Amy and Rob’s beautiful September barn wedding took place at The Barn at Bury Court in Bentley, Hampshire last year.
The couple were inspired in every aspect of styling the day by wildflowers, from the Best Woman and Brideswomen dresses, to the colourful windflowers bouquets and the cake, which was beautifully decorated with pressed flowers.
We’re delighted that the lovely and talented Amy of Especially Amy captured these images. London based wedding photography Amy is a Love My Dress recommended supplier – you can see more of her work here – as is London bridal boutique, Blackburn Bridal, where the bride discovered her floral wedding dress.
How They Met
We met at the pub next to the Virgin Media office in Hammersmith where we both work – the pub later became our top table name!
We had been together for two years before Rob proposed during summer 2020. Lockdown spoilt our anniversary celebrations, so Rob planned a surprise weekend with a lovely walk in the Surrey Hills, lunch at a pub and then overnight stay at Penny Hill Park – where he proposed in the beautiful gardens before dinner!
The venue inspired our wildflower theme that ran through the whole wedding – from the stationery to the bridal party dresses, aisle meadow flowers and cake.
A Blackburn Bridal Dress
My dress was from Blackburn Bridal in Blackheath. Russel was amazing and created a bespoke dress for me – the silhouette of one gown, with the leaf lace fabric from another.
When falling in love with the venue and creating a wildflower theme, I was always looking for a dress with botanical lace to compliment everything.
I took my mum to Jo Malone to pick out a scent to wear and for a candle to burn whilst getting ready. I chose Poppy & Barley to go with the wildflower theme.
I wore simple and understated pearls from Lily & Roo. My headband was from Victoria Harper Bridal on Etsy and my shoes were from Clarks. I have big feet, so shoes are always a challenge! I switched into bespoke Vans that had the wildflower design from the stationery printed on later in the day.
The Best Woman and Brideswomen
My best woman (I unfortunately only one was there on the day as the other went into early labour) wore the white Gemima dress from Hope & Ivy. My three brideswomen wore the Amelie dress, also from Hope an Ivy.
Our ten year old niece wore a floral dress from Monsoon.
Our six and eight year old nephews wore shirt, shorts and shoes from Next and bespoke bow-tie and waistcoats from Etsy.
Photography by Especially Amy
We chose Amy of Especially Amy for her unobtrusive and romantic portfolio. Rob used to work with Amy’s husband and so we felt reassured to choose someone we knew through association during the pandemic.
From the first time we spoke to Amy, she put us at ease and took a real interest in us and our story. We also chose to do a practice shoot in Richmond Park which was so worth it – not only did Amy keep us relaxed and engaged the whole time, but we also learned the shots we did/didn’t like for the big day.
On the day itself Amy was amazing – she really took charge, without being over-bearing, we felt 100% confident that we were going to get the best pictures to capture our day. And we were right.
Colourful Wildflower Wedding Bouquets
Flo of Hibbert and Hagstrom was incredible. Our original florist unfortunately had to pull out three months before the wedding, but handed us over to Flo’s capable hands.
She really understood the wildflower theme we wanted – and for all the flowers to look like they’ve just been plucked from the Bury Court gardens – all the colours, with no uniformity. She absolutely nailed it! From all the individual buttonholes to the beautiful bouquets and the meadow flowers used for our ceremony aisle – everything was created with such care and attention.
Evening & Dancing
We hired The Lion Men Band. Our first dance was to ‘I Well Wait’, by Mumford and Sons.
Being surrounded by all our friends and family for the first time in so long was just magical. Also the speeches – every single one was fantastic, from my dad’s poem to my Best Woman Iona who had to change her joint speech last minute after my other Best Woman Hilary went into early labour!
Words of Wedded Wisdom
My words of wisdom would be to ‘go with the flow’. What we learned from planning a wedding in lockdowns was that having the people there you love is the number one thing – anything else is just a bonus. So relax, plan as much as you can ahead of the day and then when the day arrives, just remember that what will be, will be and it will be, bloody amazing!
Also, the Love My Dress Facebook group for brides was a constant bank of knowledge and support.
Our wedding budget was £35k, though we went over slightly.
Visit Especially Amy’s website for more beautiful photography
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
