Whimsical Boho Woodland Wedding

Laura and Glenn’s woodland meets whimsical, boho meets fairytale, rustic meets Disney wedding was pretty epic I have to say. And yes all of those styles came together perfectly to create one of the most magical and beautiful weddings I have ever set eyes upon.

They chose to marry on the 25 July 2015 and the country barn setting was perfect. The blooms were out of this world, foliage, Roses and ribbons created dreamy bouquets. Then there were the succulents, moss and ferns decorating the rustic venue too. WOW. Laura designed the sweet stationery herself and the top table calligraphy sign looked marvellous.

Now lets talk attire shall we? Laura wore the bohemian ‘Eve’ by Rue de Seine with her hair in waves, Glenn chose a mismatched chino, jacket and bow tie combo. While the maids wore blush dresses alongside the adorable flower girls. Sorry not sorry for the number of images today folks.

Huge thanks goes to Kat Mervyn Photography for sharing these divine photographs with us.

THE PROPOSAL | Glenn proposed on the very last day of summer (1 September 2013) before he started full time employment and I completed my last year of university. We were out for a walk and had stumbled across a water fall. He got down on one knee and almost did not get back up again (he has bad knees). I loved it though. I’m not one for big romantic gestures and it was just perfectly us!

THE VISION | The vision for our wedding was for it to be a very relaxed and natural day. I had a vision of a woodland themed wedding with a bit of whimsical, boho, fairytale and rustic thrown in! I also love all things Disney so I wanted to incorporate that into the wedding as well.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | We were engaged for about 2 years before the wedding which left plenty of time for planning. I started of with like a million pins on Pinterest and as time went on started to narrow down what I liked. I really enjoyed the planning process as it gave me a chance to let out my creative streak.

BUDGET | If Glenn could say one thing it would be that “Laura is the worst person I know at sticking to a budget”. We had a budget and roughly stuck to it, but if there was something we wanted, we just went for it.

THE VENUE | Riverdale Barn, Aghagallon. There was never any question about the venue. I fell in love with Riverdale having seen it on Facebook long before we got engaged. When I showed it to Glenn he loved it too!

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | Eve by Rue de Seine. I purchased the dress and my head piece in the White Gallery, Warrenpoint.

FINDING THE DRESS | For me finding a dress was difficult. I tried on lots of dresses I liked and that looked good. I had about a list of 4 or 5 dresses that could have been “the one”. The very last shop I visited was the White Gallery. Rachel was so helpful and when I tried on Eve, I loved it! It was just me.

I would not say I ever had “the moment” when trying on my dress. I think it was more a choice, I decided I liked the dress more than the others… but it wasn’t a light shining from heaven “this is the one”!

However, looking back I am so glad I did decide to go for Eve. I love it so much, I wish I could wear it everyday!

GROOM’S ATTIRE | Jacket, Shirts and Chino’s – Ted Baker. Shoes – Dune. Glenn wanted something relaxed, so we went for chinos and jackets. He liked the idea of something he could wear again.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | Entry: Tale as Old as Time from Beauty and the Beast.

While we did not get married in a church, it was important for us that the music during our ceremony was religious and God centred. We therefore sang 2 hymns ‘All to Jesus I Surrender’ and ‘Be Thou My Vision’. Our reading was from the Bible (1 Corinthians 13). Our two friends also sang during the ceremony which was beautiful and other church friends played the piano, drums and guitar.

We walked back down the aisle to Omi ‘Cheerleader’ sang by our friend. Glenn initially requested this as a bit of a joke, but we just went for it.

First dance: You’ve Got a Friend in Me. We don’t really have a song, but I suppose if we were to have one, we would both say this was it.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | Warehouse. My beautiful bridesmaids were my best friend and my sister. Their dresses were bargain finds from Warehouse’s sale.

THE FLOWERS | The flowers were supplied by Floral Earth in Belfast. I first met Tim at a Wedding Fair and had also seen his work in various Wedding Magazines and on Facebook. I just knew there would be no other florist for the job. Tim and his team did such an amazing job, I really had no words when I saw how beautiful the flowers were. I told Tim I wanted woodland, rustic and whimsical… but not vintage! He took these simple directions and read my mind completely.

THE CAKE | Little Treats NI. I knew exactly were I wanted to get my cake… my favourite bakery which happens to be just down the road from me. The cake was delicious. They also made woodland themed cake pops which went down a treat!

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Kat Mervyn Photography. What a gem Kat is! She helped us feel relaxed and at ease all day, which is quite a task when Glenn hates having his photo taken.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | Apart from the flowers, I did most of the details and décor myself. I’m quite handy on the computer so I designed all my own wedding stationery. I also made the table names and table plan. I really enjoyed doing it myself as it felt much more special and personal.

THE HONEYMOON | We spent a week in Rhodes in a beautiful hotel with our own swim up suit. I would definitely recommend a relaxing honeymoon, we both needed it after 2 years of wedding planning!

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | The whole day was memorable. But we both loved the best man and grooms man’s speech. They put so much effort into it we will truly never forget it!

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | It’s your day so do things your way! At times during the planning process we would be chatting to someone and you could just tell by their face that they were thinking “hmm I am not sure about that”. But we never took any notice and just did things the way we wanted and everything was perfect… we would not change a thing.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Venue | Riverdale Barn

Dress | The White Gallery

Bridesmaids dresses | Warehouse

Flowers | Floral Earth

Hair | Olivia Muldoon

Make-up | Jennifer Ireland

Photography | Kat Mervyn

Videographer | PIGMINTFILM

Cake | Little Treats NI

Car | Star Car Hire

Be still my beating heart.