There's nothing I like more than a wedding with a surprise! Claire and James invited their guests to take part in a great British Bake Off, which means their big day was a cake extravaganza. Don't miss the picture of all the entries at the end of this blog post. I still don't know who won!!! You'll find plenty of other stealworthy ideas in these gorgeous images. I'm super-keen on the idea of edible favours - Claire and James handmade cake-pops. It reduces cost, and means they're less likely to get left behind on the table. The flowers by China Rose were stunning - I love the large avalanche roses, and how well the buttonholes tied in with the ushers' buttonholes. Don't miss all the DIY details - from the pretty lace-wrapped jam-jars, to the blackboard seating plan. Lovely pictures by the very talented Christy Blanch.
We got married on the 20th of May 2017 at Ashley Wood Farm in Wiltshire, the barn was the perfect. Ralf and Bee who own the venue, looked after us so well. They were always on hand to help out, and on the morning of the wedding they were moving chairs and helping with the last bits of set up. Most of all, they just gave us the freedom to decide on all aspects of our day, and didn't restrict our choices.
My bridesmaids’ outfits came from BHS. The gowns I chose had to fit 4 different bridesmaids of varying heights and shapes. I wanted them to feel comfortable, and BHS did the business.
Our wedding florist was China Rose in Pewsey, Wiltshire. We chose a mix of avalanche roses, stocks, lisanthus, eucalyptus and astilbe – all spring flowers that fitted in with the look for the barn. They blooms went together in a really natural way, and they highlighted the colours from other aspects of the day, like the suits and bridesmaids' dresses.
Christy Blanch was our wedding photographer – and she was possibly the best decision we made! Christy was amazing – neither of us particularly like having our picture taken, and on the day we hardly even noticed the photos being taken. Christy was really organised and incredibly easy to work with – we kept the group shots to a minimum so people didn't have to stand around for ages, which worked really well. We couldn't be happier with the end result, our wedding pictures are amazing.
Our theme was as in-keeping with the venue as possible – relaxed, rustic {but not too rustic}, and filled with fairy lights. We didn't want to go to formal and wanted it to feel as relaxed as possible. The colour was a mix between a dusty pink and a light blue/grey for the bridesmaids – we had a 'bake off' so there was a lot of cake.
Our wedding stationery was a big DIY project. James designed our Save the Date cards, which featured a hand drawn caricatured bride and groom. We had them printed by Photobox, along with our wedding invitations - which were a charcoal colour with fairy lights around the edge to keep the theme going. For our place cards, we found a head shot photo of everyone coming and stuck them to some card – another DIY project, which we thought was a little different to the standard written place cards.
We made 200 milk chocolate & white chocolate cake pops for our wedding favours. We decided on edible favours because we didn't want to spend lots of money on something that most people would have forgotten about by the next day. Also, we were asking everyone to bring a cake and have a bake off competition, so thought the cake pops tied in nicely .
We had loads of DIY projects. We wrapped lace and twine around 180 glass jam jars, for tea-light and flower holders. We made 200 cake pops for our favours. We made {well, my brother really} our own centre pieces out of thin slices of tree trunk. We also handmade our place card holders, and more!
We decide to have a live band instead of a disco, as we thought it would be worth it despite the extra cost. We hired The Love Kicks who were amazing! The dance floor was full all night and they really professional and easy to work with. Our first dance was to 'Greenday – Time of Your Life', which was initially definitely James’ choice, but soon became a favourite of both of us, and the lyrics are perfect .
We had a three-tiered cake, that from the front, looked just like a standard white iced wedding cake, but there was a section cut out at the back that was made into a mountain scene, with gates and a stream, etc {we both like our walking}. It was amazing and just what we wanted – it was made by Paul Mannering – it looked amazing and tasted incredible.
We really enjoyed planning our wedding – it was a wonderful experience from start to finish – except deciding on the table plan - that was horrible! We made sure that we took our time and didn't rush into decisions about things, and I'd advise other couples to do the same.
Other advice? Make sure you do it the way you want to do it and don't sweat the small stuff. You'll know you've found THE venue straight away, so keep looking till you find the right one. Finally - everyone says your big day flies by, and it really does, so get a good photographer so you can spend hours and hours looking back at the photographs.
We got married on the 20th of May 2017 at Ashley Wood Farm in Wiltshire, the barn was the perfect. Ralf and Bee who own the venue, looked after us so well. They were always on hand to help out, and on the morning of the wedding they were moving chairs and helping with the last bits of set up. Most of all, they just gave us the freedom to decide on all aspects of our day, and didn't restrict our choices.
My bridesmaids’ outfits came from BHS. The gowns I chose had to fit 4 different bridesmaids of varying heights and shapes. I wanted them to feel comfortable, and BHS did the business.
Our wedding florist was China Rose in Pewsey, Wiltshire. We chose a mix of avalanche roses, stocks, lisanthus, eucalyptus and astilbe – all spring flowers that fitted in with the look for the barn. They blooms went together in a really natural way, and they highlighted the colours from other aspects of the day, like the suits and bridesmaids' dresses.
Christy Blanch was our wedding photographer – and she was possibly the best decision we made! Christy was amazing – neither of us particularly like having our picture taken, and on the day we hardly even noticed the photos being taken. Christy was really organised and incredibly easy to work with – we kept the group shots to a minimum so people didn't have to stand around for ages, which worked really well. We couldn't be happier with the end result, our wedding pictures are amazing.
Our theme was as in-keeping with the venue as possible – relaxed, rustic {but not too rustic}, and filled with fairy lights. We didn't want to go to formal and wanted it to feel as relaxed as possible. The colour was a mix between a dusty pink and a light blue/grey for the bridesmaids – we had a 'bake off' so there was a lot of cake.
We made 200 milk chocolate & white chocolate cake pops for our wedding favours. We decided on edible favours because we didn't want to spend lots of money on something that most people would have forgotten about by the next day. Also, we were asking everyone to bring a cake and have a bake off competition, so thought the cake pops tied in nicely .
We had loads of DIY projects. We wrapped lace and twine around 180 glass jam jars, for tea-light and flower holders. We made 200 cake pops for our favours. We made {well, my brother really} our own centre pieces out of thin slices of tree trunk. We also handmade our place card holders, and more!
We decide to have a live band instead of a disco, as we thought it would be worth it despite the extra cost. We hired The Love Kicks who were amazing! The dance floor was full all night and they really professional and easy to work with. Our first dance was to 'Greenday – Time of Your Life', which was initially definitely James’ choice, but soon became a favourite of both of us, and the lyrics are perfect .
We had a three-tiered cake, that from the front, looked just like a standard white iced wedding cake, but there was a section cut out at the back that was made into a mountain scene, with gates and a stream, etc {we both like our walking}. It was amazing and just what we wanted – it was made by Paul Mannering – it looked amazing and tasted incredible.
Other advice? Make sure you do it the way you want to do it and don't sweat the small stuff. You'll know you've found THE venue straight away, so keep looking till you find the right one. Finally - everyone says your big day flies by, and it really does, so get a good photographer so you can spend hours and hours looking back at the photographs.
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