Rembo Styling Drop Waist Lace for a Rustic and Rural Farm Wedding

Happy Monday gorgeous ones! It’s only just hit me that in a few days time it will be April, this fresh spring month bringing with it both my 27th birthday and the totally exhilarating milestone that is two months to go until I marry my one *dances furiously.*

Today I’m honoured to be sharing the delightfully rustic wedding of Amber and Matthew, who wed on 27th August last year at The Wellbeing Farm, surrounded by their loved ones, more fairy lights than you could shake a stick at, and some very special farmyard guests. Amber, a Research Consultant, met husband Matthew, a Digital Video Content Producer, on a plane home flying home from Hamburg and their love story began right there above the clouds.

“We had always talked about having a rustic, vintage themed wedding. Due to our love of animals (especially Amber’s) we had also wanted a venue with farm animals – we got llamas in bow ties as a bonus! We chose The Wellbeing Farm in Edgworth as it was a rural barn, surrounded by fields and grassland but also had llamas, ducks, donkeys and pigs which fit in with our rustic, barn wedding idea.”

Photography by Jo Bradbury

Amber chose a gorgeous short gown by free-spirited, bohemian brand Rembo Styling; a stunning combination of lace, an angular high neck and the prettiest little cap sleeves making it the perfect design for our bride. She paired it with pink Ted Baker shoes and a beautifully organic headdress, designed and made by Anshu Jain from BloomsNBugs.

“My ‘Ange’ wedding dress was designed by Rembo Styling. I bought the dress from The Case of the Curious Bride in Sale, Manchester. As my friends and family said, “if I was a dress, that’s what I would look like.’ It was just completely my style. It was the first one I tried on and I knew it was the one.”Amber wore her favourite perfume, Hugo Boss, ‘Boss Jour’ with a Pandora bracelet complete with a blooming dahlia charm. Her dusky pink, English rose make-up was applied by Hayley McGroarty and hair stylist Dan Barcroft took care of her flowing flaxen locks and two of the bridesmaids’ styles.

“Along with my bridesmaids and man of honour, I stayed at the Church View House bed and breakfast in Ramsbottom.”

“Sally and her family were amazing and did everything they could to make the day perfect. We also stayed here the night of the wedding. The way Sally has decorated the house is amazing and staying there was a wonderful experience.”

Alternative Arrangements crafted rustic bouquets, and wild, bunched arrangements to adorn Amber and Matthew’s charming barn reception; the soft pretty colours mirrored in their stationery, designed and made by Norma & Dorothy, who we are very proud to support through our sister directory site, Little Book for Brides.

“We asked the florist to create bouquets which looked like they had just been picked out of a garden to be in keeping with the rustic wedding theme, tied with twine.”

“Alternative Arrangements also made some large wild bunches of flowers to go in ‘his and hers’ wellies, which went at the front of the church and also next to the head table at the venue.”

Pretty blush pink strapless dresses from Sorella Vita were paired with New Look shoes for the lovely maids, styled with hair accessories from Lilly and Dot, necklaces by Annie at AnniesDaydreams on Etsy  and bracelets from Joma Jewellery. The sweet flower girls wore ensembles from Next and carried sweet miniature posies.

“The groomsmen’s suits were rented from Groom Warrington and they all had tartan hip flasks made by Pauline Lothian on Etsy. Matthew wore the Walker Slater ‘Edward’ suit in charcoal donegal green, window pain tweed.”

“He also wore the watch his dad was given for his graduation and his bow tie was Buchanan modern hunting tartan, which is the tartan of his late grandma’s family. This tartan was also worn by the groomsmen and other family members on Matthew’s side of the family – we wanted her to be part of our wedding day.”

“Matthew and I met in Hamburg, Germany in 2008. I was playing in a hockey tournament in Hamburg and Matthew was umpiring. We got talking properly on the plane home as we were sat next to each other.”

“We got engaged in Canada on Christmas Eve 2014; Matthew got down on one knee on Lake Louise whilst we were ice skating. He had designed the engagement ring and it had the diamond from his mum’s original engagement ring in the centre.”

