Claudia & Matt

If you like your weddings pink and girly, then Claudia & Matt's beautifully styled big day is going to be right up your street. Bride Claudia went to town with the decor and details, making or sourcing everything herself, and the end result is just fabulous. From the mini gold champagne bottles, to the DIY ribbon backdrop, to the pastel hued flip flops for tired feet - there's just SO much pretty. Claudia was one of those Brides who ended up trying on a Jenny Packham, just for fun, but fell in love and then had to have it. And we're very pleased she did too, the slinky and sparkly 'Bardot' gown was perfect for her and suited her theme to perfection. We love that Groom Matt kept things casual in denim and tweed too, the boys look very stylish. We hope you enjoy the details, all captured beautifully by Hayley Savage Photography.

The Bride

Claudia The Bride: I thought from the start I wanted a very bridal looking gown but once I started looking, I realised that was actually the last thing I wanted! I only went to one shop (Carina Baverstock in Bradford on Avon) which for me is a miracle. I originally fell in love with a long sleeved lace number but when I went back for the 2nd visit with all my bridesmaids, their reactions weren't what I'd imagined, so I decided to try on one of every style of dress! (Crazy but I am OCD to a fault and needed to be sure I'd ticked every possible option off my list). The Jenny Packham I ended up buying was wayyyyy over budget and totally not what I would have imagined wearing. We only picked it because it looked so WOW on the hanger I was only really trying it for fun but it was an instant wow with my girls and I just knew this was the dress for me...from then on it set the theme for the entire day.

The Groom

Matt absolutely hates wearing suits so I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable on what was set to be the most memorable day of his life! So because the venue was a barn and my dress was super glam but not super bridal I felt like the vintage jeans, tweed Blazers & brogues were a really nice way to complement not only our theme, but also make Matt feel himself and not all stuffy in a suit he would have hated.

The Venue

The venue was the first venue we found online and the first and only venue we viewed! It's a family who own and live on the land it's built on. We knew from the get go we didn't want a package deal wedding. I know for some having everything included is a dream but for me it's my worst nightmare I wanted to do everything myself and with this venue because it was dry hire alone it meant that's exactly what we could do.

The Decor

I think once we had decided it was going to be an Autumnal wedding, I knew straight away I wanted it to be glamorous but in a soft romantic way - so dusky pinks, gold, creams and browns were the chosen colours. Pinterest was my saviour and the devil all in one! I spent many a night searching for the perfect decor and I quite quickly stumbled across sequin table clothes and glass charger plates with a gold trim. They were incredibly costly, but I wasn't giving up that easy! I found a man in China who sold the table clothes at a fraction of the cost I could hire them for, but they were still way more than I wanted to pay. I am pretty persistent and wasn't giving up easily so I pretty much hounded the poor guy on a daily basis and offered different prices ? we finally settled on a price and I had secured my beautiful champagne table clothes! Now there was the problem of the charger plates and I'd also decided there was no way I wanted silver cutlery, so gold it had to be. It's basically non existent, as there is one lady based in London who hires it, but she wasn't happy about hiring so far away :( I'd almost given up when I was stalking Instagram wedding pages and came across a company called Whitehouse Crockery they had not only the gold cutlery but the charger plates too! So I was one happy bride to be. Everything else was just hunting around and buying bits when I saw them. I made the table plan myself and bought some gold frames from eBay. My father inlaw made our bar which was a perfect match to the barn decor, total accident. I had also fallen in love with a fabric back drop I'd seen on Pinterest but they were £100's of pounds to buy so I ended up buying silk fabric and lace from fabric land and making one myself with the help on a YouTube "how to video"...I wanted the day to be very much a representation on us and our personalities so all the small details really mattered to me.

The Flowers

With the theme being such natural, warm colours I decided very early in I didn't want any sort of greenery at all in any of my flowers. I just kept using the term "fluffy" I wanted them to be full and pastel but in a fluffy soft way so we decided on hydrangeas and David Austin roses, which I couldn't have been happier with. They were everything I could have wished for.

The Ceremony

From day one there was only one person for the job of giving me away and that was my little boy Brock. So it was always going to be an emotional day for me but that just made it that bit more special. I wanted him to feel like he was a huge part of the day and just as important as anyone else so he had a little reading to do too. There wasn't a dry eye in the house

The Food

We wanted a heart warming meal as it was a crisp Autumnal day, so went for a self carving roast and it went down a dream - I mean who doesn't love a roast?! For dessert we had a trio of desserts but to be honest most of the guests had had one to many prosecco's by this point! We also had a stand of macaroons made by my cake lady and that went done a treat.

The Entertainment

The singer we had at our wedding is actually a busker I have always loved from Bristol, when ever I used to be in town and hear him I use to say (pre engagement) if we ever get married we are so having him sing, and thats we did. I hunted him down as he had started doing gigs and things in pubs and he agreed to do our wedding, I also got him to do our first song (You're Just To Be Good To Be True) as I wanted it to be original and something special to us, and it certainly was.

The Photography

The very lovely Hayley Savage Photography was perfect. She had done my best friends wedding a few years back and I loved her style and how easy she was to talk to. We didn't really want staged posey type photos so Hayley was amazing. She just drifted into the back ground and got some amazing natural shots, some of our favourite reminders of the day are the most simplest of pictures but just show such beauty & it takes a really good photographer to capture really beautiful moments that others wouldn't even think about picturing.

Advice

I'm an all or nothing kinda girl, so when I set my mind to something - I want it to be beyond perfect, so the sweet table was probably my biggest test. I wanted it to be a sweet table that was WOW. I didn't just want a few sweets spread out across a massive table I wanted old school sweets, so when we found a local traditional sweet shop in the village we got married in I knew I was in trouble...We had EVERYTHING from white mice, bonbons, strawberry creams and everything in between! Granted we were eating sweets for about 4months after the wedding but to see my vision come to life including the silk and lace back drop was worth every minute spent creating. Oh I almost forgot, I also had a wedding beer pong table made especially I took it to a graphic designer and he made one end a brides dress and the other a tuxedo with the wedding crest and date we got married on it. It was amazing I don't think there was a minute of the day where that table wasn't being played with!