Most people imagine a rustic, rural, countryside vibe when they think of a farm wedding, but from the outset, Lauren was absolutely determined that would not be the case for her Autumn wedding at Greenhill Farm, in Maidstone, Kent.
Lauren, who works in Public Relations, and Sam, a Software Engineer, tied the knot on 23rd September 2023. They wanted their day to have a chic and elegant appeal, combining gorgeous modern bridal fashion with a neutral and natural color palette.
The bride chose a contemporary gown by Australian designer Toni Maticevski, discovered at the fantastic boutique in Ripley, Surrey. We’ve been working with and raving about Miss Bush for over a decade now. Leaders in bridal fashion, they provide a supremely excellent service to all brides – we cannot recommend them enough.
These gorgeous, fun images were captured by Marianne Chua, creator of quirky, fun, and relaxed wedding photography. Enjoy!
Venue & Location
We got married at Greenhill Farm. It’s the childhood home of one of my best friends and bridesmaids, Hannah. It’s a working turkey farm, but they now also host weddings in the warmer months. We spent many summers as teenagers and young adults having parties in the valley, so it was a real full circle moment to host the biggest party of our lives there.
Aside from the personal connection, one of things we loved about the venue was that you could host the legal ceremony there as well as the reception. We got officially married in a beautiful, woodland den, before leading our guests for a walk across the valley to the reception area, which was next to a small lake. It was very green, very tranquil and very beautiful (and thankfully not raining!).
The Ceremony
My dad and I were driven to the venue in a 1960s white jaguar, hired through Molly’s Wedding Cars.
As the ceremony and reception were in the same place, luckily we didn’t need transportation for everyone between the two.
My dad walked me down the aisle – he had been very unwell earlier in the year (luckily making a full recovery) so it was special to have him able to do that. We were accompanied by Cat Power’s ‘Sea Of Love’.
My friend and bridesmaid Sophia did a reading – John Steinbeck’s ‘Letter of fatherly advice to my son’. I didn’t want anything religious, cheesy or twee so she made the perfect choice!
My engagement ring was from Andrew R Ullman, an antique jewellers on Hatton Garden – it is a simple gold band with three diamonds, and I couldn’t have chosen better myself. Sam also got his wedding band from the same place.
My wedding band was my Grandma’s – it became my ‘something old’ on the day, and is a minimal gold band which goes perfectly with the antique style of my engagement ring.
Photography
Our photographer was called Marianne Chua. We were looking for a photographer who took natural, non-cheesy photographs that captured the fun of the day as well as just the people – she had actually photographed our friends’ wedding earlier in the year so we knew we loved her style.
She instantly made us both feel at ease – even curing the couple portraits which we were both feeling a bit awkward about, and I can honestly say I love all of the photos, they really capture how much fun everyone had.
The Dress
Toni Maticevski
My dress was from an Australian designer called Toni Maticevski – his bridal collection had only just become available in the UK, and I believe that I was the first bride to wear one of his dresses over here, which is pretty cool.
My dress was from a boutique I found listed on Love my Dress; Miss Bush in Ripley, Surrey. I hadn’t really enjoyed my previous bridal shopping experiences (too twee, too bridal, not enough dresses you could wear a bra with) and so I was apprehensive when I arrived but I couldn’t have loved it more. They specialise in modern, fashionable bridal wear that’s still supremely wearable, and it was exactly what I was looking for.
My first appointment was with Emma who owns the boutique, and it was clear from the outset that she was a fashion stylist not just a bridal stylist. She truly understood my vision and also my body shape, and really helped guide my choices.
I have a large bust and a small back, and I’d read in online reviews that Miss Bush was renowned for styling brides with a large chest and this expertise was apparent – they can even sew your favourite bra into your dress so you can wear it with no one being able to tell.
I knew that I wanted something minimal but not plain – lace and beading was never going to be my style, but so many of the minimal wedding dresses were a kind of 90s supermodel slip dress – which was never going to work on my 5ft 1, F cup frame.
I didn’t actually pick out the dress I ended up purchasing – Emma convinced me to try it on, as it looked so different on the model in the picture – but as soon as I put it on I knew it was the one. It had the most amazing, boned collar that was super sculptural – you could manipulate it into different shapes to create a totally different looking dress, and I love how it added this asymmetrical detail to the main dress.
The dress itself was made out of an almost scuba type material, and had a twisted exposed black zip and assyemetric – both modern, unusual details which I loved. This was balanced out by an old Hollywood style cut – almost Vivienne Westwood in nature – which really hugged your curves, so it still felt like a classic wedding dress (I didn’t want to look back in 20 years and think….wtf?!?)
How They Met
We’ve actually known each other since we were teenagers, we grew up in the same town and moved in peripheral friendship circles when we were young but didn’t know each other well. When we graduated university we ended up back in the same town at the same time, went for a drink and that was thirteen years ago…
We got engaged at the very end of 2023, and got married pretty much nine months later. I wasn’t interested in a long engagement, so this was perfect for us.
My husband Sam wore a suit from Hugo Boss.
The Reception
Holmsted Events, who organised our marquee, also hired all the lighting for us – the marquee and lake looked so pretty all light up with festoon lighting as it got dark. Our marquee was a vintage sailcloth tent.
We loved it because it was classic and elegant, although we got married on a farm we didn’t want the aesthetic to feel too rustic or festival-y, and so this was a perfect choice. Plus, the bar was right next to the dance floor, which always helps with the atmosphere in my opinion!
We ordered our cake from a company called Olivia Bakes – Sam had ordered a birthday cake for me from her before.
It was a minimal take on the extravagantly piped, vintage style cakes that are popular at the moment – white with green pipping, and ‘Just Married’ inscribed on the top. We went for carrot and walnut, and it was delicious.
I was really uninspired by a lot of the wedding catering companies that we initially found – everything seemed very formulaic. I am a vegetarian and though we served meat (my husband is a meat eater!) I didn’t want the veggie option to feel like an afterthought – no more goat cheese tarts or whole roasted cauliflowers here!
There is an amazing Indian restaurant near where we live in South East London called Babur, and after hours of fruitless googling I emailed them on the off chance they did weddings. In fact, they had only done one before, but were willing to come and do ours. Undoubtedly a gamble (they’d never cooked a three course meal for 90 people in a field before…) but it paid off – the food was excellent, and so many people commented on it.
Our flowers were by Sue Davies and her business partner JoJo Blooms – Sue is the auntie of my bridesmaid Hannah – the twin sister of David Betts who owns Greenhill Farm, and also auntie of Hannah’s sister Claire, who runs the marquee company with her husband – the whole wedding was a real family affair!
The flowers were probably the most high impact part of the dressing, and one of the elements I was most excited about. I knew I wanted an all white colour palette, and something which felt modern and sculptural but still a little wild. As well as the usual bouquet, buttonhole and table arrangements, they made us a beautiful broken arch for the ceremony area and a ‘meadow’ arrangement along the pews, which was then transplanted to the marquee entrance for the reception, as well as a gorgeous hanging ladder arrangement across the ceiling of the marquee.
The flowers were probably the main decor focus in the marquee, we supplemented the table centrepieces with brass candlestick holders from The Little Wedding Warehouse, and purchased the glassware ourselves as I didn’t love the ones available to hire.
We didn’t hire an event planner or stylist – within my job I organise a lot of beautiful events for big beauty brands, and so I had an idea of how to pull together a large scale event – I ended up replicating all of the planning documents I use for a work event, but for my own wedding.
Having said that, as we had a completely dry hire venue, it was a LOT of work – we had to source absolutely everything, from the portable ovens that the caterers used in the catering tent, to every candle, spoon and glassware for the tables. For us, it was worth it because every detail was exactly how we wanted, but I am not sure I would recommend it if you didn’t have event planning experience, it’s certainly not for the faint hearted!
One task that we did outsource which was indispensable was hiring a wedding co-ordinator for the day itself – we worked with The Wedding Dolls and I can’t recommend them highly enough, they were worth every penny. Because of the nature of our venue, we didn’t have venue staff who were responsible for making sure all the suppliers arrived on time, or generally helping with the flow of the day, and so The Wedding Dolls stepped in and fulfilled this task.
