A Charming Rustic Barn Wedding on the Family Farm

Living where I do in the countryside, tractors on the roads and stacks of hay bales in the fields are common place. I have to admit, though, that I’ve never seen anything quite like this – a vintage Massey Ferguson pulling a trailer laden with a groom and groomsmen. I’m totally enchanted by today’s rustic farm wedding and I hope you are too.

Dairy farmer Adam married Kate on 3 June 2017 in St Mary’s Church, Frampton-on-Severn, Gloucestershire with a reception afterwards in the stone barn and cowshed at their farm – Milton End Farm in Arlingham. The couple wanted to have a real rustic feel, so their own farm was a clear winner for venue. The countryside and farming influenced everything about their day, from the transport and buttonholes to the rustic styling, and they worked hard before the wedding to transform the barn which had been used for lambing just a few months before. The couple have a son, Ferguson, who is two, so be sure to look out for him in these photographs.

Photography Camilla Reynolds Photography

These beautiful images are by Camilla Reynolds Photography, who was recommended to the couple by Adam’s brother and his wife. Her documentary-style approach encapsulates the fun and love of the day with so much movement and energy.

“As soon as we met Camilla we felt at ease and relaxed. She seemed really keen to get to know us as a couple so could photograph us accordingly. She knew we didn’t want too many ‘staged shots’ and wanted the majority of our photos to be relaxed and to just capture the day – which she did amazingly well! We’ve had so many compliments on our photographs. Camilla is very highly recommended.”Kate’s blonde up-do, styled by Sandra Elizabeth Hair & Makeup, showcases the beautiful lace of the bodice, and for a summery country feel she added fresh flowers. Earrings from John Lewis and a bracelet, given to Kate by her mum when she married in 2011, completed her pretty look.

Florist Louise Pritchard put together the summery blooms – full-blown cream roses at the heart of the wild, undone look which also made use of lots of wild grasses, lavender and ears of corn.

Kate chose to wear vintage-inspired lacy bootees from Alternative Footwear, and changed into cream wellies later on for the newly-wed portraits on the banks of the River Severn.

Adam’s groom style is so wonderful and instantly sets the tone for the day. His country suit in a light tweed was found at Slater Menswear and he added quirky tractor cufflinks (a NotOnTheHighStreet find) and a navy blue ‘cow’ tie, bought on Ebay at Frederick Thomas. His charming buttonhole included a little stalk of wheat.

The couple’s son Ferguson matched his dad in a cute tweed waistcoat from Next worn with tweed H&M trousers, Zara shoes and an adorable mini flat cap.

Adam and his groomsmen travelled to the church in an iconic Massey Ferguson tractor and trailer – they really must have turned heads as they drove through the Gloucestershire countryside! All of the transport was owned and driven by family friends; the bridesmaids rocked up in a Land Rover Discovery and Kate was driven to the service in a bridal white Land Rover adorned with pink roses.

 

Kate and Adam met through mutual friends and got engaged in July 2016 after Kate proposed on a family day on the farm.

“It was actually me that proposed to Adam! I really wanted to get married before children however after having our son in 2012 this plan went out of the window. I became impatient with waiting for Adam, who is extremely laid back, to pop the question.”

“Everyone kept asking when he would propose which I knew would put him off longer. We had talked about how we would have our wedding and who would be best men, ushers and so on, so I knew he wanted to marry but he just wasn’t asking! I decided to ask him at one of our annual summer family parties.”

“Each year we have a BBQ and party down by the river on our farm which we like to call ‘Miltonbury’; it’s our version of Glastonbury! I took Adam to one side (after a few drinks) and popped the question – thankfully he said ‘yes’. I then read out a poem which I wrote to all our family and friends to announce our engagement. We celebrated into the early hours.”

The bridesmaids wore long, beaded gowns in shades of lavender blue and nude from one of our own Little Book for Brides members Little Mistress. They have a fantastic selection of chic, pretty and feminine gowns, all designed in-house. With fresh gypsophila in their hair and Accessorize earrings and bracelets they look so beautiful and ideal for the informal, relaxed day.

Kate chose an enchanting off-the-shoulder, bespoke gown from Grand Jour, which combined a delicate lacy bodice with a floaty romantic skirt. If you’re struggling to find something that you really love, have you considered blending together elements from different gowns?

“I chose my dress in the first shop I visited which I did not expect. I always knew I wanted a fitted, lace dress. In the end my dress was tailor-made made using a combination of two styles that I tried on and loved parts from each. Extra lace was then ordered to make the off the shoulder style which I requested myself.”

