21

Sep

2017

Ady and Zia’s Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography

Today we are in the gorgeous Cotswolds for the wedding of Ady and Zia. The Great Tythe Barn is a venue local to the couple and it was a no-brainer one they went to see it, the barn held everything they wanted for their big day. As the couple love the beach ad surfing, they decided on a beach themed wedding, complete with inflatable fish, beach balls, beach signs and fishing nets. With lots of personal touches and handmade touches, this wedding is super pretty and has been captured perfectly by regular to the blog, Kevin Belson Photography.

It was a really special day, spent with everyone we love. It was filled with laughter, dancing, inflatable fish, beach balls and hula garlands!!

Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography

Ady and Zia were married on the 1st April 2017 at The Great Tythe Barn, Tetbury in the Cotswolds. ‘After getting engaged we started our search for wedding venues in and around our area and came across The Great Tythe Barn. As soon as we walked in the barn we both fell in love with it and booked it more or less straight away! We had 97 guests in the day, 144 in the evening, and the wedding took 16 months to plan.’

Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography

How they met
We met online in February 2014, had our first date on the 8th of March 2014, and have been inseparable ever since.

The Proposal
It was late November 2015, and we decided to have a mini weekend break in one of our favourite places (St David’s in West Wales). Ady had been planning to propose for three months and had the ring custom made in our local jewellers. I found a lovely cottage in St David’s to stay in, and thought it was just another weekend. On our second day there we drove down to our favourite beach. Somehow Ady managed to talk me in to going for a walk over the rocky outcrop in the wind and cold, even though I wasn’t keen and half way up stopped and said “I’m not enjoying this walk!. But he persuaded me to keep walking, and luckily he did! We got to the furthest point of the rocky outcrop, with the sea all around us. The sun came out and Ady got down on one knee. I though he was getting something out of his camera bag, but instead he pulled out a ring! I was so surprised that the first thing I said was “really” rather than yes!

Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography

How did you allocate your budget?
We were lucky enough to have some help from Ady’s parents which covered the venue cost and my amazingly talented mum made my dress by hand which was a big help, and really special. We saved the rest of the money between us and managed to stick to our budget in the end.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
I wouldn’t say we really splurged on anything. The food was the most expensive part of the day, but we had a lot of good food for the money and so many of our guests commented on how lovely it was. Having my mum make my dress was a big saving for us, plus it was even more special than anything I could have bought.
We made a lot of the decorations ourselves and Ady’s auntie made the bunting for us to decorate the venue. We designed our own invitations, table menu’s, place cards, welcome sign and table plan, and found a reasonably priced printers just down the road from us to print them all out.

Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography

Why did you choose your photographer?
We first met Kevin at a wedding fayre in the Great Tythe Barn, and got talking to him about the style of photographs we were looking for and he completely got it. He showed us photos of his work, and we were really impressed. We later arranged to meet with Kevin and Carol to find out a little more about their work, and see some photos of previously weddings, and from there we booked them!

The Dress
My very talented mum made my dress. She also made my sister’s dress for her wedding last August. I bought my shoes from Monsoon, and the matching clutch bag from Accessorize. I also bought my jewellery (necklace, earnings and bracelet) from Accessorize.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
We bought the suits from Slaters, and the bridesmaids dresses from ASOS.

Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotsworlds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography

Theme or Colour Scheme
We had a beach themed wedding. We absolutely love the beach/surfing and the theme reflected this and us as a couple.

Flowers
We chose not to have too many flowers around the venue as it’s beautiful without, but we did decide on pew end flowers and filled jars for the front table. Mine and my bridesmaid’s bouquets were a mixture of wild spring flowers, tied with twine. I absolutely love wild flowers and our florists put these together perfectly. The buttonholes matched the bouquets, pew ends and jars perfectly, and were really reasonably priced. I wore a flower crown made by our florists, and our bridesmaids, flower girls and my mum had wax flowers in their hair.

Decoration
We had lots of shells, beach signs and bunting around the barn. There was also fishing net on the entrance table! We had a photo booth in the evening and they very kindly changed the backdrop of the booth to match our theme, brought along beach themed props and the prints of the photos were also beach themed. We added to the box of props with lots of inflatable fish, beach balls, sunglasses and a coconut bra! (which looking at the photos mostly the men enjoyed wearing!!)

Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography

Food
Starters: Welsh rarebit, red onion chutney and a side salad
Main: Roast chicken dinner
Dessert: Gluten free earl grey and lemon cake (from Ahh Toots in Bristol) with fresh raspberries and cream
We had some vegetarian guests and one vegan guest. They all had a nut roast dinner for mains, and our vegan guest had tomato bruschetta to start and a slice of vegan chocolate cake (also from Ahh Toots in Bristol) with fresh raspberries and soya cream

Wedding Cake
We chose not to have one wedding cake, but to have lots of cakes that would be used as dessert. We didn’t really want a traditional wedding cake, and cutting of the cake, also Zia has an allergy to gluten so we decided to have all gluten free cakes (unbeknown to our guests!). We came across Ahh Toots in St Nicholas Market a couple of years ago, and they have the most amazing gluten free and vegan cakes. We both loved the early grey and lemon cake, so ordered a few of those and one vegan chocolate cake for our vegan guest. We had three of the cakes on display for around an hour during the first two courses and then they were all whisked away to be cut up for dessert.

Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography

Entertainment
We had a photo booth and a DJ in the evening. We also had a Mr and Mrs Quiz during the wedding breakfast.

Stationery
We had our save the dates made for us (Emma Sunderland – Emerald Paper Design). And the rest we made ourselves (invitations etc)

Personal Touches
We made a lot of the decorations ourselves (jars for the tables, table names) and Ady’s auntie made the bunting for us to decorate the venue. We designed our own invitations, table menu’s, place cards, welcome sign and table plan.
Each table had a Welsh beach name. Zia is Welsh and we wanted to bring a bit of Wales to the wedding (hence the starter!). Each table had their own personalised menu with a picture of that beach at the top.
We had a photograph of my (Zia) dad and a sign ‘remembering those who can’t be with us today’ on the entrance table as guests walked in. I also had a charm with a photograph of my dad tied to my bouquet.
We also made our own confetti bags with real flower petals in, and had personalised stickers printed to seal them.
We also had personalised favours – sweet bags.

Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography

Special Moments or Highlights
It has to be seeing each other for the first time on the day. Being surrounded by our family and friends, and seeing everyone enjoying themselves. The speeches, and our first and last dance.

Advice for Other Couples
Try to do as much as you can in advance so that you can enjoy the lead up to the day without being too stressed or rushing around. We know that everyone says this, and it is 100% true. The day goes so fast and before you know it it’s over. Take some time together to stand back and look at everyone around you who is there to celebrate your special day, and those memories will last a lifetime.

Biggest Surprise
Probably how calm we both were! We had expected to be feeling a little stressed on the day but we were both so relaxed and just enjoyed the day!

Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography Beach Themed Cotswolds Barn Wedding by Kevin Belson Photography

 

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For more information on Kevin’s work go to:

kevinbelson.com[email protected] / FACEBOOK / I: @kevinbelsonphotography / T: @KevinBelson / PINTEREST

We are a team who shoot beautiful wedding photography for couples that are looking for a photojournalist approach and would also like some some cool, contemporary & creative portraits. We call it Creative Photojournalism.

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Comments

    Beverley Dickinson

    Gorgeous photographs for a fabulous wedding. I have been transported back there in an instant. Thank you for capturing wonderful memories.

    Reply

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