Emily and Jonny’s Rustic Peach and Grey Barn Wedding By Soul Images

You will probably recognise todays bride as it is our lovely Boho Bride Emily, who has been writing for the blog over the last year or so. Emily has been writing for the dairy section of the blog with her now husband Jonny and it has been an absolute delight hearing about her wedding plans. Today I am delighted to share their gorgeous wedding with you. It really is a delight from start to finish. The wedding is set in one of my favourite wedding venues, East Riddlesden Hall in North Yorkshire. Full of rustic touches and beautiful details that Emily has worked so incredibly hard on. It really is a feast for the eyes, so much wedding pretty in one place. It has been wonderful having Emily write for the blog and now seeing all her ideas come to life. Both her and Jonny did an amazing job of putting together such a beautiful wedding day. I’m sure you will agree it is absolutely perfect! Thanks to Charlotte from Soul Images for the photos.

‘Our wedding day was rustic, personal and relaxed. It was a special, intimate day shared with our close friends and family’

Emily and Jonny were married on 12th September 2015 at East Riddlesden Hall Wedding Barn, Keighley. ‘We decided to get married there because it is a stunning location and the barn venue had amazing, cosy lighting. We had 76 guests to the day and 100 to the evening. Planning took A year and a half.

How they met
We met at school and have been together for 10 years

The Proposal
Jonny proposed in April 2014 in Thailand, after being together for 9 and a half years! It was perfect. We were on a stunning beach playing in the sea, when I turned round and he was down on one knee, holding a ring he had made from a palm leaf that morning. I obviously said yes and cried! That evening we had a private candle lit meal in a cabana on the beach. Jonny had already bought a diamond and made an appointment at a jewellers in London to choose the ring style together. It was the most amazing day and I could not wait to tell my family back home

How did you allocate your budget
We allocated the main chunk of the budget to the venue and food. We felt these were the main aspects of the day. It was hard to not get carried away

Where did you splurge and where did you save
We splurged on the flowers but I think they were amazing and I loved my bouquet by Stems! We saved money by doing the decorations and stationary ourselves. I didn’t spend much on my shoes but spent more on my headpiece as that was much more visible and I wanted that to be a unique item to hopefully pass down one day

How did you choose your photographer
We were recommended Charlotte from Soul Images by our friend. When we met her she had an amazing personality and a lovely portfolio to back it up.

The Dress
My dress was from Elite Bridal Outlet at Castleford. I had it changed slightly and had a belt sewn on. My headpiece and cuff were from ‘By Harriet’ I absolutely loved these items and again, Harriet was lovely to work with

The Suit and Bridesmaids
The suits were from Next. Jonny bought his tie from a small suit shop in Huddersfield. He wanted something different and unique. The bridesmaid dresses were also from Elite.

Theme or Colour Scheme
I wanted to keep the colours neutral and focus on the more rustic venue which was decorated with log and timber crates. We had the bridesmaid dresses in a stormy grey colour which was complimented by soft peaches.

Flowers
I had a hand tied bouquet. I wanted it natural with draping bits. The main flower was the David Austen rose which was complimented with asible. The button holes were made to match. These and the table centrepieces were by Stems Design. The centrepieces had a relaxed feel with terracotta pots. We decorated around the venue with gyp and lavender that we bought from a whole sale market in Bradford. The ivy that wrapped round the step ladders and lanterns was from the garden and the hydrangeas that filled the watering cans were from my Grandad’s garden. I loved these flowers when I was little and remember helping my grandad water them, so they had that extra sentimental value.

Decoration
From the start, I knew I wanted to do most of the decorating myself. I wanted to keep it rustic and personal by collecting things as much as I could.

Food
Because we got engaged in Thailand the canapés were themed round this. The Hog and Apple served a variety of different Thai dishes.
We wanted the starter to be a sharing platter to start conversation on tables where guest didn’t really know each other. We had antipasti sharing platters which looked incredible.
The main course was roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with all the trimmings. Being from Yorkshire, we wouldn’t have had anything else!
Pudding was a trio of desserts which looked too good to eat.
In the evening we had a hog roast.

