Ditte and Andrew’s Vintage Inspired Homemade Barn Wedding. By Sarah Morris Photography

I have a gorgeous wedding to share with you today, it’s a beautiful barn wedding with an outdoor humanist ceremony, two of my favourite wedding elements! Ditte and Andrew wanted a ceremony that was truly personal to them, so they chose an outdoor ceremony under a huge tree, while writing their own vows, a truly beautiful ceremony. The reception was held in Earth Trust’s Fison Barn which was the perfect choice for their vintage inspired theme. They went for lots of DIY and handmade elements to keep down costs and also to inject even more personality into their day. I just love this wedding it is so full of character. It is pretty, rustic and oh so charming, captured perfectly by Sarah Morris Photography.

‘A truly special day that made us feel so lucky to have such lovely and amazing friends and family – the day was magical in every way and we couldn’t have wished for anything else’

Ditte and Andrew were married on 6th August 2014 at Fison Barn, Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire. ‘We saw one other venue before visiting Earth Trust’s Fison Barn in Little Wittenham near the Wittenham clumps. Earth Trust is a charity concerned with living sustainably and looking after the environment, which is something Andrew and I think is important. Earth Trust is surrounded by some of the loveliest countryside in England and we fell in love with the place the first time we saw it, and knew this would be a perfect wedding venue for us. As well as being completely stunning in its own right the 18th century renovated barn was the perfect blank canvas we were looking for. We had 100 for dinner and a further 40 people arrived in the evening. We booked the venue a year in advance, but we didn’t start planning properly until 6 months before the wedding.’

How they met
We met through mutual friends at an Arcade Fire gig in Hyde Park London in June 2011. So we have been together for just over 3 years.

The Proposal
Andrew proposed on a holiday in India. We were staying in Delhi with friends, but decided last minute to spend a few days hiking in the Himalayas near Dharamsala. It is such a beautiful and spiritual place. Andrew proposed on the way up one of the highest peaks in the area. We never made it to the top as we were both so excited and decided to quit the hike and head back to celebrate our engagement. Andrew told me later that he had been carrying the ring around in his pocket for days, but hadn’t found the right moment to ask, until he saw the snow peaked mountains and stunning views. It was so romantic. We were in the middle of nowhere and it felt like we were the only people in the world.

How did you allocate your budget
We started with a set budget for the wedding but soon realised it would be difficult to stick to. In the end we decided just to go for the best bargains and recruited family and friends to help out were possible. Luckily for us our families are super talented and helped us out with everything from canapés, wedding cake, flowers, decorations to hair.

How did you choose your photographer
We were recommended Sarah Morris Photography by a good friend. The first time we met Sarah was at our engagement shoot at the Earth Trust a few months before the wedding. She was so friendly and bubbly, and we had a wonderful time being photographed in the beautiful English countryside. Sarah is an extremely talented and creative photographer and that was evident very quickly when working with her. We knew we had chosen the right photographer and that was a big relief.

The Dress
I found my dress on Etsy and it was made by a Greek designer called SusannaMDesigns. It was a bit of a gamble buying my wedding dress online, but when it arrived and I tried it on it was perfect and exactly what I wanted. My shoes were from Dune and I have worn them again since. I wore was my mum’s pearl necklace.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
The suit was from Victor Valentine and was also ordered online. After much discussion about the bridesmaid dresses we all decided to spend a day shopping……luckily we found the dresses in the first shop we went into, which was Ted Baker. The dresses were lovely and in the sale which was a bonus.

Theme or Colour Scheme
There was no strict colour scheme or theme, but there were lots of vintage elements to our wedding. When we first visited Earth Trust, our wedding venue, we quickly decided that we wanted to get married under a beautiful tree in the nearby field. Our save the dates and wedding invitations were therefore designed around this theme.

Flowers
Andrew’s sister Adele made all the flower arrangements and bouquets with a little help from her florist friend. The flowers were mostly wild country flowers arranged with bits and pieces from Adele’s own garden. They were just gorgeous and really made the venue come to life.

