Magical Special & Heart-Warming Pink Barn Wedding

Chris booked a beautiful cottage in the Lake District, called The Cowshed by @mill_house_cottages. I (Kirsty) had a feeling he was going to propose. The night before the engagement we watched Love Actually and when Colin Firth proposes in the restaurant, Chris turned to me and said “if I asked you to marry me, would you say yes”, I of course said yes.

The next day he proposed at the back of the cottage by a beautiful stream and recorded the whole thing on camera which we love looking back at, such special memories.

We wanted quite a chilled laidback wedding, with a country vibe. We wanted it quite minimalist but classy with pops of colour. Traditional but modern.

We always imagined it would be around £20000, I think in the end it cost £26-28000.

The Granary Estates. It was a firm winner for us, we viewed 3 other venues before this one and none were quite right. The Granary Estates was everything we wanted, it’s in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fields and trees. The buildings are old and have so much detail, but have had modern touches. The building is basically a U-shape, and in the centre is the most beautiful courtyard.

Thisis where we had croquet on the lawn, and a fire pit for make smoores in the evening. Around the venue there are so many beautiful photo opportunities with lots of swings with stunning backdrops. And the staff… it was like having wedding planners, they were just so helpful right from the beginning when we viewed the venue, right through to on the night.

They couldn’t have done enough, and really guided us through the day. Neither of us have really been guests to weddings before so we didn’t really know what we were doing. They handled the day so so well and we are so grateful to them!

This was very nerve-wracking for the both of us. I, the bride, don’t really like being the centre of attention, but on your wedding you kind of have to be. I was extremely nervous, but as soon as I walked around the corner and set eyes on Chris I didn’t pay attention to anyone else. Chris was crying his eyes out, he was blubbering all over the place, I was surprised that he cried more than me. He held himself together through the vows.

Then I started crying at the point where it said … “I will cry with you…”, which Chris laughs about now. He dabbed away my tears, and then I said aloud “it had to come out at some point”, as people do know me to be quite an emotional person. Bride walked down to Ed Sheeran, One Life.

Brides dress – I only went to Abigail’s Collection in Colchester, served by the wonderful Charlotte who was incredible. I had a few dresses on my wish list but none were quite right, Charlotte listened to everything I liked and didn’t like and picked out the 7th dress I tried on which was THE one. It was a tight fitted with a long train, with lacey details and spaghetti straps, I felt amazing in it.

The groom and groomsman – Sage tweed 3 piece from Moss Bros. They all looked so wonderful. The bridesmaid’s dresses were actually from Asos!!! I loved the colour and the style and based other things off of the dusky pink, like the men’s ties and socks, and flowers. Flower girl dress from Next.

Cake – One Part Love Bakery – Jess. The most beautiful cake I’ve ever seen. I make cakes myself (nowhere near the level of Jess) and knew that I wanted someone to do really crisp edges. We went for 4 tiers, all white and was simply decorated with fresh flowers. Our favourite tier with chocolate and salted caramel, omg it was to die for!!!!

Flowers – What The Fleur – Julia. Such a beautiful person, we didn’t have too much of a clue of what we wanted, originally we were going to go bright multi-coloured wildflowers. But then in the end we went for more pinks and neutral peachy colours, peonies were a must. The flowers were all so beautiful, from the bouquets to the buttonholes, to the decorations. We loved them, Julia did such a great job and captured our theme perfectly.

Décor – My (Kirsty) amazingly talented sister made some incredible signs for the day, with a little help my mum sourcing and cutting wood. We had a large welcome sign which is absolutely stunning and we plan to put up in our house somewhere. We also had a sign saying “pick a seat not a side, we are all family once the knot is tied”. Table numbers and a flip flop sign were also done by her, all written by hand.

She also wrote on the large mirror in the venue with the seating plan for the wedding breakfast, she is very talented and very grateful for her. It meant so much to have family and loved ones helping make our day more beautiful. @purplepumpkincreativestudio Make Up – @Nicholajmakeup – Nichola was fantastic, she really listened to what I wanted as I don’t often wear too much make up. I had many compliments on the make-up and it lasted so well.

She was also so fun to have there getting ready with, she is a great character Hair – Diane Stanley – Is our hairdresser but I asked if she could do mine and the wedding party’s hair. She did such a good job and she was so incredible on the day. It was like having another bridesmaid, she couldn’t have done enough. I was very indecisive with my hair and didn’t really decide until on the day! But she was so understanding.

Food – Crown Catering Cambridge. The food was incredible!! And so many people complimented the head waiter. The canapes were amazing (my nana even emailed them to ask for a recipe! lol). Then the breakfast was incredible, salmon gravadlax, followed by duck with cherry and kirsch sauce, then a trio of desserts, incredible. The service provided; they would serve a full table at a time, and all place 2 plates down at the same time.

It felt so fancy and was such a great touch! Although we did not get around to have the evening food, people loved it and it looked so good!

Gemma Giorgio – Chris knew Gemma from school, and they used to live a couple of doors down from each other when they were younger, so Gemma was actually the first supplier we booked once we got engaged. It was a clear and obvious choice for us as she takes the most beautiful natural shots. Chris is also really good friends with her brother and they have worked together before, so Gemma got to see him on the day too which was nice, and get some pics in the photobooth.

