A Traditional English Countryside Wedding with a Floral Fabric Inspired Theme

This is one of those simply perfect weddings, where you just want to dive in and devour all the details. Lovely Amy read Before the Big Day in the run up to her wedding, and along with her husband Alex, they created the most amazing array of pretty DIY'd decorations. Amy works in interior design, so she was very keen on the visual side of the wedding planning, and started with a scrapbook full of sketches, pictures and fabrics. In fact the wedding colour palette was entirely themed on a tiny scrap of fabric - a pretty blue and green floral print on a cream background. The crafty projects are never-ending! Along with her mum, Amy made 250 meters of double sided bunting {now available to hire!}, dried all the confetti in their airing cupboard, and picked and arranged all the marquee flowers. Meanwhile Alex's mum made the fudge favours, and not to be outdone, Alex made the chalkboard table-plan. There's so many stealworthy ideas to choose, but my favourites have to be Amy's stunning self-designed wedding gown, her adorable traditional pageboys' outfits {in knickerbockers made by her mum!}, and Amy's family jewellery - some serious rocks!! Huge thanks to Kate Murrell Weddings for her stunning pictures of the day....more to come in Part 2.

We got married on the 27th July at St Michael and All Angels in Withyham, in Sussex, and we hosted our reception in my parent’s garden ten minutes away from the church.

As I work in interior design I was very into the visual side of the wedding planning, and I had a scrapbook full of sketches, pictures and fabrics! I wanted to go for a very traditional English country wedding look, with bunting, a pole marquee, trestle tables and country garden flowers. 

An Exquisite English Country Garden Spring Wedding - The Reception

After all the excitement of the Wedding Blog Awards, I completely failed to publish the second half of Jo and Luke's incredible wedding. And you've got to see these amazing pictures, as they're chock-a-block with wedding inspiration. Jo chose a beautiful garden theme, which fitted perfectly with their Friars Court wedding venue. The owner is clearly some sort of wedding decoration genius, as he's created a wonderful romantic world of swinging lanterns and vintage props. There's so many stealworthy ideas, it's hard to pick my favourite, but....{deep breath}....I love the swinging white lanterns, the 14 real, blossoming cherry trees lining the marquee, the tables named after flowers, the mossy logs, the memory table {complete with budget-savvy Waitrose cake}, and the wooden LOVE hearts hanging off the water bottles. Don't miss Jo's answers to the Before the Big Day Bride's Questionnaire, they're full of wedding inspiration, and take a look at their wedding photographer, Lily Sawyer's website - she's a serious talent!

We got married in Alvescot Church on 27th April 2013 near where I grew up. For the reception, we wanted something near to the church, and we were fortunate enough to find the most incredible venue available in the next village. Friars Court is an old country manor, and we held our reception in the gardens and the garden room. 

We also had a marquee on the old tennis courts. We wanted to make the most of being in the countryside - particularly for our friends from London. I wanted it to be an extension of my childhood - of which I have such happy memories. 

An Exquisite English Country Garden Spring Wedding

This incredible English country-garden wedding has been a long time coming! I've found it super-hard to edit - every one of Lily Sawyer's shots is incredible, and lovely Jo and Luke created such a beautiful wedding day, it's hard to choose which pictures to exclude! Jo's friends call her an English rose, so she themed her wedding loosely around the tea rose, with plenty of pretty blooms in her wedding bouquet, and rose wedding stationery. Jo and Luke followed tradition, and married in Jo's local village church, hosting their reception in the gorgeous gardens of Friars Court. You'll fall head-over-heels for all their country garden wedding details, but first, drink in Jo's stunning Essense of Australia wedding gown, her elegant vintage jewellery, and the amazing DIY'd church flowers. More amazing photographs of Jo and Luke's reception, coming soon! Huge thanks to Lily Sawyer and second shooter, Esther Bissessar.

We got married in Alvescot Church on 27th April 2013.. The church is over 900 years old and is situated in a small village in Oxfordshire on the edge of the Cotswolds, where I grew up. 

