I have to admit, I am a self confessed magpie. Sparkles, glitter, fairy lights, if it’s shiny and glittery then I am a fan. So when I clapped eyes on Alex and Natasha’s enchanting barn wedding lit with fairy lights I was smitten. The couple were married on the 16th November 2018 at Kingscote Barn in the beautiful Cotswolds. The venue was perfect for their winter wedding as it meant they could hold both the ceremony and reception all in one place and what a magical space it is. It was also enhanced by an abundance of flowers and greenery. They had a spectacular flower arch, which they used in both the ceremony and reception décor, a suspended floral chandelier and lush bouquets all round. Stunning.
Using a palette of burgundy, grey and copper they decorated their tables beautifully. There was calligraphy stationery and romantic chair sashes as well as lantern candles for a soft light. Another great touch was the s’mores station, which looked like it went down a treat come evening. Yum!
There were also beautiful outfits, flawless hair and make up and a perfectly rustic naked cake to name a few. On hand to capture all of the wonderful moments was Oobaloos Photography and we are so thankful to be sharing these images today.
The Proposal
The proposal was absolutely perfect!!! Alex whisked me off to Venice for my 30th, and during the second day, on the cutest of bridges, Alex got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Obviously there was no hesitation in my answer. Alex told me after that he’d asked my son, Alfie to help choose the ring which made it even more special.
The Vision
We knew we wanted something really relaxed, and not too traditional. We’d already had a child together so felt that we could break a few more rules! We wanted our day to reflect us, and we both had the same priorities Music, Food, Fizz and Flowers (OK, maybe Alex wasn’t so hung up on flowers, but he appreciated how important they were to me).
The Planning Process
The planning process wasn’t as tricky as we thought, being in the wedding industry I had a great bank of suppliers I knew I’d call on. We had 18 months to plan our day, however the majority of the planning took place within the 8 months as we quickly had a baby during that time too!
The Budget
Budget wise, it wasn’t endless but we were fairly flexible with some aspects. We set our target at 15k, and we may’ve gone over that a little but I think we got a lot for our money and everyone had a really good day!
The Venue
The venue we thought would be a harder choice, It was a little tough because we have SO many gorgeous venues around the Cotswold although we were pretty certain we wanted to get married in a barn. We quickly ruled out having a ceremony elsewhere, as we wanted our guests to fully relax in one setting, and limit the chances of being caught in the British weather! We visited a few other style of venues just to make sure, but the barns felt more like us. We instantly both fell in love with Kingscote, the atmosphere, the décor and the staff were right up our street!
Beauty
I was always really adamant to have the works on my wedding day. I get to spend all my weekends with brides prepping them for their day. I see how relaxed they are, without the worry of having to do their own bridal styling. I chose Nicola Harrison who is a fabulous makeup artist from my home county. I knew from the very first contact that she was the right person, and someone who I’d want to spend my wedding morning with. Stacey from Updo was our hair stylist, and I’ll be forever grateful to her for letting me book with little time to go. I’d worked with Stacey on weddings and so I knew how amazingly calm and friendly she would be on the day.
The Readings & Music
We chose one reading each. Our beloved Luna dog didn’t join us during our ceremony, so I surprised Alex with a reading from Luna called ‘What I learned about love, I learned from my dog!’ Alex then chose the famous Joey Tribbiani wedding speech which was read by our close friend, Chris!
Music was a really important aspect for both of us. So we opted for a singer during the ceremony and reception drinks – who went down a storm. We’ve had many guests ask for his details so I’m looking forward to seeing Sam pop up again at future weddings. For the evening we went for a familiar band – Frontrunner, who we knew played an eclectic mix of genres and knew how to work a crowd. I don’t think the dance floor was ever free, and some serious shapes were being thrown the whole night!
