Hannah & Matt

I am such a huge fan of blush at the moment. If you're a regular reader of Sister blog Rock My Style you'll know that I have my eye on a blush sofa. I've just got to convince the husband. Anyway I digress. It's a real treat to see this blush, White by Vera Wang bridal gown gracing our pages. The layers of tulle and appliqué bustle are heavenly. It goes without saying that Bride Hannah looks absolutely AMAZING. The outdoor ceremony in the woods adds to their fairytale story with humble BBQ, ales and ice-cream food trucks to dig into. If you like this relax approach too, you should definitely check out our List street food & drinks post for more suppliers in your area.

The Dress

Hannah the Bride: I tried on some gorgeous dresses and in the end I decided on a beautiful blush Vera Wang dress, that I tried on and absolutely fell in love with. I ended up finding one for sale online from a lovely lady in Texas on preloved.com, which I had altered by the incredible Zoe Saves the Day.

The Beauty

My hair was done by stylist Brad Allen and my make up was done by Rachel Wischhusen. They made me look amazing!

Grooms Fashion

Matt the Groom: I was very keen not to go too formal, wearing top and tails would not suit me at all, and I always wear blue suits….so a blue suit it was! I went to Moss Bros and got a DKNY suit. I bought a few different waistcoat options so I had options on the day. I wore tan shoes and a belt, complete with T-Rex cufflinks that Hannah's sister bought me as a gift.

The Venue

Hannah & Matt the Bride & Groom: We wanted a unique venue, and somewhere laid back. We found the Browning Brothers online, went over to have a look and fell in love with the place. It’s a beautiful woodland with lots of space, and 10 tents onsite for glamping used by our friends and family. We rented a marquee for the day, and then just had to hope for dry weather. We got lucky, and had the service outside in the woodland. The Browning Brothers themselves were very accommodating and let us have full access to the site for days before the wedding, and let us hang lights etc. They were fantastic and couldn’t have done more to help make our day special. Because everyone had stayed over the next day we were able to have a huge breakfast together!

Colour Scheme/Decor

We didn’t have a set colour theme, we just wanted flowers of all colours absolutely everywhere, with cute teacups and decorative tins making the place look pretty. Brides sister, Emma Gibbons, helped with the typography for all of our decor.

Flowers

We bought all our flowers wholesale, and had them arranged by our brilliant friend Tom Davies and my sister Sarah Gibbons. For centrepieces we had cute tea caddies, glass bottles and teacups all filled with the flowers. Our table names were created by our favourite artist, Katie Cook, who drew for us little doodles of our favourite couples from popular culture, including Superman and Lois Lane, Beauty and the Beast and Harold and Maude.

The Wedding Party Fashion

Hannah the Bride: The groomsmen wore their own suits, and all looked very handsome in them! Because the wedding dress was blush I didn’t have many bridesmaid dress colour options that wouldn’t clash. So I decided on white. I ended up going for something similar to what I’d been looking for in my wedding dress originally. I managed to find the dresses on sale from Coast and the girls looked just gorgeous in them. My adorable goddaughter Felicity walked in her own little dress, which was the perfect combination of the wedding Dress blush and bridesmaids white.

Ceremony

Hannah & Matt the Bride & Groom: We had our wedding outdoors, in an opening in the woods. We couldn’t register our marriage there, so had to sneak to a registry office the day before with our close family as witnesses. We chose our amazing close friend Max Wakerly, who first introduced us to each other, to perform the ceremony. He was a little nervous, but it was the best decision we ever made and we were so happy to be up there with him. We had a reading from Daniel Handler’s The Beatrice Letter’s. It’s a beautiful reading that’s lighthearted and romantic, without taking life too seriously. Hannah’s university friend Issa Pourkhosravi read it for us.

Entertainment

Matt the Groom: The venue provided a sound system for use during the day, and we hooked up an iPod with our selected music for the ceremony and meal. We had lots of soundtrack songs from our favourite films included in our afternoon playlist. In the evening we had a DJ (Ben Fitch) who is linked to the Browning Bros and he was excellent. We had asked our guests for song requests with their RSVPs so most people were happy with the music played.

Food

Hannah & Matt the Bride & Groom: We started with some amazing canapés; miniature burgers, Chorizo stuffed mushrooms, Cajun grilled king prawns and parmesan shortbreads. We wanted a laid back barbecue style main, so we had Marinated and Barbecued Whole Strip Sirloin and grilled chicken with some amazing sides. EPI Catering were incredible, they’re the loveliest couple and they threw themselves into the day. For dessert we had the incredible Molly Moo’s Ices turn up and the looks of delight on everyone’s faces were just priceless. In the evening we had Paella and a dessert table covered in cake and sweets. I made our Wedding cake myself, as part of my business The Gibbons Girls Bakery. The cake was banana cake with banana buttercream, lemon cake with lemon buttercream and lemon curd and confetti cake with confetti filled buttercream. The design was watercolour on the bottom tier; a combination of pinks, purples, oranges and blues swirled together, with gold leaf detail. The top tier was entirely covered in gold leaf.

Photographer

We had been looking at photographers for ages, and then we found Alexa. She was brilliant, and was very creative with her shots. At times she was like a ninja, zipping around and getting shots while no one was noticing! Since the the big day, she has put together a great slide show for us, and sent a very cute package of our photos. We would absolutely recommend her!