We all know a marriage lasts for a lifetime, but a wedding doesn’t usually last for a whole weekend! This is so so cool. The venue lets you hire it for the entire weekend so you can really make the most of your nuptuals.
This is rustic romance. It’s countryside cute. It’s laughter and love. It’s hessian heaven. It’s brilliant.
You’re going to love it.
Oh and by the way, the dress is awesome. You will have serious back envy. It is HOT.
Bring Your Own Booze
We’re an outdoorsy couple and knew from the word go that we wanted our venue to reflect that. We also liked the idea of a ‘bring your own booze’ wedding. Nether Burrows Farm turned out to be perfect. We hired the whole place from Friday until Monday and stretched out the wedding all weekend.
We held everything in the party barn which we decorated ourselves. After the ceremony, we had fizz outside in the garden while our fantastic caterers turned it into an eating/dancing area.
We were so lucky with the weather; it was exactly what we had hoped for, cold, crisp with blue skies. The down side was also the weather, the barn wasn’t exactly insulated and although we had hired a heater by 10pm it was dance like mad or freeze!
Fizz And Girly Time
I absolutely loved the getting ready bit of the day, we didn’t say I do’s until 2pm so we had a good amount of time to drink some fizz and really savour the girly time.
I don’t normally wear much make up and didn’t want to walk down the aisle looking like a totally different person. My best woman did my make up; I wanted my eyes to stand out so she sorted me out with striking smoky eyes. As I’m not normally one for lipstick either, she also bought me a new pot of Vaseline as my something new which was just so me! A friend did hair for me my bridesmaids and my mum.
My little bit of girly beauty was my perfume. I wore Prada, a lovely grown up and romantic scent.
1st Trip, 2nd Shop, 7th Dress
I bought my dress on my 1st trip, 2nd shop, 7th dress. I wasn’t even going to try it on but my Mum picked it up so I thought I’d give it a go. By the time the shop assistant had put a veil in my hair, everyone was crying and so the dress was chosen.
It was a simple satin dress with a low back and some detail on the straps by Tara Keely. I wore a lace bolero which left a lovely heart shape on my back. I felt fabulous in my dress. I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t feel like a bride as it was so simple but once I had my veil on (which was my something borrowed) I definitely felt the part.
I saw the Vivienne Westwood lady dragon heart shoes on another bride on RMW but the colour I wanted was last season. I thankfully eventually managed to get some from eBay; they were just right for tramping around the field in.
Too Busy Dancing
The only piece of jewellery I wore (other than my engagement ring, which was I put on my little finger until my wedding ring was securely in place) was my Grandmas pearl necklace. It was especially nice to wear as she was too ill to come to the wedding so it was a little bit of her there on the day. I decided not to have anything other the veil in my hair. I had thought that I would like a pretty slide or something to put in when the veil came off at night but it was just one of those things that got put to the bottom of the list and I never dedicated the time to finding the right thing. In the end I was too busy dancing and having a good time to even think about my hair.
Two Suits, One Groom
Russell actually bought 2 suits. His first was a vintage 1970’s Mod suit that we painstakingly sourced and had shipped from the USA only for him to buy a brown tweed style suit from Next which was the one he ended up wearing. His best man and my dad also wore brown but we decided against matching suits. They all wore Army class 2 ties which was a nod to Russell’s military days. I had four Bridesmaids and a best woman, so called as she was to do a speech just like a best man. I had originally planned on them all being in the same coral dress but there was, let’s say, a small problem with the seamstress and five days before the wedding we were on the hunt for new adult bridesmaids’ dresses. As you can probably imagine, this is not what a Bride needs so close to her big day but with 3 days to go we ended up with a dress from ASOS which fit all three of my lovely ladies and lovely they did look.
The little bridesmaids were Russell’s daughter and niece. They wore coral dresses from Rare and shiny hi top trainers from Lipsy which everyone commented on.
Ooh You Make Me Live
We wanted the wedding to have a romantic, relaxed, rustic feel; the theme was loosely hessian brown, cream lace and coral. The only constant throughout the whole thing was brown twine that was used on everything from the invites to the favours and even hanging the lanterns up. My mum made the most amazing bunting, something I wasn’t keen on at first, I was scared of the school fate look but it looked great.
Russell made signs that we put up around the barn and in the garden. We got married in front of the ‘ooh, you make me live. You’re my best friend’ sign and walked back up the aisle to the queen song.
