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I Designed My Own Dress! Melissa and Jamie’s Traditional English Wedding with Rustic and Quirky Elements

By Claire

The gor­geous cou­ple have the most roman­tic story and their wed­ding is sim­ply won­der­ful too. Watch out for the cutest leaf name place set­tings, apple menu hold­ers, flower jars with rus­tic twine, log table num­bers and the burlap seat­ing plan… all out of this world. The high­light of course has to be Melissa’s dress — I know you’ll love it.

Con­grat­u­la­tions to the lovely Melissa and Jamie, and thank you to Shaun Tay­lor Pho­tog­ra­phy for sub­mit­ting their wed­ding for us all to share today. Enjoy! Claire xxx

A tra­di­tional Eng­lish wed­ding with rus­tic details




























The bride and groom: Melissa and Jamie Green

Who pro­posed, and how?

Jamie pro­posed on our 3 year anniver­sary when we were 18. He cooked us a meal and set up a roman­tic can­dlelit table in our home. He got down on one knee after we had eaten, pre­sented me with a beau­ti­ful ring and told me that I would be his wife and I agreed. ?

Wed­ding venue:

We mar­ried at the local church in the vil­lage where we met and went to school together.

Wed­ding photographer:

Our pho­tog­ra­pher was Shaun Tay­lor whose reportage pho­tog­ra­phy really stood out amongst other people’s work we had seen. We both felt that pho­tog­ra­phy was one of the most impor­tant things as it’s the one thing we would have to remem­ber the day – we couldn’t be hap­pier with the end results!

How would you describe your wed­ding style?

Rustic/Nature. Tra­di­tional with quirky elements.

The wed­ding ceremony:

We had a beau­ti­ful and emo­tional cer­e­mony, the Vicar kept us smil­ing with his many jokes which our guests really appreciated.

Which read­ings did you choose?

We chose Colos­sians 3v 12– 17 which was read by Jamie’s Grand­fa­ther and Corinthi­ans 13 which was read by my mother.

Wed­ding day highlights?

After a very chaotic start to the day, walk­ing in to the church to see Jamie wait­ing for me was the best feel­ing. After the cer­e­mony, we had a camper­van drive us to the recep­tion. The quiet time we had together was very special.

Wed­ding venue styling and details:

We knew that the hall would need a lot to make it the venue we wanted it to be and found it the per­fect oppor­tu­nity to use our cre­ative skills. We used var­i­ous shades of green with hints of yel­low and wood ele­ments through­out. Many of the wooden details were crafted by my father. These included table num­bers carved into birch tree slices, the cake stand, place set­tings and a wooden wish­ing well. The cen­tre­pieces were jars that we had been col­lect­ing filled with coun­try style flow­ers which I arranged the morn­ing of the wedding.

Music and entertainment:

One of my good friends with a beau­ti­ful voice sang a set for us as a wed­ding gift. We set up a pho­to­booth where our guests enjoyed tak­ing pho­tos using props. For the few chil­dren, we cre­ated an activ­ity book­let and there was a play park out­side of the hall for them to play.

What did you wear?

Jamie and his grooms­men wore gray tails with ivory waist­coats with leaf detail­ing to suit the theme. They had apple green cra­vats which had to be sep­a­rately sourced.

After months of not being able to find the per­fect dress, I designed my wed­ding dress myself and had it made through a local sup­plier. It fea­tured lace with del­i­cate pearl detail­ing and flo­ral ele­ments to tie in with the theme. I also wore a beau­ti­ful pearl bracelet I received as a present from Jamie on the day.

Mem­o­rable moments:

Run­ning through the vil­lage to the church arm in arm with my father after set­ting off forty min­utes late!

Wed­ding day advice:

Ensure that all your atten­dants are fully pre­pared and will­ing to help keep the day run­ning smoothly so you can relax and enjoy your­selves. Prac­tice your first dance!

Rec­om­mended wed­ding suppliers: