I’m a country girl at heart. Yes the fast paced city is exciting and overly indulgent, but there is nothing quite like the open-air and the relaxing countryside to really put the wind in your sails. I’m also very lucky that I am married to a Farmers son, so weekends are spent ”down the yard” collecting eggs from the chickens, feeding pet lambs and watching the piglets and calves all run around. It’s a pretty spectacular lifestyle to be a part of. With the wonderful country life, you need to have the right attire and to be prepared for all the seasons too. I have invested in various pairs of Hunter wellington boots and a wax Barbour jacket for such days. I’ve never really looked any further with their range but I was delighted to find a variety of summer pieces that could fill my ever-growing wardrobe.
It’s the little details that mean a lot to me at weddings. I want to feel like I am taking a glimpse in to the Bride & Grooms life. Our special day was no exception.
James family are die hard farmers, we rear chickens and love the outdoors. So what was more fitting than a ‘’Countryfied’’ Wedding. My family are very crafty and creative so it was even better that there was so many home spun features on our big day.
The old potato chitting trays welcomed our guests on arrival. Despite the rain we managed to get the ‘’Mr & Mrs Clayton’s Wedding This Way’’ Sign out so everyone knew where they were going.
I think everyone was shocked when they walked in to the hall and saw just how amazing it was and how much love had gone in to decking it out. I have always imagined what peoples faces would be like when they opened their invites & saw that we were having our wedding reception in a village hall.
We managed to get a lovely shot the day before of the venue before chaos ensued. I’m sure you will agree it look PRETTY amazing, if I don’t mind saying so myself.
My mum sewed plenty of bunting to wrap around a few of the tables, like the top table and the Cake/Photo/Post Box table. It gave it just that extra pizzazz (is that even a word, it hasn’t got a squiggly red line under it?!) of colour to compliment the ivory marquee lining.
The ‘’Mr & Mrs’’ on the top table was a Hobby Craft special & so was the red post box that Mr C and I painted at his work. My mum paper mache’d the ‘’Mr & Mrs’’ too, she is so super clever!
The napkins are from the Cath Kidston sale that I picked up right when we got engaged so we have always known that this was the type of wedding we were going for
The centre pieces & flowers were very natural and country garden style. We didn’t want a huge centrepiece on the tables that people could not see one another! The ceramic jugs were an ebay find, we had lovely duck egg blue, blush pink and cream jugs. Each Table was different. We were a little boring with the table numbers and stuck to ‘’1, 2, 3’’ (you get the picture!) but we bought so cute chalk board table number stands which looked great!
I loved our little place settings, simple brown luggage labels that my mum decorated with doilies and the ‘’Mr & Mrs’’ ribbon. It was so simple but so effective. And I love how ours said Mr & Mrs Clayton on them!
Because we didn’t have ‘’favours’’ as such we created buckets for the children at the wedding that had sweets, magazines, colouring pen and pencils. One even had a set of fake moustaches which went down a treat! It kept the children happy during the speeches and throughout the meal and it was something we were so happy that we did. Thanks to my super Aunty Kate!
Like I said, we didn’t have favours so instead we opted for a cute Kandy Kart that kept guests entertained all day/night, rather than taking something home that they were going to stuff in a cupboard to never see again or, throw in the bin and never see again. Plus, it was a nice talking point for people to have a laugh & a joke about how many sweets they were getting.
Donna was fabulous & even sourced some material that matched the bridesmaid dresses. How’s that for service?
We got to choose 10 different types of sweets and we also got to keep what was left. So, we are currently wading our way through LOTS of sweets!
Our beloved ‘’R & J’’. I had seen these all over pinterest and thought, ‘’I HAVE TO HAVE THEM’’ and so I did. My uncle is super talented as he is a joiner by trade. I asked him nicely if he would mind doing them for us and he made sure they were perfect! They looked amazing when the lights were turned off. Again, it just added that extra little sparkle to our wedding!