It was important to Kate that both her father and stepfather had special roles on the day. Her stepdad accompanied her in the Land Rover before her dad Pete walked her down the aisle of the church to the haunting sounds of Eva Cassidy’s ‘Songbird’. Be sure to look out for the lovely little pew ends of lavender sprigs and barley, tied with straw.

The service was a traditional Church of England ceremony, but as Adam is Catholic they asked Father Bill Watson to attend and  provide a Catholic blessing.

Between them Kate and Adam have lots of nephews and nieces, and were really keen to have them included in the day. Harry Hillman and Alfie and Frankie Turner read ‘The Owl & The Pussycat’ by Edward Lear during the service which must have been so wonderful to hear. Their other reading was ‘Colossians Chapter 3 Verses 12-17’ read by Kate’s sister-in-law Rachel.

When Adam was younger his nickname was ‘Rodney’ and the couple managed to weave in some unexpected references; they walked out of the church to ‘Hooky Street’ – the theme tune of ‘Only Fools And Horses’ before driving away together (after passing under the guard of honour made from garden hoes) in a bright yellow three-wheeled Reliant Robin.

“Our favourite part was driving away from the church in the Robin Reliant complete with blow-up dolls – proper ‘Only Fools and Horses’ style! It was a welcome sigh of relief and a good laugh after the legal bit.”

Whilst the guests chatted, the newly-weds stole away to spend some time together and have photos taken by the Severn.

“We loved being able to go down to the riverbank for a few photos and a snippet of time to ourselves.”

During the year of their engagement, Kate and Adam worked immensely hard to transform the barn into a picture-perfect, rustic-inspired reception venue. I had to laugh when I saw the ‘bride and groom’ hay bales standing guard in the farmyard, and the welly boots crammed full of blooms are such a fun touch. The guests caught a double decker bus back to the farm, where they were surprised by the barn in all of its rustic glory.

“We loved seeing our guests’ reaction to what we had done to the barn – especially those who had seen it before and could not believe we’d get it done in time! The enormous amount of time and effort put in to transforming it really did pay off.”

“We did all of the planning and work ourselves with lots of help from family and friends – especially when it came to converting the farm buildings into a wedding venue! A few months previous to our wedding day the venue was being used for lambing. There was an enormous amount of work to do but it was so worth it.”

“We used lots of rustic décor. The back ‘Cowshed’ was lined with round straw bales for walls. We then draped hessian from the roof and hung an old wooden fruit ladder from the steel frame which was wrapped in flowers and fairy lights.”

“We decorated the stone barn with lots of fairy lights and used hessian as huge draped curtains in the opening. All signs were made by ourselves. We also painted old tractor tyres to use as decoration and had tyres planted with flowers to decorate the courtyard outside the barn.”

Their photographer Camilla Reynolds sums up the transformation perfectly.

“When I visited the reception venue three weeks before the wedding to have a chat to Kate regarding wedding photography it was a muddy cow shed with a roof but no walls, that was used for lambing only a few months before. What they did to it to transform it to a dream wedding venue was unbelievable! Walls were made out of straw bales (it can be windy on banks of the River Severn!), and floor covering and lots of hessian were used to turn the cow shed into a beautiful rustic wedding venue.”

Hearty wedding canapes included mini Toad in the Hole and massive carts acted as farm-style drinks receptacles. For the wedding breakfast, Aureum Catering served up a simple dinner of mash and sausages, made using meat from the couple’s own pigs. The wedding cake was a simple rustic-feel cake which looks simply scrumptious adorned with fresh fruit and flowers. It was created by Emily at Nom Nom Cupcakery.

“We went for four tiers as we had lots of guests. The bottom three layers were iced with the top layer being a ‘naked’ Victoria sponge. The other layers were chocolate and lemon. A friend of ours who owns The Bespoke Workshop made a wooden topper that said ‘Mr & Mrs Turner’. My mum also made a separate fruit cake.”

In the evening the couple and their guests raised the (barn) roof with a bucking bronco, drinks and dancing to music from Tommy Lewis and The Fuse after a joyous first dance to ‘Hey Ho’ by The Lumineers.

“This has always been mine and Adam’s song. If I was ever worried about movement when I was pregnant I used to play it loud to get baby to wake up and kick!”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Take a snippet of time out just you two. It goes by so so quickly that it’s nice to stand back and take it all in before it’s over.”

Well Adam and Kate, I’ve been utterly enchanted by your day; in particular all of the hessian details and florals which transformed your barn. Thank you so much for sharing it with us, and sending you all best wishes for your second pregnancy. Camilla Reynolds, thank you to you too for natural and unposed photographs. Lovelies, if you’ve loved this rustic barn look then there are so many more rural weddings to enjoy and be inspired by on Love My Dress here.

Ele xx