Vicky & Oli

The beady eyed readers among you will recognise today's gorgeous bride - it's our lovely Vicky, who has been sharing her planning journey with you over the last few months. Vicky and Oli's big day sounded epic from the plans and I think we can truly say it's lived up to all expectations, with gorgeous details, amazing fashion choices and lots and lots of fun had by all. In fact, it's rare that I ever see a wedding match the original vision as much as this one! Excellent job on the styling front by Vicky. Katherine Ashdown has captured the day beautifully, as always, and we have the stunning film from Browns Films to enjoy too. Settle down with a cuppa for this one, it's just brimming with lovely ideas and Vicky and Oli look so happy! It's been a pleasure to share their journey with you all, congratulations Mr & Mrs Barnes!

{Watch The Film}

The Bride

My beautiful wedding dress ‘Harper’ was made by the British designer Sassi Holford, from Love Bridal Boutique. I can definitely say I felt like Beyoncé for the day! The dress had a beautiful sheer lace bodice with a high neckline, a stunning open back with spaghetti straps, and a wow-worthy full skirt. A stunning Sassi-bow belt and a dramatic cathedral length veil added the finishing touches. With comfort being high on my priority list, I needed to find shoes that I could wear all day long. I found needing wide fit narrowed my options quite a lot, as I really couldn't fit in many wedding shoes. I ended up finding a hidden gem with a beautiful silvery grey velvet pair from an online retailer! My jewellery were gifts from my husband, which I was blown away by. A stunning set of diamond stud earrings and a matching diamond bracelet (I was very spoilt I must say!) I also wore a delicate forehead vine by Hermione Harbutt - perfect for the elegant but relaxed look I was going for.

The Bridesmaids

The bridesmaids wore high street dresses from Debenhams which were a steal at under £100 each. Ladies on a budget - you really don't have to spend a fortune for your girls to look gorgeous! The style of dress suited all of my maids body shapes - a round high neck with a relaxed empire fit. I was really happy I went for 2 different colours in the dresses, with 3 of the maids in pink and the other 3 in purple. Both these colours tied in with the tones of the bouquets and looked divine! I just loved the gowns that my ladies wore during morning prep too - these were from Boohoo. The personalised hangers and ring box were also some very cute added touches from the amazing Two Stories Gifts. The accessories were a simple silver bracelet, Swarovski stud earrings, and matching silver clutch bags.

The Groom & Groommen

Oli and the groomsmen were all lined up in beautiful 3 piece suits from Moss Bros. We wanted suits that weren't too navy or too grey, and they had the perfect shade - 'shark skin' - which complimented our colour scheme of dusky neutrals really well. The ties and pocket squares were bespoke from a local tailor, who was actually able to match them exactly to the purple bridesmaid dresses (I would definitely recommend researching your area for similar businesses!) We distinguished a slight change with the grooms attire by Oli having a slightly more purple coloured set as well as a silver back to his waist coat. Some details of Oli’s look included a pair of personalised cufflinks from Not on the High Street, engraved with his initials and our wedding date, and some handsome brogues from Oliver Sweeney.

The Flowers

This was an area that we really wanted to focus on, and what an incredible job Swaffham and Fakenham Florist did! Michelle saw our vision from the very beginning, and created the most beautiful flower arrangements I have ever seen. My bouquet was a full floral style, including flowers such as white and pale pink peonies, sweet avalanche roses, dusky memory lane roses, blush astilby and some gorgeous foliage. The maids just had a smaller version, and their bouquets were later used in mercury vases to line the outside place settings of the head table. (This is a fab idea to make full use of your flowers!) The men's buttonholes were memory lane roses, and we also gave white carnation buttonholes to the mums and grandparents. The church flowers included two large Grecian urns with the same bridal flowers, and larger blooms. These sat at the top of the aisle, and were accompanied by singular roses with gyp and foliage on the pew ends. The centre pieces for our tables were tall flute vases with large arrangements on top. They complimented the tall ceilings, and made a gorgeous contrast again the brick walls. Finally, the floral arch we used for a photobooth...I have no words! AMAZING!

The Decor

I was totally chuffed with how all the decor turned out on the day. The Little Lending Co totally smashed the wedding signage with the handwritten chalk boards, and not forgetting the vintage bicycle. The Polaroid photo board was a massive success and has left us will a very cool keepsake for our new home. The table settings were pretty minimalist as the floral vases were the focal point. The vases stood on circular mirrors with scattered glass tea lights surrounding, with lovely pale grey table cloths. The name place cards slotted into champagne/wine corks which we purchased in bulk off eBay. For favours we had jars from The Jam Jar Co full with mint imperials, topped with personalised stickers from sazzle - we also used these to seal the envelopes for our invites! The stationery all looked stunning, and everything from save the dates to table names was the same style (I got quite obsessed with everything matching!) Luckily one of our friends, Carl Tyas, is a graphic designer - and helped us to create all the beautiful templates to fit our colour scheme perfectly.

The Entertainment

Bill Downs... WOW! What a showman! Bill, also from Norwich, is very highly sought after, so we were very lucky to of booked him. I know some couples worry that solo singers might not 'get the party started' - but this couldn't be further from the truth. His voice was is just incredible, and the atmosphere he created both during both the day and evening was amazing. We also had DJ Joshua Roberts, another local supplier, playing in between Bills sets. Having travelled worldwide for his work it's safe to say that he had the perfect playlists. Together they absolutely killed it and all our guests had a BLAST!

The Photography & Videography

This was another area we put a lot of attention to. I am usually a nightmare whenever we go out, always making sure I take pictures and videos to remember good times. On the wedding day I didn't pick up my phone at all, but it's safe to say that both Kathy & Tom covered it pretty well. Katherine Ashdown delivered an incredible set of images as you can see! Her relaxed style suited us perfectly and the bright, natural images of her portfolio made her a ‘must have’ for us. She captured the full story of our day so well - emotion, happiness, and all the details. Kathy was so efficient on the day that we didn't spend much time away from our guests, which was very important to us. Thomas Brown followed suit of Kathy and gave us the most amazing video of our big day. Having watched the trailer, and film numerous times now (I swear I’m I'm triple figures now!) - it still brings tears to our eyes. Tom's work is relaxed and contemporary - and you couldn't even notice he was there. The day unfolded and he managed to capture every single moment that we will be able to relive in years to come. We were very very happy with both our choices!

Advice

Remember its 'your day, your way’ - Stick to your style and what you want as a couple, and don’t feel pressured in any way. The build up can be stressful when you are wanting everything to go perfectly (especially when you are a perfectionist like me!). On the day you will realise that all the little worries become irrelevant - and guests won't actually notice if the slightest little thing is out of place. Most importantly, enjoy every second especially marrying your best friend! It's been a pleasure to share my planning journey and wedding with you all, and I hope you all enjoy your big day as much as we did! Love Vic x {You can keep following Vicky's story via her blog and Instagram page).