Chris and Emily's Christmas Barn Wedding in The Cotswolds by This and That Photography

With the Christmas count down well and truly on, I can’t beleive I only have 2 days left in the office! Are you excited for Christmas or are you not so bothered? I hope you LOVE Christmas as much as I do, as today’s wedding is Christmas themed and took place at this time last year. Emily and Chris chose Cripps Stone Barn for the Christmas wedding as it ticked so many of their boxes. With a classy colour scheme of white and gold, mixed with a touch of burgundy, their day looks amazing, super stylish with a dash of Christmas cheer. The scattering of snow is another wonderful addition to their photos. The whole day looks super special and has got me feeling even more festive. Big thanks to Kirsty at This and That Photography for the amazing photos.

Emily and Chris were married on 16th December 2017 at Cripps Stone Barn in the Cotswolds. ‘The venue chose was definitely a joint decision. We enjoyed visiting the Cotswold’s for our anniversary/engagement. Chris did his research and found Cripps Stone barn in the Cotswold’s with a large indoor BBQ. It was the first venue we saw and it felt perfect. Chris took a little convincing but he agreed to a church wedding. I found the church and we thought it was absolutely breathtaking when we went to visit.’

How they met
We met in 2006 on a night out in Basingstoke with mutual friends.

The Propsal
Chris arranged a surprise weekend away to the Cotswold’s for our 10 year anniversary. We stayed in a beautiful little cottage. He asked me while I was pouring prosecco for us both in the kitchen.

The Photographer
Kirsty was fantastic and she genuinely made us completely at ease. She smiled fondly at us when we just could not stop laughing. It was easy and Fun working with her. We loved Kirsty’s photos. Kirsty’s style is so relaxed and fun. We didn’t want our wedding day to be one group photo after another and Kirsty captures the whole day beautifully.

The Outfits
I like things to complement but not match. Therefore, our wedding party all picked their own dresses/suits. We just said blue suits and blush dresses. I showed my bridesmaid some photos I liked on Pinterest of mix match dresses and they spent time looking for their own dresses. I must admit we didn’t actually see the wedding party in their outfits until the day of the wedding! They all looked perfect. I loved the colours and how individual everyone looked while still looking like they were all a part of the wedding party.

Theme or Colour Scheme
What made you choose your decor and styling? It was Christmas time so we wanted to incorporate the fun of Christmas while also making it feel like a wedding. We purchased white and gold crackers from John Lewis in the January sales so that became our colour scheme. We added burgundy when we started looking for ties.

Flowers
Beth from Go Wild Flowers did our flowers. She was in the barn when we first went to look around setting up for another couple. We just gave her free rein but asked that everything wasn’t matching too much. We also asked for some mistletoe between the two barns.

Entertainment
We had a superbly talented harpist called Jemima Phillips who played at the church and during the drinks reception – our guests could not stop raving about how amazing she was. We also asked the local choir to sing during the signing of the register. They helped enormously during the Christmas carols too. During the evening we had a band called Riot – everyone was up dancing.

Special Moments
What was your favourite part of the day and why? All the laughing and smiling from everyone! It genuinely felt like everyone was having so much fun. I know the wedding day is supposed to be all about the “couple” but for us seeing everyone enjoying themselves made us so very happy.

Advice for other couples
Just relax and put trust in all of your amazing suppliers – they really do know what they are doing. Try not to forget your boutique, be late or lock the only set of keys you have in the cottage.. oops! I also read Kirsty’s article about not worrying if you get your dress dirty – I took her words of wisdom literally and now remembering laughing at spilling jagerbombs on my dress and walking in snow, mud, ash, wine and whatever else without a care in the world, makes me remember our wedding day with so much fondness.