Tamsin & Alvyn

The show definitely went on at this gorgeous rustic wedding at Smallshaw Farm Cottages. After a few hiccups with suppliers and lots of support from family and friends rallying around to make everything perfect, Tamsin & Alvyn enjoyed their dream lace & hessian filled marquee reception & garden games just as they'd hoped. They were even joined by the resident cows which made a stunning natural backdrop for the photographs captured by Mike & Tom. There's a whole host of inspiration and DIY decor, including wooden signs, bunting and wild flowers in pitcher jugs, plus a yummy selection of homemade treats and divine cheese tower wedding cake. And did we mention Tamsin's braided up do.... insert multiple heart emoji's here. Enjoy.

Photographers

Tamsin The Bride: Mike & Tom were perfect for us; very relaxed and unobtrusive. They made sure we enjoyed our day rather than missing the fun by taking endless staged photos. We wanted a documentary style as we both dislike our photo being taken and can't smile very well!

Venue

We held the reception at Smallshaw Farm Cottages. This is a really fantastic venue very close to where we live (complete with hot tub and swedish BBQ hut). Jim and Mary who own the cottages are brilliant and helped organise a lot of the wedding including running the bar for the day. They went out of their way to make sure everything went well (they found the emergency caterers for us!) We also used Marston Moor Marquees for our trapeze marquee and they were fantastic.

Inspiration

We just wanted a really relaxed wedding with lots of homemade rustic touches. I love lace so lace played a huge part in our day. My dress and bridesmaid dresses were lace, and the hessian table runners and bunting were also edged in lace. We wanted traditional summer fete games, so croquet, quoits, sack races, boules etc were available for the children to play. As the Smallshaw Cottages are on a working dairy farm, we had the cows for company. Wind turbines also look over the farm which provided a really unique backdrop.

Planning

We had a lot of problems running up to the wedding. the dress shop for the wedding dress went into bankruptcy; we had to change the date of the wedding from a Saturday to a Friday which obviously meant a lot of reorganising with the various suppliers; the first catering company we booked had to cancel due to illness; the second company we booked cancelled the day before due to insolvency! after many tears and anxiety the day before we managed to book a great local company called Yummy Yorkshire Ice-cream who stepped in a the last minute to feed us. In the end it all worked out for the best and all the drama added to the memories. We realised now how lucky we were as all our friends and families rallied round to find a solution. We treasure the day even more and got delicious ice- cream as a bonus!

DIY

We made a lot of things ourselves. We created the save the dates, seating plan and order of service and the brides Mother made the bunting and the table runners. We collected vintage crockery as the table decorations and for the dessert table. We also collected glassware for a sweetie table.

Flowers

The flowers were provided in DIY buckets from Hollow Meadows Flowers and arranged by friends. wooden signs directing guests around the reception venue were made by the groom along with signs for the games made from Cornish driftwood collected by the Father of the Groom.

Favourite Moments

I loved decorating the marquee with our family and close friends, it was a lovely experience the day before. We felt really loved! I also loved relaxing outside with a glass of Farmer's Blonde watching our guests enjoying the games and the surroundings and then dancing the night away to an awesome band!

Advice

Your friends and family have lots to offer and really like getting involved, so let them help, it makes the day so much more special to them too.