Avatar for Louise Baltruschat Hollis

By Louise Baltruschat Hollis

Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

Does it get any better than featuring a pretty barn wedding in the gorgeous Cotswolds? Today we are headed to Cripps Stone Barn, where WWW readers John-Joe and Jess held their wedding reception on Friday 1st June 2018. I have to say it was just the most beautiful wedding, with super stunning photography by the amazing Oobaloos Photography, we really cannot thank Sheryl enough for sending them over to us to share with you. You are going to especially love their portraits in the fields, dreamy indeed!

The barn was adorned with fairy lights, delicate flowers in gin bottles and cute signage. Not to mention thoughtful touches like blankets for guests and a photo wall suspended with twine and pegs. Then there was the super tall and utterly scrumptious naked cake decorated with florals and gold leaf, it sure had wow factor. I don’t think there is a single detail missed and it all looks ever so lovely.

The style of the wedding party is sublime, with the boys in traditional tails, the maids in lovely lavender dresses and Jess looking sensational in a Mori Lee gown. Incredible! Enjoy every little moment WWWers.

Bride Bridal Make Up Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

Rose Thistle Buttoholes Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

The Proposal

John-Joe took me to Paris for a Christmas present with the intention to propose, he chose Paris as he would know I would be off the scent as I know how much he hates a cliché! We went on January 3rd 2017 and on the first night he took me to have dinner in the Eiffel Tower after our meal he took me to the bottom of the tower and found a spot for us to sit on and have a hot chocolate whilst watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle (which it does every hour for 10 minutes). Once it started sparkling he got down on one knee and the rest is history!

Bride Bridal Bridesmaids Pyjamas Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

Bride Bridal Gown Lace Illusion Full Skirt Mori Lee Dress Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

The Vision

We always knew we would like to get married in a church and have a barn style wedding. It was just finding the perfect barn to suit us and be big enough to hold for our large amount of family and friends!

We both love the Cotswolds because of all the lush greenery and stone walls and buildings etc so we knew exactly where we would be looking to find a venue.

For the theme we decided to go for a shabby chic style with lots of hessian, candles in lanterns and pretty wild flowers. We both love gin and at the moment gin seems quite fashionable and there are some fab bottles which we thought would look great with the flowers and even some fairy lights. Luckily I have a brother who works in a bar, which made collecting the bottles a little bit easier for the amount we needed!

Hair Make Up Bride Bridal Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

The Planning Process

The whole planning started as soon as we got back for Paris after the engagement. From having a lot of close family and friends to have already been married we knew there was a lot involved, so instead of trying to look at it as a whole we narrowed it down. We decided to sort all the important things out first e.g venue, music, photographer, flowers/table décor and cake. Once the main things were sorted the rest would fall into place over the months leading up to the big day.

Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

Groom’s Attire

John-Joe went to see Rob Connolly at Regency Groom, Cheltenham. Rob in the past five years has provided the suits for three of his older brothers and just knew that he would be able to provide him with exactly what he wanted. As expected he was a great help and within a short space of time came up with exactly what he was looking for (even though I wasn’t even sure I knew myself before he showed me).

John-Joe decided on Navy tails with a grey double breasted waist jacket. He loved the tails because they were light weight compared to normal, same material as normal suits, which is perfect for a summer wedding. He teamed this with a white shirt, navy tie with white poka dots and a pocket square to match.

Groom Suit Groomsmen Traditional Tails Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

The Readings & Music

We had two readings on the day, my cousin read an extract from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and John-Joe’s sister did a reading from the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13.

Our first dance song was George Ezra – Hold My Girl.

The rest of the music was played by a band called ‘The Kickstarts’. We really wanted to go for a band that would be able to get people up and dancing and also keep them on there feet. They really did do everything we wanted, the dance floor was full all night long and the band created an amazing atmosphere.

Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Pet Dog Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

The Cake

The cake was by Storyteller Cakes, with four tiers each a different flavour. There are so many flavours to choose from so we went for our favourite, which were chocolate and orange, strawberries and cream, blackcurrant and almond, coconut and passion fruit. The cake was semi naked and had 24 carat gold leaf going up it.

Naked Cake Flowers Gold Leaf Log Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos PhotographySemi Naked Cake Flowers Gold Leaf Log Stand Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Gin Bottle Flowers Table Pretty Pink Greenery Decor Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos PhotographyGin Bottle Flowers Table Pretty Pink Greenery Decor Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Gin Bottle Flowers Table Pretty Pink Greenery Decor Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos PhotographyCandle Lantern Robins Birds Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

The Venue

Stone Barn, Cheltenham

As soon as we come to this particular barn (and we had been to a lot) we knew instantly it was the venue for us. It was everything we ever could wish for. A rustic barn with a mixture of stone walls and corrugated iron, surrounded by green fields as far as the eye could see, which gave an amazing feeling of privacy and intimacy. Stone Barn depicts the picturesque Cotswolds and we fell in love.

Gin Bottle Flowers Table Pretty Pink Greenery Decor Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos PhotographyGin Bottle Flowers Table Pretty Pink Greenery Decor Fairy Lights Hessian Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Flag Banner Paper Table Name Number Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Heart Place Name Setting Wire Chair Top Bottle Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Blankets Guests Decor Sign Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Guest Book Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Card Hamper Basket Wicker Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Photo Wall Decor Photographs Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Gin Bottle Flowers Table Pretty Pink Greenery Decor Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Gin Bottle Flowers Table Pretty Pink Greenery Decor Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

The Details & Décor

We used Teapots and Tiaras to decorate our venue. Having met them at a wedding fair and following them on Instagram we just knew they were perfect for our wedding. I had a meeting with them to discuss what we had planned for it to be like and they loved our idea for the gin bottles and they also gave us lots of nice ideas we hadn’t even thought of so we merged them altogether and the outcome was even better then I ever imagined.

