A Grace Loves Lace Geometric Dress + Burgundy Tones for a Music Inspired Autumn Barn Wedding

Today’s super wedding has me feeling cosy and autumnal, despite the fact I’m writing this in the middle of summertime. I do love autumn though, and if you do, too, or if you’re planning or considering an autumnal celebration, then let the rich, seasonal colours and complete and utter joy of this wedding fill you with ideas and inspiration.

Let’s meet our couple, Mr and Mrs Shadenbury. Jade is a Senior Project Specialist within clinical research, and Jay is an HR Advisor. They were married on the 25 October 2018 at the historic Ufton Court in Berkshire, choosing the venue because of its lovely tithe barn and Tudor manor house, but also because the proceeds from the hire went directly to Ufton Court Educational Trust.

Images by Benjamin Stuart Photography

“We are big fans of music, so we knew this would be a good theme to go with for our wedding. Luckily from a wedding we had previously attended we were able to borrow some musical themed objects and décor for ours, saving us money. We did a lot of DIY, including the wedding invites and table decorations, and Jay also created the seating plan himself. The burgundy colour scheme was chosen due to the season, and Jay always saw himself in a burgundy suit.”Jessica Short Hair & Make-up Design was on hand to take care of beauty for the day, and created a lovely, radiant look for Jade, and in her hair, she wore a long, single tier tulle veil from Sophie Grace Bridal. Jade also wore soft ivory satin ballet shoes by Katz Dancewear, which she sourced from Amazon.

“Jay got me some diamond earrings as my wedding gift from Jian London, and for perfume I wore Jimmy Choo Eau De Parfum – my mum had bought it for me.”

Jay’s fantastic deep burgundy three-piece suit came courtesy of Lambretta at House of Fraser, which he wore with a white shirt and pale dove grey tie, and black shoes from Dune London.

There was a grey pocket square, too, from House of Fraser, Arsenal FC cufflinks, and a lovely engraved pocket watch gifted to Jay by Jade, which she discovered on Etsy (no further seller details provided, sadly).

“Jay’s dad drove the bridesmaids to Ufton Court, and a friend from Jay’s work lent us a convertible Rolls Royce with a driver for free, too.”

It’s no secret at all that we love the effortless boho style of Little Book member Grace Loves Lace, and I’m always impressed by their creative use of unusual lace with the most beautiful textures. Jade chose her long-sleeved, geometric lace dress at the Grace Loves Lace London showroom in Hackney.

“It was different to any other dress that I had tried on. I knew I didn’t want a traditional dress, and as soon as I saw the geometric print, I knew it would be for me. Jay loved the dress because it showed off my figure and he thought I looked stunning in it.”

Jade arrived for the ceremony together with her father and bridesmaids, who wore blush pink wrap dresses from Mango, which they paired with their own shoes.

Jade carried a gorgeous bouquet in shades of burgundy and blush pink, by The Garden Room Flower Co., filled with huge, lovely dahlias, deep red astilbe, waxflowers, grasses, lisianthus, berries and lots of greenery, including ethereal, trailing asparagus fern.

“We trusted Sarah purely from the photo gallery on her website. We told her the colour scheme for our wedding, plus flowers we didn’t like, and she exceeded all expectations.”

Jade was accompanied down the aisle by her dad, Leroy Philip, and chose the song Northern Wind by City and Colour as her entrance music.

“We first met on a night out through mutual friends. After 6 years together and buying our own home, Jay put notes tied on string through our home with notes of important moments we had shared, and the last of the strings led to the living room where Jay was in a suit and on one knee playing one of my favourite songs (Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – If I Had A Gun). We were engaged for 19 months before we got married.”

Surrounded by loved ones inside Ufton Court’s beautiful old tithe barn, decorated with garlands of ivy and fairylights, Jade and Jay exchanged their vows and rings, which they chose at Goldsmiths Jewellers.

“I chose my ring as it was thin and simple, and fitted around the diamond on my engagement ring. Jay chose his ring as it was simple and a darker metal.”

“We had our friend Daniela give a reading. She adapted Pam Ayres’ – Yes I’ll Marry You My Dear, changing features that were more personal to us, such as Jay’s love of his PlayStation 4. We let Daniela choose the reading and trusted her fully.”

I love the use of dramatic, autumnal light and shadow in these exquisite images by photographer Benjamin Stuart, who really brings Jade and Jay’s love and delight to life (not to mention some epic confetti shots!)

“After meeting Ben we both knew he would be perfect for our wedding; from him coming to our home to discuss his work and chatting with us, to his communication over email and the engagement shoot, it was obvious how dedicated he is to his work and also to the couples he is photographing. His style was just what we wanted.”

Jade and Jay sourced lots of decor items from charity shops, including a record player, a radio and jars that were filled with fairylights, and placed on dining tables, together with flower posies and some fun, musical wedding games.

“We had some wedding balloons, but only a handful decided to stay up! We also used an old wooden pallet wrapped in fairy lights and decorated it with pictures of us both together.”

The couple were lucky enough to win a bespoke order of the day timeline from Lulabee, which looked great alongside other musical record themed stationery, too.

“We had a sweetie stand as opposed to individual favours, and it went down well with the kids, and even more so the adults!”

Jade and Jay had sampled food by Clarissa from The Great Food Company at Ufton Court’s wedding fair, and chose her to create their wedding feast, which they knew would be perfect (and it was!).

The wedding cake, covered in pretty sugar flowers (brilliantly in keeping with Jade and Jay’s colour scheme) came courtesy of High Street favourites, Marks & Spencer.

After dinner, evening entertainment was provided by DJ Marky B from City Nights Disco, and Jade and Jay’s first dance together was to Comin’ Home, by Leon Bridges.

“We chose this song because we both really liked the song, and we liked the blues style to the track, plus it wasn’t too slow or fast for us to dance to (or try to!).”

“Our favourite part of the day was the ceremony and getting wed to each other. We wouldn’t do anything differently, we just wish the day was longer so we could talk to all of our guests and enjoy the day. We wish we could do it all again.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Don’t get carried away. It is so easy to get carried away and easily blow your budget on little items that don’t matter. We had quite a simple wedding with minimal decorations, which no-one really noticed.”

“Also haggle! We were able to bring down the price with every vendor simply by asking.”

Mr and Mrs Shadenbury, thank you so much! It’s been brilliant to share the happiness and beauty of your enchanting autumn celebration. Many thanks also go to Benjamin Stuart for his fantastic images. Do take a look at more of his work with these Love My Dress weddings, and for more cool, boho Grace Loves Lace dresses, take a look here.

Until next time!

With love,

Laura

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