Emily and Mark’s Handmade Bluebell Barn Wedding by Steve Fuller Photography

Todays wedding is a big blue barn wedding, brought to you courtesy of  Steve Fuller Photography. Emily and Mark chose bluebells and the colour blue as their theme after Mark propsed to Emily in her favourite bluebell forest in Kent. They then found the perfect barn venue with a gorgeous outside ceremony site and filled it with accents of hassium and lace, as well as a whole host of handmade projects. The biggest handcrafted element had to be the amazing cake that Emily’s dad made them as a surprise. I haven’t seen a cake this large in years! and by the look on Emily’s face she hasn’t either! A beautiful wedding full of lovely touches that goes to show you can have a DIY wedding without skimping on the venue and the wow factor!

‘The best day of our lives. A magical day of love, happiness and laughter’

Emily and Mark were married on 4th May 2015 at The Old Kent Barn, Smersole Farm, Swingfield, Kent. ‘We struggled to find a venue that gave us the country outdoor wedding that we were after that wasn’t already booked up or cost an arm and a leg. But from the first phone call to The Old Kent Barn they made us feel so special like we were the only couple to get married. After visiting the beautiful venue with the foliage covered aisle, the outdoor gazebo ceremony area and the stunning reception barn we knew it was the perfect venue for us. We had 112 guests and it took about 1 year to plan.’

How they met
We worked together for over three years before we became a couple. We both still work together in TV News. Mark a director and myself a studio operator. There had always been a spark between us but we stopped anything develop initially as Mark was my boss! It eventually became evident that we were meant to be together regardless of the work situation and we just went for it. It definitely made news in the office! We have now been together for 3 years

The Proposal
Mark did the gentlemanly thing and asked for my father’s permission- Dad said yes but made Mark wait for a response- an awkward couple of silent minutes in the kitchen! Mark proposed to me in my favourite place in the world. A secluded woodland in Kent, which in April/ May is covered in bluebells- my favourite flower. It is a very sentimental place to me, my granny’s ashes are scattered there and the wood has always been in my life. Mark was acting slightly strange and kept asking me if this was my favourite part of the wood as we were walking round. I always take my camera when I go to the wood and using a tripod I set up my camera to get some couple photos. Mark is 6ft 3 and I’m only 5ft 1, so Mark suggested that he knelt down so that the height difference wouldn’t be so much, I continued to set up the shot completely clueless that I was framing my proposal photo! We got a lovely shot and of course I said yes, we were both in tears.

How did you allocate your budget
We got married on a Monday to help save money on the venue cost. At the early stages of planning we allocated an amount to each part of the wedding, but it was harder to stick to than we thought

Where did you save and where did you splurge
The big things we spent money on were the photographer, videographer and the band. Working in TV, having a good photographer and videographer were very important to us. But we managed to save money on the stationary and decorations as we made most of them ourselves.

How did you choose your photographer
We found Steve online and by looking at his portfolio and the way he described his photography style as ‘completely discreet and unobtrusive’ and ‘no silly poses or baring instructions’ we knew he was perfect for us. I’m not a fan of posing for the camera and I think natural photographs are the most beautiful. Steve was amazing and did exactly this, he captured the day as he saw it, and caught moments that we would have missed if it wasn’t for him! He was so personal and professional and we are so happy with our photographs.

The Dress
My dress was a lace and tulle fit-and-flare designer gown from the Stella York collection. It had a fitted lace bodice, flowy tulle skirt and court train. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. I felt beautiful, romantic and sexy, everything I wanted to feel as a bride. The illusion lace bateau neckline gave me the confidence I needed and the café colour complimented my skin tone. I had a beautiful veil brought for me by my sister/ maid of honour Annie, it was single tier and chapel length. My earrings were given to me by Mark as a wedding present. Made by Carat they were pear border set drop earrings, stunning! My shoes were by Rainbow Club, also café colour with lace to match my dress.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
Mark wore a Ted Baker Blue Tailored suit from Moss Bros with beautiful brown leather shoes from Russell and Bromley. Mark knew it was the right suit when he saw the biggest smile on my face and the tears in my eyes. He looked so handsome, my heart could have burst with pride. He also wore a watch I gave him as a wedding present from Uniform Wares- a M42 Chronograph watch in polished steel with brown cordovan leather strap. All the groomsmen wore odd socks because as a couple we only wear odd socks.
I brought the bridesmaids dresses from the same shop as my dress- Victoria’s Bridal Boutique in Orpington, Kent. The designer is ‘Sorella-Vita’ which stands for Sisters for Life and they are by the same Australian design team as my dress designers ‘Stella York’. They were stunning floor-length sheath gowns in royal blue Chiffon. I brought them all personalized pearl necklaces and white pearl flower earrings, which they all wore on the day.

Theme or Colour Scheme
We had a Kent, country, rustic, bluebell themed wedding. The colour we chose was royal blue. We also wanted to include lace and burlap throughout our wedding.