Now, let me bring you on to the food. It was to die for! When we decided on a DIY wedding the first people we thought of were our local pub, The Fox & Hounds. Their food is amazing, delicious and locally sourced. They did not disappoint with their fairings.
The Chicken Liver Parfait is my particular favourite starter, add that to the succulently warm olive bread you have a winning combination.
Now, with James’ family mainly all farmers, meat is something of a task to them when they aren’t eating their own field fodder. So it was a welcome surprise that they were all saying it was some of the best beef they have EVER tasted.
Food was so important to us, because most weddings you go to, the food is just ‘’okay’’ and you want to feel full. I hate to blow our own trumpet but I think we got it spot on, 100% with the caterers, so a MASSIVE thank you to Alan and his team.
What made your day feel special and set you apart from other weddings you’ve been to? I can’t wait to bring you our other instalments of the big day, it is keeping the memory alive for me.
We are currently house & dog sitting for James grandma and grandad.
I have to say, I feel like I am on my second honeymoon. You can very rarely keep us away from his grandparents house. They love looking after our dog, Skye, they always have a cold beer on tap, grandmas cooking is amazing and their house…. Is an amazing vista!
We’ve spent every night on the garden, watering plants, cutting sweet pea flowers, picking raspberries, BBQs,walking the dogs… Just general, lovely, nice things!
It seems so simple but that’s the beauty of it. This is the lifestyle I want and crave.
So, I have FINALLY invested in a bridge camera so I can take awesome photos. Whilst I am no expert I think I have picked it up pretty quickly.
I’ve invested in a Fujifilm Finepix S9400W which is the most up to date bridge camera that Fujifilm has released.
Whilst I’m still yet to get to grips with everything and all the different settings I have enjoyed taking it out and testing it down on the farm.
I’ve had so much fun. And, let’s be honest being able to play on the farm is certainly a great place to test my skills out.
I’m looking forward to being able to now shoot more OOTD posts with a more professional feel! So keep your eyes peeled, especially for my pre- honeymoon and wedding posts!
Sunday was a day that again, both myself & my fiancé James were really NOT looking forward to. It was time to meet our photographer and have a little “Pre Wedding Photo Shoot” to get us used to the camera.
I can categorically say, this is not my partners cup of tea. AT ALL. PERIOD. END. FIN. So of course I felt nervous for him!
Our photographer is the lovely & smiley & happy faced Jenny Prest She met us at my in laws farm. It started off as a bright and sunny morning so it was look hopeful. After we had a little tour around the farm, showing her our chickens, the pony, the pigs & the sheep (and trying to hunt down James!) we set to it.
Jenny had brought a lovey heart shaped chalk board which I etched our special date on. We went all around the farm. We climbed walls, had to piggy back on Hay bales but it was so much fun! The kiss shot was pretty awkward as James & I are not ones for the whole “PDA” situation (he’s a farmers son, what do you expect?!) but Jenny made us feel so at ease.
I wanted to pick out a few photos that we absolutely LOVED! There were so many but here as just a couple of them.
Looking at the photos, I was surprised how much I liked the black & white photos. Without giving too much away our wedding day is very colourful so I didn’t want to do too much of the black & white style… I could’ve changed my mind now! (It’s much more flattering! Haha.)
We were really impressed with Jenny’s ability. She had only just started doing it full time, after realising her passion she quit her job & started her photography company! Meeting her & chatting to her (ALOT!) she has really inspired me. She’s followed her dreams & it’s working for her. I LOVE IT! If you need a photographer she is your lady!
I can’t stress enough how important it is to meet with your wedding photographer before the big day. If we hadn’t have met Jenny, I don’t think we would feel as comfortable as we do now. Plus we have a relationship with her now so she will know what we like & don’t like. So stop what you are doing all Brides to Be, call your photographer & book a pre wedding photo shoot. You’ll thank me in the long run.
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