Amy & Ben

The beautiful backdrops for gorgeous couple shots at Moreves Barn just seem to be never ending! Amy and Ben just have romantic image after romantic image - I mean forehead kisses underneath a bower of roses?! Swoon. And I suppose lovely photographer Laura Debourde has a large part to play in it all too ;) These images will be treasured forever. There's lots of wedding decor for you to pour over too, wild blooms in vintage milk jugs, a cute polaroid display of Amy and Ben as little ones and the most yummy looking naked cake, covered in fresh berries. If you like your weddings rustic and filled with pastel pretty, then you'll love this...

Our Wedding

Amy the Bride: The beginning of planning a wedding was super exciting. But once we started to pull together the budget, I started to stress about the costs. We took a step back and thought of the things that were important to us. We thought of what we love most when we are guests at weddings and we focused on that. We realised that although our budget wasn’t endless, we were doing this once and wanted to make sure that we fulfilled our dreams. Our aim was to create a beautiful relaxed day, surrounded by the people we love and we did just that. We wouldn’t change a thing.

The Dress

I loved the whole experience of shopping for a dress, but the choice was overwhelming and I loved far too many! I kept waiting for the magical feeling of finding ‘the one’. But after endless shops and timing ticking away, I had to bite the bullet and pick one. I ended up with Maggie Sottero Carmen, from Belissima. It had just the right amount of sparkle and the most beautiful lace back. It fitted like a glove and was so light and comfortable - which meant I could enjoy my dinner and dance the night away! I completed the look with a simple veil, a pearl and beaded hair vine from Etsy, and simple pearl jewellery. I chose some simple gold kitten heels from Dune. Comfort was key, I wanted to enjoy the whole day without complaining of sore feet.

The Beauty

After searching around and speaking to other brides, I realised that I could do my makeup myself. I know my taste and my face better than anyone! I took one of my bridesmaids along to the Bobbi Brown counter for a trial and some expert tips. We left with a truck load of amazing products that I can use again and again. I went for a soft natural look – me but on a really good day! Getting ready with my two bridesmaids, my best friend Kierra and my mum was a really relaxed and fun morning. For my hair I wanted something up to show off the back of the dress, but relaxed and still felt like me. I had loose curls pined up, complete with plaits for a country vibe.

The Groom

The idea of a traditional morning suit was rejected straightway. Ben wanted something more relaxed and modern. He wore a striking blue three-piece from French Connection, with a dusty pink French Connection skinny tie and pocket square from Reiss. We hired Ted Baker suits from Moss Bros for the rest of the groom’s party, and gifted them the matching pink ties. They looked super smart.

The Bridesmaids

Finding the girls dresses wasn’t always easy. I wanted them to be comfortable and feel good. I stumbled across the most prefect dress in the Whistles sale at a fraction of the normal price. I knew the girls would love them. I took a risk and brought two without the girls trying them on. Luckily they loved them, but they needed different sizes. Whistles were brilliant and helped me to track down the last available dress in the country! My gorgeous niece Seren, made a beautiful flower girl. She may not have ended up walking down the aisle, I think she got stage fright – it made everyone chuckle but she looked super cute in her ‘princess’ dress from BHS and wand.

The Venue

Moreves Barn in the beautiful Suffolk country side was the first venue we saw, we loved it! But just to make sure, we looked around at other venues, but nothing compared. The fact they only have one wedding a week, really appealed to us. It meant we had plenty of time to set up and make it just the way we wanted it. The barn is such a peaceful, relaxed setting; we were surrounded by rolling fields, willow trees and floral arches. Inside was just as special, with a separate ceremony space up on the mezzanine, right up close to the beautiful old beams. Downstairs the reception area had plenty of room to eat, drink and get merry. Aram and Dina were amazing, they totally understood what we wanted to create and were so helpful, huge thank you!

The Decor

We didn’t really have a theme, so we just set out to have a summer wedding in the country and chose things that we liked and matched the setting. We bought and collected loads of mason and jam jars. We had a mass decorating session, adding twine, ribbon and lace. The tables were finished with hessian and lace edged table runners, to bring together the English country vibe. Flowers were super important to me and I wanted a relaxed country garden feel. Our florist was brilliant and what she created was beyond stunning. There were flowers everywhere. They filled every glass and jar. She created a beautiful garland hanging from the mezzanine and curled them up the staircase. She used soft pastel tones and seasonal flowers, like hydrangeas, peonies and daisies. My bouquet was beautiful in soft pinks and white. I also added a tiny frame with a photo of my Dad and Nan so they could be with me. The bridesmaids had mini versions of my bouquet. Our mum’s had corsages and all the groomsmen had button holes, again all in our colour scheme. I made a welcome sign, with a canvas, some chalk board paint and some inspiration from Pinterest. I also made the seating plan out of an old picture frame, twine, craft paper and letter stamps. It took a while, but the end result was well worth it. For the place settings, we used more letter stamps on brown tags and threaded dried lavender through. The side room was filled with personal photos of us through the years and a last minute addition of a sweetie table, which went down very well with our guests. My super talented friend Kim, designed our invites and I finished them with handwritten name tags and tied together with twine. To work alongside the invites, we designed a website using Wix. It was a perfect way to tell your guests all about the finer details. We took the Amy & Ben invite design and commissioned a stamp which went onto each of the envelopes and the corner of the confetti cones.

The Ceremony

We wanted the ceremony to be super personal to us. My sister-in-law Laura played me down the aisle with her amazing violin. She also played whilst we signed the register. In the absence of my late father, my brother did a super job at walking me down the aisle and keeping me calm. We had an amazing personal poem written by Ben’s sister, along with two other readings, from some of our closest friends. E. E Cummings 'I carry Your Heart with Me' and an extract from 'Gift from the Sea.'

The Entertainment

In the evening we knew we didn’t want a cheesy DJ, so we were so please when we found Discowed. They know how to throw a party. Our first dance was Sam Smith’s acoustic version of Latch. We didn’t want to go with the traditional songs and wanted something that meant something to us.

The Food

Food is important to Ben and I. It was where we really wanted to splash out. We were so impressed by the Crown Catering team. After our tasting session we were blown away, and they didn’t disappoint, top-notch quality, perfect presentation and service. We served a selection of canapés in the courtyard, followed by a three-course dinner with a choice of options to suits all tastes. In the evening we had cones of chips and bacon butties. Just what is needed after lots of dancing and drinking. Our guests loved it as much as we did; “The best food they’ve ever had at a wedding!” We are lovers of cake, but not much of a fan of super sweet icing. So we went for a naked cake from Kirsty at Krumblies, with different flavoured layers. We had cherry Bakewell, vanilla with raspberry jam and lemon sponge with lemon curd. It was decorated with fresh fruit and finished with our ‘Forever and Always’ topper from Not On The High Street. Perfection!

The Photography

I found Laura after search the internet, I loved her relaxed style and her photos were full of light. We met at a pub in London and really hit it off. Straight away we knew we wanted her to capture our big day. She was amazing so bright and happy, guests even thought we were friends as she fitted right in! We are so happy with our photos; they really captured our amazing day perfectly.