For the reception, we wanted something near to the church, and we were fortunate enough to find the most incredible venue available in the next village. Friars Court is an old country manor, and we held our reception in the gardens and the garden room. We also had a marquee on the old tennis courts. We wanted to make the most of being in the countryside - particularly for our friends from London. 

Pretty Sage Green & Dusky Pink Shabby Chic Church Wedding - The Reception

With a dusky pink and sage green wedding colours, I was always going to love Daniella and Paul's wedding - after all, they're the same shades I picked for my own big day. Add in the stunning DIY wedding details and the shabby chic theme, and this wedding is something of a humdinger! I love all the pretty touches, from the handmade burlap menu folds, the pashmina favours, the table plan tree, the vintage tea-cups filled with sweeties for snacking, and the fingerprint guest-book. With two years to plan, Daniella thought of every single wedding extra, and it really shows in this lovely personal wedding. Don't miss her answers to the Before the Big Day Questionnaire - if you're thinking about hiring a wedding coordinator for the day, Daniella's answers will swing you towards asking your florist! Huge thanks to Dean Govier for his beautiful wedding photographs - he captured every perfect detail.



Paul and I got married on 1st June 2013. We had our ceremony at St. George's Church in Crowhurst, and hosted our reception at Coltsford Mill, a Watermill barn near Oxted in Surrey. The barn is a blank canvas and the grounds are simply stunning, with an abundance of lakes and lawns.

Our wedding photographer was Dean Govier. Originally we had someone else booked, but as time went on I felt I wasn't connecting with him, and had my doubts. Luckily we met Dean at our marriage prep classes {he got married 3 weeks before us} and we instantly felt drawn to his style and personality. We knew he would be a fab photographer, and someone we wanted there on our day, so we lost the deposit on our original booking and booked Dean, and we were so pleased with our decision!

A Pretty, Sage Green & Dusky Pink, Shabby Chic, DIY Church Wedding

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, there's nothing I like more than a Before the Big Day bride who gets in touch after her big day to submit her wedding. Daniella read BBD, and I'm thrilled to say she's a girl after my own heart - a DIY bride with an eye for wedding details, and a love for a sage green and pink colour palette. You'll find stacks of inspiration in her pretty designs - this is a bride who created everything from the bunting, the table plan, place name holders, hessian cone pew-ends, happy-tear tissue pouches, Orders of Service, hundreds of jam jar candles and even 100 tea-light candles! You'll love her advice and her enthusiasm for her wedding vendors - enjoy these beautiful photographs by Dean Govier...with much more from the wedding reception later today.

Paul and I got married on 1st June 2013. We had our ceremony at St. George's Church in Crowhurst. It's our local church and it means a lot to me, as I was christened there, and attended family services there all my life. The Vicar has known me since I was three years old, so it felt like the right place to get married.

I picked pale green and dusky pink as our wedding colours, and we incorporated birds and roses as our main theme, plus a monogram of our initials on our wedding stationery. I worked with my florist to get the colours just right, and her inspiration was invaluable. I recommend her 100% - she was more than just a florist.

A Natural Homemade Sunshine Yellow Wedding - The Reception

With wedding details galore, I've fallen hook, line, and sinker for this beautiful farm wedding. There's nothing more stunning than the British countryside on a summer's day, and Abi and Simon got seriously lucky with their wedding weather. With a barn wedding venue and a rustic theme based around DIY details, I love the coherence of their blue and yellow colour scheme. More stealworthy ideas include the naked wedding cake, the raffia ties around the napkins, the mum-made bunting and the home-grown table flowers and wedding favours. Stunning pictures published with thanks to Jo Richards Photography - just take a look at that view!

Our wedding photographer was Jo Richards Photography. We originally had a friend doing our photography, but she pulled out with four months to go, and I did some research to find someone local. 

I had three interviews with wedding photographers in one morning, but Jo won hands down. She totally 'got' my family and our ideas, and also her photos were amazing. Our formal wedding photographs were a breeze, and I am loving looking through them all now.