“We got married at Holcombe Emmanuel Church in Ramsbottom, part of the parish Matthew and his family are part of. The church is located in a beautiful quaint spot with views of the hills. We had his and hers camper vans to transport us; mine a baby blue one called Florence and Matthew’s a black and white one called Beatrice. We used a company called Posh Pampa Camper – the drivers were great fun. Matthew enjoyed being able to go in a camper van for the first time, it was something he had always wanted to do.”

Amber walked down the aisle on her arm of her dad, Barrie Bryden, to The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, chosen for it’s upbeat, happy sound. Amber later walked out of the church with her new husband to Coldplay’s Sky Full of Stars, which neatly linked in with their first dance to Yellow. Matthew’s grandpa read Ephesians, Chapter 5, Verses 21-33, and Amber sweetly picked out the line ‘And the two shall become one,” which she painted on a cloth mat to greet their guests as they came into the church.

The couple’s wedding rings were made by DJ Jewellery in Manchester; Matthew’s made from the melted down gold of his great grandma’s wedding band and Amber’s crafted based on a vintage design of orange blossom. Poignantly, orange blossom is traditionally associated with eternal love, and each of the flowers had a tiny diamond placed in the centre, which were taken from Amber’s mum’s engagement ring and eternity ring, as well as her nanna’s original engagement ring.

Announced as man and wife, Amber and Matthew exited the church in a shower of confetti as they made their way to The Wellbeing Farm.

The time the couple spent together as newlyweds with photographer Jo Bradbury was one of their very favourite parts of they day; just soaking up that giddy, euphoric emotion in their gorgeous natural surroundings.

“Being able to marry my best friend and having all our family and friends together to celebrate was the best part of the day. We had friends join us from as far as America, which made the day even more special. We also loved going with Jo to get some really fun creative photos. It also meant Matthew and I could spend some time together as the new Mr and Mrs Lomax. Spending time with the animals was also fun – Entwistle the duck, the donkeys and llamas in bow ties!”

  

“Our photographer, Jo Bradbury is amazing. She has a vintage, editorial style which fit with our wedding perfectly. She was so easy to work with and made all the photos really fun, especially when it was just me, Matthew and her.”

“We went off into the grasslands and down the country lanes nearby to find some really interesting spots for some great photos. She just blends into the day and really captures the best moments. Everyone who has seen the photos has complimented them and said how wonderful and unique they are. We would recommend her to anyone.”

Pink and gold pom poms from John Lewis hung from the ceiling between strings of bunting and  twinkling fairy lights provided by The Wellbeing Farm. Asda table cloths in pinks and creams were laden with blush pink and white spotted napkins from Quality Napkins, scattered with confetti and pretty pieces to entertain their guests.

“We gave all our guests felt camper van key rings which had been handmade by Jane from AstusFabrica, who we found on Esty. She is very talented and so lovely; she even made us a large one to hang in our house to match Florence the camper van!”

All the catering was supplied by The Wellbeing Farm, supplemented with delicious ice cream from Falshaw’s Farm Shop. There was even a champagne flavour! An afternoon tea and hog roast fuelled guests with the energy to dance the night away to band, The Big Beat, who Amber and Matthew booked after seeing them perform at a friend’s wedding.

“Matthew’s grandma made the cakes. She made three; a chocolate fudge cake (Matthews favourite), Victoria sponge and a traditional fruit cake. We also had ‘Amber’ and ‘Matthew’ minions made. These were made by Jenifer Hett from Sugarama who I found on Etsy. The Minions were amazing and they looked just like we did on our wedding day.”

“For our first dance we had Coldplay’s ‘Yellow.’ This has been our song since very early on in our relationship and it goes back to a night when we stayed in a room where they had glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, and Matthew started singing it.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Don’t be afraid to do things differently and let the day reflect both you and your groom. Don’t stress about the tiny details as only you will notice, it’s actually the simple things guests appreciate. For example, we had traditional family board games like connect four for the children and even the adults ended up playing them. They cost nothing but was a great part of the day.”

I have to 100% agree with Amber; a wedding that is a true reflection of you and your partner can only be totally and utterly brilliant – an honest, sweet, heartfelt celebration of everything you hold most dear. You can find this gorgeous couple on Instagram, by the way, and we’re so grateful to both Amber and Matthew for sharing their lovely day with us. And of course a big thank you to their talented photographer – for more weddings captured eternally on film by Jo Bradbury Photography, take a look here.

Love, Em x