Hannah in Halfpenny London & Her Marquee Wedding at the Family Farm

The wedding I’m sharing today is a relaxed and fun summer celebration with bright joyful colours and a family feel.

I think you’re going to love this, especially the bride’s exquisite silk slip by Halfpenny London, a British designer who we absolutely love. Sit back and drink in this beautiful day.

On 28 August 2021 doctor Hannah wed corporate finance executive Oli in a Church of England service at the bride’s family’s church, the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin in Morpeth, Northumberland followed by a tipi reception at the farm of a family friend, Hill Head Farm in Whalton, Northumberland.

Rachael Fraser Photography + Follow

Hannah wore her hair down and pulled back from her face, styled by Lisa Cameron Wedding Hair. Her make-up was by Makeup By Rachael.

The bride added strappy ‘Melody’ heels from Forever Soles and a gorgeous, gold crown from Gibson Bespoke.

The bridesmaids wore off the shoulder pink and green, midi gowns and were gifted jewellery on the morning of the wedding from Daint Jewellery.

The bride wore the bias-cut ‘Iris’ slip from one of our favourite designers who we are so proud to support here on Love My Dress, Halfpenny London.

The slip was simple yet sophisticated and looks exquisite on Hannah. For more about Halfpenny London, I invite you to visit her Wedding Directory listing here.

Hannah wore the slip with an embellished, floor-length, pearl ‘Quinn’ cape from Alexandra Grecco. She chose her separates from Marrime Bridalwear in Newcastle.

“Due to COVID causing intermittent shop closures and a reduction of guests allowed at bridal appointments, my experience of dress shopping was slightly different from how I’d imagined.”

“Going to Marrime was a lovely, personal experience and made us feel very comfortable and free to experiment with different looks and dresses.”

 “I was mostly excited by accessories. Once I saw the Quinn cape I loved it and set about finding a dress to go with it.”

The full-blown, summer flowers were by Lavenders Blue Flowers. I love the full bouquet of roses, tied with ribbons to match the bridesmaids’ gowns.

“We chose Christine as she is a local florist in Morpeth where I am from.”

“We gave her the colours of greens and pinks to match the bridesmaids and she somehow conjured up the flowers of my dreams.”

The bride was driven to the church in a retro, orange VW van, loaned by the parents of Hannah’s sister’s boyfriend.

She walked in with her father, before meeting Oli at the altar, looking smart in his Reiss suit.

“As we were married in a church we were married with the traditional vows.”

“A few weeks before the wedding, we shared some vows in private that we’d written to make some more personal promises to each other.”

Hannah’s mum read ‘Song of Solomon’ and an extract from ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ was read by Oli’s dad.

The couple’s wedding rings were Simon Clarke Jewellery, where Hannah’s engagement ring was also from.

Back at Hill Head Farm, the marquee was beautifully dressed with foliage and seasonal flowers for the reception and evening party.

The day, its setting and flowers reflected the couple’s deep-rooted love for the outdoors and they aimed to use as many local suppliers as they could for their colourful, summer celebration.

“Hill Head Farm is a remote, outdoor setting with views over the Northumberland countryside, giving us the freedom to have the wedding we wanted and keep the dance floor going into the early hours.”

“We also wanted somewhere our guests could camp and have a breakfast bbq in the morning.”

“We love living in Northumberland and wanted to use as many local suppliers as possible, from the ice cream to the brewer of the beers.”

By Beck, one of Hannah’s bridesmaids, designed the stationery suite and the bride’s family and friends clubbed together to dress the reception marquee from Collingwood Marquees.

“The marquee was decorated the day before by an army of friends and family with things my mum had gathered over the last year.”

The wedding breakfast was provided by Susan Comber Catering and Fiona Burn and the couple chose a towering, naked wedding cake with fresh fruit from Quinn’s.

“Oli’s favourite cake is Victoria sponge so we had a three-tier Victoria sponge with lots of berries.”

Hannah and Oli met whilst working as chalet hosts in Meribel in the French Alps in early 2015. 

“We got engaged in March 2020 just before the UK announced its first lockdown.”

“We were so lucky that August 2021 was always our original date.”

“We spent the year holding our breath and hoping we would be ok.”

“Although the restrictions had been lifted by our date, having an outdoor wedding with a marquee that we could open the sides of helped us and our guests feel more relaxed about the celebrations.”

Rachael Fraser Photography captured the day in her relaxed and natural style, full of movement and colour.

“We chose Rachael based on her natural style of photography.”

“On the day, Rachael was fantastic. She put us completely at ease. Having our photographs taken with her was one of the highlights of our day as she took us to a beautiful spot she had found on the farm and we got to enjoy some time which felt like it was just the two of us!”

Hannah slipped off her cape ready for the first dance, ‘Holocene’ by Bon Iver switching into ‘Treasure’ by Bruno Mars.

The evening party had live music from band The Nashville Heat.

“We have so many favourite moments! Sitting on the top table watching over all our family and friends finally be all together chatting and enjoying themselves.”

“Photographs together in the field as the sun was going down. Crying and laughing at the speeches. The van ride from the church to the farm, just married.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Plan a day that you will enjoy the most, not for anyone else.”

“On the day, don’t sweat the small stuff and try to soak up every minute.”

Hannah and Oli, many thanks and congratulations to you both. I’m so happy you could celebrate with all of your friends and family, and good luck in your career breaks working in Uganda.

Thank you Rachael Fraser Photography; what a pleasure to share your work.

For more farm and rural-inspired weddings, please enjoy this Love My Dress selection.

Ele xx