Morning!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend and made the most of the extra hour in bed. India however did not quite grasp that the clocks going back meant a lie in for both her and mummy which was a very very good thing. No, instead she thought it would be a good idea to wake up an hour earlier and play! Oh the joys of parenting!

To help warm up those cold fingers and toes this morning we have another lovely summer wedding to share with you lovely people today.

Lauren and Mark married on the 12th July 2014 at Beaford House, home to stunning panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. They wanted their wedding to be relaxed and natural with loads of love and laughter. Spread over a weekend, they hoped to capture the bohemian atmosphere of a festival as well as ensuring they had plenty of time to hang out with all their loved ones.

There is so much to love about Lauren and Mark's Love Fest which is an accumulation of everything they enjoy doing together. From the handmade bunting curated by each one of their guests to the craft days put on for friends and family where pretty much all of their wedding decor was designed, planned and made. Their wedding is full to the brim of personal touches making it very unique and that extra bit special.

Look out for Lauren and her maids' gorgeous foot braids and a very boho meets festival glam Free People wedding dress.....

In September 2013 we did Tough Mudder Southwest in Crickhowell (a 13 mile assault course) with some of Mark's friends, and Mark proposed on the finish line (in the mud!), after we'd both been through the electric shock therapy obstacle. It was totally unplanned and Mark says about halfway round and on one of the water obstacles he just decided that he was going to propose. That night Andy and Duncan bought us a bottle of champagne and made a temporary engagement ring from the foil off the champagne bottle. We designed the rings ourselves with the help of a local Jeweller in Witney (We Three Kings). Bill made my engagement and wedding rings in silver incorporating gold and diamonds from my Grandma's engagement ring. Mark had a silver band made that includes a piece of the gold in the same hammered style as my wedding ring.

We stayed there for a family holiday last year (before we got engaged) and fell in love with the place especially the remote location and the views, and of course the outdoor swimming pool! As soon as we started thinking about a venue we knew we both wanted to have the ceremony outside and to hire somewhere for everyone to come and stay for the whole weekend. Straight away we thought of Beaford House as they have a stunning summer house set in the gorgeous gardens, and knew it would be the perfect place for us to get married.

We wanted as many people as possible to be on site for the weekend and the venue has a big field where everyone can camp. We decorated it with bunting and it was perfect for those friends that also love the outdoors (and the ones with campervans)!

My dress was from Free People with a silk lining added and a string of my grandma's pearls strung across the back. For my jewellery I wore handmade silver and pearl earrings (from Brewery Arts Centre, Cirencester) and a pearl bracelet to which I added a whale tail pendant from New Zealand that I always wear.

I am a graphic designer so did all the stationery myself! We called our wedding weekend 'L & M's Love Fest'. We sent out invites in the shape of bunting and used a tea party and festival theme with coral and turquoise colours. We did simple orders of service in the same style, which had the order of the day on the back and doubled up as fans using lollypop sticks.

My adult bridesmaids wore coral coloured summery dresses that were all different and my little flower girls wore pretty white crochet and lace dresses from Monsoon with little straw summer hats with coral ribbons. For there accessories I bought each of my bridesmaids turquoise necklaces, each one different to suit their style. We also all wore foot bracelets instead of shoes!

Our friend is a florist and did all the flowers for us. We asked her to do our flowers as we wanted something simple and natural and she uses only British seasonal flowers and grows them all herself. She did beautiful buttonholes made up of globe thistle, lavender and gypsophila, which went with the flowers in my hair. Rosemarie also arranged beautiful bunches of flowers into ceramic jugs and jam jars which we placed all around the house.

For a few months before the wedding, my mum and some of our friends had been collecting and drying masses of rose petals, which we had in big baskets for confetti after the ceremony. They were stunning and smelt amazing and again made it so special that people had gone to so much effort for us.

Our amazing cake was made by my sister Corinne. It was four tiers (each made up of three tiers). Coconut, white chocolate and raspberry, carrot and walnut, lemon and poppy seed madeira cake and orange and almond. Dusted with icing sugar and decorated with fresh rose petals and mini bunting. Looked and tasted incredible! We also had a 'cheese' cake, which we put together ourselves consisting of five different cheeses bought from a local deli and I decorated it on the day with figs and Chinese gooseberries.

We wanted to do everything ourselves, and make the day personal. Everything we used was made, collected or borrowed. In the months leading up to the wedding we invited family and friends round for craft days. We decorated jam jars, made loads of bunting and heart decorations and painted all our signs. My Grandad even made a step ladder from scratch for us to decorate with flowers and lanterns! These days were so much fun and the results just made the wedding so perfect, everywhere we looked was something made with love! We had people collecting tea cups and borrowed so many sets of fairy lights.

We sent out two pieces of bunting to each person with their invite and asked for them to decorate and send back to us. So many people sent them back and it was so special to see once we'd strung it all together - it decorated the whole of the dining room and each piece so different and personal, from sewing and photos to paint and poems.

You reach the house by a narrow twisty country lane so we painted 'Love Fest' signs to lead the way for our guests.

The summer house was perfect for us, set in a beautiful garden surrounded by amazing countryside views. We set up rows of hay bales covered in blankets and the aisle was lined with branches holding little glass bottles filled with flowers.

We made a homemade Photobooth using an old bass drum, laptop, camera and studio light, with props from various friends and families fancy dress boxes.

On the Friday night we had a big BBQ with everyone, out in the gardens and cooked by the best men. Some of us followed this with a swim and then a warm up in the hot tub! It was so nice having time to hang out with everyone after a hectic day of decorating the house and gardens ready for the big day!

On Saturday morning my dad cooked hundreds of pieces of bacon for all the campers and guests staying in the house and cottages. It was so special having everyone around us and helping us to get everything perfect.

We had decided on an afternoon tea for our meal after the ceremony, as we wanted something relaxed and fun. Happy Cakes provided a beautiful afternoon tea with everything you could think of, including sandwiches, quiches, scotch eggs, scones etc. It was set up on long tables and everyone chose where they wanted to sit which was so lovely for us looking around and seeing our family and friends all mingling, chatting and laughing and getting to know each other.

We also had 100 personalised cupcakes that were decorated with little tea cups and teapots, the words love fest, and flip flops and tartan beach towels!

North Devon Hogroasts provided a Hog and Deer for the evening, which was perfect sustenance for all the ceilidh dancing! And... the best crackling ever!

We bought all the alcohol for a simple bar including Marks favourite beer from Bath Ales as well as prosecco and Pimms for drinks in the garden after the ceremony and for the tea party. Mark did his toast with Strongbow as it was the first drink we had after he'd proposed at the end of the Tough Mudder.

We had a festival tent set up in the garden and in the afternoon we invited friends and family to sing on the 'main stage'! These included my Dad's group After Eight Glee Club (a male A Capella group singing informal unceremonious pieces) which was amazing and so personal. We also had two of my best friends singing and playing the ukelele - my favourite song was ' Bruno Mars, Marry You' requested by Mark! We all sat listening on the hay bales and didn't even care when we had a little bit of rain as we were having too much fun!

For our evening entertainment we had an amazing ceilidh in the evening played by a band called Piping Hot. I danced every single song as it was so amazing. Everywhere we looked people were laughing and smiling. We loved that everyone got involved and danced even though many people had never danced a ceilidh before. We asked everyone on their rsvps to request a song they would promise to dance to, which made a random but brilliant playlist for later on in the evening.

The ceremony! It was so perfect. Being outside together with all our family and friends in a beautiful setting and saying our vows that we'd written ourselves. Then at the end of the ceremony my mum sang 'When I Fall in love' for us!

Plan the day you want and don't worry about who sits next to whom. Also, when it comes to the day remember it's just about the two of you getting married so everything will be perfect even if it doesn't go exactly to plan.

Photographer: Charlotte Hu Photography

Venue: Beaford House

Brides Dress: Free People

Brides Hairpiece: Fresh Flowers (lavender and gypsophila)

Bride's Hair: Friend of The Bride

Flowers: Rosemarie Flowers

Afternoon Tea: Happy Cakes

Hog Roast: North Devon Hog Roasts

Cupcakes: Little Mouse Cupcakes

Ceilidh Band: Piping Hot

Related posts: