A Two-in-One Bridal Outfit for a Cool Festival Inspired Wedding on a Working Farm

Today’s wedding celebration is an effortlessly cool and relaxed affair, with the bride and groom choosing a working farm venue for a fun-filled three-day extravaganza in the countryside inspired by music festivals and the picturesque, rustic setting. There are also DIY details galore, a funky two-in-one wedding outfit, vibrant smoke bombs and a sweet array of farm animals!

Meet Mr and Mrs Finlay-Gray, Mrs Finlay-Gray is a strategic relationship manager at a sport and physical activity charity and Mr Finlay-Gray is a Sociology teacher at a Sixth Form College. They were married on the 3 June 2017 at the rather brilliantly named Yoghurt Rooms at Busses Farm, East Grinstead.

Images by Tora Baker Photography

With this chilled-out, festival style in mind, the couple were further inspired by their mutual love of street food, music, and wonderful memories of time spent together at Glastonbury.

“We also wanted it to be relaxed and just feel like a party, with lots of time to mingle and spend time with our friends and family – when do you get the chance to have everyone you love together? I was also keen to do as much of the styling ourselves and this style of wedding lends itself well to a bit of DIY!”

Mrs Finlay-Gray had an idea of the type of bridal outfit she wanted – something multi-functional, which gave her the flexibility to change for the evening’s festivities (and more importantly, dancing!). She found what she was searching for with Roxy at Atelier Gold.

“I researched local bridal dressmakers and Atelier Gold came up. From the moment I stepped in the store and met Roxy I knew her work was special and had a good feeling she would create me the prefect outfit. Roxy sketched up some designs from my poor attempts and designed a bespoke three-piece dress set from her Atelier Gold separates collection.”

“This consisted of long blush silk chiffon skirt, an ivory V-neck crepe satin mini dress (which looked like a top under the skirt) and a short embroidered ivory lace long-sleeved overdress with a high/low hem. Roxy also surprised me with a garter made out of all the different materials she’d used.”

That delicate shade of softest blush is so lovely and incredibly flattering paired with the sheen of the satin bodice, and the way the whole look is transformed later in the evening with the floral lace overdress is pure genius.

The bride chose a simple rose gold chain with a drop-down back from AntEvaCrafts via Etsy, and triangle earrings in rose gold from 521handmade, also via Etsy. There was more lovely rose gold on her feet, with strappy sandals from ASOS.

Chris Horne styled Mrs Finlay-Gray’s hair in a timelessly elegant chignon with loosely curled tendrils, which was then dressed with a gypsophila comb. The bride made herself up with assistance from the Yoghurt Rooms’ on site therapist Marte, who had also done the bridal party’s nails.

As well as the gypsophila hair comb, the bride carried a beautiful wild bouquet of blush pink David Austin roses, waxflowers and fresh foliage, made for her by Buttercups and Bluebells Floristry.

Mr and Mrs Finlay-Gray first met at a Royal Wedding-themed party in 2011, shortly after the bride had moved to Brighton.

“I turned up to find a house of guys in wedding dresses, Kate look-a-likes and lots of top hats! Oh and this one guy in a lion onesie with a child’s unicorn outfit around his waist – yep that was Lee! We said hi but didn’t really get to chat as I was being whisked around the party being introduced to all these new people I hoped would become friends.”

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“To cut a long story short we didn’t get to chat again as unfortunately Lee was accidentally knocked out by an overexcited friend and ended up in hospital with concussion. He then contacted me on Facebook, and we started chatting and the rest is history!”

 

The couple first saw one of their favourite bands together (Of Monsters and Men) at Glastonbury in 2013, and the groom had been waiting for them to tour in the UK in order to propose at one of their gigs.

“It nearly didn’t happen as we moved house that summer and he only realised the night before that he couldn’t find the tickets anywhere! I couldn’t understand why he was so upset over a pair of gig tickets!”

“Anyway luckily we managed to buy some more at 1am of the day of the gig and made our way to Lincoln. The band was incredible and Lee proposed at the end of the set – a gig I’ll never forget! I’m glad we found some more tickets or I may have been waiting until they went on tour again! We got engaged in November 2015 – so 18 months before we got married.”

“The venue was the first and only venue we visited because it offered us everything we wanted – you have freedom to dress the farm and barn how you like, you can choose your own caterers, music and there is enough space for guests to camp and glamp keeping it relatively cheap for guests, as well as on site accommodation for the bridal party.”

“Also you get it for three days, so you don’t have to rush this once in a life time event but can make it a weekend affair, perfect for a festival style wedding!”

“The farm is also in a beautiful setting (perfect for photos) and as it’s still a working farm, and it has a lovely rustic charm. Maggie the hen likes to get in on the action of the day!”

The two bridesmaids wore striking lace midi dresses in navy blue from ASOS with sandals from Next and rose gold necklaces with a triangle initial pendant from Lisa Angel via Not On The High Street. The bridesman wore a navy blue Ted Baker suit and a stylish bow tie courtesy of Mrs Bow Tie.

For the ceremony, the barn of the Yoghurt Rooms was transformed with thoughtful homemade decor. Cheerful fluttering deconstructed bunting hung from rafters, and the aisle was lined with copper vases filled with pretty fresh gypsophila. Together with her friends and mother-in-law, Mrs Finlay-Gray created the floral displays for the day with blooms sourced from Nursery Fresh Wholesale Flowers.

“I was also inspired by the floral copper arches that kept popping up on Instagram, but to have something made was pretty pricey so with a bit of creativity, some plumbers’ piping, copper spray paint and a steady hand to attach the foliage and flowers we created something ourselves for a fraction of the cost.”

The father-of-the-bride (aka ‘Papa Finners’!) accompanied his daughter down the aisle to the song Detectorists by Johnny Flynn.

“Although nervous to do so, we decided to write our own vows (which neither of us had heard until we read them), and I’m so pleased we did as it is one of the stand out memories from the ceremony that we can both remember clearly.We also had an ‘unplugged’ ceremony and I think this also helped to create a very emotional special moment when we read them.”

Mr Finlay-Gray and his groomsman wore a three-piece suit from Ted Baker in navy blue with a grey waistcoat, with a funky coordinating flamingo print tie from Etsy and a very special custom-made and engraved Nixon ‘Sentry’ watch.

To go with her delicate rose gold engagement ring from Sarah Finch, the bride chose a wedding ring from Goldsmiths, as did the groom.

“The most special moment was hearing my mum was on her way (she was very poorly at the time and I didn’t know even till the day if she would make it) and having a moment together after the ceremony where she just squeezed my hand so tight (as she couldn’t verbally communicate) that I knew she was happy to be there and was so happy for us.”

There was also a heartfelt reading – an extract from the book Wild Awake, by Hilary T. Smith.

“We both love to travel and this reminded us of our time exploring cities around the world and I guess getting to know each other through these trips. Also we wanted something that was slightly different and not that common a reading at weddings.”

Another favourite part of the day for the couple was walking out of the barn hand in hand, just after the ceremony with the sun shining down on them.

Band The Chaps immediately kicked off the entertainment with a set played outdoors, and the couple enjoyed seeing all their loved ones kicking back, dancing and having a wonderful time.

Across the venue, Mrs Finlay-Gray and her talented band of helpers handmade all items of decor, including signage, paper pom poms, and even spray painted tin cans to store cutlery and straws. It was a real labour of love and it shines through in every way – just brilliant. For those guests wishing to ‘glamp’ with the happy couple over the weekend, extra bell tents were provided by Loveabell.

Brighton-based Little Blue Smokehouse laid on a phenomenal feast including pulled pork, beef brisket, slaw, macaroni cheese and corn on the cob.

“As neither of us have a particularly sweet tooth we decided to go for a cheese and pork pie ‘cake’ from West Country Cheese (also good for soaking up the alcohol by that time in the proceedings!) however to cater for those who love a bit of cake we had the ‘Fingrayfest Bake Off!’ And were overwhelmed by the dozen or so cakes that were made and we subsequently had to try (they were all so good!) and went down a treat.”

“To add to the festival outdoors feel we had sparklers for guests to use in the evening, plus marshmallow sticks to take away from Cottage Sweets. Those that camped on site also received a festival emergency kit! Eye mask, ear plugs, paracetamol, sweets, etc!”

The couple were initially apprehensive when it came to selecting a photographer to document their day, as neither feel totally at ease in front of the camera, but Tora Baker quickly won them over with her laid back and natural approach, and they are full of praise for her.

“Tora made us feel so comfortable straight away at our engagement shoot (which we weren’t going to do but very much recommend as it helps build rapport with your photographer) that we knew she would capture our special day perfectly. And wow, did she!”

“Tora’s documentary style was exactly the feel we wanted, creating a story of our festival wedding at the Yoghurt Rooms. She captured the personalities of our guests beautifully and looking back at the photos that captured all the love, happiness and fun from our day makes us smile (and bring a happy tear to the eye even now!) We are very lucky to have so many amazing shots to treasure forever, from special couple moments feeding the piggies to guests letting their hair down on the dance floor!”

“We can’t fault Tora’s service at all, she worked so hard all day and night, and to get our photos back so quickly (within 6 weeks!) after the wedding was fantastic. The presentation box that we received with the USB of our pics was such a lovely and unexpected touch that we will treasure forever.”

Later in the evening, the bride changed into her short lace dress complete with floral crown, also created for her by Atelier Gold. She also changed shoes, too, and opted for a pair of flip-flops from Ugg. In keeping with the music festival theme, there was an array of colourful smoke bombs and confetti cannons provided by Showtec, which look incredible and great fun!

There was wood fired pizza from 800 Degrees, and lots of live entertainment from Jonny Moody, Steel Strum, DJ Blake at Coastal Discos, Bitr8 and the couple’s friend Iwan Roberts (no details provided).

“We didn’t have a traditional first dance, in fact our last dance was probably our special dance together – Champagne Supernova by Oasis.”

  

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Give yourself time to plan and create (especially if you are going DIY) so you aren’t stressed out due to time pressures and if something doesn’t work or go to plan you then have time to change it without being in a panic. Also a bit of research can help keep the costs down. Oh and have a spreadsheet (of 5) to keep track of everything!”

“Rope in your friends and family to help, they enjoy feeling like they have contributed to the day. Give your bridesmaids a colour list and let them choose their own dress. It takes the stress out of you trying to find something that fits all shapes/sizes and ultimately they will feel more comfortable (mine however both ended up choosing the same dress from discussing between themselves!).”

“You don’t have to follow all the norms – I had a bridesman, we didn’t have a seating plan or a first dance! Ultimately do what you (and your partner) want, it’s your day! Also a tip if you want to spend more time with all your guests, swap a sit down formal meal, which restricts you to one table for something more informal, then you have more time to mingle amongst your guests.”

Wow, what a spectacular day! Mr and Mrs Finlay-Gray, it looks like you had a blast. Many thanks for sharing with us. Huge thanks also go to photographer Tora Baker for a spectacular set of images, too. You can view more gorgeous festival inspired weddings on Love My Dress right here.

With love,

Laura