Lydia and Phil wanted a vintage, rustic feel for their wedding back in May. They chose a candy pink colour for all those little details, with the pretty maids in pink, the boys donning pink bow ties and the lace flowers in the same hue.

There were so many lovely touches, with their daughter carrying the sweetest sign down the aisle, decorated jars and a scrumptious Victoria sponge cake in their village hall venue.

Thanks so much to the fantastic Kathryn Edwards for sharing her photographs with us today.

 

The Proposal… The proposal was slightly more impromptu than Phil had originally planned. Phil was picking up my brother, who lives in Zambia, from Heathrow airport, but had also arranged to collect the engagement ring on the way. I knew Phil was designing a ring, but had no idea when this would be finished. My brother’s return was a surprise so when he and Phil got back from the airport we had a nice and emotional family reunion. Giving that it was our 6 year anniversary, Phil ceased his opportunity and proposed there and then. It wasn’t in a fancy place, but the timing was perfect.

Vision for the Day… Vintage and Rustic.

The Planning Process… We started planning the wedding as soon as we got engaged, so we had a year and a half all together. We were just getting ideas together at first, so we would both be saving images on our phones of things we liked and writing down ideas.  We found apps like Etsy and Pinterest really useful for inspiration. We made a check list and worked our way through that. We got together with friends and family to help make things like our invitations, bunting, jam jars, orders of service etc. We did a fair amount of planning at the beginning, then for a few months didn’t do a lot, then had LOTS to do towards the end! The last few months were hectic, but enjoyable, and because we tried to make a lot of things by hand, we were able to really put our own personal touch on the day.

Budget… Our initial budget was £12,000, but thanks to kind donations from our parents this raised to around £17,000.

The Venue… We had the ceremony at St Cross Church in Winchester and then went into the beautiful gardens afterwards for a drinks reception and photographs. We used Otterbourne Village Hall as our reception venue. It is really just a big village hall, however we had the walls draped and had hanging lanterns and lighting to transform it, it looked beautiful.

The Dress + Accessories… My dress was an ivory lace, strapless, fishtail dress. My shoes were also ivory and lace with a small heel. I wore a beautiful handmade sash/belt which I ordered from Etsy. My earrings were also handmade from Etsy and were ivory and lace with pearls. (I like lace!) I wore a simple, short veil and a few pale pink flowers in my hair.

Finding the Dress… I knew exactly what kind of dress I wanted, lace, strapless and fishtail. I didn’t want any sequins or bling on it, just lace. I went to loads of bridal shops and tried on so many dresses but they always had something I didn’t like about them! I ended up buying my dress second hand (and for half the price!) and it was perfect, just what I was looking for.

Groom’s Attire… Phil was after a tweed, vintage looking suit and after looking in shops and browsing the Internet he found the perfect suits on ASOS. The best men and usher had the same suit however Phil differentiated his by ordering a brown, cord waistcoat. To finish the look of they wore dusky pink bow ties.

The Readings + Music… For the music we both wanted to choose songs from our childhood. We used ones that reminded us of church, and some that reminded us of our childhood but that we also thought would help capture emotions on the day (My Girl, I can’t help falling in love) These were performed in the church by a three person band, with piano accompaniment. In the church service we also all sang together ‘Top of the world’ by the Carpernters.

Beautiful Bridesmaids… I wanted dusky pink, long, floaty, strapless dresses for my bridesmaids and I looked everywhere in shops and online and couldn’t find any for a reasonable price. Luckily, my mums 2 friends offered to make them for me. They turned out perfect and looked gorgeous on the bridesmaids. The colour and style was just what I wanted.

The Flowers… I decided not to have real flowers when I came across some gorgeous, lace flowers from Etsy. They had  lace flower heads and twigs for stems. I ordered all different shades or ivory and dusky pinks. We used the flowers for all the bouquets, buttonholes and decorated the reception with them in jam jars.

The Cake… We wanted a Victoria sponge for our cake, we don’t like traditional fruit cake and Victoria sponge is both of our favourite type of cake! We wanted a simple, three tier cake with flowers to decorate it.

Your Photographer… Our photographer, Kathryn Edwards, is a family friend and we both loved her style of photography, she takes very natural pictures and we felt really comfortable with her. She also did an engagement shoot as part of the package and we used one of the photos for our ‘save the dates’.

The Details + Decor… We collected glass jams jars and decorated them all differently using twine, lace, ribbon and burlap. Some were used as little vases for the lace/twig flowers and others to put tea light candles in. Our tables were long (rectangular), with burlap table runners and we tea-stained paper doilies to fit the vintage theme and put them on the tables for the jars to go on. We also used large chalkboards  to write little messages for our guests. At the church we had wooden signposts made with vows written on them leading up to the church, ‘for better for worse’, ‘for richer for poorer’ etc. Being parents ourselves, and knowing that there would be plenty of kids there on the day, we knew it was important for them to be entertained. Inside the reception hall we set up a “kids corner” with various drawing games, as well as some soft toys and rockers. We also had a vintage sweet cart with jars of pick’n'mix! Outside we had fun fair stalls, which were for everyone, but the kids really enjoyed that too. We had a tin can alley, ring toss, a shooting gallery and a high striker. This added another layer to our day, and also complimented our rustic theme quite well.

The Honeymoon… Although we haven’t had a proper honeymoon yet, we went on a family holiday to Disney Land Paris a few days after the wedding, it was with our daughter, my sister and my mum so not ‘exactly’ a honeymoon but it was lots of fun and we all enjoyed ourselves!

Memorable Moments… I think the most memorable moments were firstly the church. It was a beautiful church and to see it filled with so many friends and family was really special. (Also when our 2 year old daughter walked down the aisle holding a wooden sign saying ‘daddy, here comes mummy’)! Secondly, the thing we have talked about most since is the speeches. The speeches seemed to have everything, good and bad, and they helped make our day what it was.

Advice for Other Couples… The main advice we would say is just try to enjoy the planning. It’s stressful and can seem too much at times, but it only happens once and we really missed it once it was over. Also, to make sure on the day that you stop and look around at everyone and everything and take it all in, because, like everyone says, it’s over so quickly. So embrace every moment, and enjoy.

Credit Where Credit is Due…

Kathryn Edwards Photography

 

Just perfect. I so love those touches of lace and didn’t bride Lydia look stunning?! Thanks so much to Lydia and Phil for sharing their beautiful wedding with us today XOXO Lou