Anna and Matthew's 'Pampas Grass and Roses' Rustic Boho Cheshire Barn Wedding by Jess Yarwood

Happy Hump day and how are you all? The weather may have turned but it’s still a good day here as I am off to Cornwall today on a mini break with Nik and Dexter. We are going down for a bit of a holiday and also to visit my mum! It’s forecast for heavy rain and wind today which isn’t ideal but hopefully it will stop tomorrow and we can get on and enjoy our break away! I will be sharing my holiday antics over on my Instagram stories. On with today’s wedding and it’s the turn of Anna and Matthew who were married in Cheshire last year. They held the most gorgeous rustic chic day, filled with pampas grass, roses and a neutral colour scheme. The whole day looks stunning, I love the look of the reception barn, the light up ‘to the moon & back’ sign really sets it off perfectly and adds a touch of class to the setting. Anna and Matthew really do make a beautiful couple, congratulations guys on such a gorgeous day. Big thanks to Jess Yarwood for the lovely photos.

Our wedding day was everything we wanted and more, it was fun, relaxed and luckily the sun shone for us!

Anna and Matthew were married on 22nd October 2022 at Grange Barn in Cheshire. ‘We loved that we didn’t know anyone that had got married there before us. It felt rustic and relaxed and a little bit different to any of the venues we had been to previously. We had 120 guests during the day and an extra 50 ish in the evening. We got engaged just over a year before the wedding so had pretty much a year to plan, although we went to Malta for 2 weeks a week after we got engaged and by the end of those 2 weeks I’d done most of the planning!’

How they met
We have been together just over 8 years and we met when a mutual friend introduced us in the pub one Christmas Eve.

The proposal
We had been for a walk and out for lunch then came home and sat on the sofa. We were just about to watch a film when Matthew announced he had a present for me. He got out a scrapbook with loads of photos and memories in and on the last page it said ‘Will you marry me?’ It was a total shock in that moment and he caught me totally off-guard!

How did you allocate your budget?
I used wedding planners and Pinterest a lot to help with budget but this was definitely the most difficult thing!

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We probably splurged or went over budget on the flowers. I was very clear about what I wanted and set on the idea of dried flowers and when I met Gabrielle from Rosa Gabriella I knew she totally understood my vision, so although it was a little more expensive than we had planned it was totally worth it and we’ve now got lots of beautiful bouquets of dried flowers in our house as a keepsake!

How did you choose your photographer?
We had seen pictures shared by people we know that Jess had done and absolutely loved the relaxed style. Since deciding, we had so many people who couldn’t speak more highly of her and we are totally happy with our decision to go with Jess. The pictures are amazing!

The dress
Dress – Maggie Soterro. I had jewellery from Lily and Roo and Boodles. Shoes were good old ASOS!

Suit and bridesmaids
The suits were rented from Whitfield & Ward in Wilmslow and the bridesmaids dresses came from asos.

Theme or colour scheme
Our colour theme was mostly natural/ nude colours with a dusky pink.

Flowers
We had dried flowers by Rose Gabriella. Lots of pampas grass and roses. We really loved them and have had so many compliments. I think the look went perfectly with the venue.

Decoration
Flowers were our main source of decoration so we went pretty overboard with them! We then had a ‘to the moon and back’ neon sign which we rented from I do hire, lots of candles and then rustic signs which our mums had very kindly spent hours making!

Food
We had a south African BBQ feast by the BIG 5. Lots of different meats and salads on big sharing platters. It was amazing!

Wedding cake
Our wedding cake was made by the sister of the groom – Hannah George. She is a keen baker but it was her first time making a wedding cake and she didn’t disappoint!

Entertainment
We had a singer during the ceremony – Daniel East and then we had The cassettes band in the evening.

Who supplied the stationery?
Imogen Underwood – Imogen Ink.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
New York.

Personal touches
We did a lot of the signs, table runners and even the napkins ourselves (well – our mums did them!), we also had homemade toffee vodka as our wedding favours which went down really well!

Special moments
Our stand out favourite moments were sitting at the top table and seeing all of our favourite people in one room. At one point we were both on peoples shoulders whilst they were running around the dancefloor and it felt like absolutely everyone was on the dancefloor which was amazing. Also, at the end of the night our wedding singer, Daniel East, who is also a close friend of ours got his guitar back out and sang for us all after the music had stopped which was a lovely moment.

Advice for other couples
Enjoy every minute of it! It goes so quickly and if anything goes wrong, no one will notice and you won’t care on the day! We really wish we could re-live the whole experience!