Afternoon Lovely People! I hope you all had a good weekend and managed to have some fun in the sunshine.
We have such a beautiful wedding to share with you all today. One that has lifted my pandemic spirits and filled my head with summer wedding prettiness!
Ladies and Gents, meet the lovely Sophie and Nick. They held their gorgeous ethereal meets quintessential British wedding at The Weald and Downland Museum in West Sussex, an amazing outdoor wedding venue complete with an awe-inspiring unique licensed wooden structure that overlooks a woodland and looks incredible. Along with their family and friends they enjoyed a ceremony with a modern choir, a serenade parade of brass band music on the way to their reception meadow, quirky personalised touches to represent their personalities, signature cocktails, grazing style catering, a pizza van and evening entertainment that allowed their guests to be the DJ’s! They grew their own flowers for the decor, served their welcome drinks to each of their guests personally and even mowed their own tennis court into the grass of the marquee meadow as a nod to Nicks passion for tennis. What makes all of this even more amazing is their wedding was planned in just 6 months!
From the smiles of the Bride and Groom and their guests, it looks like it was a wonderful day and we are so pleased to be sharing it with you all on Festival Brides.
Sophie and Nick talk us through the unique personal touches of their day and share with us their wisdom on planning a wedding in a short space of time.
Enjoy peeps and happy Monday!
A Normal Tuesday Evening…
Nick was planning to propose on one of our favourite dog walking routes on the South Downs, but got home to find I had already walked the dog with a friend! Thinking I’d cotton on if he suggested another dog walk, and with the ring burning a hole in his pocket, he proposed in front of the log fire at home on a very normal Tuesday evening. We celebrated with the classic combination of champagne and takeaway pizza.
A Unique Venue with Ethereal Beauty…
We knew we wanted something a bit unique for our venue. We’d been guests at a lot of wedding venues in the area and didn’t like the idea of having the same pictures as every other local brides and grooms. We wanted a place which had real meaning for us as a couple, and a place we could return to whenever we wanted.
We’d both visited the Weald and Downland Museum a lot as children, but it wasn’t until my Mum happened to start volunteering there that we found out they were licensed for weddings!
As soon as we realised, we knew it was the perfect place. The Gridshell building was the perfect ‘church’ replacement for me because of its ethereal beauty and amazing acoustics. Plus the whole site had provenance, it had the countryside vibe, and most of all, it was a bit geeky (like us).
We had a beautiful sail cloth marquee for the reception in the middle of the museum field, as well as a bell tent for the kids, stocked with movies, popcorn, games and snacks.
You’ve Got The Love…
We got married in front of all of our guests in the Gridshell building at the top of the museum site, nestled amongst the trees. It is a truly beautiful space and we knew we wanted to let it speak for itself by keeping decoration to a minimum. We had plain white draping put up to allow the bride to enter without being seen, and simple meadow flower arrangements in glass jars at the end of each row of seats.
I walked down the aisle to a choir performing Stormzy, Blinded By Your Grace. The perfect modern day equivalent to a hymn.
Nick’s brother performed a reading titled ‘Skylarks’ by the Actor Hugh Bonneville. The words felt like they were written for us; two people in love on the South Downs.
The choir then performed another favourite, You’ve got the love by Candi Statton and finally, Believe by Cher. The lyrics of Cher are not overly romantic, but it was the first cassette tape I ever owned, bought as a gift from my brother for my 10th birthday.
Trumpets and Saxophones…
After the ceremony, our guests were all gathered chatting on the balcony of The Gridshell under a canopy of trees, then drifting through the woods came the sound of trumpets and saxophones. We’d arranged for a brass band to perform modern classics and we all followed them in procession through the cobble stone village, down to the field with the marquee. It was a real highlight of the day and our guests still talk about it now.
It’s About Time…
Our ideas and inspiration mainly came from what we love. In our eyes, every element of the day needed to be personal to us and not just what was in ‘fashion’.
We both love the British earthiness of the film ‘About Time’ and wanted to incorporate a little of its magic and romance. Hence the phrase ‘It’s about time we got married’ which was adorned onto our invitations, order of service, table plan and menus. It was also quite apt considering we have been together for 11 years, it really was about time we got married!
Even the earthy paper and green font on the print was to match the country/outdoorsy people we are.
Our wedding was on the longest day, so we also wanted to weave in a midsummer celestial vibe. Then there were the finer details, my love of leopard print referenced in gold leopard figurines on the table, and Nick’s love of tennis coming to life with the mini court mown into the grass outside the marquee.
Midsummer Celestial Decor…
Inside our marquee we really ran with the midsummer, celestial vibe. I have an eclectic taste and knew I didn’t want anything too ‘matchy matchy’, so we found a bunch of fabric in complimenting tones and patterns and used it as drapes and prairie ribbons alongside beautiful gold stars adorning the marquee ceiling.
My Dad is a farmer and grew us sweetpeas especially, so we had those in abundance filling the air with the most beautiful scent.
Nick’s Aunt is an amazing artist and illustrated beautiful personalised cocktail menus for us.
Home Grown Sweet Peas…
My Dad is a farmer and ever since I was a little girl he said he would grow me Sweet Peas for my wedding day. So that was an easy decision!
We knew we would need a professional to help arrange and add to the flowers we already had so we opted for a local business called Sussex Florals. The theme was ‘Meadow Flowers’ and I wanted the arrangements to look as if they had just been gathered from a local field, nothing too fussy or neat.
