A festival themed wedding eh?
Think wellies, straw hats, Pimms and table names such as ‘Global Gathering' and ‘The Big Chill' ~ all because Penny and Dougal first laid eyes on each other at a music festival. So sweet!
I love how Penny and Dougal infused all the different elements of their lives into their wedding from the wall of vintage family photos to the South African music playing at their wedding ceremony (a nod to Penny's roots) to the fun, personalised ales (Dougal's dad runs a brewery).
Penny was effortlessly elegant in her Stephanie Allin gown, with fresh flowers in her hair, chandelier earrings and a fur stole, while Dougal rocked a royal blue three piece suit proving that grooms don't have to stick to boring black.
These photos by Sarah Legge Photography give us a gorgeous glimpse into their special day.
Isn't that just the prettiest land rover you ever did see?!
Here's Penny with all the details:
Everything you saw had a story of its own, or was made our own by fair hands or with help from our friends. There was no set colour as such, just a myriad of lovely colours that were soft, fresh and feminine. Ladies ended up in Champagne, Boys in Blue. Then we had some soft pinks, white and greens with blue berries.
The Flowers
This was truly the most beautiful bouquet I had ever seen. It had White O'Hara , Alabaster,Juliette and Quicksand Roses, Anemones, Brunia and Eucalyptus Populous Foliage . The buttonholes had the Quicksand roses and Eucalyptus.
Bridesmaids
Each bridesmaid wore a dress from a different shop that best suited their figures and personalities, but of the same colour . Dresses were from Coast, Warehouse, Red Herring.
The Ceremony
The ceremony was personal with 3 beautiful and slightly unusual non-religious readings. My favourites being – Blessing of the Hands by Rev D. I. Harris and I will be Here by Stephen Curtis Chapman- simple words that explained what we thought marriage was all about – real tear jerkers!. We had up beat hymns to get everyone singing loud, Lord of all hopefulness, Give me Joy in my Heart and Lord of the Dance.
During the signing of the registers we played a selection of beautiful music by Ladysmith Black Mombassa to touch on the bride's South African birthplace.
DIY Confetti
The confetti has to be one of my favourite DIY projects. Whenever we had a car journey, I would spend it cutting out cones shapes out of Financial Times newspapers and then sticking the sides together with pritstick to make homemade pink confetti cones.
Then I filled them with fresh confetti from Daisy Gifts. The most awesome lookng confetti for 120 people, for just £24!
The Reception Venue
Grittenham Barn – best venue ever as it lets you do whatever you want to it and has just one wedding a week, so the place really becomes yours. They have amazing lighting options, and donkeys outside too!
Décor
Our standout piece was a huge heart we made out of twigs then covered in fresh green hops. We raised it above the fireplace. It gave a beautiful rustic feel to the barn. We strung the rafters with homemade bunting and the florist put in a huge flower ball that hung from the ceiling.
His n Hers Favours
A small bag of Penny Sweets. I sourced the pink stripy bags from Not on the highstreet.com and got some personalised stickers made up which said :Pennys sweets and Special Treats. I then filled them with a selection of vintage penny sweets, shrimps, refreshers, flying saucers etc…
Dougal and his father , who runs Woodfordes Real Ale Brewery in Norfolk had special bottles of beer made, complete with a personalised printed label on which was the story of how we met and got engaged, and the beer was called ‘to Have and to Hold’…so people could take them home with them!
Photo Wall
We created our own photo wall. As a nod to our ancestors, we asked our families to dig out old wedding photos from our immediate families. The oldest we found dated backto 1847! We went to a car boot sale and picked up a number of old bashed up vintage looking frames for about £11 in total. Then put black and white photocopies of the pictures in the frames (not wanting to ruin the originals!). We then labelled them all so our guests could have a look at their leisure and see where we both came from!
Cheese Cake
We constructed our own wedding cheese cake stand out of a huge tree trunk that we plained and smoothed off at home, and sat that on top of a beer barrel and covered it in barley. We also asked the mums to make some yummy cakes, family favourites which we presented on a cake and sweetie table next to the ale, for any guests with a sweet tooth!
A Sentimental Table Plan
Our table plan was a borrowed cream ladder which we decorated with the straw hat that Dougal was wearing when he first met Penny, and her festival wellies sitting underneath adorned with some ribbon for the special occasion. We then added some fresh flowers in little jam jars from the garden.
The table plans were large luggage tags I bought from Not on the High Street, and we printed out the table names at home and stuck them on, then strung them up on To have and To hold cloth ribbon also from Not on the High Street – this ribbon was also on our invites so it all tied in.
The Wedding Music
Processional song: Where sheep may safely graze, Bach
Recessional song; Toccato by Widor, symphony no. 5
First Dance: Stripped back acoustic version by Mike Lee of Lemonheads – Into your arms
The Land Rover
My great friend had a really old land rover and this was to be the wedding car so the bridesmaids were given the task of decorating the car with flowers, bunting and ribbon to get it ready for the big day. We even had fake grass laid down in the back and Pimms and Guinness cans strung off the back. Penny was working for Pimms when they first met in Hyde Park working at the Wireless festival.
Photography & Videography
Our photographer Sarah Legge, caught my eye immediately. Her personality was so warm on her website (the fact she brings her own sandwiches says it all) and her shots were beautiful. Fresh, comical, and natural. I thought she would have the perfect eye to pick up on the details of the day and hopefully get the best out of Dougal and I – who arent so keen on posing!
There was no one that came close to her in terms of the type of shots she takes. Just stunning. She was a real trooper on the day – whilst heavily pregnant, she was battling and shivering through the rain and the cold to get the shots in…with not one complaint! What a star.
The videographer, Gorgeous Films, was picked as my friend also had their wedding filmed and I've never seen anything so beautiful. It wasn't a typical wedding video, more like a cinematic film which captured the essence of the day so well. I cant wait to see the resutls!
Penny and Dougal's Advice For Other Couples
Make sure the venue you choose makes you feel comfortable and happy and lets you do the things you want to do in it. There are so many restrictions nowadays!
The more you put in the more you get out. The fact we had so many DIY touches made our day so personal and we couldn't help but enjoy it and know our guests would too.
Think creatively, DIY projects can save you pounds. Get your firends involved too – not only do they love to be asked, but it makes them enjoy the day even more as they have been a part of it all.
It does get stressful – as there is loads to do – but maintain a perspective and just do what you can. Somehow, it does all flow perfectly on the day anyway!
Congratulations Penny and Dougal! Thanks for sharing your wedding with us. Thanks also to Sarah Legge Photography for sharing these beautiful photos!
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