Alexandria and Georgie’s Rustic and Rainbow Outdoor Shropshire Wedding by Olive and Wilde

Today I am taking you to off to Shropshire in the great British countryside for the most gorgeous wedding of Alexandria and Georgie. These two gorgeous brides wanted a rustic style wedding, full of personality, colour and rustic details and the Bridal Barn in Bridgenorth let them do just that. They held a beautiful outdoor ceremony, followed by a fun filled barn and tipi reception, full of smiles, tender moments and a whole lot of dancing. Olive & Wilde Photo + Film was there to capture the day for us.

It was the most dream-like, perfect day we could have imagined, with all of our favourite people. It was honestly so magical and felt so surreal – just amazing!

Alexandria and Georgie were married on 19th June 2024 at Bridal Barn in Bridgenorth, Shropshire. ‘We both had a vision in our minds of what our dream venue would look like and be……. this place was exactly it! We had around 96 guests and it took roughly a year to plan.’

How they met 
We met at work (we both work for the RSPCA) back in 2019 where we bonded over our love of animals! We then started dating at the end of 2021 and got engaged in 2022.

The proposal
We were both lucky enough to get proposed to! Alex went first, surprising Georgie at her favourite place, with some of her close family watching sneakily from the side lines. It was in North Devon, on their annual family holiday, at Hartland Abbey, in the middle of their summer gardens – truly idyllic!
Georgie also had planned a proposal at this point which Alex had no idea about. We had planned an evening trip to London Zoo Nights and because Alex has a love of primates, Georgie couldn’t think of a better place than with the Saki monkeys watching. We got a few cheers with that one!!

How did you allocate your budget?
We decided what was most important to each of us and let that lead the way. Our wedding venue, food and photographs were the key areas we started with and spent most of our budget on. We saved up over the year and did research before spending any extra money. We also used spreadsheets, a lot!

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We were very lucky that we had family and friends who helped us out with wedding bits (cake, flowers, dress alterations, makeup) meaning that we could spend more in other areas. I’d say the most expensive areas were the venue and food for the day.

How did you choose your photographer?
We started by searching the area around the venue then continued to widen the search. We looked at lots of photographers’ work as well as reviews, then tried to get a vibe of how they’d work with our wedding. Neither of us love having our photo taken so we wanted to be comfortable and not have anyone too serious or pushy. When we eventually found Olive & Wild and had a great one to one with them, we knew they were right for us!

The dress 
Alex’s dress was from Heart Brides, an independent bridal shop in Sutton.
Georgie’s dress was from Blush, a small boutique bridal shop in Ely.
Our wedding rings were designed and handmade by an incredibly talented jeweller called Jemma (Slade Fine Jewellery), based in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
We both wore Hunter wellies under our dresses; red for Alex and yellow for Georgie.
Our jewellery and hair accessories were a mix of gifts and Etsy finds.

The bridesmaids
Our bridesmaids’ dresses ended up coming from BooHoo!

Theme or colour scheme
We wanted a very outdoorsy, natural wedding so  included lots of wood and sage green but with bursts of colour and whimsical bits!

Flowers 
Alex’s incredible friend, Judith, made each of our bouquets personal to us, with our favourite colours and flowers (red for Alex and yellow for Georgie). The bouquets also included barley for our spaniel, Barley, and billy buttons for our beautiful Rottweiler, Billy, whom we had lost earlier that year.

Decoration
Everything was fairly rustic, with little bursts of colour everywhere. For example, we had a mix match of colourful glasses/vases filled with flowers and candles. We also had hanging flowers and fairy lights around the barn.

Food
We had afternoon tea from the delicious Violet’s Tea Room. Everyone had their own individual sweet and savoury boxes! Then for the evening, we had a vegan burger van with fries (even the meat eaters loved this one!).

The wedding cake
We were very lucky in that we had three vegan wedding cakes! Alex’s mum, Susie, made us a delicious carrot cake; our friend, Kirsty, made us an amazing chocolate cake and my beautiful wife (Georgie) made a whopping 7 tier rainbow sponge cake! She even finished decorating it the morning of the wedding whilst having her hair done!!

Entertainment
Our lovely friend, Emma, sang us down the aisle. Our friends Holly S and Holly P then provided the best entertainment anyone could want at a wedding……..Musical Bingo! For the evening entertainment we had an awesome live band called White Rabbit that played all the classic wedding tunes as well as special requests.

Who supplied the stationery?
We handmade all of the wedding stationary to cut costs and add the personalised touches we wanted.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We went on a mini moon roadtrip straight after the wedding with our spaniel, Barley, to Scotland.
Later in the year we travelled around Thailand and Bali.

Personal touches
In Alex’s bouquet, she had a small hidden photo of our late dog, Billy. We also handmade lots of bits like signs, painted vases, handmade games for everyone to play during the day and made a giant photo backdrop with hanging flowers. We also hand made all our save the dates and wedding invites. The invites were actually so fun as they turned into little popup teepees (to match the teepee dance floor at the wedding venue)!!.

Special moments
We want to say all of it! The day was absolutely filled with special moments from seeing each other at the end of the woodland aisle, to dancing the night away with our loved ones. We also had fun singing at the top of our lungs “Unwritten” by Natasta Beddingfield whilst all dancing with sparklers at sundown.
One that stands out was at sunset, we said our private vows to each other then along with our photographers and videographer, we went into the meadow overlooking the venue and had photos taken whilst skipping through the grass – it was romantic and hilarious all at the same time!

Advice for other couples
Make sure you spend as much of the day together as possible. Of course enjoy having everyone there but don’t get sidetracked talking to everyone else and miss the opportunity to spend the day together – we were glued to each other’s side from the moment we saw each other!!
Also, try not to panic that something will go wrong as chances are, something will. But none of that will matter… you are marrying your special person and THAT’s the most important part.

Biggest surprise
Alex’s brother, Harry, and Georgie’s sister, Katie, surprised us with a rap battle speech which made everyone both laugh and cry!! It was brilliant! We also loved how seamlessly our families blended together and our photographs managed to capture that perfectly.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Photographers – www.oliveandwilde.co
• Videographer – www.littlemomentsfilms.co.uk
• Afternoon Tea – www.facebook.com/people/Violets-Tea-Room
• Burger Van – www.instagram.com/veganvice.club
• Alex’s Dress – www.heartbrides.co.uk
• Georgie’s Dress – www.blushely.com
• Wedding rings – www.studiocennen.com/collections/slade-fine-jewellery
• Wedding Venue – www.bridalbarn.wedding
• Accommodation – www.thedinney.co.uk
• Confetti – www.shropshirepetals.com

Olive & Wilde Photo + Film

www.oliveandwilde.co / www.oliveandwilde.co/blog / [email protected] / 07538406753 / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM

My name is Chris – photographer and owner of Olive & Wilde Photo + Film. Olive & Wilde is for modern couples looking for photography with an honest and relaxed approach. I always prioritise people and human connection over aesthetics; I am most interested in the messy, human and imperfect elements of photography and wedding days.