Emma and Adam’s Simple Summer Farm Wedding. By Lucabella Wedding Photography

I do love weddings that show that you don’t need to spend a fortune and today’s weddings is one of those. Emma and Adam both live in Dubai and love to travel, so they decided that they wanted to keep the budget low and not go into married life in any debt and still have some money spare to carry on their travelling bug. By doing a lot of things themselves they managed to keep the costs down, not going for big expensive outfits and getting the guests to forget wedding gifts and bring a plate of food instead they really managed to keep the whole wedding under budget, and what’s more the whole day looked amazing! Big thanks to Kate at Lucabella for the lovely photos.

Our wedding was small, simple and relaxed with a chilled out atmosphere. The venue was also perfect with so many interesting and artistic photograph opportunities.

Emma and Adam and were married on Saturday 3rd August at The Granary, Elms Farm Cottages, Boston, Lincolnshire. ‘We live in Dubai but wanted a summer wedding near our home county of Lincolnshire in England at a time when all our family and friends could attend. Adam bravely booked the venue without me even seeing it on a rainy trip back to England, but luckily it turned out to be even more perfect than I imagined. We had about 50 guests and the planning took not long at all. I’m a full time teacher so I just did small jobs over about 4 months and then a little more during the school holidays a month prior to the wedding.’

How they met
We met at gigs in our home town and have been dating for 10 years.

The proposal
Adam asked me over a cup of tea whilst we were on holiday in Edinburgh, one of my favourite cities.

How did you allocate your budget?
There was no budget but we knew we didn’t want to spend a lot on the day. We love travelling so for us it was more important to have money for amazing holidays over the next few years. Since the wedding we have been to Ireland and New York. We are going to Japan very soon and Singapore at the end of the summer.

Why did you choose your photographer?
We wanted somebody creative who could take artistic shots in a more documentary, relaxed style. We also wanted somebody who wasn’t going to intrude too much or be bossy and thankfully Kate was perfect for the job!

The dress
I have no idea who my dress was by. I ordered a very simple dress vintage online and my shoes were second hand from ebay. Living in Dubai of course, I could have opted for something much more extravagant, spending the Earth. We live in a city where everything is so big and sparkling, so I guess I just chose the absolute opposite.

The suit and bridesmaids
Adam didn’t have a suit. He wears one for work everyday so it was nice to see him out of it! As for bridesmaids, my close friends all wore pretty, flowery, summer dresses of their own choosing.

Theme or colour scheme
We didn’t really have one, but I suppose it was very ‘English Summer’ with the daisies, strawberries and lavender.

Flowers
I wanted a ‘wildflower’ look and we had a variety in shades of white and magnolia with lots of daisies and purple lavender. I didn’t really know what the flowers would look like as they were collected from the local market and my aunts allotment a couple of days before so it was very much dependent on what was available and looking pretty at the time.

Decoration
I made a twig arch and decorated it with the fresh flowers just before the wedding. The arch also had pearls and glass tea lights hanging from it. We also had lots of white church candles in jars dotted around the room to give a cosy atmosphere. The flowers were in jars with hessian wrapped around them. We also had hessian runners on the tables to match.

Food
We had an ‘open-table’ buffet where our guests brought a dish each rather than wedding gifts as we wouldn’t have been able to take gifts back to Dubai. I think I picked at some sushi and antipasti but I was too excited to really eat. A shame as the food everyone brought looked so amazing and apparently it was as delicious as it looked.

Wedding cake
I dislike icing so the traditional white wedding cake went out the window. Instead we opted for a naked cake, Victoria Sponge with strawberries, raspberries and mint. Very English! It was possibly one of the best cakes I have ever tasted!

Entertainment
We created our own playlist, solely consisting of music we love. Adam’s guitar was also passed around as a lot of our friends play (or like to think they do).

Buy or DIY your Stationery?
I made my own invitations which were decorated with a rustic string bow and a button. They were only delivered a few weeks before as there is no postal service in Dubai! ‘Save the Dates’ went via email.

Personal or handmade touches
We did pretty much everything ourselves! We also had photographs of us together over the past ten years pegged on string around the granary.

Special moments or highlights
The vintage ice cream van went down a storm and the moment the vintage champagne actually did go ‘pop!’

Biggest surprise
The fact that EVERYTHING went to plan!

Advice for other couples
Do not spend the Earth because being in debt is no way to start married life. As soon as you mention the word ‘wedding’ the price of everything rockets so be careful not to get carried away. It is about two people taking a vow, not about a display of decadence.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Venue – www.elmsfarmcottages.co.uk
• Photography – www.lucabella.co.uk
• Ice Cream Van –Facebook page

For more information on Kate’s work go to:

www.lucabella.co.uk
[email protected]
07947 789566
FACEBOOK
@lucabellaphoto

Kate will approach your wedding or union with warmth and happiness, as a friend and guest, and she aims to capture and reflect this in your photographs.  The photographs will show you and your guests in their most beautiful light ‘bella luce’ and with soul;  in a relaxed, natural, and a mostly documentary/ narrative style designed to tell the story of your day.  Kate appreciates the little touches that make a big deal to a Bride and Groom, and understands just how much thought has gone into making the big day happen.  She captures weddings,loving ceremonies and partnerships of all denominations (religious or non-religious, straight or gay) and is based in and around the East Midlands, but will travel anywhere in the UK or Europe on request.