Meon Bye Farm Wedding Colourful Rustic & Relaxed Marquee

We’ve got all the relaxed sunny vibes for you lovely lot today with Naomi and Ed’s personal, colourful and natural nuptials. They became Mr and Mrs on the 14th July 2018 on what looks like a simply beautiful day. A church wedding was very important to them and they followed this service with a cake reception, then celebrations in a wonderfully light and bright marquee at Meon Bye Farm, Titchfield in Hampshire.

Naomi’s clever sister was responsible for the gorgeous blooms, what a lovely personal touch. They go perfectly with the relaxed and country feel of the rest of the décor. Naomi’s mum also played her part by sewing metres and metres of colourful bunting!

Our pair were delighted with their choice of photographer in Jessica Hayman Photography and it’s easy to see why. Thank you so much for sharing these gorgeous images with us Jessica.

The Proposal

We went for a walk along Lepe Beach; I love being by the sea and growing up we would look for sea glass, smoothed over and washed in by the tide. We walked along the shoreline and out onto a spit with the sea lapping on both sides, on our way back up to the beach Ed suggested we look for sea glass. Next thing I knew I heard my name and he was down on one knee and asking me to marry him! Ed told me later he had carried the ring with him for a little while, waiting for just the right moment (and the courage!) to pop the question!

The Vision

We wanted our wedding day to be relaxed and personal, reflecting us as a couple and the things we enjoy. For us the ceremony was the most important part (it is what makes your Mr and Mrs after all!) and we knew we wanted to marry in a Church. For the reception we liked the idea of a large tipi or marquee and wanted to be surrounded by countryside, with great views and good food (hog roast) in the company of our closest family and friends.

The Planning Process

We bought a ‘wedding planner’ ring binder which broke down the planning for us e.g. ceremony, reception, the dress etc. (this was really useful and can be easily found on the high street or online). We didn’t want a long engagement so started planning pretty much straight away! Our first priorities were a church for our ceremony and a reception venue and then everything else followed. We worked from the bigger things like Photographer and Videographer, down to the cake and stationery design and then the smaller details like place names and confetti cones. We had great fun playing with ideas and being creative.

The Venue

Our wedding was at Thornhill Baptist Church and our reception was at Meon Bye Farm, Titchfield.

As Christians, getting married in church was a priority for us and Thornhill Baptist offered the space and flexibility we needed to hold a cake reception after the ceremony.

We wanted an outside reception as it was to be a summer wedding and we found ‘Kissing Gate Events’ offered what we were looking for- a rustic country style Marquee complete with fairy lights, tables and benches and also horse boxes converted into loos and a bar! We could choose from 3 sites and Meon Bye Farm was the one for us.

Your Outfits & Accessories

Bride: Dress- ‘WED2B’, Sandals-‘ New look’. I knew I wanted a dress that was simple but elegant with detailing at the back, I had a look on Pinterest and had an idea of what I liked but was happy to try a range of styles. I remember holding the dress while it was fastened and gradually looking up to the mirror- it was exactly what I had imagined and I felt like a bride!- I had a mini bridal moment and knew it was the one! I went for flat shoes as our reception venue was outside and I wanted to be comfortable all day so opted for sandals with a bit of sparkle.

Groom: Ed opted for a lighter grey suit and went for tails because “When else do you get to wear tails?!” His suit was hired from ‘Grooms’ and his waistcoat was from M&S (so worth trawling the high street, it complemented his suit perfectly and is a great keepsake). We matched ties and pocket squares with the bridesmaid dresses.

Beauty

I went on recommendations, going with friends of friends for both hair and makeup. I knew I wanted natural makeup and went to Pinterest for hair inspiration. I would definitely recommend having trials because what looks good on someone else in a photo doesn’t necessarily suit your hair! Also- different stylists are able to achieve different looks.

The Readings & Music

Our church band was fabulous! We sang ‘You are my Vision’- Rend Collective, ‘Open the eyes of My heart’- Paul Baloche, ‘10,000 reasons’- Matt Redman and ‘This I believe’- Shane & Shane.

Readings: From the Bible: 1 John chapter 4 verses 7-12, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25 and 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verses 4-7 and 13

The Flowers

My sister is a Florist and I wouldn’t have considered anyone else! She was fantastic, I wanted it to look like we had gone into a field and swept up colourful wild flowers and she delivered! We had garlands (around the marquee poles at our reception), jars of flowers and rustic milk churn flower arrangements which she put together beautifully. Everyone commented on how fantastic the flowers were- I know we are a little biased but we could not recommend her highly enough.

Your Photographer

We met with three photographers and settled on Jessica Hayman, we loved her enthusiasm for our wedding and the work in her portfolio. She was brilliant, meeting with us before the day to talk over the pictures we wanted and made a timings schedule which was great as we knew she understood our day and she was super organised and efficient. She really blended in with our guests, seamless and calm- we would recommend her to everyone whatever the occasion.

Your Filmmaker

We met Luis from ‘The Wedding Video Guys’ after finding him online and watching some of his wedding videos, they were absolutely brilliant and we felt emotional even though we didn’t know the couples in them! Luis is absolutely fantastic; he worked really well with our photographer and produced the best highlights film of the day, which we have watched many times! Video captures your day in an extra special way that photos cannot recreate- would highly recommend budgeting for videography if you are able to!

The Details & Décor

As the marquee was a blank canvas we had free rein with décor! Mum was a star and made metres of brightly coloured bunting which hung between the fairy lights and really gave the wow factor. We made and designed everything ourselves which made it feel so personal, it was fantastic to see how everything came together on the day!

Bridesmaids

Dresses were exactly what I had in mind and were found through an amazon search! Each dress was then altered to suit and the sandals matched my own (New look) which was a nice way to tie bride and bridesmaids together.

Groomsmen

Suits were hired from ‘Grooms’ like the groom’s suit but the groomsmen had lounge jackets and not tails. Waistcoats, ties and pocket squares all matched the Groom and also doubled as gifts.

The Cake

We asked our favourite bakery if they would bake our wedding cakes and they said yes! We had carrot cake, coffee and walnut cake and a Victoria sandwich displayed on rustic cake stumps made by my Dad, which fit perfectly with our theme.

The Honeymoon

A ‘Minimoon’ in Wales. We went to Cardigan Bay where we saw dolphins and had pizza round a fire in a tipi! and stopped at the Brecon Beacons on the way home for mountain climbing. It was great to get away and unwind after the months of wedding planning and organisation, and the weather was so great we could have been anywhere in the world. We had our Honeymoon about 6 months after our wedding in Finland- a snow filled Northern Lights adventure!

Memorable Moments

This is a hard one! It was fantastic to have our family and closest friends all together to celebrate our special day with us but we particularly enjoyed the drive between ceremony and reception and having photos taken when it was just us, together and married- the new Mr & Mrs! The whole day from the moment you wake up to when you go to sleep is just so special and full of the best memories!

Advice For Other Couples

Make lists and budget
Don’t overcomplicate- it’s better to keep it simple and do it well rather than add unnecessary details and create unnecessary stress
Delegate details to trusted friends and family if the load gets too much
Do your research
Think outside the box and be creative!
Get wedding insurance
Enjoy it- it is the best and most special day of your lives!