Planning began in earnest for their al fresco celebrations. "My parents very kindly allowed us to use their garden for the wedding venue and we got married in the local church just two minutes walk up the road in the village," explains Jen. In keeping with the relaxed mood, the couple chose not to follow a strict colour scheme, and instead carried a dark navy through the suits, stationery, tents and parasols to tie the details together.
Chancing upon a Justin Alexander sample gown, Jen customised the dress by altering the neckline and adding details and colour to echo the outdoorsy, natural mood. "I also added some three-dimensional flowers to the dress and made the belt for it as well. My mum made the butterflies, moths and some of the flowers for me."
A team of family and friends pitched in to transform the garden into a magical celebration space, hanging bunting, stringing wires for the lights and arranging flowers in jugs, vases and bottles collected from antiques fairs. They also made decorations from horseshoes and bike chain rings and created apple crates filled with white roses to prettify the church.
These group efforts have made for some of the standout memories of the wedding. "Two nights before, when we turned on the lights and lit up the garden for the first time, it was magical! Particularly after we had dropped the lights several times putting them up, had no spares left and were actively avoiding the weather forecast and any mention of rain!" reflects Jen.
After taking their vows at St. Paul's Church, Jen and James emerged as newly-weds to a deluge of confetti and, for Jen, a novel mode of transport in the form of a shiny green wheelbarrow. "Pillows for comfort were kindly provided by my devious family who never mentioned a word," she says.
Guests mingled and feasted on barbecued chicken, roast pork and salads in the glorious garden setting, rounded off with "the best pavlovas you've ever seen in your life!" from Kerra's Catering. Live band The Duotones provided the soundtrack to the evening celebrations with their acoustic mix of jazz, blues and folk. Their rendition of 'Skinny Love' for the first dance - together with a fireworks display to conclude the celebrations - proved to be the couple's favourite moments.
When it comes to advice, Jen is emphatic: "Do it your way! For us, it was really important for the wedding to reflect us; we didn't want to have to work around any restrictions. We wanted our family and friends to relax and to just enjoy the day and evening with them."
Photography Ross Talling www.rosstalling.co.uk
Venue St. Paul's Church, Upton Cross followed by garden party
Dress Justin Alexander from All About Eve www.allaboutevebridalwear.com
Catering Kerra's Catering www.kerrascatering.co.uk
Groom's outfit Perfection www.perfectionbridalcardiff.co.uk
Make-up Gem Ryder www.gemryder.com
Entertainment The Duotones www.warble-entertainment.com
Copyright Wed magazine 2014
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