Wedding Cake
The wedding cake was made by my now mother in law. Jonny insisted he wanted a naked cake which meant Ruth assembled and decorated the cake the morning of the wedding before changing into her wedding outfit. It was made up of different tiers, alternating between lemon and vanilla. It was decorated with cascading berries and finished with David Austin Roses to match the bouquets and centre pieces. It looked amazing and all her hard work paid off.

Entertainment
Michael Mulholland played acoustic guitar during the ceremony and wedding breakfast. He then stayed and set up as a DJ in the evening. He was amazing and really set the tone to the ceremony and overall day. My next door neighbour, who is only 11, sung and introduced our first dance which made it more special.

The Stationery
I made all the wedding stationary myself. Designed, printed and assembled all in our living room. It was a challenge but I loved doing them and I though the end result paid off as they were completely unique. As seen on the diary blogs!

Personal or Handmade Touches
We wanted the decorations to be personal to us and I really enjoyed collecting and styling all the bits and pieces. My dad was brilliant, he made the timber sign and crates as well as cutting logs. My friend laser cut the text onto the sign and table names. The step ladders were from my Grandad’s outer house, we used them as our table plan entwined with Ivy and decorated cardboard ‘LOVE’ letters.
We bought 2 large timber lanterns to stand at the front of the aisle from TK Maxx. We decorated jars to be used throughout the venue. We also pinned artificial flower trails on the curtain at the front to give it more presence.
I wanted the gift table to be a focal point. My mum’s friend made the bunting over the gift table. We stacked crates, jars and logs around the table. We included a vintage style globe that we bought from ebay and the container for our cards was a small suitcase that was my Grandads. He used it to store all his mementos of his time in the RAF over in Malaysia in the 1940s. This fitted perfectly as that was where we were going on Honeymoon. Stems design added floral arrangements to give it more of a wow factor.
The favours were small boxes of Thai cooking ingredients with a little recipe booklet. This was inspired by our trip to Thailand in which Jonny proposed. The kids had little colouring books, crayons and stickers. We had a small kids snug area to keep them entertained during the day and a basket of blankets for they crashed on the hay bales later in the evening. My friend made cushions for the corner from Cath Kitson children’s fabric.
We collected the napkins early from the caterer so we could fold them and assemble them as place settings with a sprig of Rosemary and a menu.
In the evening we had a small sweet table and props on a dresser. We bought little signs and put Yorkshire sayings on them for guest to have funny photos with.

Special Moments
The highlight of the day was saying those vows to each other in front of our family and friends. The ceremony felt so intimate

Advice to other couples
I would say to enjoy every second of the wedding planning experience. It will be over in a flash. It is a once in a lifetime experience as a couple so make the most of it together. I would also say, the amount of planning and detail is important but don’t stress over it too much as on the day you’ll be so wrapped up in the magic, you won’t notice if the labels aren’t at 90 degrees

Biggest surprise
The biggest surprise for me on the day was actually the emotions I felt when walking down the aisle. It was so overwhelming and exciting, it’s hard to explain, but it took my breath away having all your family and friends there and Jonny at the end of the aisle. The atmosphere in the venue was stunning and more magical than I had imagined

Supplier Shout Outs

• Photographer – www.soulimages.co.uk
• Hair – [email protected]
• Make up – Becky – Sister’s friend
• Campervan – www.vw-campers-for-hire.co.uk/wedding-hire
• Flowers – www.stemsdesign.co.uk
• Venue – www.nationaltrust.org.uk/east-riddlesden-hall/hire-this-venue/weddings
• Catering – www.thehogandapple.co.uk
• Michael Mulholland – www.michaelmulhollandacoustic.com/weddings
• Accessories – www.byharriet.co.uk
• Dress – www.elite.gb.net
• Shoes – www.rachelsimpsonshoes.co.uk
• Suits – Next

For more information on Soul Images

www.soulimages.co.uk / FACEBOOK / @soulimages1 / I:charlottewise2011