Friday 18 November 2016

Meg got hitched - Batsford Arboretum

Batsford Arboretum 
30th July 2016


I am so sorry this blog post is so late! I can't quite get my head around the fact we're now in November. Millie has celebrated her first wedding anniversary & our best friend Sophie gets married in 4 weeks time. In the 4 months since our wedding so much has happened in a short period of time and although this is very overdue, I still wanted to celebrate our wedding photos with you, thank all our fabulous supplier & share a little of our day! 



*Warning you now, this is a photo heavy post! 


Our wedding photographer was the lovely Nadia Dixon, a customer of mine in Painswick and now a friend that's taken photos of the shop for me in the past. I was thrilled when Nadia agreed to do our wedding as it was so important to us that we felt comfortable - neither of us are particularly confident having a photo taken. Although I should have listened to all the advice instead of stressing because on the day, you're so deliriously happy that you don't notice the photographer at all. Nadia also brought her son Sasha along as her second photographer, they were both running around all day, totally got the style we wanted and came up with photos that we adore! The first big thank you goes to Nadia and Sash x





("Flip flops" I hear you cry... Harry did wear shoes for the ceremony before changing into his preferred choice of footwear - I quickly learnt marriage is all about compromise) 


Our gorgeous tipi's from World Inspired Tents went up on the Thursday before the wedding so we had a full day for setting up, which was a bit of a DIY job. Luckily for us, my family are in the catering industry (The Falcon Hotel in Painswck) so we were in very safe hands - My Dad could totally be a wedding planner! We called on lots of favours from friends and family;  my sister in law made our delicious chocolate wedding cake and merigunes to go with coffee, a family friend did the catering... 10 beef wellingtons!! but they were all absolutely perfect. One of my bridesmaids did all the calligraphy for our table plan, place names, etc which looked perfect and my now Father in law even made our wedding rings. It made the week of the wedding and setting up really fun and will definitely be remembered as a big part of our special wedding experience. Somehow (because I wasn't the most organised bride) the whole thing came together perfectly! We can not thank our friends and family enough for all their help. 





The day...


I woke up with two of my bridesmaids in a lovely cottage in Longbrough that my family had rented for the weekend which was perfect, it slept 10, loads of room to get ready, great location and we even had space for a garden party the night before. Then the rest of my bridesmaids met us there for a champagne breakfast, gifts and to get ready. I will NOT be recommending my hairdressers... it was the only stress I experienced all day! They just did not follow the brief AT ALL and were pretty rude. However, no amount of stress can ruin your day and I was happy with my hair in the end. I did my own makeup with help from my cousin who did my eye makeup. I also had my lashes done the Wednesday before the wedding by my friend Georgie at Gorgeous by Georgie

My dress and belt was a Katya Katya Shehurina design which I went to London with my Mum & Dad specifically for. I knew I wanted a shorter dress but without it being a 50's style so after searching on Pinterest, I found 'Anna' - a vintage french lace dress which I fell for straight away. It fitted me, my style and the whole vibe of the day perfectly! 






















{Beautiful bouquet by The Bespoke Flower Company}



Harry and I got married at St.Mary's Church in Batsford Village at 2pm, it's a stunning little church which you can visit via Batsford Arboretum. Although we wanted a church wedding, our whole day was very informal so St.Mary's understated charm fitted perfectly. We were always going to get married at Batsford... Harry's Step Dad, Stu is the director at Batsford Arboretum and Harry's Mum, Heather owns a fabulous vintage, Annie Sloan shop, The Applestore there. We celebrate most family occasions at Batsford and for us, there is nowhere as beautiful we would've wanted to get married. We feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to get married there! 




















After the "I do's" we enjoyed Prosecco ice lollies outside the church, then our guests walked through the stunning Arboretum to the tipi's where everything was waiting for them, our fab duo guitarists Brother From Another were playing, our DIY gin bar was all set up, canapĂ©s were being handed round and the AMAZING Travelling Pub Co was all set up with their horse box pub. Having not seen the venue for 24 hours I was absolutely blown away with how all the finishing touches had come together, the flowers were gorgeous and The Travelling Pub Co had very kindly added more seating and props which really brought all three areas together. It was perfect and created the exact, chilled, festival vibes we had been planning... of course, the sunshine helped too! We were so lucky. 





















After our delicious food, speeches and as our evening guests started to arrive... the party began! We had such lovely weather it meant everyone was happy chilling outside until it went dark, when the fire pit was then lit and burgers were served. Then we danced into the night... or early morning! We didn't have a cut off point so our DJ played until we couldn't dance anymore. 




















Everything really did go perfectly and we are still amazed that the whole day came together as well as it did. We never really had a budget but knew we didn't want to spend a fortune and were very fortunate that we could ask for help when needed, we really could not have done it without our friends and family! All the stress of planning (not my forte) is worth it. We were so lucky the sun shone, our guests seemed to have a wonderful time, got fully stuck in and didn't judge us for our relaxed approach... the whole day just felt like us, exactly how we wanted it to! Huge thank you again to all our wonderful suppliers and everyone who was involved in our special day.

Meg & Harry x


Suppliers List:
Stationery - The Paper Hare
Photographer - Nadia Dixon 
Suit - Ted Baker
Bridesmaid Dresses - ASOS

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