I spent hours decorating jars for tables and for hanging on the chairs to line the makeshift aisle and we put up plenty of fairy lights to make the barn feel a bit cosier.
DIY Blooms
I had very specific ideas for flowers and just wanted Gypsophila with sprigs of rosemary for the bouquets. As money was tight and flowers weren’t a priority, I ended up making a VERY early trip to the flower market the week before the wedding and ordering a whole load of Gyspophila. My mum then made an equally VERY early trip to pick them up the day before the wedding. My Dad had been nurturing pots of rosemary since the summer and so there were our flowers. We put them into every jar, can, vase, pot we could find and my Mum whipped up the bouquets and button holes with a little help from a you tube tutorial.
Tying The Knot
When I think about our ceremony I still get a little heart flutter. We had a Humanist ceremony which was really personal but relaxed and funny too. The service included things we loved about each other, right down to Russell remembering I eat left handed and him admiring my reverse parking skills to the fact that he makes me laugh every day. We wrote our own vows and also had a hand fastening which involved having ribbon tied around our hands, when you take your hands out, the knot stays. Hence ‘tying the knot’. The words that go with the hand fastening were lovely…’these are the hands that, when old and wrinkly will still reach out for yours…’
We had two readings. Russell’s friend read a lovely love story by Edward Monkton and my mum read a quote by Louis de Bernières, from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. It had everyone in tears, especially her; she struggled to get her words out.
The First And Last
We toyed with the idea of having a band at the reception but we were pushed for space and the logistics of setting up would have been a nightmare. We decided that we would just set up a playlist and ask for requests from guests when they RSVPed.
Russell is in a band so we had access to proper lights and speakers and we simply started with the first dance and then let it play. The only rule was you had to dance to the song you requested.
Our first dance was The Who, Blue Red and Grey. We didn’t practice before; we just got up and enjoyed the moment. After the first dance, Russell handed me to my Dad and I danced with him and Russell with Jemima, his daughter, to Foreigner before the Weather Girls kicked in and we all got a bit giddy.
We ended the night with Etta James, At last. The song I had walked down the aisle to. The first and the last of the day.
Taylor Made
Our caterers were Tailor Made Catering of Doncaster. We had a kind of afternoon tea but with things like cured meats and pickles. We of course had scones with jam and cream and other lovely cakes for dessert. The caterers were fantastic, the food was great but they also made everything run so smoothly. I can’t thank them enough. The cake was also made by Tailor Made Catering, the rubber duck cake toppers were given to me on my hen do.
In the evening we had pie and peas, home made by Russell’s Mum and Dad and around 11pm we cut the cake which was layers of different cheese and served it with port.
Favours for the guests were different chutneys and jams. Homemade of course. My sister made the majority of them. She spent hours slaving over a hot stove making batches of apple chutney and red onion jam but it was worth it, they went down a storm and people were even ringing up after the wedding to see if they were any left over!
Rock Stars
We named our tables after rock stars/bands who we like. The top table was Cher and Right Said Fred, people who Russell and I have been a likened to in the past. The table plans were simple chalk boards in frames that Russell had bought me for my 30th birthday. One of my favourite DIY things were the booze baskets. As there was no bar at the venue, I made up a basket of drinks, personalised the specific tables. I just wanted everyone to feel that we had thought about them rather than just plonking plonk on the table.
It’s impossible to pick a favourite part of the day. I just remember feeling elated all day and when I look at the pictures all I see are people smiling and enjoying themselves. It was everything we wanted. I do like remembering the bit when everyone settled into their tables and fell into chatting and laughter, Russell and I looked around the barn and at each other and just appreciated that everyone we loved were in one room and we had just become Husband and Wife. It was perfection.
A special mention should be made of our Photographer Tony. He did a fantastic job, I hardly noticed that he was there but in fact he was everywhere and captured so many special moments.
As for advice, all I can say is enjoy every minute and don’t be afraid to do stuff yourself or at least delegate it family and friends, it’s all part of the fun.
Click here & view all images from this wedding
Venue: Nether Burrows Barns
Dress: Tara Keely
Grrom: Next
Maids: ASOS
Photographer: Photography Thirty Four
Hessian brown, cream lace and coral…how perfect is that. Oouff I just love it. The ‘Ooh you make me live sign’? And then walking back up the aisle together to the song? What is not to love. Seriously.
I love that the only flower was gypsophila. Are any of you having one single type of flower?
How beautiful does the ceremony sound as well.
I just love it all.
Congratulations on a gorgeous day.
Becky
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