Lynsey & Barry

There is something interesting to look at in every single one of Lynsey and Barry's wedding photographs by White Stag Wedding Photography. I found myself saying 'ohhhhh look at that bouquet!' 'Ohhh look at that floral arch!' 'Ohhhh an outdoor ceremony!' "Wow TWO London buses!' 'Oh my goodness a steam engine ride!!!' And it went on like this for some time, so I can only imagine how much fun it was for Lynsey and Barry's guests to watch the day unfold... Now it's your turn, so grab a cuppa, get comfy and enjoy this fabulous wedding, with pretty details and fun ideas around every corner.

The Venue

Lynsey the Bride: Our humanist ceremony was in Eridge Park, owned by the National Trust. They had never done a wedding in this particular location, but as soon as we saw it we had set our heart on it. It didn’t matter whatever the weather we were going to make it happen, and it did! We started with coming up with a timeline, a rough idea of how we wanted our day to go. Barry was set on riding the steam vintage Train (Spa Valley Railway – which was one of our first dates, 8years ago!) The train departs Eridge and arrives at High Rock’s Lawn where our reception was. So, with that in mind we literally planned our wedding around the train times!  

The Bride

I stayed at The Spa Hotel in Tunbridge Wells, where in the morning my bridesmaids and I had our hair and makeup done. My father and I departed in a traditional black cab. Our guests arrived earlier and boarded our prearranged vintage red London Buses to take the guests to the remote location.  

The Ceremony

Our guests filled the woodland and took their seats. We brought a portable battery operated Bluetooth speaker to provide music as I walked down the aisle and a microphone so our guests at the back could hear all the details. A humanist wedding was so personal and unique to us. The ceremony itself was focused on both us as a couple and us individually, and what we bring to each other and our friends and family. It was perfect. My Uncle and Step Mum both did readings in the ceremony and my mum and Barry’s dad were our witnesses. Our Celebrant Stephanie Kendrick invited us to meet her we chatted about our relationship, our memories, what we like and perhaps don’t like about each other and Stephanie started on a wedding script. She kept us informed throughout the entire process. We met up a couple more times to talk it through and give her our feedback. Stephanie was very welcoming for any changes we wanted and took time out of her busy schedule to really get to know us. A couple of weeks before we had our practise rehearsal to run through the wedding script and to all ‘know what we are doing’. We did this in my dad’s garden over a cup of tea!  

The Logistics

We pride ourselves on having the most relaxed and magical wedding. It was so lovely to have provided the transport throughout the day. All of our guests really got to know each other and we ourselves spent time talking and mixing with our guests who have travelled near and far to join us. The train journey was very special we hadn’t told any of our guests about the train journey as we didn’t want to disappoint should something have gone wrong! So, one the buses we pulled up at Eridge Train station and proceeded to get off the buses our guests were amazed and excited! The steam filled the platform – we walked to the front of the train which had a sign proudly stating Wedding Belle. The on board bar went down extremely well too on the first hot day of the year!  

The Photography

Once we pulled up at High Rocks we walked up to the rocks for our drinks reception we had our photographs. Our photographers Catherine and Andy were incredible, professional and a breath of fresh air. They captured our wedding from the beginning to end and the photos are a wonderful reminder of the best day of our lives.  

The Reception

The reception was incredible, filled with laughter and tears. My dad’s speech was a poem ‘Machete to Confetti’ which he spent over a year creating. It was the perfect story about engagement to wedding day. He had it framed and gave it to me a wedding present. We were truly touched. The best man speech was laughter filled by Sam using helium to perform his speech and pulling out a life size cardboard photo of the groom on his stag do in Benidorm in a costume!  

The Food

Food- Starter Melon and Parma Ham Main Roast Chicken Dessert Profiteroles. Evening Buffet- Selection of Burgers and Baps and Candy Bar. Cake – Caramel layer, chocolate layer, Victoria sponge layer. Small cakes were a variety of the same and a lavender sponge also. Cake Topper – Brought from Facebook a lady hand paints cute miniatures of the bride and groom. I kept this a surprise until the big day!

DIY Details

DIY – woodland ceremony was sculptured around the natural beauty of the surroundings. We placed MDF sheets to form an aisle lined with straw bayles for seating. Bunting hung between the trees and wooden hearts from the branches. We supplied blankets and umbrella’s (just in case the weather turned). Flowers decorated the archway we were married underneath.   Confetti was hand died flower petals by individually laying on kitchen roll and microwaving for 30 seconds at a time then leaving to dry naturally. I sprayed with perfume before placing in organza bags.   Table place names – Scrabble pieces from the game glue gunned onto brown craft card and then stamped letters to form the whole name.   Timeline – Along the bar we printed pictures of ourselves as youngsters, a young couple, with our friends and family and displayed them along the bar in a washing line style. This was a great ice breaker and really showed all the experiences and years we have been together.  

Special Details

Memory Pin – I had a memory pin made for Barry in memory of his Mother. She passed away when he was a young boy and I wanted to remember her in a special way, I wanted her to be at our wedding for Barry. Barry was overwhelmed by this gift and wore it proudly attached to his button hole all day.   Our favours were charity pins for St Christopher’s Hospice. I spoke to the charity months before and brought the pins. I then designed the cards to put them on using a business card site. All of our guests immediately put them on, it was great! No wasted sugared almonds – the money spent on them went to a charity close to our heart.   Dancing Shoes – We have all be there...It’s been a long day when you've bought new shoes especially for the occasion but now your feet are in bits! I brought 50 pairs of a range of size flip flops to ensure the dancing didn’t stop! They all went, well worth the trip to Primark!   Toilet Boxes – I filled a small box of goodies in the toilets for both men and women contained paracetamol, plasters, mints, perfume, deodorant etc. This was a huge hit and much appreciated.