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.

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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Real Theatrical Vintage Wedding: Laura & Paul

As a wedding blogger, I felt a certain amount of pressure to fill my wedding with wedding details, but my big day had nothing on Laura and Paul's wedding! With the help of Chris from Beautifully Vintage  they filled their wedding reception with a veritable stage-set of stunning vintage details. The result is a theatrical Great Gatsby feel, which must have created a real sense of excitement for their guests. Make sure you check back later today for the second feature on their wedding reception details - you won't want to miss them! That isn't to say there isn't tonnes of wedding inspiration in this post! Just take a look at Laura's exquisite Paloma Blanca wedding gown, her bridesmaids' fantastic Ghost dresses {I've long been a fan of Ghost}, and Paul's dapper suit, waistcoat and white tie combo. I love the glam feel of this wedding, from the vintage broach on Laura's bouquet, the Bentley wedding transport and the girls' gorgeous hair and make-up. Huge thanks to wedding photographer Anna Louise Crossley for her gorgeous pictures - love the shot of the girls in the bath!

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.

I love shopping and buying dresses so I wanted to keep my options open and try all styles of wedding gowns. But I was adamant I wanted Jimmy Choo or Louboutin wedding shoes! In the end I chose Jimmy Choos - I love that I can wear them again even with just skinny jeans.

My wedding dress was by Paloma Blanca and came from One and Only Bridal in Preston, as did the veil which was very long, one tier, and fine, and my gorgeous headpiece – I loved both of them.

Choosing my dress took a bit of time! I knew straight away after trying a couple on that big strapless dresses weren't for me. but what I was undecided on for a while was whether to go for a Jenny Packham slinky beaded number, or something a little more traditional. I opted to feel more 'wedding-y' and most people weren't surprised at my choice, as it was quite fitted and understated but classy-looking, which is what I usually try to go for in an outfit.

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.

I wanted a vintage wedding 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, so I chose that as my wedding colour.

I found my bridesmaid dresses in Ghost. They are all gorgeous girls and I wanted them to look and feel a bit glam. Their shoes were from Debenhams – nice big heels and were a bargain. As their gift I bought them a lovely pearl beaded handbag each to compliment the look.

Paul’s suit was from Slaters in Preston. He wanted navy blue as it felt different to the usual black or grey. He looked gorgeous! And so did our son in his little version!

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.

♥ Want to see vintage weddings? ♥ Or how about more pink themed weddings? ♥

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