Emma & Philip

Is anybody else longing for warmer days? I certainly am, so it's a real treat to be able to share the Spring wedding of Emma & Philip at Farbridge Farm with you today. For one they are achingly cool and two they certainly know how to dress a rustic barn. The neutral white & greenery colour palette really sets off all the exposed brick, beams and natural decor perfectly. The cake table with tree trunks and succulents looks utterly immense, as does the glass table plan and the ceremony aisle full of wild blooms. (Pinning fingers at the ready) Also sending me into a frenzy is Emma in her Allen Laure de Sagazan dress from The Mews of Nottinghill. Completing her boho look beautifully with a flower crown of dreams. Emma & Philip found Ali Paul Photography on these very pages and once you've viewed this wedding I'm certain you'll be book marking him too.

The Venue

Emma the Bride: We knew we wanted to get married in a barn and looked at lots of venues. Farbridge in West Sussex ticked all the boxes for us. We felt they understood exactly what we were looking for from the beginning, and were happy for us to decorate the space as exactly as we wanted to. The setting is beautiful, surrounded by rolling hills and spectacular rural landscape.

Catering

All the catering at Farbridge is provided by their in-house caterers, Cuckoo. Run by husband and wife Nickie and Simon. They were unbelievably flexible with all the food you could have for the day. The choice really is yours! We went for a good old classic Sunday roast with all the trimmings, and it was top class. Sharing platters of whole roast chicken and slow cooked roast pork, every single guest said they had never had such good food at a wedding before. Our desert of salted caramel chocolate brownie sundae was a serious talking point.

Ceremony

Ceremony readings from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin read by best friend Liz Swift. Grow Old with you by Adam Sandler, sung by friend Joseph Swift. Really set the tone and felt special.

Décor

We made a lot of the decorations ourselves and pulled in lots of friends and family to help us out. A lot of inspiration came from Pinterest and RMW. Philip and I knew we wanted lots of grey and white tones with greenery. We love plants and wanted to create a rustic bohemian relaxed style wedding. Philip and I made all the grey concrete pots for the tables, it was really easy to do and very cost effective. We brought all our flowers and succulents for New Covent Garden Flower Market 3 days before the wedding. Philip’s mum, Sue, made the lace table runners. I sourced all the teas lights, and made the favours and kids entertainment bags for the table. All the table invites and wedding invitations were designed and printed by myself. We used old windows for signs/table plan and Philip built some wooden ones as well, and I did all the writing. Philip’s brother, Mike, sourced all the wood for cake stands and decoration. Ellie, Philip’s brothers wife owns a kids party/event hire company, What About the Kids and kindly brought along some brilliant entertainment, like teepees, bouncing cows, bubble machine, fancy dress box etc. We had a lot of children of various ages at the wedding and it really added an element of fun to the wedding. Philip also made the photo booth background, and we brought all the props and cameras. It was a really simple idea and ended up with some brilliant snaps. If you are going to create a lot of the decorations yourself I recommend starting early like we did and being super organised so you are not manically trying to get everything made last minute. The few days leading up to your wedding should be fun and relaxed, we loved every minute!

Flowers

I was very particular about the style of flowers I wanted whimsical, nothing structured, just beautiful wild flowers. I came across Wild Willow website and knew instantly it was the right choice. Laura at Wild Willow made our Bouquets, flower crowns and button holes. They were more beautiful than I ever imagined and she was so relaxed and friendly it was brilliant!

The Dress

I am not really a dress person, but knew I wanted something timeless, floaty with bohemian feel. I loved The Mews of Nottinghill straight away. They were so friendly and helpful and not your typical wedding shop. I cannot recommend them enough, the dresses they supply are stunning and I would have been happy wearing any of them! I decided to go for the dress I felt most comfortable in by Laure de Sagazan, Allen Dress, the lace detail and silk was stunning. I wore my mums pearl earrings and pale grey heel shoes by River Island, I felt the dress spoke for itself so nothing else was needed.

Beauty

My friend and Bridesmaid, Krystle Gohel, is an amazing hair and makeup artist, I felt privileged she offered to do my hair and make up for the wedding. She usually has celebrities/models to work with not little old me. I am not very confident in front of the camera and with her skills I felt amazing!

Rings

My engagement ring was left to me by my nan when she passed away. My mum had been keeping it for me since I was a little girl, and Philip knew this was my dream ring. Our wedding bands were made by Philip’s extremely talented Cousin, Max. He is an exceptional jewellery maker so we were very lucky to have the opportunity to call on his services.

The Wedding Party

Groom suit by Jennis and Warmann, great value for money. Zara tie, shoes Kurt Geiger, and accessories belonged to his granddad. Bridesmaids wore pale grey dresses by Elise Ryan from ASOS. Flower girl dress by Monsoon, Page boys wore River Island, Groomsmen wore their own suits.

The Photographer

We came across Ali Paul on RMW. We loved his style of Photography, and when we met him he was so relaxed you could tell he was a true professional. He was absolutely amazing and really captured the feeling of the day. He was so subtle and fitted in with our day, everyone was so impressed with his pictures.

The Cake

We are very lucky to have a close friend who makes the most delicious cakes! Caroline created exactly what we were hoping for, beautiful and elegant, and as always it tasted soooo good! My mums close friend Maggie also made two yummy lemon drizzles to go beside it. We didn’t want a formal looking cake, just simple, honest ingredients, you can’t go wrong.

Entertainment

Mark our DJ from Mighty Fine Entertainment was great. We met up a few weeks before the wedding and discussed what type of music we wanted. He was very professional.