Laura & Greg

I've fallen head over heels for Laura & Greg's rustic, pastel filled barn wedding, there's just something so dreamy about the light and the styling that sets it apart. The gorgeous wild flowers, the unusual cut of Laura's dress, the cathedral length veil, THAT bouquet...there's nothing outrageously quirky about this wedding, but everything has been chosen with such care that the whole day just looks so beautiful. As does Laura, whose complexion is just perfect and her Bridal make up really is stunning. Their venue, The Tithe Barn on the Symondsbury Estate is in an incredible location and meant that the couple could sneak off for some portraits on the beach. The whole day is lovely from start to finish, enjoy the images from Chris Scuffins and then I'll hand you over to Laura to tell you all about it...

The Bride

Laura The Bride: My gown was designed and made in London, by Shelia Harding at Boa Boutique. Shelia was there when I tried the dress on and pretty much every time I visited for the fittings. All the ladies there were amazing, from the first trying on with Shanie, to my final dress fitting with Maureen. My earrings were Mum’s, my belt No. 1 Jenny Packham at Debenhams and my hairband Gemma Sangwine. I ended up buying two of Gemma’s hairbands because I couldn’t decide (I left it until the morning of the wedding). They were both beautiful, one she designed specifically, the other I just loved. She’s local to the Cotswolds and her designs are amazing and very affordable. I would highly recommend her to brides, bridesmaids or even just special occasions. My shoes, were cheap high street ones – they just needed to be flat and plain, as I’m the same height as Greg! My veil was beautiful and soft – a very good copy of a silk substitute. Chapel length, super soft from Richard Designs.

The Groom & Groomsmen

Greg wore a Paul Smith suit and the ushers French Connection. They all looked super dapper. Greg has a quirky style and was adamant on self-tie bow ties - which proved tricky on the morning of the wedding – but looked gorgeous!

The Bridesmaids

The bridesmaids dresses were No. 1 Jenny Packham in Debenhams – they both looked gorgeous. We didn’t want to worry about all the colours matching so fairly neutral dresses were perfect.

The Flowers

My Mum did all of the flowers in the church (including the beautiful swag round the arch of the chapel porch) and the venue. She is amazing, and I knew she’d understand exactly what I was after. The arch, I think, was my favourite – it looked fab! Plus my tremendous Grandpa, who made 20 wooden troughs for the wild flowers along the sides of the barn. He also grew, from seed, most of the plants that ended up in them. What an incredible family I have??!

The Cake

Greg’s Mum did the cake, and we stole the idea of having photos of our parents and grandparents on their wedding days from my brother and sister in law. We loved the idea of making the important people and values central in the day.

The Venue

The venue was gorgeous. We were left to decorate the whole place by ourselves and exactly how we wanted. I was very emotional leaving the venue on the Friday – it looked better than I had imagined it would! Mainly thanks to help from our friends and family, plus the planning Greg and I did together. My parents live in Dorset and the area is so beautiful, we couldn’t not get married there. Greg is Catholic and it just so happened that the nearest chapel was absolutely gorgeous. Intimate, so our friends and family were literally within touching distant, beautiful for it to feel super special and big enough for everyone to fit!

The Decor

We wanted a beautiful, but chilled day. So whimsical, informal décor was important. Natural flowers, candles in cut glass candlesticks and trees with planters full of colourful flowers, along the sides of the barn. We wanted everyone to get to know each other, so we used long tables, sharing platters for starters, roast joints on each table and a desert table, and crossword clue table names (made by Greg) for people to work out.

The Stationery

The stationery we did ourselves, all based on holiday postcards. The whole planning process was amazing, Greg and I worked as a team to create the perfect day but that didn’t break the bank. My brother and his wife (along with two friends) made all of the canapes – they looked, and tasted, like professional treats.

The Photography

The photos were amazing. Chris and Helen were everywhere, yet nowhere. They captured everything I hoped for, made Greg and I look amazing (a true feat, considering we are probably the most un-photogenic people around) and were lovely and friendly the whole way through.

The Entertainment

The DJs were so professional. Lee and Darren double checked all of our requests, including the length of our first dance, which was originally 6 mins long! Safe to say, they saved our bacon and we stumbled round the dance floor for a much more comfortable 3mins.

The Transport

We borrowed my brothers 911 Porsche. Dad drove me to the chapel and Greg drove (with Chris squeezed in the back) back to the venue, via the beach for photos. Very cool!

Favourite Moments

The best bits about the whole day - 100% the ceremony. All of our friends and family there to see us make a promise forever, with a Priest who made everyone feel incredibly welcome, and all in a beautiful chapel. Next best, the dancing – including the locomotion people train which ran outside. Third best, how many people travelled 1000s of miles to be there, and how everyone made the effort to get to know each other. Finally, but I’m not sure it should have been last – the planning that Greg and I did together. He was amazing, we both had the same ideas and we did it all together. Plus feeling like a princess, in a dress made to fit every inch of you, was pretty special too!!