28

Sep

2015

Sarah and Simon’s English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo

Well Hello there and welcome along to another fun packed week on the Blog! I hope you had a great weekend and are now all charged up for the week ahead of us! I am starting the week with my favourite kind of wedding, a woodland wedding. Sarah and Simon decided to get married in the woodland that Simon manages under a 400 year old tree. Such a beautiful location and a gorgeous reception that has been lovingly put together by the couple. The whole day is chilled, relaxed and looks amazing. Thanks to Alice from Babb Photo for the photos.

‘A Beautiful Woodland Wedding’

1 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 2 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo

Sarah and Simon were married on 25th July 2015 at Cuffley Camp Outdoor Centre, Carbone Hill, Herts. ‘We live in 90 acres of Northaw Great Wood as Simon manages Cuffley Camp Outdoor Centre. The wood is a wonderland of ancient trees and we got married under our favourite, a 400 year old Hornbeam tree. This beautiful grand dad stands in a valley next to a stream with a little bridge. The wood is unspoiled and very beautiful and is so much a part of our everyday life we wouldn’t have wanted to have our ceremony anywhere else. Fortunately it was dry and warm on the day!
The wedding ceremony site and reception site were held in the woods. Guests were told on the invitations that they would be walking from the car park for about 10 minutes through the woods to the ceremony site.
We wanted our ceremony to reflect the journey of relationship and to embody the conscious step we were ready to take after being together for eleven years. We wrote our vows ourselves, some of what we pledged to each other was the same, other promises were agreed between us as being what we needed and were able to commit to. We had two readings, Fidelity – by D.H. Lawrence and The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. We had 90 guests and the wedding took 18 months to plan.’

3 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 4 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo

How they met
We met at the 40th birthday party of Sarah’s ex-partner, who had the bright idea of inviting all his ex-girlfriends for a pub knees up. As Simon said during his groom’s speech, “I don’t know how it turned out for anyone else, but it worked well for us!”

The Proposal
After having been together for eleven years, Simon popped the question at the beginning of last year and we became engaged on Valentine’s Day 2014. Some things take a while and are worth waiting for, we have never loved each other more. The ring is an antique Georgian, three old cut diamonds set in platinum.

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How did you allocate your budget
Crikey, the modest budget was blown within the first few months of planning!

Where did you splurge and where did you save
We splurged on time! It took ages to make the twiggy chandeliers, table centre pieces, bench covers etc. We saved by making and doing a lot of the work ourselves and accepting the help of family and friends.

How did you choose your photographer
We saw the photos Laura took of a friend’s wedding. Laura’s associate Alice was our photographer. Alice’s understated presence put us at ease, we felt very relaxed working with her. We felt that Alice understood the location and its meaning to us. She was enthusiastic about our suggestions for photographs in various locations but we also felt able to trust Alice’s ideas and instinct and it shows – some of her spontaneous shots are first class!

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The Dress
An English woodland wedding called for and English country dress theme. Sarah was originally looking for a short, floral dress in keeping with the English summer dress suggestion for the girls, but fell in love with her simple, bias cut, long ivory dress with panels at the back by Ghost. She accessorized with a long boho look bead necklace with silver bell tassel medallion and an ethic silver necklace. Her beaded wedge heels finished the boho look. Before her son walked her through the woods and down the aisle, he gave her something blue, a stunning turquoise bracelet from Tiffany.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
The suggested dress for boys was also English country. Simon, the bestman and bridesman looked hansom in tweed look waistcoats with country themed silk backs illustrated with deer and fish. No ties and trousers of choice, Simon looked gorgeous in burgundy trousers and a white linen, collarless granddad shirt.

18 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 19 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 20 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 21 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 22 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 23 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 24 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo

Flowers
In keeping with the time of year, we wanted strong coloured flowers – strong pink, cool purple, pinky-reds, acid green plus a hint of deep coral. Sarah met the florists flower wholesaler two days before the wedding to make the final selection – we were happy to go with what looked gorgeous on the day. Bouquet flowers included Peony, Stock, Sea Holly, Freesia, Lavender in pink and purple, Ranunculus, Rosemary and Veronica tied in a loose natural look, which were enjoyed in a vase after the wedding. Sarah’s brother-in-law, Richard has since designed a mirror image fabric of the bouquet which is for sale on Spoonflower. The centre piece flower jars and ladies corsages included some of Sarah’s bouquet selection.

Decoration
The theme was English woodland wedding. The centre piece flower jars and ladies corsages included some of Sarah’s bouquet selection. Assorted jars were decorated with hessian, strong coloured ribbon, twine and monogrammed leafy logo designed by Sarah’s sister Felicity. These stickers were a great, economical addition which we used on the back of invitations and to hold paper napkin rings in place too. Each circular table was named after a woodland tree. Table names were painted on to wooden log slices by Felicity, who also painted the rest of the signs to guide guests through the gates and into the woods. Some tables were decorated with slate as well as wood – all had a natural feel.
Nine twig chandeliers were made by Simon with help from Sarah, the chandeliers were hung in a hall to create a beautiful woodland theme and did an amazing job of creating atmosphere whilst lowering the ceiling height to make a unique dining experience under fairy lights.

25 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 26 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 27 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 28 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 29 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 30 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo Food
The drinks reception was held outside of the dining hall. Sarah’s son Brett’s old school friends, now about 30 years old were superb at ushering and serving drinks and canapés – as well as looking gorgeous! Our chef did us proud – Brett’s boys served each table with lemon, garlic and rosemary marinated legs of lamb, Potato Dauphinoise, different coloured baby tomatoes with mozzarella pearls, green salad with edible flowers. Veggie option was Italian stuffed mushrooms. Desert was Pavlova with an artisan cheese cake, fruit and nuts to follow. Lots of bubbly, wine, beer, keg of real ale, coffee and real mint tea.

Wedding Cake
A gorgeous three tiered blossom tree cake. Fruit, vanilla and lemon drizzle.

31 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 32 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 33 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 34 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 35 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo

Entertainment
Our friend Sally played the cello before and after the ceremony. Sarah’s brother Stewart and nephew, Jordan played the trumpet and sang during our drinks reception. Our band, The VIPeas were great and our guests were happy to dance all night.

The Stationery
Felicity also designed our green and teal on white woodland themed invitations, which were leafy, with a squirrel and a long tailed tit, commonly seen in the woods.

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Special Moments
Our band, The VIPeas were great and our guests were happy to dance all night.
By 12.30am we moved to the firepit, toasted marshmallows around the bonfire and drank bubbly until 2am! Sarah’s brother Stewart and nephew, Jordan played the trumpet and sang during our drinks reception.

Advice to other couples
Ours was a handmade wedding and we wanted to pay attention to the detail. This meant that it was months of planning and work but the wonderful comments and feedback we received, more than made up for this. It was a very moving and beautiful event, we felt it and others did too, so when you are fed up and flagging, know that it will be worth it in the end.
Delegation to others is essential, but make sure they know what specifically you want them to do.
Things that don’t work out don’t matter on the day – hard to believe, but let go on your special day and just let it unfold!

Biggest surprise
That it didn’t rain! There was a torrential downpour all day the day before and after the wedding. The Gods were kind to us!

40 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 41 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 42 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo 43 English Woodland Wedding, by Babb Photo

 

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