So this second feature of Laura and Jamie’s DIY wedding starts where we left off yesterday morning, with Jamie waiting as Laura walks down the aisle — I love the anticipation of this part of the day, and the romance as eyes meet… and today’s blog feature only gets better and better as we scroll through all the beautiful wedding pictures.
You’ll love the rustic DIY table centrepieces, the children’s wedding favours (so cute!), the charm of Gate Street Barn wedding venue. I want you to smile at the enchantment of the sparkling candelabras, be inspired by the fabric printed table plan which Laura made, and resolve to make your own newspaper confetti cones… but most of all — just feel the love.
“Romeo and Juliet” was Laura and Jamie’s first dance song. It fits like a glove — the love in their eyes should go down in history — a beautiful couple, and a favorite wedding for English Wedding Blog.
Love…
A beautiful, DIY, Gate Street Barn wedding
All images by the wonderful Sam Clayton PhotographyWedding venue: Gate Street Barn
Wedding photographer: Sam Clayton (she was amazing, I love my pictures)
How would you describe your wedding style?
Old English shabby chic. I wanted the day to be creative and personal to Jamie and I.
The wedding ceremony: Civil Ceremony
Which readings did you choose? I have your heart — E.H Cummings
What were your wedding highlights?
* The first dance, which was to Romeo and Juliet by Dire straits. They were my dad’s favorite band, and he sadly died before he could see me get married. It made me feel like he was a part of our day.
* Having all our friends and family in the same place having fun and being happy.
* My shoes, as they were exactly how I imagined them in my head. It rarely happens in design that something turns out like that!
Laura wore a wedding dress by Spanish designer Jesus Peiro. I bought it before I became pregnant, so there were a few additions to it on the way!! Shay Harris who I bought my dress from was so patient and kind, and was a brilliant seamstress to boot.
Jamie wore a bespoke suit from a suit that fits, but had a really bad experience with them, so wouldn’t recommend them!
Wedding venue styling and details:
As Gate Street Barn is so pretty as it is, it didn’t really need much dressing. It is a blank canvas though, so lends itself to any theme.
I made quite a lot of the decorations myself, taking inspiration from magazines, wedding blogs and Etsy.
I also love antique shops and car boot sales, so found lots of bits and pieces there. My cousin restores old furniture for a living, and he painted up an old fire screen for me to use as my table plan.
Laura’s DIY fabric wedding stationery
I found some amazing paper on the internet which lets you print on to fabric which I made our invites with, and lots of the other parts of the decoration. I had 2 years to make all my creative bits, and I enjoyed every moment of it! I was gutted that I no longer had a ‘project’ when our wedding day had passed.
I wanted it to be personal and creative without being OTT. Katie the florist is also a good friend of mine, so she just let me have a free rein and let me act out all my ideas, even if it was a pain in the bum for her! I have since fallen in love with flowers, and am starting a career in floristry as Katie’s assistant when Kitty is a bit older.
Wedding music and entertainment:
We hired a band called Electric Mayhem, and we made playlists of all our fav songs.
We also hired a caricaturist to draw our family and friends while we were having our pictures taken. He was so good, and everyone had one to take home with them.
I made party bags for the kids to keep them amused throughout the day, which I think the parents were glad of!
The speeches were brilliant. A really good mix of funny and emotional. Jamie’s Spanish family were over from Seville and they can’t speak any English so his speech was also in Spanish. He doesn’t see them very often so it was very emotional for him. My mom and Jamie’s best man David were also amazing.
Wedding day advice:
Have a drink, relax and just enjoy the day. As I was 5 months pregnant when we got married and couldn’t drink, I noticed little things which I would have changed about the day and obsessed about them! Control freak me wanted everything to be just prefect, but it’s impossible to control every little part of the day. No one else would have noticed these little bits, it was just me! I wish I had been a bit more chilled!
The day went by so fast, all I can advise is to have fun and don’t take it all too seriously.
Also don’t get married so early. Our service was at 12 noon, and although we had a really lovely long wedding day, getting everyone ready and at the venue for that time was an experience!