Tulips, daisies, peonies – these three blooms have the ability to make me instantly happy upon sight (even more so if you surprise me with a bunch!). But there’s one flower that surpasses all others – and that is the rose. I marvel at how much beauty there is in one little bud; the range of colours available, and more often than not you’ll find me going past a neighbour’s rose bush at dawn and literally ‘waking up and smelling the roses’ as I appreciate the brand new day. So when this lovely wedding landed in my inbox and I spied the pretty blush pink blooms, I squealed in utter delight – and just wait until you see how they perfectly complement the beautiful bride’s Charlotte Balbier gown.
Bride Rebecca and groom Neil tied the knot on 13th August 2015 at Curradine Barns in Shrawley, Worcestershire; a picturesque countryside setting for the couple’s relaxed nuptials.
“We met back in 2010 through friends, were engaged on Christmas morning in 2014 and married 8 months later. We wanted our wedding to be romantic and relaxed, where everyone could let their hair down and celebrate us getting married.”
Photography by Lisa Carpenter Photography
Rebecca’s gown was the beautiful ‘Charlotte’ style by talented designer, one of my personal favourites, Charlotte Balbier. With a full skirt, long train, lacy bodice and three-quarter sleeves, Rebecca is the epitome of a beautiful Balbier bride.
“I had tried on at least 20 dresses before I found my dress, and as soon as I saw it I fell in love and knew it was the one. I purchased my dress from La Couture Bridal Boutique in Blakedown, West Midlands.
“Makeup artist Rebecca Frances did mine, my mum’s and my bridesmaid’s makeup and her work survived all the happy tears. She put us all at ease and was a truly calming person to have around on the morning of the wedding.”
“When I saw the sleeves, the dress caught my eye immediately, as they are classic and timeless. I love the lace details throughout and the A-line shape suited my shape perfectly. It was everything I wanted and so much more and I felt beautiful. I’m just sad I can’t wear it again; well, not in public!”
Rebecca wore an utterly divine full-length veil from La Couture Bridal Boutique, low (and comfy) Rainbow Club heels, and added a pretty hair comb from Debenhams to her upswept hairstyle, created by Sean Moore from Pagons. The stunning bride finished her elegant look with her favourite scent, simple jewellery and her mum’s garter from her own wedding.
“I wore Chanel’s ‘Mademoiselle’ as it’s my favourite and Neil loves it too. I kept it simple with diamond earrings and bracelet and I added my mum’s garter from when my parents married back in 1984.”
“My two lovely bridesmaids wore Kelsey Rose dresses and both looked stunning. Their heels, pearl earrings and necklaces were from Debenhams.”
The handsome groom donned a blue three-piece suit with a white shirt and pink tie from Nicholas Smith in Brierley Hill. I love the addition of sweet little personalised touches to his accessories.
“Neil wore a personalised handkerchief with an embroidered love note from me from Etsy and his personalised cufflinks, with our wedding date, were from notonthehighstreet.com.”
“My amazing dad walked me down the aisle to Pachelbel’s Canon in D, played beautifully by The Nero String Quartet. I only managed to get half way down before I turned into a crying wreck! I was so overwhelmed and happy – it was an amazing moment and one I will remember forever.”
“We got our rings from the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, the first shop we went in we found our perfect rings in our ring sizes so we took them home that day. Neil had a plain platinum band, whilst I went for a full diamond band that complemented my engagement ring beautifully.”
The bride remembers the aisle walk with her dad as a very emotional moment (I know the feeling, tears flowed freely for me too!). The couple chose to go with simple vows and included two readings during the ceremony.
“We went with the simplest vows, as we were both nervous about mucking them up, but we didn’t need to worry as the registers were great and talked us through everything before and during the ceremony, which allowed us to enjoy every second.
Neil’s dad Pete read, with humour, ‘Yes, I’ll Marry You’ by Pam Ayres which got everyone laughing, as we had personalised it to reflect Neil and I and Neil’s sister Laura read ‘These I Can Promise You.'”
Lisa Carpenter Photography caught all the special moments of Neil and Rebecca’s day – including these delightful shots of the couple with their pet pooches! – and an engagement shoot with Lisa before their big day removed any camera shyness.
“I loved the colours in Lisa’s photos and how she captured the natural moments, which ended up being some of our favourite photos, especially the speech photos. We were both a little nervous about having our photos taken, but we met Lisa a couple of months before the wedding for an engagement photoshoot and were immediately put at ease by her, and it made us feel some much more comfortable about the photos on our big day.”
“Our beautiful nieces Faith and Rose wore dresses from John Rocha at Debenhams and melted my heart when I saw them. Rose broke her arm two weeks before the wedding, so wore a pink cast to match her dress.”
The couple loved their venue, with its beautiful barn dressed with fairy lights and gorgeous roses everywhere.