They made sure all of our plans were implemented on the day, and basically ensured that we didn’t have to do any more organising or admin on the day itself – I truly don’t think it would be possible to enjoy a self-planned/DIY wedding without this kind of support on the day.
Bridal Beauty & Accessories
Hannah Monk did my hair and make-up – she is an MUA and Hair Stylist that I actually know through work, and had recommended in the past to other friends getting married. I wanted a bronzed, glowy look that was an amped up version of my everyday make-up – plus a red lip for the evening – and I was super happy with the final look.
My hair is very fine and very straight, as well as short so unfortunately I was never going to have a big blow out or an extravagant up-do. I toyed with waving it, but I was worried it wouldn’t hold if it rained and in the end I went for a slicked back bob. It felt like ‘me’, and it put the focus on my headband and collar of my dress, rather than distracting.
I had a full length, minimal veil that I also bought from Miss Bush. Initially I had wanted a Juliet style cap veil, but when I tried it on with my hair accessories it looked a bit Shakespearian (not a vibe!!) and so I switched to something more modern that wouldn’t detract from the sculptural element of my dress and headband.
Comfort was key, so I went for a pair of low block pointed white heels from Zara – and at the end of the night, changed into a pair of gold ballet flats from ASOS.
I always wear headbands, and so I knew that a headband was going to be part of my wedding look – plus I have short, straight hair, so was never going to have a super intricate hair style. The headband I chose was from a New York brand called Epona Valley – it was a wide brass band with crystals studded along the top – a kind of modern, minimalistic crown.
As I had a big collar on my dress, veil and a headband I wanted to keep most of my jewellery quite minimal – I purchased a very fine gold necklace from Missoma, and wore my favourite gold huggie hoops from Monica Vinader. I also wore a gold bangle which I designed and had made a few years ago, and I borrowed an antique sapphire ring from my Mum as my ‘something borrowed and something blue’ – I didn’t want to return it after the wedding!
I wore the same scent I wear everyday – Alien by Thierry Mugler – I wanted to smell like myself.
I hired a clutch bag from Dolce & Gabbana from Cocoon, just to hold my lipstick and my phone – but to be honest, it was under the table the whole night. Another recommendation to hire the extras rather than purchase – so much cheaper and more sustainable.
I gave my bridesmaids pretty much free rein – we’re all in our 30s, one was pregnant, one had just given birth and they all look completely different – I wanted them to wear something they all looked good in. The only directive I gave them was for it to be an autumnal colour palette (green, gold, dark red, champagne, orange etc.) but in the end they all chose shades of green.
Two of the girls ended up choosing dresses from Maids to Measure, one from ASOS and the final one from a brand called Azazie.
Evening & Dancing
We knew we wanted a DJ, and initially wanted someone that we knew as we were worried about it being a classic ‘wedding DJ’, but unfortunately couldn’t find someone with availability or able to travel to Kent.
In the end, we found a company called Festival Wedding DJs through Love My Dress and they turned out to be great – we provided a sample playlist and a list of ‘must plays’ and ‘must not play’s – and he had everyone dancing all night.
Oh my god we were both dreading the first dance – the aim of the game was something short and sweet haha. We chose ‘To Be Alone with You’, by Sufjan Stevens, who is one of my favourite artists.
In the evening I always knew I was going to want to change into something I could dance in, but I didn’t want to invest in a whole new dress – so I hired the Drusilla dress by Emilia Wickstead, which I hired from Hurr – which was a much more cost effective way to do an outfit change.
I wanted this second dress to be fun – I loved the huge bow on the back, that was almost like a pair of wings.
Words of Wedded Wisdom
Be your most organised self, but don’t sweat the small stuff – you honestly won’t care on the day. Putting the work into the planning (spreadsheets are your friend) makes the day run so much more smoothly.
And don’t forget to enjoy the day with your partner – that’s why you’re getting married, after all…
I honestly couldn’t stop laughing from the minute I got out the car to the minute I went to bed, the whole day was magical. Just being able to spend the day celebrating with all of our loved ones was great – the speeches and the party (of course!) were a highlight for me.
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Annabel View all Annabel's articles
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.
