, who both work in TV, tied the knot on the 4^th of July 2015, in a traditional ceremony at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, in Halstead, Essex, followed by a fun filled, festival inspired, reception at Dove Barn; a stunning, mid – 18^th century, timber framed structure, set amongst the rolling fields of South Suffolk.

“We wanted to get married near to where I grew up and up and Dove Barn was the perfect setting – a beautiful barn in the countryside with loads of space where we could hold our outdoorsy, festival themed reception (including a tennis court, Pimms tent, a fish and chips stall and, of course, the bucking horse for guests to have a go on!).”

Photography by Craig Williams

“We went down the ‘rustic chic’ route for the barn – lots of jam jars with hessian, tea lights and vintage Coca-Cola bottles, fruit crates and dodgy ladders! We were keen not to over egg one particular theme, however, so we threw in a few details inspired by some of our favourite things: football, neon signs, The Beatles and red wine!”

Alex said ‘I do’ in an elegant Pronovias gown, which she purchased from The Wedding Dress Shop in Wimbledon, London.

“With the help of the lovely Megan, at The Wedding Dress Shop, I picked the ‘Yamela’ gown by Pronovias. I didn’t want anything too big or over the top.  It was the first dress I tried on and I felt amazing.  I loved the sparkle at the top and the fantastic fit of the dress.  It was unlike anything I’d ever seen or imagined and I felt totally WOW on the day!”

Today’s wedding was photographed by Craig Williams. I really love the way that Craig has captured the spirit of Alex and Neil’s big day in these lovely images.

“We saw Craig and Kate’s images online and LOVED the laid back, natural look of their photos. They were amazing on the day, making us feel totally relaxed. Kate and Craig did an amazing job at capturing our wedding from start to finish and they were so unobtrusive, we hardly knew they were there!”

Alex’s bridesmaid and flowergirl both looked lovely, dressed respectively in an Art Deco inspired, beaded maxi by Adrianna Papell, purchased from House of Fraser, and a dress from Monsoon.

Our bride paired her gown with a fingertip length, also from Pronovias, and some classic, ivory, satin court shoes from Rainbow Club.

“My dress was so stunning that I didn’t need many accessories! I borrowed earrings from my best friend, and only bridesmaid, Sam.”

Neil rocked a three-piece, midnight blue, checked Reiss suit and a pale gold, patterned tie from Knightsbridge Neckwear.

“Neil and I met at work and after a long drawn out courtship, finally settled on one another after he stopped to offer a sodden and saddened looking me, a lift from a bus stop outside Clapham Junction station. Thus began a wonderful journey, spanning just shy of two years and culminating in our engagement on September 15^th, 2014. Neil surprised me at the top of the stairs at home, dressed in a tuxedo with a rose and a bottle of champagne. He got down on one knee, opened the ring box and popped the question! We soon set the date for the 4^th of July 2015. Non Independence Day!”

Alex’s father walked her up the aisle to the stirring sounds of ‘Staralful’ by Sigur Ros…

“Listening to ‘Staralful’ as I walked up the aisle moved us both to tears. We opted for the traditional vows and had two readings, one each from the Old and New Testament, both of which were read by great friends of ours.”

“We bought our wedding bands from Pravins. My band is set with seven diamonds to complement my solitaire diamond engagement ring and Neil went for the classic gold court diamond band.”

 

The couple hired a vintage Routemaster double-decker bus to transport their guests between the church and Dove Barn.

In the grounds of Dove Barn, the couple set about creating a festival atmosphere, complete with a bucking bronco, fish and chips stall and a Pimms tent. Brilliant!

“We hand made all of our invites, which were records with all of the important details inside a sleeve and a ‘tracklist’ of events taking place during the day. The Order of Service was also hand made and tied together with ribbon. We kept things simple with luggage tags for place cards & printed menus.  Neil is football mad and designed the table plan as a football line up of Arsenal and Everton players.”

 

Alex and Neil decorated Dove Barn with a bevy of beautiful pastel flowers (arranged by Roz Gage, a family friend who came out of retirement for the occasion) and lots of lovely rustic touches…

“With the help of our very patient friends, we styled Dove Barn with lots of old fruit crates, traditional ceramic beer bottles, old wooden ladders and watering cans with flowers cascading from them. We hung pink and white lanterns from the ceiling and filled hundreds of jam jars we had collected with tea lights.”

“Gemma at GRH Catering, who created our wedding breakfast, is passionate about the presentation of food as well as the taste. Gemma gave us an amazing choice of menu and the food on the day was spot on, plus her staff were brilliant too.”

Neil and Alex gave their guests bottles of homemade ‘Love Punch’ as their favours and Alex’s mum created a fruitcake decorated with football players and Santa (?!) especially for the occasion!

The bride and groom’s wedding entertainment was provided by a Beatles tribute band and their first dance was to the classic Dire Straits song, ‘Walk of Life’.

“Neither of us have a favourite part of the day – we were on an amazing high throughout – but to see all our family and friends socialising and interacting together was epic. There is nothing we would do differently, except maybe make the day longer – it was all over so quickly!”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Enjoy it, savour it and remember every last bit of it! Accept help from anyone who offers – it takes the pressure off you and really means a lot to others to be a part of the wedding.”

A huge thank you, both to our happy couple for sharing the details of their big day, and to Craig Williams Photography for capturing it so very beautifully. If you’re are looking for more inspiration for your festival inspired wedding, do take a peek at our extensive archives.

Wishing you a great rest of the week!

Annora x