Emma and Matthew’s Boho Barn Wedding. By Rebecca Clarke Photography

Happy Bonfire day/night! I’m not really sure what the correct greeting is for today but what ever it is I hope you have a good Wednesday and manage to go out and do something bonfire night related tonight. We are off to a family gathering this evening which should be fun. But before we can even think about bonfires and fireworks I have another gorgeous wedding for you courtesy of Rebecca Clarke Photography. It’s the Boho inspired barn wedding of Emma and Matthew and it’s an absolute beauty. With the most beautiful wedding dress and flower crown Emma looks every inch the Boho bride. While the venue they have picked is a stunning barn wedding which they have decorated in pretty pastels, hessian, lace and lots of gorgeous flowers. The soft low summer sun is just the right tonic for this cold November day.

‘The most fun day of mine and my husbands life. We danced and laughed and smiled all day’

Emma and Matthew were married on at Long Furlong Barn, Clapham, Worthing on the 23rd of August 2014. ‘We viewed a few places within West Sussex, I knew that I wanted a barn. It just felt right when I viewed the barn, and it helped that due to only being completed a few weeks before I viewed it they had the dates I wanted available unlike many other already fully booked venue. We had 60 day guests and 30 additional evening guests. We got engaged almost a year to the day prior to the wedding. We did most of the major planning within 3 months due to wanting to get married the following summer and knowing that most people book venues 12-18 months in advance. All the finishing touches were done over the last 6 months in the run up to the wedding.

How they met
We were acquainted initially at work, but we met properly at a mutual friend’s engagement party. We have been together for just over 2 years.

The Proposal
I found out after that Matt had many grand plans for his proposal, but in the end he decided to do it at home. I don’t deal well with lots of people or lots of fuss, so it was a perfect decision on his behalf to make it a quiet private proposal at the home that we share, with our dog Rolo being the only witness!! He hung fairy lights in the trees in the garden and lined the route through the house with roses and candles. He also sneakily roped in my housemate to help decorate & also my best friend to keep me away under false pretences whilst he set the house up.

How did you allocate your budget
The majority of our budget, probably 75%, went on food and the venue. We didn’t over dress the venue as it sold itself as a beautiful barn with just as beautiful scenery of the countryside. All the little touches we did ourselves. I was lucky enough to be bought my dress by my Aunt & Uncle and Matt’s mum bought his made for the day suit.

How did you choose your photographer
I’ve known Rebecca since I was about 10, through riding horses in our rural home town and she is still very good friends with my maid of honour. I tried to involve people I knew as much as possible in the wedding, and loved the idea that I didn’t have a complete stranger as my photographer on the day.

The Dress
Grace Loves Lace, I ordered it online from Australia. My shoes were from a bridal shop in Eastbourne where I work as was my veil. Bought on my lunch break!!

The Suit and Bridesmaids
I wanted 5 bridesmaids and due to a limited budget I managed to get some white lace summer dresses from a high street shop and dressed all five for a hundred pounds.
Matt’s suit was made bespoke for him by Hugo Morris in Brighton. As a plumber Matt’s work wear was always practical, and he had never owned a nice suit. He used the excuse to really go to town, his suit cost more than my dress!!

Theme or Colour Scheme
I chose a pastel mint green/ pastel pink colour scheme to match a light vintage theme of the wedding and barn.

Flowers
I had very simple flowers, which I loved. lots of gypsophila, pink roses and a few wild flowers.

Decoration
We hung paper lanterns in pink, mint and ivory across the ceiling. My mum made some mint table runners with a lace overlay for the tables. We hung bunting in the ceremony room for a cheerful look.

Food
We had brushetta with ciabatta bread, and whole tomatoes roasted on the vine. For main course we had lamb, with delpinousie potatoes, minted leeks and peas. and for pudding the guests had the wedding cake with berries and cream.

Wedding Cake
The wedding cake was made by a friend of ours, who attended the wedding. I showed him a photo of what I wanted and his cake was so much better than the original!! It was definitely one of my favourite touches on the day.

Entertainment
We had a singer, Eddie Cullen, who sang big band style songs for a few hours after dinner. Then we had a play list put together by myself and matt for the evening boogie!!

Buy or DIY your Stationery
We made our save the dates using a photo of our doggie with a plaque with the wedding date, sat in front of the colourful beach huts on brighton seafront. We then got them printed. For the invites I got a lady in Australia to design them and again had them printed locally. Everything else was bought from The Range.

Special Moments
The whole day was amazing but went very fast, and is a bit of a blur! I had to try very very hard not to cry walking down the aisle, but I loved saying my vows, even if I forgot one line!! Other than that, having a proper dance with all our friends, both me and Matt love having a mental dancing session!

Advice to other couples
Enjoy yourself, look around you at everyone else enjoying it with you, and don’t get too drunk, you want to remember it all!!

Biggest surprise
Matt arriving in a helicopter!! His mum had organised it for him as a surprise.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Catering – www.redanywhere.co.uk Amazing food, impeccable service. A particular shout out to Sophie the events coordinator, she ensured the day went swimmingly!!
• Venue – www.longfurlongbarn.co.uk A stunning venue. The proprietors were more than accommodating with everything we wanted to do.
• Photographer – www.rebeccaclarkephotography.co.uk The pictures speak for themselves. A testament to Rebecca’s talent behind the lens. Couldn’t have asked for more amazing memories created by her amazing photographs. I am not particularly good when the camera/focus is turned on me, but she made the whole process fun, relaxed and made it look easy, which I can’t imagine it is!! Her speciality is catching those lovely moments whilst your blissfully unaware!
• The Pizza oven – www.thepizzaoven.co.uk A vintage style pizza van that fed our whole wedding party in the evening. Probably the most comments I had from guests the next was about the amazing pizzas!!
• Singer – www.eddiecullen.co.uk A talented singer who is able to entertain without being over the top.
• Cake – www.theflourpot.co.uk Produced the most amazingly gorgeous cake known to man. And it tasted just as good as it looked.
• Florist – www.ksfloraldesign.co.uk She nailed the look I wanted with the flowers with very little direction from me. I leaned on her for advice on what would look good and she came up trumps. Simple but no doubt stunning flowers, which matched my vision perfectly. Her absolute triumph was my gypsophila flower crown, I loved it.

For more information on Rebecca’s work go to

www.rebeccaclarkephotography.co.uk
www.rebeccaclarkephotography.wordpress.com
[email protected]
www.facebook.com/rclarkephotography
www.twitter.com/RebClarkePhotos
07730 596856

I’m based in Kent, but cover all of UK and abroad. My style is soft, pretty and romantic editorial style wedding photography. I love telling the story, capturing the emotions, and all the beautiful details of the day. Love natural lighting, soft colours and all things a little unique