A Natural Homemade Sunshine Yellow Wedding

There's nothing I like more than a lovely sunshiny yellow-themed wedding to brighten up my Friday - particularly when it's teamed with a Grand Designs-style barn venue, and royal blue bridesmaids. Abi and Simon chose the traditional route of getting married in Abi's home town...or in this case, village. A family friend offered them a barn for their wedding reception, and they completely transformed it from a fertiliser store into the perfect, pretty venue. Talk about inspirational stuff! Simon proposed to Abi with a yellow diamond, to represent her bright personality, so it was a natural theme colour for their wedding. Teamed with all their DIY wedding details, including miles of mum-made bunting and handmade wedding cakes, it's up there with one of my favourite DIY weddings. Huge thanks to Jo Richards Photography for her stunning pictures - more to come from their reception tomorrow!

We celebrated our wedding on 10th August 2013 in Aldbourne in Wiltshire.

I grew up in the area, so I wanted everything in the same village. We both wanted somewhere that we could make 'us' and our family friend said I could have any barn on his property for our reception, so we picked one as our wedding venue.

A Late Summer Wedding with Cornflower Blue Bridesmaids - The Reception

Cath Kidson and Joules have to be among my favourite UK designers, and I'm thrilled to see prints from their collections in this gorgeous barn wedding. Lorraine chose a mixture of Joules and Alexon dresses for her bridesmaids, and I love the bold mix of print and plain. With DIY table flowers, and a wedding cake handmade by a family friend, there's tonnes of wedding inspiration for a budget bride wanting to create her own details. I love the outside barn venue - its bunting and hydrangea filled jam-jars, plus the 'Borrow a Blanket' basket for chilly guests {buy blankets for a £3 each at Ikea}. Other stealworthy ideas include the blackboard table-plan and menu, the Cath Kidson round table runners and the matching tops to the honey wedding favours. Last but definitely not least, take a look at those pavlova puddings....yummy!! Thank you to Victoria Phipps Photography for capturing every perfect detail - Victoria's one of my favourite wedding photographers!

A Late Summer Wedding with Cornflower Blue Bridesmaids

I've always loved cornflowers - the wild pop of bright blue against a golden field of corn, and their untamed, messy stalks. One day I'd love to see a bride carrying a bouquet of just cornflowers, but in the meantime I'll more than make do with Lorraine and Evan's gorgeous wedding flowers! Astonishingly their bouquets and buttonholes were bought wholesale from Nottingham Flower Market and arranged by a friend {Imogen}, and Evan's sister Lucy. I've never seen such professional DIY bouquets - and I love how they pick up on the bunchy trend I flagged up early this year, where blooms are placed next to each other, rather than carefully placed apart. The 'something blue' theme is carried through to the bridesmaids' gowns and the Evan's tie, and even to the ribbon binding the Orders of Service. I love the baby's breath church flowers {simple and easy to recreate}, Lorraine's stunning Enzoani wedding gown with its elegant train, and More from Lorraine and Evan's Townfield Barn wedding reception later today. Huge thanks to Victoria Phipps Photography for her gorgeous wedding pictures.

Real Feather-Themed Teepee Wedding: Zegnia & Matthew - The Reception

Take a teepee, a rustic wedding theme, and a feather motif, and you've got one very happy wedding blogger! I couldn't be more excited about showing you the reception pictures from Zegnia and Matthew's creative big day. Zegnia got really into the planning process, and read lots of wedding blogs like Before the Big Day - coming up with some truly original DIY ideas. From her self-designed feather wedding stationery, the framed table plans and the birch themed table displays and wedding favours, everything fits together beautifully. I'd forgotten how much I love teepee tents - they look stunning festooned with fairy lights, and have you spotted the cute old-fashioned street-lamp at the entrance? Also, don't miss the amazing white chocolate wedding cake by Vanilla Patisserie. It's seriously glamorous! Huge thanks to Lucy Wallace Photography her stunning pictures, and to Zegnia for submitting her wedding - why not do the same? Click for Part 1 - Getting Ready & The Ceremony.

We got married on Sunday 26th May, at St. James’ Church in Nayland, Suffolk followed by a reception at Bear House, my parent's garden. I had always wanted to have our wedding reception where I'd grown up, and it was lovely to be able to walk to and from the church. 

