9

Jan

2023

Caroline and Simon’s ‘Rustic Vintage’ Back Garden Wedding in Kent by Nick Beal Photography

Happy Monday lovely people and welcome to another wonderful week on the blog. How is your January going so far? Mine is good, I had a lovely weekend, which involved having family round for dinner on Saturday night and then a trip to Chatsworth with my best friend on Sunday! This week I have my wedding planning head on, as my lovely couple Vicky and Mark tie the knot this May, so it’s time to ramp up the workload and get on with a whole list of jobs. What about you? What’s on your wedding planning to do list? On with today’s wedding and I am taking you back to the summer when we had heat wave after heat wave here in the UK, the sun shone and we all melted! Caroline and Simon chose a chilled out back garden wedding in Kent. The reception is so relaxed, the results of this marquee wedding filled with lots of fab home made projects is an absolute delight. The flowers are beautiful the whole day is filled with so much fun and laughter. Big thanks to Nick Beal Photography for the lovely photos.

It was perfect, from start to finish, I only wish it could of lasted for days.

Caroline and Simon were married on 23rd July 2022 at St Andrew’s Church, Shepherdswell Kent with a marquee reception in their garden. ‘We moved to Shepherdswell in October 2018, Simon grew up in the village and his parents live in the village, our gardens back in to one another!  I wanted an informal, relaxed day, more a garden party than a wedding reception. We had 126 guests and it took 2 years to plan.’

How they met 
We have been friends over twenty years, personal circumstances brought us closer during difficult times and friendship grew in to a relationship five years ago.

The proposal
A weekend away in Le Touquet, Simon proposed after a romantic meal.

How did you allocate your budget?
We didn’t really allocate, I had an idea of what I wanted and we worked to that prioritising Venue, Food, drinks, Church fees and entertainment.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
I brought my dress on eBay during lockdown and it was a perfect fit, requiring minor adjustments.  I sourced all the wedding decor myself blending a mixture of new and old, I  upcycled furniture, used vintage shabby chic items I already owned and sourced other key pieces of furniture from antique auctions.
The dried flowers which created the rustic theme were the biggest expensive of the decor.
My wedding ring was one item where we did not hold back.  I have a platinum and diamond wedding band from Goldsmiths £3000.

How did you choose your photographer?
I worked with Nick some time ago and I had seen his photography develop through his social media.  His lockdown photos were the deal breaker for me.

Dress 
My dress was from eBay unworn, shoes were Dune London and I did not wear any additional accessories

The suit and bridesmaids
Flower girl dress was from Etsy, made to order by Millie Wedding Info Shop UK. Bridesmaid was Next. Suits were from Moss Bros

Theme or colour scheme
Rustic pastels, sage green, apricot, blush, peach and cream

Flowers
Dried flowers pampas, peach, cream, blush and neutral shades, bespoke from an Etsy seller Lunaria Flower Shop

Decoration 
Rustic, Vintage, individually sourced and created themes by myself. Children’s corner, tables which I sanded from reclaimed scaffold boards and hand varnished, cable reels sanded and vanished mixing dried and silk flowers.

Food
Hog Roast with a choice of salads

Wedding cake
Three tier sponge with buttercream, decorated with dried flowers.

Entertainment
Three live performers, two solo acoustic singers followed by a live band.  We finished the night with a drum and bass live Dj session.

Who supplied the stationery?
Green envelope online wedding invite app

Where are you going on your honeymoon?
We are going snow boarding in the French Alps in February

Personal touches
I entered the church to Johnny Cash I walk the line which I had kept from Husband as a personal touch.

Special moments
Every second from waking until going to sleep in our Bell Tent in the garden was perfect.  The day went without fault from start to finish.

Advice for other couples
The month before the wedding was terribly stressful and ours made worse when our children caught chicken pox one after the other leading up to the day before the wedding.  Our rings were delayed, we encountered rail issues from the heatwave delaying guests and huge traffic issues in Kent due to the first day of summer holidays the day before our wedding, the Vicar got delayed returning from Canada and last minute changes to the number of guests all add to the stress.  In the end you have to just stop stressing and the little things don’t matter.  Having a wedding planner was a god send.

 

Supplier Shout Outs

 

Nick Beal Photography

www.nickbealphotography.co.uk / www.nickbealphotography.co.uk/blog / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM

 

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