Jo & Rob

This couple and their stunning tipi wedding on Heavens Farm have brought me so much joy trawling through their pictures. There isn't one image captured by RMW fav Frances Sales Photography that isn't full of emotion, love, happiness, and pure pretty. I absolutely adore the gorgeous peach and cream colour scheme. It compliments the rustic tipi perfectly, and echos the gorgeous tones of the golden hour sky. How romantic are those portraits? Bride Jo looks simply from head to toe in a 'Wren' Willowby gown, Richard Designs headpiece and fabulous Jimmy Choo pumps. Not to mention her beaming smile, which she and her beau are constantly sporting. Such a happy, joyous wedding for a Monday morning. Come see...

The Dress

Jo the Bride: The experience of dress shopping was very mixed for me. I loved trying on the beautiful dresses but finding ‘the one’ proved to be tricky. I must have visited about 8 bridal stores until someone recommended Morgan Davies Bridal in Islington and I am so glad that they did! I opted for the beautiful ‘wren’ dress by Willowby, which was perfect for the relaxed vibe of our wedding and also amazingly comfortable so I could dance the night away no problem! I always knew that I wanted a veil and trying one on for the first time was almost as emotional as finding my dress - it was the first time that I felt like a bride. I absolutely loved my headpiece and I’m desperately trying to find an occasion to wear it again! This was by Richard Designs, which I also got at Morgan-Davies. I don’t really wear much jewellery but I wanted to add a little bit of sparkle to my look so wore a bracelet that I got from Untamed Petals. Finding my wedding shoes was really easy; as I knew I wanted a pair of Jimmy Choos, so it was just a matter of which style! I wore a lace garter that I purchased from the Wedding Garter Company having read about them on ‘Rock My Wedding’. It was one of the first things I purchased and will be something I keep forever, as it is so beautiful. Lastly, I wore ‘Roses de Chloe’ fragrance, which my mum bought for me and had engraved with the date of our wedding. It was such a beautiful & special gift!

Grooms Fashion & Accessories

We knew Rob was going to wear something less traditional. It was just a case of finding what that was. We ended our search in Ted Baker. The tone was right up our street! It was great being able to build up the suit from scratch. We chose different tones of blue for the suit, trousers and tie and paired them with brown brogues. Finishing touches were added with a pocket square from Liberty’s - a floral Paul Smith and finally fragrance from Comme Des Garçons.

The Venue

We decided early on that we wanted a tipi wedding and after attending a ‘Beautiful World Tents’ open day our initial thoughts were confirmed -they were amazing!! The tipi’s were so atmospheric and we loved how magical they looked in the evening with all of the fairy lights. We chose Heaven Farm as our venue as it provided us with a stunning woodland location and was close to the church where we held our ceremony so guests did not have to travel far between the two. It was also somewhere Rob used to visit as a child, being from the area. As we live and work in London we decided to hire a house to use as a base for the weekend. It was lovely to have such a beautiful place to get ready in and having so much space meant the morning was stress free! It was also great to be able to have friends and family around for a BBQ on the Sunday after the wedding so we could reminisce about the day, before heading off on our honeymoon.

Decoration

As the tipi’s & setting of Heaven Farm were so stunning, we decided to keep the decoration quite natural, so created a lot of the décor ourselves by re-purposing mirrors, ladders & frames. We kept in mind the shades of blue & gold that we used in our stationery and tied it all together by painting these decorations in a complimenting shade of blue. Outside the church, we made a ‘Welcome’ sign that sat by the entrance and used foliage & flowers inside to decorate the pew ends. We also had terrariums with pillar candles positioned down the aisle. Inside the dining tipi’s, the beams were draped with foliage and fairy lights and we decorated the tables with floral centrepieces that sat in golden bowls, candles and candlesticks. We made place name napkin holders in the colour of our stationery and bought matching table numbers from Bonjour Laura J. In the ‘dance tipi’ we had standing ‘R&J’ light letters on the stage, which looked amazing. Handmade tassels were hung around the beams and a basket full of flip-flops sat next to the dance floor ready for hardcore dancers for their tired feet! We also had blankets in a basket ready for guests that got chilly as the sun went down. Outside the tipi’s we had our handmade table plan as well as the Order of the Day, which we wrote on a mirror. We decorated a ladder with foliage and chalkboard signs for sparklers & our instagram hashtag. We also used vintage trunks to create a Marshmallow station and barrels for florals & the card box. With help from Robs mum & stepdad we made a signpost that had directions to the bar, toilets, Abbey Road (where we met & still live!) and various other places, such as Zanzibar - our honeymoon destination. Robs mum helped us so much with the DIY aspects of the wedding by collecting props, painting frames and also storing everything in her house! She also made some amazing pallet seats that we had outside for guests to sit on next to the fire pit.

Florist

We found our florist Roberta after being drawn to the beautiful arrangements and styling on her website. We wanted to make sure the flowers were in-keeping with the relaxed feel of the day so asked for quite neutral colours but with a pop of orange/coral to compliment the colours used in our stationery & decor. Roberta did a fantastic job and really brought the wedding alive with the florals. She even found a rose called ‘Just Joey’ that she used for the buttonholes & in my bouquet. This was amazing as that is Rob’s nickname for me!