Decoration
During the months leading up to the wedding we asked our families to collect used jars and bottles – we ended up with over 100. We decorated the jars and bottles with vintage lace and different coloured ribbon, and we placed candles and flowers in them, which were scattered all over the barn and courtyard. We also made different coloured paper pompoms which were hung in the ceiling of the barn. We bought rattan hearts and decorated them with lavender – they looked gorgeous hanging in the barn. We had bunting in the court yard and everything looked so magical.

Food
After the ceremony we had canapés made by my mum and Pimms – delicious! This was followed by Hog roast and three different salads – it was perfect as it was a lovely summers evening and our guests were hungry. We had a cheeseboard in the evening and about 200 samosas that Andrew’s parents had picked up from a local shop they have been going to since the 1980’s.

Wedding Cake
The wedding cake was made by my very talented sisters. As well as the main wedding cake they also made different types of cheesecake, bunt cake, cupcakes, gluten free options as well as a traditional Danish Kransekage – it was the most amazing spread of cakes I’ve ever seen and everything disappeared in seconds.

Entertainment
We hired a four piece band called the Sweet and Lowdown, who were superb and got everyone up and dancing (all night!).

Buy or DIY your Stationery
It was all DIY apart from our wedding invitations, which were designed and made by Bristol Design Forge and our good friend Neil.

Personal or Handmade Touches
We made the save the dates, seating plan, name cards, table numbers, outdoor signs, confetti and cones. We basically did everything we could ourselves – partly to keep down costs, but it was also so much fun to get creative. We held the wedding ceremony in a nearby field under a tree. We decided to have a humanist ceremony, which meant we got the opportunity to write our own vows and readings to each other. We had so many people say how personal and lovely the ceremony was and that meant a lot to us. I was also very honoured to be given my granny’s wedding ring. She had sadly passed away just before our wedding and it meant so much to me to be able to wear her ring. However, I really wanted to transform the ring to make it into something that would represent a new marriage (mine and Andrew’s), but keep the traditional elements and memories of my granny. So I contacted a Swedish goldsmiths (Kajsa Aman) based in Stockholm, who transformed the ring into something very special and personal. I couldn’t have been happier with the way it turned out.

Special Moments
The whole day was so special and full of wonderful memories that we will keep for ever. One of the loveliest things was seeing our friends and family smiling, laughing and having a good time. During the dinner some of my Danish family and friends organised a few Danish games and traditions, such as when the groom leaves the room all the remaining men have to kiss the bride and vice versa when the bride leaves the room. There were also other traditions such as when the guests bang on their plates with their knives and forks the bride and groom have to stand on their chairs and kiss – I think we must have done this about 10 times during the meal. After the first dance, the male guests started to circle around Andrew and lifted him up, pulled out a pair of scissors and cut the end of his socks off. This is an old Danish tradition that stems from a 15th centre saying; “make you stockings green” – meaning that a person will make up to another with erotic advances, and when you cut a piece of the socks off the groom on his wedding day it will prevent him from trying to make up to other women in the future. The Danish traditions are a little more adventurous than the English ones and made the dinner and party so much fun.

Advice to other couples
Definitely get your friends and family involved – it’s a great help and it makes the wedding day full of personal touches. I would also say have fun on your wedding day and enjoy being with your favourite friends and family – it’s not often you have everyone together in one place.

Biggest surprise
Towards the end of the evening we all gathered in the courtyard, to what was the loveliest and the most wonderful surprise of the day…..our sisters and boyfriends had written a song about me and Andrew – we had absolutely no idea. I don’t know when they practiced or how they smuggled in guitars AND a cow bell, but it was truly a magical moment. As Andrew and I started dancing to the song and surrounded by all of our friends and family it was hard to hold back the tears.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Venue – www.earthtrust.org.uk
• Make-up artist – Bonjour MakeUp
• Wedding invitations – www.bristoldesignforge.co.uk
• Band – www.functioncentral.co.uk
• Hair – Emily Grimmer at Emily Jane Hair and extensions – 07775 667392
• Photographer – www.sarahmorris-photography.com
• Hog roast – http://nyama-catering.co.uk
• Wedding rings – www.kajsaaman.se

For more information on Sarah’s work please go to:

www.sarahmorris-photography.com
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