Bespoke Stationery…
We are very lucky to have a talented graphic designer as a sister in law, and Hannah designed all of our stationary. It was something we wouldn’t necessarily have thought to do, but to have the same design running through all these elements really helped personalise our day. She had an illustrator friend come up with the silhouette of Nick and I and our dog Maggie, on top of a land rover, an image which we have framed at home to remind us of our wedding.
Nicks Aunt is also an amazing artist and illustrated beautiful personalised cocktail menus for us.
Perfect Photography…
I knew I wanted our photographer Katie as soon as I saw a previous wedding she had shot on her website. The wedding was set in an orchard, and the photographs captured everything about that moment perfectly. The light through the trees, the genuine joy on the guests faces. I think I looked at that photo album of strangers every night for a week!
When it came to our wedding day, I couldn’t have asked for more. It helps that she is a lovely person who you genuinely want at your wedding anyway. And then to be awarded with this album of incredible photographs capturing all these special moment is just the best gift you could ever be given. I look through them often, and find new favourites every time.
Planned In 6 Months…
Our wedding was rather last minute, and with only 6 months to plan it, and a 2 month old baby to look after, we started to feel slightly overwhelmed with the task ahead of us. Cue our amazing wedding planner, Sally Gallis who stepped in to save the day, quite literally! Within weeks, she had secured our dream sail cloth marquee, our desired DJ, and the perfect caterer to compliment our midsummer feasting theme. Pretty much all of our suppliers came from her little black book of contacts, and rather than feeling pressured into what they ‘normally provide’ we managed to tailor almost everything to suit us.
It was also important to us that everyone felt included in our day, which was one of the reasons we served the welcome drinks ourselves from the Landrover in the field -personally welcoming every single guest to the celebrations. We wanted people to feel spoilt, without coming across flashy. With champagne flowing, yet playing tennis on a somewhat rustic home-made court, we like to think we achieved that balance.
Feasting Menu and Pizza…
We knew we didn’t want fine dining as it didn’t suit the setting, plus we’ve both got big brothers with even bigger appetites! So we opted for a modern menu served family feasting style. For main we devoured dishes such as flat iron steak, turmeric roasted roots, Halloumi and pumpkin seed fritters and avocado and mango salad- to name just a few.
Kelmsley Catering knocked it out the park! They were above and beyond anything we could have hoped for. We’ve lost count of the times people have said it was the best wedding food they’ve ever eaten, which is such a massive compliment. A vegan of 3 years was so tempted, she even ate the steak!
Having a family feasting style worked perfectly as it brought everyone together. Watching our nearest and dearest laughing and chatting whilst passing bowls of buttery new potatoes between each other was so heart-warming. It also became part of the styling in a way as it was such a visual delight; sumptuous food, on colourful crockery with elegant edible flowers adorning each banquet table.
Later in the evening, Tin Roof Kitchen rocked up to help soak up the drink with some epic pizzas!
Stick It On…
Our DJ for the evening ‘Stick it On’ allows your guests to take the music helm! With the help of a trained professional, they get to DJ their own 3 song set. It was so much fun and we would thoroughly recommend them. The dancefloor was buzzing all night long, with wannabe DJs and hysterical friends and family. Plus they put all the songs on a playlist and send it to you after so you can relive the memories for years to come!
Favourite Moment…
Favourite moment of the day has to be the ceremony. Closely followed by the brass band procession. Our ceremony was tailored perfectly to reflect us as a couple, emotional in places but also fun and happy. To go straight from the high of becoming man and wife to processing through the beautiful Weald and Downland in the sunshine, with all our friends and family following and a brass band belting out tunes was just perfect!
Any Advice?
Our advice to other people looking for a similar style is to just do you! It’s so easy to start plodding on the wedding treadmill and blindly follow what a wedding ‘should be like’ and what you ‘should and shouldn’t’ have. Before every decision, take a moment to check you are choosing it because you really love it! For example, my (Sophie) Dad is not a confident public speaker, and we hated the thought of him sitting nervously throughout the whole dinner. He is however, an amazing dancer, so we played to his strengths and did a Father Daughter dance to our favourite song ‘Electric Dreams’ instead. So many guests commented on what a lovely moment it was, and it portrayed our relationship way better than an awkward speech would have.
The Line Up…
Photography: Katie Rogers; Planner & Stylist: Events By Design; Venue: Weald and Downland Living Museum; Marquee: JimJimmy Marquees; Flowers: Sussex Florals; Bride’s Dress: Fara Spoosa via Proposals; Make-up: Rosie Hobbs; Hair: Matt Tindal-Vincent; Groom’s Attire: Gresham Blake; Bridesmaid’s Dresses: ASOS; Bridesmaid’s Hair: Sarah Elizabeth Hair and Makeup: Stationery & Signage: Hannah Read Design; Catering & Staffing: Kelmsley Catering; Pizza Van: Tin Roof Kitchen; Brass Band: Hyde Park Brass; Choir: London Contemporary voices c/o Toast Functions; DJ: Stick It On; Draping: Not Your Average I Do; Props: The Toast; Hay Bales: Bales of Fun; Crockery & Glassware: Classic Crockery; Games: To Have and To Hire; Linen: 88 Events; Catering Supplies: Pure White Line
What a venue!
what a epic wedding venue! lovely images too, love it!