Real Feather-Themed Teepee Wedding: Zegnia & Matthew

Before the Big Day bride submissions are coming thick and fast! Lovely bride, Zegnia, read Before the Big Day in the run up to her wedding, and I'm thrilled to feature her wedding photographs. Her and Matthew chose a feather theme for their wedding day, and I love how it subtly runs through all their wedding details. There are feathers in the bouquets, buttonholes and flower arrangements, and a feather motif on their DIY designed wedding stationary {which looks seriously professional!}. For colours, they chose raspberry, antique silver and champagne, a palette that worked perfectly with their tipi tent. More pictures of their wedding reception coming soon, but for the moment, feast your eyes on the Zegnia's incredible taupe Ian Stuart wedding gown, the bridesmaids individual Coast dresses and Matthew in his made-to-measure suit from A Suit That Fits. Tonnes of wedding inspiration! Huge thanks to Lucy Wallace Photography for capturing every detail with such talent. Click for Part 2 - the reception details.

Matthew and I got married on Sunday 26th May 2013 (the Bank Holiday weekend), at St. James’ Church in Nayland, Suffolk, followed by a reception at Bear House, my parents' garden, also in the village of Nayland.

Real Before the Big Day Bride: Katie & Michael - Reception Details

Time for the wedding reception details! With inspiration from wedding blogs like Before the Big Day, Katie and Michael spent two years preparing their wedding, so you can be sure of some stunning details. My favourites? I've fallen for Katie's incredible David Tutera for Mon Cheri wedding gown, her hand-tied peony and rose bouquet, and her bold bridesmaids' dresses. Nothing like a shot of pink to brighten up a big day! Other fav-picks include the elegant going away car {a Rolls Royce?}, and the super-cute personalised cake topper made by Artlocke Designs. I love how all the wedding details reflect the lace and pearl theme, it creates a really elegant effect you normally only get from a professionally planned wedding. Gorgeous wedding pictures published with thanks to Andrew Billington - don't miss more of his work on his website.

When we were looking around for wedding venues we wanted somewhere with a wow factor, and Waterton Park Hotel fitted the bill. We needed somewhere that would accommodate all 80 of our guests, and have a nice big room with the dance floor in the middle, and plenty of space for all of our DIY ideas. We wanted the decoration to be light and bright to reflect our summery wedding.

Our wedding photographer, Andrew Billington was also a recommendation - I think it's the best way to find a photographer because there are so many out there, which is a bit daunting at first. 

Real Before the Big Day Bride: Katie & Michael

I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's nothing I like more than a Before the Big Day bride! Lovely Katie read Before the Big Day on a regular basis and even signed up for our newsletter as she prepared for her wedding, so it's so exciting for me to feature her gorgeous wedding pictures. A girl after my own heart, she researched her wedding on Pinterest, Etsy and of course Before the Big Day.   As a couple, Katie and Michael DIY'd tonnes of their wedding details, including all the stationery, from Save the Dates, table numbers, the table plan, and a fabulous photo booth. Katie's wedding theme gradually developed once she'd bought her wedding gown - a gorgeous lacy dress by David Tutera for Mon Cheri. This led to lots of lace and pearl wedding details, teamed with a deep raspberry pink and ivory colour palette. Tonnes more wedding details to come in the reception post later today, in the meantime enjoy these gorgeous wedding pictures by Andrew Billington.

We got married on the 22nd June 2013 at St Michael’s Church in East Ardsley and hosted our reception at the stunning Waterton Park Hotel in Walton, Wakefield.

Real Theatrical Vintage Wedding: Laura & Paul - Reception Details

Details, details, it's all in the wedding details! This gorgeous vintage big day is going to blow your mind with its incredible selection of stealworthy ideas. Laura and Paul wanted their wedding to stand out from the crowd, so they hired Chris from Beautifully Vintage to help them out with dressing their wedding reception. And didn't she do a good job! There's a old-school glamorous feel to the vintage props - I love the gilt frames, lace ribbons and old keys. Laura decided to use a vintage tea-set as her table plan - a fantastic idea I've not seen before, and she continued the theme by buying an antique cup and saucer as a wedding favour for female guest. I love the DIY'd naked wedding cake and the stunning just-picked table flowers with their gingham ribbons, plus the lucky horseshoes - you can never have too much good fortune at a wedding. Big love and thanks to wedding photographer Anna Louise Crossley for capturing every detail with such panache!

