Rustic & Whimsical Woodland Floral Wedding

We’re getting lost in the magical woodland today with Kirsty and Gary and their simply wonderful nuptials.

WWW readers Kirsty and Gary tied the knot on the 5^th September 2015 in a beautiful conservatory at Abbeywood Estate in Cheshire. Their vision was rustic country garden and they really pulled out all the stops to achieve it. Kirsty is a florist and her colleagues at Wild Floral Design created the most dreamiest, colourful florals ever. All seasonal, blousy and multi coloured. YES.

Kirsty wore a striking Ronald Joyce gown while Gary found his dapper suit in Debenhams. Not forgetting the bridesmaids wore long Dessy frocks, oh so beautiful.

Thanks so much to Kelly J Photography for sharing these super gorgeous shots.

THE PROPOSAL | 25^th December, 2011 – At our first home in the morning. Gary proposed on one knee as we exchanged presents.

THE VISION | Rustic woodland wedding with a relaxed country garden style throughout the accessories, table plans etc. I’m a florist so flowers were a major highlight of the wedding from my bouquet to the stunning gardens.

BUDGET | £15,000

THE VENUE | Abbeywood Estate, Delamere, Cheshire.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | The dress was a Ronald Joyce gown, Harriet Wild Shoes and Lily Rose head-piece and belt.

FINDING THE DRESS | I found the dress at Bespoke Brides, Mollington, Chester.

GROOM’S ATTIRE | Gary’s suit was from Debenhams in Chester. There was a great offer on the suit, shirt, shoes and tie at the time hence why we bought all the suits for the groomsmen.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | We had three readings during the ceremony. The first being a Pablo Neruda poem, ‘Sonnet 17’ read by one of our friends. The second was a Christopher Poindexter poem. Then thirdly, one of my closest friend’s little boy read ‘The Lovely Love Story’ by Edward Monkton whilst she held up images of the book. I walked down the aisle to an instrumental piano version of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Tenerife Sea’. We sourced the music from a guy on you tube who recorded his version, messaged him and he sent a copy and note all the way from Australia. (Great guy). We played a selection of instrumental covers of current love songs by the Vitamin String Quartet during the signing of the register and photos. Then as we walked back down the aisle we played Kodaline’s ‘Brand New Day’.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | Our gorgeous bridesmaids were by best friend, my three sisters and my friends daughter. The adult bridesmaids wore navy Dessy dresses, all floor length but with different necklines to suit their shape. The younger bridesmaids wore beautiful simple white dresses from Monsoon and shoes from Debenhams.

THE FLOWERS | My very gorgeous and talented friends and colleagues at Wild Floral Design in Chester. With being a florist myself, flowers were majorly important. However, I found myself very relaxed about my bouquet etc… I just wanted lots of colour and beautiful seasonal flowers and foliages. The girls made my day. The flowers stunning.

THE CAKE | We asked a local baker called Ros Stubbings from Chester who has made many cakes for us before. It was a large 3-tiered cake with a rustic buttercream frosting. One tier, red velvet… second tier was chocolate and the other Victoria sponge. It was amazing.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | The best photographer any couple could ask for… Kelly J Photography, based in Somerset and Chester. Kelly was fantastic to work with. She knew exactly what we wanted to capture from our special day and we were very relaxed around in her presence with the camera. She never once seemed imposing or intrusive. Above all, she was fun. We couldn’t praise her more.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | We wanted our wedding to simply represent us as a couple. We have been together almost nine years and just wanted to celebrate our lives together so far. Considering the venue we had a country garden, whimsical, woodland, rustic wedding. The wedding décor was very relaxed and pretty much DIY. My uncle made us a photo booth frame like a Polaroid picture which was painted white and I drew our Save the Date motif onto the board for added effect. We then searched eBay etc to source photo booth props and accessories and made them ourselves. The floral arrangements for the reception were positioned on a wooden log which we sourced from a local tree surgeon at Delamere. There were vintage tea lights and bud vases placed around with moss and pot plants. We had table names which were the cities and places we have been on holiday. There were sweet jars and bags and a large kilner drinks dispenser with cloudy lemonade for the kids. As well as this we had crates filled with plants and a rustic table plan and chalkboard with the wedding day itinerary. One of the main features was the carnival lights of our initials that the guests loved. We also hired lawn games for some added fun for all the guests.

THE HONEYMOON | We went to a beautiful remote resort called Cocobay in Antigua. It was the most stunning resort we have been to.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | The night do. It was epic. We had a great busking band from Liverpool called Hope Street Busking Band and they were fantastic. Everyone was on their feet and having a great time. The caterers were brilliant and did an amazing job all day as well as staff at Abbeywood. Overall, the speeches were the one of the best parts of the day. They were incredibly emotional and hilarious at the same time and we will always remember them.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Just enjoy the day! All the hard work, planning and saving definitely pays off. It’s just the best day ever and knowing you have entered a life of marriage with the person you love the most in this world is the greatest feeling ever.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photography | Kelly J Photography

Games | Cheshire Party Games

Venue | Abbeywood Estate

Dress | Bespoke Brides

Caterers | Olive Tree Catering – [email protected]

Band | Hope Street Busking Band

Cake | Scumptious by Ros Stubbings

Flowers | Wild Floral Design

Stationery | The Charming Press

Make Up | Emma Turner Brides

Hair | April Roxburgh

Oh so stunning.

Kirsty and Gary, many thanks to you both for sharing your wonderful nuptials with us here today xo Lou