Yasmin & Nick

There's nothing like a Summer festival wedding full of colour and character to brighten a cold Winters morning, and this one in Somerset will not only blow your mind, but also warm your heart. The wild floral arrangements full of dahlias and sunflowers for one will have you hitting the Pinterest button quicker than you can say 'Jack Frost nipping at your nose' with all the portraits and moments captured by Andrew Brannan Photography leaving you feeling all fuzzy inside.

Dress

Yasmin the Bride: I’ve never really thought of myself as an indecisive person, but my search for the ‘perfect’ wedding dress proved otherwise. After dragging my bridesmaids around five different bridal stores, I settled on a Watters gown, but soon after, much to everyone’s dismay, I changed my mind as I was worried the dress was too figure hugging and I didn’t want to feel self-conscious on my wedding day. Having already put down a deposit, I tried searching for a cheap alternative and ended up ordering two dresses online. Unfortunately when they arrived, the quality and fit was pretty poor, so the search was on – again! The circumstances in which I eventually found my dress were not quite the traditional bridal dream, I was hungover and on my own, but the ladies at the Charlie Brear studio in north London made me feel so at ease and I soon fell in love with the beautiful ‘Harwood’ from their Iconic Collection. As a Londoner I was so pleased to end up with a dress that was designed and made in London. I accessorised my dress with Sam Edelman gold block heeled sandals from John Lewis, a lace cathedral veil from David’s Bridal, which I then switched for flower crown when I got to the reception venue, and some statement earrings from Glitzy Secrets. When the party got going I switched into a long-sleeve, beaded gown from River Island.

Groom’s Attire

Nick’s suit shopping experience was also a little tumultuous. Having left it to a month before the wedding (so he could lose some weight!), we found ourselves pounding the pavements of Oxford Street with his best man when the summer sales were in full swing. The selection wasn’t great and he settled on a navy blue suit from John Lewis but when he got it home decided it was a bit too stuffy. We returned the suit and ended up going to Reiss where we found a lovely three piece mid grey suit (‘Crow’) with burgundy tie and pocket square.

The Venue

Nick and I had been to a lot of weddings by that point (attending 14 in the last year alone) and were pretty clear on our requirements. We wanted it to be in a field. We wanted there to be camping on site. And we wanted the freedom to use our own vendors. Church Farm was the second venue we visited. We loved its colourful flower garden, wild meadow and quirky camp site.

Flowers & Decor

Flowers and greenery were the main focus of the décor for the tent. I’m lucky enough to have two friends that are florists, one of whom was one of my bridesmaids. Together, they transformed the marquee into a colourful and lush haven, with ladders covered in wild herbs hanging from the ceiling, greenery table runners and beautifully bright blooms peppered throughout in beer bottles and jam jars. My bridesmaid, Caroline, put together the bouquets, with the help of Emmi, another one of the bridesmaids, as well as doing all of the buttonholes and my flower crown. We kept the rest of the décor pretty simple, with giant white balloons lining the path up to the wild meadow and in the inside of the marquee. We hired a bunch of props from the Prop Factory - old oak barrels, striped deck, a vintage steel (bath to keep the beers cold in) and fire pits surrounded by hay bales Inside the marquee we had giant ‘Y & N’ sign lighting up the dance floor. We made a DIY photobooth with some gold foil curtains, glitter balloons and a cardboard cut out of Nicolas Cage (Nick’s fave) and put together a memory montage with polaroid snaps of me and Nick over the years.

The Wedding Party Fashion

The most important thing to me was that the girls were comfortable in what they were wearing. We decided on navy blue and the girls found their own dresses, going with a range of different styles, all sourced from the high street (ASOS, Whistles, Coast). The ushers all wore their own suits in varying shades of blue.

Ceremony

The ceremony was held at the Guildhall in Bath in their stunning Council Chambers. We have three readings – Nick’s mum, one of the groomsmen, Mike, but my personal favourite was my bridesmaid Tanya’s reading of Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Sandman’ in which she slipped in a tongue in cheek ode to Nick after the words “one stupid person like…” – it got a good laugh from the crowd. And of course I couldn’t forget the rapturous round of applause from our guests when the registrar announced we were married. Nick’s best man Jimmy, with the help of his groomsmen, also made an incredible video about Nick’s life, that captured all the highs and lows of his journey from awkward teen, to married man. It was hilarious.

Food

Nick and I love our food and drink, so the first few hours of the reception were focused around exactly that – Canapés and Fizz, swiftly followed by Cocktail & Cheese Hour (an ode to the regular cheese night we have with some our friends). We had personalised cocktails both named using our nicknames – the Yazzy Fizzle (a gin and prosecco cocktail) and the Vassinator (whiskey on the rocks – admittedly not really a cocktail, but Nick’s fave all the same). We wanted to make the most of our lush green surroundings so the day time entertainment focused on lawn games (giant jenga, space hoppers, ring toss etc) and drinks in the sun. We were really keen to have a relaxed food service so we looked into food trucks and found the ‘Sausage and Mash Company’. They served pie, mash and gravy in cardboard containers for the main meal (it was absolutely delicious!) and the evening service was sausage baps and chips in cones – all served from their vintage citron van – the perfect meal to soak up all that booze!

Cake

Our cake was made by Mrs B’s Cakes in Wiltshire. We had a delicious naked cake with chocolate, carrot and vanilla layers. I feel like the wedding cake tends not to get eaten at a lot of weddings, so we served ours as desert.

Photographer

Our photographer was the lovely Andrew Brannan. We randomly found him online, but were so pleased when we met him for our engagement shoot. He put us at ease instantly, with his friendly down to earth nature. His pictures were exactly what we were looking for – natural, capturing those special moments in the most beautiful way. So many people have commented on how great the pictures are and the slideshow he put together with accompanying music literally makes me gush with joy every time I watch it.

Videography

Yet more of our talented friends stepped in again to help us out as videographers. Our friend Rich filmed the whole day and edited it together into the most amazing video – it captured all the dodgy dance moves in all their glory – including (to my dismay) the infamous ‘Ghostbusters’ first dance! Our other friend Magnus made us a drone video as a wedding present – it captured all our lovely wedding guests and the whole venue and stunning Wiltshire countryside in all its glory – all set to the Whitney Houston’s ‘I will always love you’ – how apt!