This could quite possibly be one of the most amazing village hall weddings I have ever featured.
Sophia and Robin married back in the Spring and wanted their wedding to make their guests feel special. Their day was all about the little touches, with so many hand crafted personal details and tokens for their guests to take away. There were pretty blooms, honey favours, pom poms and they catered the wedding themselves too.
Sophia and Robin looked super stylish and their daughters who were their bridesmaids looked very sweet. So very beautiful.
Thanks so much to the fabulous Sara Reeve for sharing her photographs with us today.
The Proposal… Christmas day 2012, Robin gave me a small gold bag and said this is your present, on opening it he said, do you fancy being Mrs Stevenson! I said yes please!!
The Vision for the Day… When it came to the vision it was clear in my mind how I wanted the day to look and feel. It was important for both of us that our guests felt as special as we did and as much a part of the day as we were. I wanted to make the guests feel special by creating tokens individually for them to keep and remember and for Robin it was about trying to make that come across in the speech and in meeting everyone at the church before the ceremony.
We are fortunate to live in a beautiful part of Sussex and so we wanted to embrace that and create something that fitted with the surrounding countryside. The vision was beautiful fresh country flowers, with a real rustic relaxed feel and a very handmade experience.
The Planning Process… The whole planning process took around 18 months. I had decided that each plate would be different and I did not want to hire them so I began buying and searching for 100 dinner plates and 100 side plates. I visited lots of vintage fairs and antique shops and got lots of inspiration from wedding magazines. I also made all my stationery to began with the save the dates for everyone. I had also decided early on that I would cater for the whole wedding so I had to create a menu that could be created prior to the day, was delicious and I could store all the food.
Budget… The budget was around 10 thousand pounds. I think we went a bit over!
The Venue… We got married at St Marys church in Barcombe and our reception was in Barcombe Village hall. A very beautiful part of Sussex, especially in spring. You don’t have to spend a fortune on a huge stately home as a venue, there are so many lovely halls around the country side that with some planning and designing can be turned into fabulous venues which will leave guests in ore.
The Dress + Accessories… I was fortunate to have an amazing friend who made my dress for me. We visited some bridal boutiques and I fell in love with a dress. After my friend seeing the dress once she was able to create a new version of it tailored exactly to me.
I found the most beautiful head piece in a bridal boutique. Made from an old (my something old) 1920s broach with glass beads delicately entwined around it. A perfect way of giving short hair a lot of glamour.
Groom’s Attire… The feel of the day was quite rustic and relaxed. This meant the idea of top hat and tails would have not worked. I wanted the men to look relaxed but still smart. I chose navy blue suits to compliment the pink that the bridesmaid would wear and to give a slight French vintage feel. The men wore classic ivory waistcoats to give them that smart edge. Brown shoes finished to look off perfectly.
The Readings + Music… We had our two beautiful daughters recite the poem ‘IF’ by Rodyard Kipling. They practised for days and spoke beautifully. All our guests were truly touched by it. I wanted a very traditional service so arrived to Wagner Bridal Chorus and we had I vow to thee my country and amazing grace as hymns. We left to The Wedding March and had the bells rung as we left the church.
Beautiful Bridesmaids… Our bridesmaids were our two daughters, Zantia 10 and Faith 8 and my matron of honour, Kathryn.
The Flowers… I found choosing the right florist really difficult and would advise any bride to have a mock up done prior to finalising the florist. I had very clear ideas about what I wanted and that was relaxed flowers with lots of foliage that looked very natural with beautiful roses and herbs like rosemary to make it smell good. When I had the first mock up done I was presented with a perfect formed bunch of roses which was very symmetrical and perfect, a million miles away from what I wanted. Finally I found Carrie at Florian based in Hove and what a wonderful lady with a beautiful florist. She was able to get my brief perfectly and what I ended up with was a mass of foliage with beautiful Piano spray roses, Pink, Memory Lane Rose, Dark Hypnoses roses, soft Pink Anenomies, Champagne Lissianthus, Wax flower, Ivy and rosemary.
I used the glad silk material from the bodice part of my dress as the ribbon to go around my flowers and the bridesmaids flowers. We also had beautiful vintage style bird cages filled with fresh flowers and a huge centre spread along the top table which were stunning and smelt divine.
The Cake… The cake was made by my wonderfully talented sister who made a 5 tier cake with cigarillos surrounding each layer. Each layer was a different flavour, two vanilla, chocolate, red velvet and lemon. All covered in beautiful vanilla buttercream, topped with a beautiful cake topper made by the lovely Carrie at Florian.
Your Photographer… Oh the ever so wonderful Sara. Sara wasn’t just a wedding photographer she was a real part of the planning and the day itself. I met Sara at a wedding fair and we seemed to hit it off straight away. She is such fun and lively and you really feel she loves what she does. Her pictures are relaxed, contemporary and stunning. For me it was essential that the photographer captured the feel of the day in the photos and captured every detail. The details played such an essential part of the day. Sara managed to capture the essence of the wedding with her fun photos and made the details come alive through her pictures.
The Details + Decor… Oh the detail, it’s ALL about the detail. On arrival at the church the guests were given a handmade order of service for the man and three different types of tissues tied together with raffia and an organza bag filled with petals of confetti.
The hall was filled with apple crates used as shelving to house candles and fresh herbs. The ceiling had pom poms and bird cages with cherry blossom hanging from it. The food table had pom poms at different heights above it and thick wooden blocks were used as platters to lay the food on. Huge enamel bowls were used for the salads and old vintage scales for decoration with grapes hanging from them. The tables had white cloths and lace over the top with vintage silver plated coffee and teapots with fresh spring flowers like alliums and bluebells. Each champagne glass on the table had a handmade charm on it with coloured beads and a silver gem, each slightly different. The cutlery was tied together with to have and to hold ribbon and the bridesmaids had small porcelain hearts with their initials on.
Each guest had either a handmade fabric napkin or a vintage style fabric napkin. Everyone had a felt heart with their name hand embroidered on with individually stitched on beads for decoration and ribbon so guest could take them home and hang them up. These were their name places. Fresh herbs in buckets were placed all around the hall for colour and decoration. Small old terracotta pots were made into candles and put on the tables.
The ladies bathroom was filled with pictures from the hen night! Some in frames dotted around the toilets and others just stuck up on the wall. It definitely created a talking point! Fresh flowers and luxury hand creams were put out for the ladies. We had a large enamel jug filled with cherry blossom and handmade tags with ribbon for our guests to write their messages on and then they could hand their cards on the blossom. All this was made clear by a typed message sitting in a vintage style typewriter.
The Honeymoon… Mountain biking on Dartmoor for two weeks! Not everyone’s cuppa tea (in fact I’ve yet to meet someone who liked the idea but we LOVED it!
Memorable Moments… Finishing all the setting up and sitting in the village hall admiring how everything had finally come together! Walking down the aisle and seeing all my friends and family there!
Advice for other couples… For the bride I would say, enjoy your dress, wear it and don’t be too precious about it. It’s meant to be worn! For the groom I would say don’t forget to tell your bride she looks beautiful!
Credit Where Credit is Due…
Styling & Food www.sophiastevenson.com – Following the success of my own wedding I have decided to set up a bespoke wedding service. For those couples who want to create an amazing individual wedding that isn’t out of a box, completely unique and created totally around them.
I am able to create everything from the wedding stationery to the decoration of the venue and can plan the wedding right from the first engagement party through to creating a memorable post wedding album with unique hand crafted designs along the way. Not only am I designing and styling people’s days but I am providing catering for vintage and French themed events and making fresh macrons flavoured to complement the theme. I have just succoured an order of Neapolitan flavoured macrons which I display in newspaper cones which sit in a little vendor tray for a vintage seaside wedding!
This is not just a wedding planner but a completely designed wedding package. If your readers are interested in having a wedding that is all about the detail they can contact me via email at sophia@sophiastevenson.com
Photographer | Sara Reeve
Florist | Florian
Tables & Cutlery | Speedwelll Catering Hire
Totally and utterly beautiful.
Thanks so much to Sophia and Robin for sharing their gorgeous wedding with us XOXO Lou
