It’s Friday… yippee and Spring is certainly in the air. Helen and Rich were married in September of last year, but the pretty pastels in their wedding day makes it feel almost Spring like.

Helen and Rich chose the Cuckmere Barn in East Sussex as their wedding venue, which provides the most gorgeous setting for their informal, handmade day.

I so so love Helen’s pale green wedding dress, it’s refreshingly beautiful and bang on trend with this seasons pastel trends. I so love the rustic, countryside feel of the blooms and the handmade shabby chic touches they brought to their wedding.

Thanks so much to the amazing Tino and Pip Photography for sharing their images with us today, here is what they had to say about the day;

“As far as couples go, we’ve not met many as laid back as Helen and Rich! This really seemed to help their guests feel at home – Rich did a little dance in the recessional which made everyone giggle! It truly was a thoroughly relaxed affair – even when the rain came, everyone carried on inside the beautiful barn at The English Wine Centre without batting an eyelid! The home-made details like the bunting and flower girls’ baskets, plus Rich’s mum’s variety of cakes were gorgeous, and thoroughly in keeping with the rustic theme. An absolute pleasure – thanks so much guys, and congratulations again!”

Names…. Rich & Helen

Wedding Date…. 10/09/11

The Proposal…. Over a glass of wine in a candle lit wine cellar bar.

The Vision for the day…. We were aiming for a really relaxed informal day in nice surroundings with some handmade touches here and there. We’re really not the fairy-tale wedding types!

The Planning process…. The most difficult thing was picking the venue and the photographers then getting them both for a day the registrar could do. Everything else seemed easy compared to that!

Budget…. £7,000

The Venue… Cuckmere Barn, English Wine Centre, Alfriston, East Sussex. We fell in love with the barn as soon as we saw it; set up against the Sussex Downs with pretty gardens at the front it was everything we wanted.

The Dress + Accessories….. Strapless empire line celery coloured ankle length dress. Ivory lace cap sleeve bolero. Ivory slingback shoes.

Finding the dress…. Helen found Divine Gowns in Chelmsford (local to us) friendly and helpful. They provided great advice and had a good selection of dresses.

Groom’s attire… Grey suit, ivory waistcoat with celery coloured detailing and a celery coloured cravat hired from Dickies in Eastbourne.

The Readings + Music…. We decided not to go for readings as we couldn’t think of anything meaningful to both of us (that hadn’t been used in friends weddings) so we spent more time picking the music. Helen came in to Gabriel’s Oboe by Ennio Morricone. We both really like the classical composer Debussy so decided on some of Rich’s favourites for signing the register (Arabesque #1, Clair de Lune, La fille aux cheveux de lin). We left to Jackie Wilson singing ‘Higher and Higher’

Beautiful bridesmaids….. Opting to not have bridesmaids, we chose our nieces to be flower girls, handing out confetti to the guests.

The Flowers… Calla lilies featured on our wedding invitations so we were very keen to have some real ones on the day. Ladybird Flowers in Eastbourne provided a beautiful bouquet along with buttonholes and table decorations.

The Cake… Keeping with the handmade feel, Rich’s Mum provided a range of cakes for the wedding. We had a traditional fruitcake as well as chocolate, ginger and Battenberg cakes.

Your Photographer…. After much deliberation and reviewing nearly 100 photographers on the Internet we decided on Penny and Martin from Tino & Pip Photography. We were really impressed by their portfolio and website; when we met them we got the sense they would deliver the kind of natural shots we wanted. On the day they were comfortable blending in with the guests to take informal and artistic pictures that reflected our wedding.

The Details + Decor…. Helen decorated baskets for the flower girls with hand made fabric flowers and made huge amounts of bunting to decorate the Marquee with materials purchased from eBay. Rich designed a set of table numbers that were pasted to wine bottles as well as seating plans that followed the same theme. Our wedding favours were hand-finished boxes of heart shaped jellybeans.

The Honeymoon…. We honeymooned on the Greek island of Santorini staying on the outskirts of Oia in a cave house on the side of a cliff. It was a stunning location for a lazy ten days of sun and fantastic food. We took in a few sights while on the island including the town of Thira and a trip to the volcano Nea Kameni.

Memorable moments… The wait for Helen to walk down the aisle. Helen being prematurely called Helen Day by the registrar. Rich not paying attention during the ceremony. Rich’s impromptu dance back up the aisle after the ceremony. Rich’s speech. Lovely food and wine. Dancing flowergirls.

Advice for other couples… Book the venue, registrar and photographers first; everything else is easy after that. Enjoy your day and don’t worry if things don’t quite go to plan.

Credit where credit’s due…

The English Wine Centre Venue www.englishwine.co.uk

Divine Gowns, Chelmsford Wedding Dress www.divinebride.co.uk

Dickies, Eastbourne Formal Suit Hire www.dickieseastbourne.co.uk

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