We got married on Friday 31st May at 12.30pm at St Gregory's Church in Preston, which holds family memories for my husband, so was lovely it meant something something to him. We then hosted our wedding reception at The Shireburn Arms in Hurst Green.

Anna Louise Crossley was our amazing wedding photographer!! I met her when I was bridesmaid for my friend last year, and she was her photographer {and friend} too. I love her reportage style and she just makes the photos look so stylish, yet effortless, plus I love the filters she uses.

We wanted our wedding reception that had a 'nice feeling' to it. Nothing too grand, but we wanted the room to be nice with that old but new look. I wanted to feel cosy and comfortable, but for the venue to still to be stylish. 

I also wanted somewhere different to where anyone we, or my friends, or my friends' friends had got married. Also no patterned carpets was very important ;-)! The Shireburn Arms in Hurst Green fitted the bill perfectly.

I wanted a vintage theme, but nothing too extreme, and I wanted it to be stylish and quite glam too. I didn't think I would be a pink wedding girl, but it seemed to fit the theme perfectly and I do like the dusky/nude pink look. 

Deannamic Designs created our wedding stationery, including the menus. I went to discuss with Deanna what I wanted which was something a bit old looking but with a touch of glam. So we decided on brown kraft card but with pink ribbon and pearls. All my stationery looked gorgeous.

I wanted to try and give the wedding a bit more of the personal touch so I decided to collect vintage teacups, and give one to each lady guest as one of their favours. I had lots of fun trawling around charity shops and vintage fairs looking for them {although I'm not sure Paul did!}.

Inside each cup was a chocolate with a picture of Paul and I, marked with our wedding date and thanking our guests for being there. The male guests got this and a miniature bottle of JD. We also chose to make a donation to Rainbow Trust Charity on behalf of each guest, in memory of my nephew Jack who died last year at the age of two. Rainbow Trust very kindly made a card for each guest with a badge and it was lovely to see a lot of our guests wearing the badge.

I didn’t want your usual type of wedding cake, and as soon as I started researching I found naked cakes. I couldn't decide between the one I found, or a cheese cake as I love cheese.

But when I told my Mum I was thinking about a cheese wedding cake, she couldn’t believe it {she loves cake}, so that swayed my decision. I am so glad I chose the one I did now. My friend Kelly made it, and she more than did me proud – it was just what I wanted.

I really wanted to focus on wedding details – I love organising things and having a project, and I knew that some people would really appreciate the little things I did, and that our wedding would stand out for that reason.

Our table plan was a DIY project – I decided to use a vintage tea-set plus tea-posts with cards with names/table names on each one. 

Our florist was called Flower Design and my flowers were beautiful! I found them by looking at the Facebook site of one of my friend's wedding venue. I wanted my flowers to look vintage-y and have a more 'just picked' look rather than being too 'done'. I knew I wanted sweet peas and peonies included too.

When it came to decorating our wedding venue, I started out by trying to collect all kinds of vintage items myself to use as display items however at a wedding fayre I found Chris from Beautifully Vintage. 

I loved that she designed what I had in my head, so I decided to use her expertise {and her lovely accessories} and asked her decorate the wedding reception instead. We talked a lot about what I wanted the venue to look like and she totally got it – it was gorgeous, and I cried when I walked in!

On the welcome table, we had old family wedding photos in lovely old frames. It was my idea, but Chris from Beautifully Vintage sorted it all out, and made it look fab.

I loved it planning my wedding! I am a really organised person so having a project like this was fab for me. I loved getting into the detail, and researching everything before I made decisions.

My advice to brides planning their wedding would be - take your time researching ideas before you choose things. It's so easy to get excited by everything when you start looking but think things through first. Also have a theme, even if only lose, this will help you choose between ideas if you are struggling. 

Also, be organised and start early – I was adamant I wouldn’t be doing my table plan at the 11th hour – and I felt so much less stressed for it and could enjoy the build-up the closer it got. And enjoy – it's fun!!!

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