Claire and David's Intimate Rustic Wedding in Oxfordshire by Ellie Mac Photography

Today’s wedding was meant to be a big festival themed affair but when Claire and David found out they were having a baby their priorities changed. Instead they opted for an intimate wedding of 20 guests with gorgeous rustic touches and lots of personal details. It’s great when a couple can see past the BIG wedding and scale back to a day more personal to them. This is proof enough that you don’t need to spend big money to have the perfect day, smaller budgets and smaller weddings are equally as meaningful and memorable. Claire looks absolutely stunning, positively glowing! You can hardly tell she is 7 months pregnant! Big thanks to Ellie Mac Photography for the lovely photos.

The perfect day filled with love, some tears and a lot of laughing. We were blessed to have the sun shining over us and joined by everyone we love.

Claire and David were married on 26th March 2022 at Banbury Registry Office & The New Inn Barn in Middleton Cheney, Oxfordshire. ‘We wanted a small intimate wedding as I was 7 months pregnant. We had been engaged for 2 years, together for 6 and had planned a big festival themed wedding however when we found out I was pregnant our priorities changed, we just wanted to be married! We had 20 to the ceremony and 100 to the reception and it took 4 months to plan.’

How they met
We met when we were in our teens, we became close friends in our twenties which then lead to us being together. We’ve been together for 8 years now.

The proposal
We were on holiday in Illfracombe, Devon and Dave drove us to a cliff viewpoint overlooking the sea and whilst the sun was setting he got down on one knee!

How did you allocate your budget?
We did it all on a shoe-string budget, with our baby on the way we wanted to save as much money as we could. We got friends and family to help as much as they could; making decorations, wedding cake and even the reception venue was our local pub who gave us a very good deal!

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
The most expensive thing was the photographer, the best decision we made, we have the most beautiful photos from the day, worth every penny. Other than that, Daves suit cost £200 which was more expensive than my dress! I did treat myself to my hair and make-up being done by the talented Charley of Bridal by Charley. The food for our guests was paid for by our parents as a gift. Our wedding cake was also a gift, made by our friend Amie. The wedding car, which was a classic red Mini Copper, is Daves dads and all the decorations were made by me, Sara (Daves sister) and Gilly (Daves mum). So, most things were done on a budget!

How did you choose your photographer?
Ellie had done some friends weddings and Dave’s mum is good friends with her mother-in-law. When we spoke to Ellie to discuss the wedding we knew straight away she was perfect, she made us feel so comfortable and had so many amazing ideas we’d not thought of.

The dress
Dress was from ASOS it only cost £150 and then altered by a local seamstress (my belly grew a lot in the time of buying the dress to the wedding!). My jewellery was by Maytree Jewellery (my best friend’s company). Shoes were white boots with bees on from heavenly feet.

The suit and bridesmaids
Daves suit was from Henrys in Banbury. Bridesmaids dresses were also from ASOS.

Theme or colour scheme
Forest green and white was the theme.

Flowers
Gypsophilia and Ivy for the decorations

Decoration
Rustic jars with string & lace wrapped around and candles in, Wood slices and ivy. We also gifted our guest wildflower seeds and homemade sloe gin.

Food
We had a sit-down meal for family only at the new inn, everyone chose their own meal from the normal menu! For the evening guests we just had a buffet.

Wedding cake
Made by my friend Amie.

Entertainment
Dave’s a sound technician so he provided all the speakers and lights and we made a playlist through Spotify. Our friend Ben also brought his guitar along and sang some songs.

Who supplied the stationery?
Etsy

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We went to Fuerteventura

Personal touches
We did it all ourselves; from the place names, to the order of the day, decorations and even the bouquet. One of my favourite touches was a large wood slice which was sign painted by Dave’s auntie and gifted to us by his sister. It had Mr & Mrs Boote and the date on which then sat outside the Barn where our reception was. This now sits in our landing!

Special moments
The golden hour! After the ceremony Ellie took us to a field which she’d found, we had the perfect golden hour and it was so special to have that time just me & Dave before we met our guests. The photos turned out incredible.

Advice for other couples
You don’t have to spend a fortune but I would recommend getting a good photographer, those memories will be kept forever. Find a professional, they will make your day so much more special.

Biggest surprise
We had sunshine all day, it was the perfect weather which we didn’t expect for end of March!