Rustic, Boho, Outdoor Summer Garden Wedding at Herons Farm, Berkshire

The lovely Leila and David had a mash-up of all the things they love and the results of this rustic, boho, outdoor summer garden wedding at Herons Farm are amazing. They incorporated lots of DIY decor, including a hoop table plan and a chalkboard unplugged ceremony sign. Plus wooden crates, family portraits, and a whole lot more for you to pin and swoon over. Leila wears the prettiest sequin and tulle Needle and Thread gown with a flower crown, and David ops for Chinos, braces and a bow tie. Seriously it doesn't get much cooler than that. Capturing the magic was Carla Blain, who is one of our wedding supplier directory members and is fast becoming one of my favourite photographers. Her portraits are always full of emotion, as you'll see below. Take the epic woodland smoke bomb pics for example, which as you know from a recent post team RMW wrote on Smoke Bombs I'm a HUGE fan of.

Needle and Thread Wedding Dress

Leila & David: I finally saw my dress online but it wasn’t until after I had brought a dress from a wedding shop. I had gone with my mum and sister and imaged I would find a dress and instantly know it was the dress I would get married in. Far from it I tried this dress on ummed and ahhed about it and decided to go for it and alter it. I got home and a couple of days later cried because I didn’t really like it. I looked around online and found Needle and Thread. When the dress arrived I fell in love with it. My only problem now was trying to convince myself that it is ok to not wear a “wedding dress” to your own wedding. I did have to have a couple of bits altered on it. Luckily a dressmaker Beaumont Boutique near to me was recommended. After meeting her and coming up with different ways to make it a little more comfortable, (it was a little on the tight side) I left her to work her magic. Once the ribbon had been changed, a little bit of the zip taken off and the front taken up I felt so much more comfortable in it. My shoes were from Matalan, I knew there were cobbles at the venue so needed to make sure they were a chunky heel. My make up was done by Nikita Walls, she made me feel so beautiful and helped to keep me calm during the morning.

Chinos, Braces & Bow Tie Groomswear

The chinos and grey braces were from Topman, shirt was from TM Lewin, Jacket was from H&M, bow tie was from Tie Obsessed on Etsy and shoes were from Zara.

Outdoor Summer Garden Wedding at Herons Farm, Berkshire

We went to Herons Farm and loved the outdoor summer garden wedding vibe. So we decided to go for it and kept our fingers crossed that the weather would be kind to us. We knew there was woodland not too far that we could get taken to on a little buggy to have photos which helped sell it to us. There were also B&B rooms at the venue which meant we could have breakfast with close family and friends the next day.

Rustic, Boho Decor & Flowers with Greenery

Hot Flowers and Art are amazing. I met with Sue and showed her what I was after and that was it, she matched it perfectly. Amelia helped me decorate the venue the day before and did the cake decorations for me. I had so many compliments on the day and have been recommending her to everyone. The whole theme of the wedding was rustic boho, lots of greenery and only a few white flowers. I made the decorations around the venue myself. Pinterest can be both amazing and annoying at the same time. I started making bits about a year and a half before the wedding and I am so pleased I started so early. The only tip I have for DIY brides is to start early. Start earlier than early if possible. I managed to get quite a bit for free which helped a lot and then tried to use bits and bobs I had around the house or found in charity shops and sales. I also made my own dried petal confetti which was really easy to do and looked so pretty even when it was all over the lawn.

Wedding Party Fashion

Two bridesmaids, three flower girls, three-page boys, three ushers, two best men, and one master of ceremony. The best men wore the same as the groom, ushers and the master of ceremony wore the same but without a jacket. The page boys wore the same outfits as the ushers but we got their chinos and shirts from H&M, braces from Vertbaudet and shoes from Next bow ties were also from Tie Obsessed on Etsy. The Bridesmaids dresses were from ASOS, and shoes from Matalan. The flower girls dresses, shoes and headbands were all from Matalan.

Wedding Ceremony

We kept this short and sweet and went with no readings. We got married, kissed, and then got the party started. Luckily for us the weather stayed dry so we were able to have it outside.

Wedding Entertainment

For during the day we brought a few garden games and I also made a nought and crosses game using an old pallet and some foam letters I found in Poundland. For the evening we went with a live band. We looked online for quite a while and ended up finding The Peaks on lastminutemusicians.com. They were brilliant and even set up a playlist for after their sets so the party could continue.

Wedding Breakfast

We went with a two-course meal by RS Catering for our wedding breakfast and then a hog roast in the evening. My cousin, Natalie Wickens, made our cake for us as a wedding present and it was amazing. Not only to look at but to taste as well.

Carla Blain Wedding Photography

I can’t thank this lady enough for what she has done. As soon as I found Carla online I fell in love. David and I knew photos were the thing that lasts after the day is over so we were looking for someone special and that is exactly what we found. The photos are exactly what we were after and we can’t thank Carla and Calvin enough for them or the film.

Wedding Advice form Real Bride

We were told by countless people to take time out at some point during the day to take it all in and just be with each other. This is the one thing I regret about our wedding. We said we would but the whole day just seemed to fly by.

Try and take 10, 5 or even 2 minutes out from speaking to everyone or sorting the next thing out and just be with each other, alone, looking around at it all and taking it in.