Black Tie Wedding at Cripps Barn, Cotswolds with Made With Love Wedding Dress

Photography by Carla Blain Photography

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What Made Our Day Unique

As a bride, being told I had free rein to plan our wedding day meant I wanted a BIG DAY! I totally took advantage of this having two wedding dresses, a black-tie theme, a harpist, sparklers, a cigar humidor filled with the most luxurious cigars, a personalised wedding scent from Jo Malone, a champagne tower, band, personalised wax seals for the stationery, all-new wine glasses for the venue, a champagne sabre - you name it, I wanted it. We thoroughly enjoyed analysing each part of the day and ensuring it matched our personalities perfectly. I think the over the top tone was set at the rehearsal dinner the night before when the scheduled briefing began (two weeks prior to this, the main wedding party had been sent a 4 pager wax-sealed itinerary, which was, unfortunately, the butt of many jokes in the best man speech...), needless to say, the timings ran like clockwork and everything was executed perfectly - right from the 30 person rehearsal dinner to the pre-wedding golf to the Sunday wedding party brunch. Who doesn't love organised fun...

Jess & Alex

Wedding Suppliers

So Carla was an easy choice, her photos sold themselves. My close friend's sister had Carla as her photographer and she's pretty damn awesome herself, so if she trusted Carla, we totally could - and good job we did, the photos were insane. The best and easiest choice. Cripps Barn - well, who doesn't love candlelight, an open fireplace, real stone walls, bonfires and endless greenery - again, a very easy decision for us. It felt wintery and magical which was exactly the vibe we wanted. We wanted to team this with a black-tie dress code. I can at times be sassy, and I liked the idea of everyone looking the same - it felt very neat, crisp and elegant. In addition, I wanted the bridesmaids to coordinate so put them in high neck black bridesmaid dresses, along with the mother of the groom. Everyone looked stunning and the black dress theme even carried over to our guests who similarly wore black dresses to match the men in tuxedos. I was so bossy I even insisted the harpist wore black (bridezilla was not an understatement)

Jess & Alex

Written by Lorna Shaw