Diary of a Boho Bride – Introducing Emily and Jonny

Emily and Jonny 

Date of Wedding: 12^th September 2015 

Location: East Riddlesden Hall 

Colour scheme / Theme: Hessian and lace perhaps with a hint of coral.

I am so excited to be sharing our wedding adventure with all you fellow brides and grooms to be. I hope you enjoy reading our posts. Sit back; hold on, who knows where this road will take us!

The proposal 

Jonny proposed in April 2014 in Thailand, after being together for 9 and a half years! It was perfect. We were on a stunning beach playing in the sea, when I turned round and he was down on one knee, holding a ring he had made from a palm leaf that morning. I obviously said yes and cried! That evening we had a private candle lit meal in a cabana on the beach. Jonny had already bought a diamond and made an appointment at a jewellers in London to choose the ring style together. It was the most amazing day and I could not wait to tell my family back home.

The wedding 

Although we live in London at the moment, we’re both Yorkshire through and through so this was the obvious place for us to get married. We wanted a venue that was a blank canvas for us to put our own stamp on and we loved the idea of a relaxed setting such as a barn. East Riddlesden Hall was perfect. It was the first and only venue we saw, but we knew instantly it was for us, so we booked it right there and then.

As an interior designer, I can’t wait to design the finishing touches and have already drawn the venue plan out in Cad. Wedding geek alert! A lot of the decor will be DIY; we’re recruiting close family and friends to help out from now until the big day. So far we have everyone collecting jars and treacle tins. I’m not too sure where it’s heading at the minute but you can never be too short on jars! I’ve also been into my Grandad’s potting shed and reserved 2 timber step ladders and tin watering cans. What a find! The step ladders could be used as a quirky seating plan, and decorated with flowers which we plan on buying from a wholesaler. We want the decor to be unique with plenty of character to match the grade two listed barn. I think a lot of experimenting is needed with decor and the earlier we can do this the better. Boho Weddings is the perfect place to start brainstorming ideas for styling. There’s so much out there to try!

Our initial thoughts are to have a small intimate ceremony with 50 guests and then have a late reception at 5pm where we would like to open up the barn to 120 people. Some of our guests will be travelling from far away and we would like the evening celebrations to start early. We also have a few children coming so this would be a great time to play some lawn games and feed the ducks. We want the wedding to feel relaxed and for our guests to have fun, dance the night away and feel they can run round and be silly; not just the children!

We really like the idea of having sharing dishes on the day in the style of a picnic or a “who’s your daddy” style service. Again, we think this is a fun way for our guests to dine and get chatting to each other. We’re still trying to confirm our catering; it’s so difficult to decide but we know we want something with a twist to get our guests talking and not go hungry.

I went dress shopping the other week. I tried on loads of dresses; just an initial look. There are so many. It was amazing and useful to get an idea of what suited and compare it to what I had book-marked in magazines. I loved every second of it and can’t wait to go again. I know the dress for me is out there but I’m loving the search for it so far. We visited the Vintage Wedding Fayre in London last weekend just to get some ideas; well worth a visit if anyone gets chance. The stalls were varied and some of the vintage accessories were beautiful and so delicate (also reasonably priced).

So we are full steam ahead with the wedding plans. It’s hard not to be as it’s so exciting and there’s so much to look at and think about. We are embracing the adventure and so far loving every second. We look forward to sharing our wedding adventure with you.

Love Emily xxx

Photo Source: Food (Photo by Tux and Tales) / LOVE sign  / Buttonhole / Barn venue  (Photo by Craig and Kate) /  Flowers arrangements ( Photo by Keoma Zec ) / Flowers in tins (Photo by Vallentyne Photography) / Step ladders ( Nova Wedding Photography) / Hessian chair cover