Your Outfits & Accessories
After looking around a few local dress boutiques and being spoilt for choice, I took my mum’s wild card and visited a small boutique (The Bridal Gallery) in Malvern which is where my mum grew up. During my first visit I found ‘the one’ a blush lace Opulence dress! As predicted by almost everyone, it wasn’t what I thought I’d choose but it felt like me and after a few alterations it was perfect. I chose a pair of rose gold Dune Shoes to compliment the blush tones in my dress, and I was keen to try and choose a pair that I was likely to wear again. I decided against a veil, and chose some pretty hairpieces instead.
Alex is 6”4 so finding a well fitted suit has always been tough for him so from day dot he knew he wanted a bespoke suit. We decided on tweed as it fitted with the theme and the time of year perfectly but it proved difficult to find but Moss Bros came up trumps in the end!
Groomsmen
The groomsmen were also kitted out in grey tweed, a slight variation to Alex’s. We hired the suits from an independent business called Dapper Dans who are based in Wolverhampton – again finding their tweed was difficult!
Bridesmaids
After a few colour scheme changes, we decided on a gorgeous mulberry colour for the bridesmaids. After a lot of searching we found ours online at TFNC, and with the help from one of my lovely bridesmaids they were altered to fit my maids perfectly.
The Flowers
Our flowers! There was no question it was always going to be Issy and Bella. I’ve been admiring Jo’s flowers for years and I knew her style would be the perfect fit for us. From the first meet I knew it was all in hand. I gave a short brief of colours and left everything else down to Jo. I LOVE flowers, and we always have them in our home so I wanted lots of them throughout our wedding. I’m sure the budget was far more than Alex had ever dreamed of, but he agreed it was more than worth it and they really made the venue.
Your Photographer
I’d worked with Sheryl professionally a few times and so I knew her work was what we were after – atmospheric, fun and relaxed! Although we needed our photographer to provide more than just good photos. Neither Al and I are huge fans of having our photos taken, so we needed whoever we chose to be put us at ease. I knew Sheryl would do this – she made me laugh from the moment she arrived and instantly put our guests at ease too.
The Cake
My gorgeous bridesmaid Emily, is such a fantastic baker (she should definitely do it professionally!) so we asked her if she wouldn’t mind making our cake for us. I have a dairy intolerance so I was super chuffed when I found out Em had made it dairy free – not that any of our guests could tell – it was that good!!!
The Details & Décor
Kingscote really didn’t need much in the way of decorations, it really is already so beautiful. We just enhanced the atmosphere with lots of lanterns, candles and a gorgeous fairy light canopy. I left the decorating down to Lyla from the Cotswolds Wedding Company and along with the flower queen the barn looked better than I could’ve ever imagined. During the evening we lit some fire pits and our family created the most amazing S’more bar for our guests to enjoy!
The Honeymoon
We went away to Monmouthshire for a minimoon. We had 5 days in a gorgeous farm cottage with our two sons and just enjoyed the newlywed bliss together. We had intended to fly away somewhere exotic this November for our official honeymoon but our third baby has other ideas! Maybe we’ll look forward to a getaway in 2020.
Memorable Moments
It’s sounds cheesy but there were so many special moments, so many special moments, but a few that stand out – our beautiful maid of honour and my cousin Laura, both surprising me with speeches. They were just amazing and left me speechless and a blobbing mess!! Tori is not known for her secret keeping skills (me with anyway!) but she kept quiet about this one!!
My eldest son walked me down the aisle, which was such a special moment and one that I won’t ever forget. I was very proud – being only 9 – so it could’ve gone either way!!
Advice For Other Couples
Our advice would be to not lose sight of why you’re getting married and remember the day is a reflection of you two, and no one else. And just have fun, you only do it once!
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Photography
Oobaloos Photography
Decor
The Cotswold Wedding Company
Flowers
Issy and Bella
Make Up
Nicola Harrison
How magical!? Wow.
Alex and Natasha, thank you ever so much for sharing your beautiful wedding story with us xo Lou