Rhian and Greg’s Barn Wedding in the Cotswolds By Kevin Belson Photography

Today I have a gorgeous wedding for you from one of the most gorgeous parts of the county, the Cotswolds. Rhian and Greg chose this stunning barn location in the middle of the Cotswolds due to it’s central location. They filled the venue with loads of beautiful blooms and used flowers as the main point of impact for their decoration. Concentrating on pastel shades of peaches and grey their colour scheme stuck to a vintage theme with birdcages being the running design throughout. A beautiful collection of images from the wonderful Kevin Belson Photography.

‘A fantastic relaxed day full of family, friends, fun and laughter. Our dream wedding and more’

Rhian and Greg were married on 12th September 2015 at Cripps Stone Barn, Cotswolds. ‘Ideal location between our home and those of our families and friends in Yorkshire, Surrey and the Southwest, added to the fact that the Cotswolds are so beautiful. We especially liked the sole use feature and the fact that there was a stunning and distinct space for the ceremony in addition to the light and airy dutch barn for the reception and breakfast. We had 100 guests and it took a year to plan.’

How they met
We met at medical school at Bristol University and have been together exactly 10 years on two days after the wedding.

The Proposal
Greg organised a surprise trip to Barcelona and after a day wandering around the old town he lead me to a small quiet square with a fountain at its centre and proposed there (once the dutch bicycle tour had passed on through!) and we had champagne at the quiet little bar tucked in the corner. Despite nearly 9 years in the waiting it still came as a surprise!

How did you allocate your budget
Early on we set aside an amount for the key features – venue, food, drink, photographer, florist – which we booked first. We then tried to plan what extra things we want to have on the day and aim save money towards each as the planning went on. It’s fair to say that the budget ‘evolved’ as the planning went on, but it was worth every penny!

Where did you splurge and where did you save
Splurged on flowers, saved on the wedding cake and decorations – thanks to Rhian’s sister and mum.

How did you choose your photographer
We saw Kevin’s website and thought his pictures were beautiful. We wanted a relaxed documentary style without too many ‘posed’ shots. Moments after meeting them for our ‘engagement shoot’ we knew they were the perfect choice for us, and having just seen our photographs we were right.

The Dress
Dress was by Annasul Y from the White Collection in Clevedon, Bristol.
Shoes were by Rachel Simpson
Veil was lent to me by my sister from her wedding day.
Jewellery were earrings (a gift from Greg on the day), bracelet (gift from Greg’s mother) and my grandmother’s sapphire engagement ring.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
Greg’s suit and waistcoat was by Ted Baker along with all the ushers’, with ties and shirts by Thomas Pink. All finished off with matching stripy socks. I bought Greg a pocketwatch as a wedding day gift which looked fantastic with his waistcoat.
Bridesmaids’ dresses were Jenny Packham No1 at Debenhams.

Theme or Colour Scheme
Not really a theme or colour scheme. Loosely peaches, pastels and grey. We used a birdcage motif on the invites which we carried through onto the table plan and table names.

Flowers
We had a fantastic florist in Claire from The Wilde Bunch. We trusted her implicitly and she did an incredible job. David Austin Sweet Juliet roses formed the centre of my bouquet. She also designed some slight unusual succulent based button holes for the Groom and ushers which everyone loved and commented on.

Decoration
Flowers were our main decorations, with two large hanging spheres of flowers in the stone barn where the ceremony took place in addition to milk churns full of flowers flanking the registrar. In the Dutch barn there was a stack of vintage crates overflowing with flowers as well as filled crates on the tables. Vintage birdcages full of flowers were hung from the ceiling to tie in with a motif of the invites and on the table names/seating plan. Added in were lots of other tiny details like vintage signs, personalised bunting and jars of marshmallows

Food
Catering was by Cripps Kitchen who are a sister company of the venue. The food was incredible! We wanted the meal to be a social event and each of the courses had a sharing element. I’m vegetarian (along with a lot of my family) whilst the groom comes from a family of butchers so we had to had all aspects covered. We had a goats cheese salad or pork terrine to start followed by ribeye of beef (carved at the table by nominated friends and family in personalised aprons and chef’s hats) or French onion tart with potato dauphinoise and green beans. Dessert was chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream. All finished with espresso martinis and macaroons.
In the evening we had pizza by Baz and Fred’s mobile pizzeria.

Wedding Cake
This was made by my sister (and bridesmaid) Cerian. It was based upon a birdcage and looked incredible. Each layer was different and we especially loved the red velvet which was a special request!

Entertainment
Most guests arrived via a vintage red route master bus, and we had a string quartet play during the reception and drinks. Throughout the day we had Oli from Spoolfrog wandering around recording our very own Marryoke video. This proved immense fun both for those taking part and watching from a distance. Later in the day we had a photobooth in place of a typical guestbook and the Zu Zu Men provided the evening’s musical entertainment.

The Stationery
I made the stationary using a custom stamp found on Etsy.

Personal or Handmade Touches
See above! From the invites, to the cake, to the decorations, to table name calligraphy, hessian table runners, bunting and packaging of the delicious macaron wedding favours (from Patisserie Leila, Gloucester Road, Bristol)! After the ceremony we served Estella beer (from Barcelona) alongside champagne and the wine with the meal was from a place we knew in New Zealand as we lived there for a year.

Special Moments
There were so many highlights it is difficult to choose. The light flooding into the barn filled with beautiful flowers was incredible and truly memorable. We are also grateful that the sun decided to make an appearance during the day after a shower filled morning. It was great to hear all the laughter during the wedding breakfast and speeches, although the bestman with his speech nearly managed to steal the show!

Advice to other couples
Make sure you do what you want to do and not what other people or what you think other people want you to do. Try and relax and just enjoy the day as it goes by in a flash!

Biggest surprise
My gift from Greg was a wonderful surprise and likewise he loved the pocket watch I had bought him.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Venue – www.crippsstonebarn.com
• Catering – www.crippskitchen.co.uk
• The Wilde Bunch – www.thewildebunch.co.uk
• Photography – www.kevinbelson.com
• Dress – www.thewhitecollectionbridal.co.uk
• Groom – www.thezuzumen.com
• Spoolfrog – www.spoolfrog.co.uk
• String Quartet – www.vynestringquartet.co.uk
• Bus Hire – www.pasttimebus.com
• Chalk board – [email protected]
• Macarons – www.patisserieleila.com
• Photobooth – www.partyboothhire.co.uk
• Makeup – www.emilytarrantmakeup.com
• Hair – www.bellabridalhair.co.uk

For more information on Kevin Belson Photography go to:

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

Kevin Belson Photography is a fine art/photojournalist team based in Wiltshire, shooting weddings across the UK and abroad. We go with the flow of the day and direct where necessary to create natural and inspirational images.