Gin Bottle Flowers Table Pretty Pink Greenery Decor Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Gin Bottle Flowers Table Pretty Pink Greenery Decor Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Gin Bottle Flowers Table Pretty Pink Greenery Decor Toy Car JCB Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Gin Bottle Flowers Table Pretty Pink Greenery Decor Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

Videographer

Sandra Harper

We knew straight away we were going to want a film of our day as ever since Jess was a little girl she would always love watching her parents film of their wedding.

It was easy for us to decide on a videographer as one of Joe’s brothers had Sandra do his and we just loved everything about it. I recommend anyone getting married to think of having one done, I’m so glad we did!

Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Confetti Throw Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Lavender Bridesmaid Dresses Purple Violet Lilac Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

Beautiful Bridesmaids

I had my sister and five of my closest friends as bridesmaids and two of my cousins were flower girls.

The bridesmaids are all different shapes and sizes, so I knew it was going to be difficult to find something they all liked and felt comfortable wearing.

After quite a few months of looking around the high street shops and looking online I came across the Dessy Group.

Where I live there is a shop called Willow and Lace where they stock them, so I arranged for all the girls to be able to see and try them on at the same time.

We loved all the dresses, two of which we couldn’t decide which we preferred so I thought I would let the girls decide which one they wanted out of the two styles. The dresses are made to measure and we all agreed the lavender looked amazing on all of them.

For the flower girls I only had ideas I had found on Pinterest, which were tutu skirts with a big silk bow. It was only by chance walking around Worcester that I came across Leila Rae where she specialises in tutus and leotards. The lady that owns the shop was very helpful and said she could copy the ideas for me.

Bridesmaids Flowers Bouquets Astilbe Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Groom Groomsmen Suits Traditional Tails Navy Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

The Dress & Accessories

The dress is by Mori Lee, the embellishment on the dress, headband and veil was by Willow and Lace at Cocoa in Cheltenham. Necklace, bracelet and earrings by Ivory and Co in John Lewis.

Bride Bridal Gown Lace Illusion Full Skirt Mori Lee Dress Train Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

Finding The Dress

I was always open minded as to what style dress I wanted to go for but after having tried on all the styles I felt that the ball gown style suited me the best and fitted my personality the most.

I originally tried my dress on in white at the first shop I went to but wasn’t sure on the colour. They didn’t stock it in the ivory but pointed me in the direction that did so I went straight away tried it on and I fell in love with it.

Annoyingly I then started to doubt myself thinking I had found the dress too soon so started to look again. After a few more weeks of looking I decided it was the ‘one’ and bought it from Bridal Boutique Designs, Evesham.

Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

Your Photographer

Oobaloos – Sheryl Fish

Sheryl is fantastic, I had seen photos from other weddings that she had done and just knew that we had to have her. The images Sheryl produces are amazing and there isn’t many that can do what she can do. We love the fact that she freestyles and captures moments off the cuff as she shoots from the heart.

We met up with her for a pre wedding shoot as she suggested that it would be good to meet and have a little shoot for us to get used to someone pointing a camera at us and feeling comfortable with it. So glad we did this as when it got to the day we weren’t conscious of the camera. Sheryl is so lovely and couldn’t recommend her highly enough.

Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

The Honeymoon

We decided to book New York for our honeymoon for December so we could soak up the Christmas spirit with all the lights everywhere and go see a show in Broadway etc. As it’s 6 months after the wedding it was too long to wait for a holiday so booked a last minute holiday to the Sensatori Hotel, Cyprus so we could chill and have some time together after the wedding, which was just perfect and even better we had something else to look forward to.

Veil Bride Bridal Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

Memorable Moments

Walking through the walkway for the confetti throw.

Seeing the room fully decorated.

Couple shots in the fields.

Veil Bride Bridal Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

The Flowers

We knew we wanted to go for pretty wild flowers but because of the time of year and being open minded we let Teapots and Tiaras choose which ones to use. I was absolutely taken away by all the flowers they were perfect and went so well with the time of year, venue and theme.

Bouquet Flowers Bride Bridal Pink Rose Hellebore Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

Advice For Other Couples

Just enjoy it, take your time to plan so you don’t have to stress about anything last minute and make sure you have a budget.

Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography Stone Barn Wedding Oobaloos Photography

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Photographer
Oobaloos Photography

Cake
Storyteller Cakes

Wedding Dress
Bridal Boutique Designs

Flower Girl Dresses
Leila Rae

Groomsmen Outfits
Regency Groom

Table Décor and Flowers
Teapots and Tiaras

Bridesmaids Dresses
Willow and Lace

Venue and Catering
Cripps Stone Barn

Hair
Hair By Lauren Cole

Make Up
Holly Power MUA

Well wasn’t that just perfect? So pretty!

John-Joe and Jess, thank you both so very much for sharing your wonderful wedding xo Lou

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Barn Wedding

Cotswolds Wedding

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2 Comments
  • Avatar for Ben

    Ben

    Gorgeous wedding !

    I just love all of those details !

    ♥♥

  • Avatar for Jaspin

    Jaspin

    Such a beautiful wedding. I loved every detail of it. Amazing and memorable shots were taken.

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