Flowers
I wanted to use local flowers so we got them all from family friend and Kent flower supplier Blooming Green. Unlike most brides who choose each flower, I had no idea what flowers I would get for my day it all depended on what was flowering in the garden at the time! Each table at the reception was a Kent flower, with the top table being Bluebells- my favourite flower and a reminder of our proposal. We only found out two days before the wedding our table names

Decoration
Most of our decorations were hand made. With our wedding invitations we sent out a triangle of bunting for our guests to write a message/ words of wisdom on, which they sent back in their RSVPs. I then sewed them together and they were hung in our reception for all the guests to read. We also had extra bunting hung by the company Blue Sky Bunting. Our family helped to make all the decorations. We had a family day of decorating jars for the centrepieces, which we all really enjoyed. My dad spent his evenings in the run up to the wedding wrapping wine bottles in twine. They looked amazing! I painted my own table plan and attached real flowers to it the day before the wedding. In place of traditional name places I wrote everyone’s names on a round block of wood, which lots of guests took home and now use as coasters! We had burlap and lace chair bows, hung wooden hearts from the trees, and had mini wooden hearts and personalized hearts as table confetti

Food
We used as many local and in season food as we could. We had a four course sit down meal-
Starter- Puff pastry and asparagus tower with a red onion confit and feta cheese
Main- Tender chicken breast wrapped in parma ham with a Kentish cider, leek and cream sauce, served with seasonal vegetables and mustard mash
Dessert- Mini Trio of Desserts- Lemon Meringue Pie, Chocolate Brownie and chocolate dipped strawberries

Wedding Cake
Cake- Made by my DAD! A five layer masterpiece. He did such an amazing job. It was so special and personal having him make it for us and it was greatly anticipated by all our guests. He designed it all himself, I had no idea what it was going to look like and seeing the cake for the first time brought me to tears. It had five tiers, separated by pillars. Dad made an untraditional fruit cake, with lots of marzipan, lemon drizzle, opera, chocolate and victoria sponge cake. Each layer was designed so well, the cake was beautiful inside and out. My Dad even hand made bluebell decorated cake slice holders for the cake to be served on. It was served as a fourth course with coffee and tea.

Entertainment
We had a 10 piece band called the Kingsdown Band which were just brilliant. In between their sets we had a DJ called Remember this Disco, who is my bridesmaids Dad- he was also the DJ for my 18th birthday! We had a Red London Bus photobooth as a nod to Mark’s London upbringing. It was a last minute booking but we are so glad we did it, all our guests really enjoyed it.

Buy or DIY your Stationery
I brought some pocket fold invitations and designed and made them all myself, including drawing a map. Nearly all stationary was handmade by myself.

Personal or Handmade Touches
Lots of DIY bits are listed above. Instead of traditional favours we gave money to two charities which are close to our hearts- Mind the mental health charity and Crisis the charity which supports the homeless. As our guests entered the reception barn they had their photos taken on a Polaroid camera, which have now been stuck into our guest book. We also had a fingerprint tree, which is framed and hung in our living room. It’s a lovely piece of art that we will always treasure.

Special Moments
There were so many special moments and the whole day was a highlight. Being covered in confetti after just being married was a lovely feeling. We loved our alone time with our photographer and seeing the wedding cake for the first time is a moment we will never forget.

Advice to other couples
Advice for the bride: Don’t forget it’s a party not a performance, if you are married by the end of the day then its been a success. Its so easy to forget this when you get caught up in all the small details.
Advice for the groom: Give your opinion, make yourself be heard and then accept your fiancées decision! Make as much of it as you can yourself, get all your friends and family involved, you’ll have more talented people around you than you realize and everyone really does want to help so let them! On the big day, don’t forget to spend it with each other. Everyone wants a piece of you and its easy to get separated, just try your best to stick together and enjoy the day with each other.

Biggest surprise
The cake!

Supplier Shout Outs

• Accommodation of Wedding Party – www.abodecanterbury.co.uk
• Wedding Venue – www.theoldkentbarn.co.uk
• Photographer – www.stevefullerphoto.com
• Service – www.ahintofmint.co.uk
• Make-Up – www.makeupbykaty.com
• Hair – www.vickilordbridalhair.co.uk
• Bunting – www.blueskybunting.co.uk
• Dress – www.victoriasbridalboutique.co.uk
• Flowers – www.bloominggreenflowers.co.uk
• Chair Covers – www.bowschaircovers.co.uk
• Cake – www.rhokett.co.uk
• Band – www.thekingsdownband.co.uk
• DJ – www.thekingsdownband.co.uk
• Photo Booth – www.tcphotobooth.co.uk

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

www.stevefullerphoto.com
www.stevefullerphoto.com/the-wedding-blog
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tel: 07798 818563
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I’m based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, specialising in unobtrusive, natural documentary wedding photography