“We had looked at a few venues before we found Curradine Barns, but once we visited it, we couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else. It is a truly beautiful venue with a really lovely country feel. It’s an amazing venue to style, as you can put as little or as much as you like up. We had blush pink throughout our venue, with all the tables in the reception room covered with pink roses and gypsophila in mercury vases and tea lights everywhere. In the bar area, the table plan consisted of pink roses in pots and were great gifts to give to friends that had helped me with the wedding.”
Simply Flowers By Catherine crafted the most stunning classically elegant floral displays, with beautiful blush pink roses as the stars of the show.
“I met Catherine at a wedding show and loved her flowers straight away. Choosing the flowers was one of the hardest decisions for me as they dress your whole wedding. Catherine was fantastic and was happy to meet on multiple occasions to discuss and totally put my mind at ease. We went for blush pink roses and gypsophila throughout the buttonholes, bridesmaid’s bouquets and venue. My bouquet had all my favourites flowers – peonies, hydrangeas and roses – in blush pink and light ivory.”
“Curradine provided all the catering – we had wonderful canapés straight after the ceremony (mini fish and chips, goat’s cheese, duck spring rolls) that were very yummy. A three-course meal followed, including steak and chocolate brownies, then a BBQ in the evening, which went down well after a day of drinking!”
“We had The Nero String Quartet play simply gorgeous music throughout the ceremony and reception drinks – they created a beautiful ambience.
Magician Darren Campbell was truly talented; everyone was truly amazed by his tricks and he was a really good icebreaker for when the night guests were arriving.
We hired a vintage photo booth from Penny Lane Vintage Hire, which was great fun and produced fantastic photos.”
“We had a pink lace photo board, which showed our build-up to the wedding (engagement photos, hen and stag do’s), Jenga for every guest to sign, and a polaroid guest book. We also had a confetti bike which guests could help themselves from for the confetti shot.”
Angel Cake created the couple’s delicious strawberries and cream cake – and covered it in pretty pink roses.
Rebecca’s friend Steph Hollick designed the beautiful wedding invitations and cupcakes and a sweet cart were organised as favours for the wedding party and guests.
“Neil was very laid back with the wedding – he was happy for me to have what I wanted. The only thing he was quiet particular on was that he wanted cupcakes, and as I had always wanted a traditional wedding cake, the cupcakes became our favours. We had personalised cupcakes for the wedding party that replicated their wedding outfits. We also had a sweet cart so everyone could help themselves or take some home for their children.”
“I loved the ceremony and going in as a Miss and coming out as a Mrs, plus the ceremony was so relaxed and full of humour, especially when my dad was more than happy to give me away!”
“I also enjoyed the reception meal, sitting back with Neil and having that moment where you take everything in and having everyone we love in the world all together to celebrate our marriage.”
Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ was their chosen first dance song and the large light-up letters from Penny Lane Vintage Hire in the dance room looked beautiful lit up next to the DJ in their first dance photos.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“Be organised, have everything you both want and enjoy every second, as it’s a memory before you know it.”
Thank you so much to Lisa for sharing these images of Rebecca and Neil’s beautiful day – be sure to take a look here at another pink bloom-filled wedding expertly captured by lovely Lisa. Wishing the newlyweds loads of fun, laughs and adventures for the future.
And for one final spot of complete gorgeousness for the die-hard Charlotte Balbier fans – see more of her incredible designs here.
Have a relaxing weekend lovelies!
Love Jo -x-
Photographer – Lisa Carpenter Photography
Venue + Catering – Curradine Barns, Worcestershire
Dress – Charlotte Balbier via La Couture Bridal Boutique
Shoes – Rainbow Club
Hair Accessory – Hair comb via Debenhams
Jewellery/Accessories – Own diamond earrings and bracelet + mum’s garter
Perfume – Chanel’s ‘Mademoiselle’
Bridesmaid’s Dresses – Kelsey Rose
Bridesmaid’s Shoes – Debenhams
Bridesmaid’s Accessories – Pearl earrings and necklace from Debenhams
Groom – Suit, shirt and tie from Nicholas Smith + handkerchief via Etsy + cufflinks via notonthehighstreet.com
Groomsmen – Suits via Nicholas Smith
Flower girls – John Rocha from Debenhams
Florist – Simply Flowers By Catherine
Rings – Via the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham
Cake – Angel Cake
Entertainment – The Nero String Quartet + magician Darren Campbell + vintage photobooth from Penny Lane Vintage Hire
Stationery – Steph Hollick (friend of the bride)
Decor – Giant letters from Penny Lane Vintage Hire
Hair Stylist – Sean Moore from Pagons
Makeup Artist – Rebecca Frances
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.
The roses really are to die for, then I saw the gorgeous little dogs and the bride’s fabulous gown and I totally fell in love with this stunning wedding.