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen

Finding the bridesmaid dresses was so hard. I scoured the Internet for months but couldn’t quite find what I wanted. I ended up going for a long halter-neck style from Dorothy Perkins! I liked the fact that they had lace on the side of them, which worked well with my dress and also the colour was in- keeping with the scheme. All the ladies looked great! Our gorgeous Goddaughter Ivy-Kate was my Flowergirl and wore a dress from Monsoon with a floral crown that our florist Roberta made. It took a few bribes to get her to wear it but we think she managed to keep it on for the ceremony! The best man and the dads all wore navy blue suits. They finished their outfits off with brown Brogues and blue ties to tie in with Rob’s attire. The groomsmen’s style was very relaxed - all 6 looked so dapper in their braces! We collected the braces and ties from various shops over a few weeks and the guys wore their own trousers & shirts. They matched Rob perfectly and complimented the overall scheme.

The Ceremony

We had our ceremony in All Saints Church, Danehill, which was just down the road from Heaven Farm. We were both quite nervous about the service but as soon as we saw each other all nerves drifted away and we enjoyed a beautiful, happy and truly special service. The warmth and love we could feel behind us as we stood at the front saying our vows is a feeling we will never forget. One of the most emotional moments came from our close friend Tim who became very teary reading ‘All I Want Is You’ by Barry Louis Polisar and subsequently making all of our guests cry! It was a lovely moment, which we also got to relive later in the day having chosen the song as our first dance. I walked down the aisle to ‘Hear Comes The Sun’ by the Beatles as this is a special song for us as we met and still live on Abbey Road in London. Our Order of Services were made by Emma Lee Cheng, who also made our letter-pressed Save the Dates and Invitations. They were beautifully designed and made to such a high standard and we were able to use the R+J logo that she created throughout the decor.

Entertainment

A big part of the wedding for us, was that the guests could get involved in lots of different little things throughout the day. We hired an old red Route Master bus to get guests from the church to the venue, which was so fun and really set the tone for the day. Outside the tipis we set up a photo guest book by hanging an ornate frame from a tree, with a box of props and masks for guests to dress up and pose with. We provided a Fujifilm Instapix camera so guests could print the pictures straight away and stick them into the book & write a message. This was a great way to have a guest book that was a little different. When the guests sat down at their tables for food, one place at each table had a parcel waiting for them. Once opened, we announced that this was for the ‘designated carver’ (we had sharing joints as the main) and they were to wear the chef hat and apron that was in the parcel! We also had ‘guess the length of the speeches’. Everyone put £1 in and the winner, who was announced later in the evening, won the whole pot! As part of the speeches, unbeknownst to us, Jo’s sister Avril provided great entertainment in the form of a wedding quiz! The outcome of winning the quiz was a wedding gift from Avril who put £1,000 behind the bar. Amazing! Suffice to say, no one hit the tea & coffee after that! We had an awesome band called ‘Roaming Free’. They jumped between covers of popular and classic songs and providing DJ duties between their sessions. We found them on entertainment nation, where Tom helped us to no end. Outside the Tipis we set up a Marshmallow station where guests could toast mallows over the fire-pit and then dip them in various toppings! As well as this, we had Sparklers to use later in the evening, which was great fun and Frances captured these moments brilliantly.

Food

We knew from quite early on that we wanted to have a sharing meal for our guests - something that felt relaxed and sociable. We had Canapés upon arrival and then for the main we created a ‘Summer Roast’. We coupled sharing joints of Beef with warm potatoes and various salads. For dessert we had a huge Passion Fruit and Raspberry Sharing Pavlova. Guests enjoyed tucking in to the huge Meringues in the center of each table! In the evening we had a delicious Hog Roast and served the cake. As for drinks, our caterers provided wine for the tables and also the arrival drinks. We wanted to do something a little different here so created a ‘Pimp Your Prosecco’ station where guests could choose to make Mimosa’s, Kir Royale’s, or Elderflower Fizz! For our bar we chose Shack Revolution, as they have such a fun vibe and the aesthetic was in-keeping with our day. As well as the usual drinks, guests could choose from 2 wedding cocktails, which went down extremely well! Our beautiful cake was made by Liz from ‘Sylvias Kitchen’. It looked and tasted incredible! We opted for a 3 tier soft textured buttercream icing, with a chocolate, a lemon and a coffee & walnut sponge. Our florist Roberta decorated it beautifully with real flowers.

Photographer

We found Frances Sales via a Rock My Wedding competition and although we didn’t win we were so impressed with Frances’s photography that we decided she was for us. Back in May we had an engagement shoot in the woods, which really helped us to get used to the camera but was also super fun as used smoke bombs! Frances was amazing to work with throughout the whole process and we love how the pictures have turned out as they really reflect the love, warmth and happiness of the day. So many smiles!

Romance

On the morning of the wedding, Rob surprised me by having a violinist play ‘All You Need Is Love’ by the Beatles, outside the window as I was having my hair & make-up done. It was such a romantic and beautiful surprise, a proper movie moment, that I will never ever forget!