Gemma also suggested the venue to us and we are so thankful because we fell in love with it as soon as we viewed it. Gemma on the day was incredible, she has such a calming presence which is much appreciated on a very nerve-wracking day. She was incredible at organising all of the group photos, smoke canon shots and sparklers. We received the pictures within about 2 weeks which we were blown away and OMG they are so beautiful!!

She is such a talented photographer and really captured all of the special moments. We are struggling to pick which ones to frame and put up around the house.

Where do we begin, I think our honeymoon cost near enough the same as the wedding! We wanted a big trip and we did it with a bang! Apart from visiting Italy together, Chris and I had never been abroad together due to Covid, so we wanted to cover as much as possible. Luckily both of our bosses were very understanding and let us take 3 weeks off.

We booked and planned it all ourselves, which was a bit stressful with all of the covid rules but luckily for us it relaxed in all of the countries we were visiting just before we went. The day after the wedding we head straight to Heathrow to board our flight to Singapore and we stayed at the Marina Bay Sands which was both a bucket list item for us. The infinity pool on the roof is absolutely beautiful!

We had just one full day there, where we explored the gardens by the bay and the street food markets. We also treated ourselves to a Michelin star dinner which was a great experience. It’s a beautiful city! We then headed off to Fiji! Wow what a place. Originally we were thinking to go to the Maldives, but due to the time of year we looked where was more likely to have better weather, and we had both always wanted to visit Fiji so it was an obvious winner.

We stayed on 3 different islands over the space of 11 nights. The first was Manta Ray Island resort in the Yasawa’s. We travelled by helicopter which felt very boujee but it was the only means of transport we could arrange to get to the island on that day. We stayed here because we knew we could swim with manta rays and that dream came true. We saw 6 in total, so graceful, what a beautiful experience. It was a great introduction to Fiji and the locals.

Then we headed to Matamanoa which is part of the Mamanuca islands. This place was a bit more luxury, with a private villa with pool with access straight to the beach to snorkel the amazing corals and fish and to watch the most stunning sunsets. We kayaked, snorkelled a lot, and went scuba diving where we saw a leopard shark which was awesome. After an adventurous boat ride, we arrived at our last and final stop in Fiji, Liku Liku… WOW.

Heaven really is a place on earth, this place was insane! We wanted to stay here because we saw they did over water bungalows and it was such an awesome experience. As well as that the staff and the food and everything else was just top notch. Chris learnt to sail here which he loved, we snorkelled, kayaked in a glass bottom kayak, went fishing, and had a picnic on a private island. It was worth every penny!

Last stop on the honeymoon was Bali, we stayed just outside of Ubud in what we did not know was a Tik Tok bucket list hotel so it was full of people taking very posed selfies. The hotel was Kayon Jungle Resort, absolutely beautiful. We had a private villa with an infinity pool over looking the jungle and rice terraces. We went white water rafting and quad biking and explored Ubud, as well as a bit of relaxing.

We had the most insane time and did absolutely everything we wanted to! We asked for money for wedding gifts so we could have all of these amazing experiences without having to worry about too much of the cost.

All of it. Having all of our favourite people in one place – it was so special <3 Our first dance. We always knew what song we wanted it to be, but we worried about how other people would perceive it. In the end, we decided that this song meant a lot to us and really felt like it described us at a point in our lives.

We are so pleased we chose it, Beneath Your Beautiful by Labyrinth and Emile Sande. Someone recorded the whole thing and it’s so beautiful! My niece dancing the night away, she’s only 9 but omg she was raving on the dancefloor, everyone loved her energy. There was a dance off and everyone was around in a massive circle.

Chris was outside at this time and he heard people saying “dance off”, so he literally runs in, gives his jacket to someone and starts doing the worm across the dancefloor haha. I never knew he could do that! It was so funny.

It honestly is the best day of your life! Do everything you want to do in exactly the way you want to. Like everyone said, the day will be over in a flash, so just take in every moment.

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Magical Special & Heart-Warming Pink Barn Wedding

The Proposal

The next day he proposed at the back of the cottage by a beautiful stream and recorded the whole thing on camera which we love looking back at, such special memories.

The Proposal

We wanted quite a chilled laidback wedding, with a country vibe. We wanted it quite minimalist but classy with pops of colour. Traditional but modern.

The Vision

We always imagined it would be around £20000, I think in the end it cost £26-28000.

Budget

The Venue

The Venue

They couldn’t have done enough, and really guided us through the day. Neither of us have really been guests to weddings before so we didn’t really know what we were doing. They handled the day so so well and we are so grateful to them!

The Venue

The Ceremony & Music

Then I started crying at the point where it said … “I will cry with you…”, which Chris laughs about now. He dabbed away my tears, and then I said aloud “it had to come out at some point”, as people do know me to be quite an emotional person. Bride walked down to Ed Sheeran, One Life.

The Ceremony & Music

Your Outfits

Your Outfits

The Styling & Decor

The Styling & Decor

The Styling & Decor

The Styling & Decor

The Styling & Decor

The Styling & Decor

It felt so fancy and was such a great touch! Although we did not get around to have the evening food, people loved it and it looked so good!

The Styling & Decor

Your Photographer

Your Photographer

She is such a talented photographer and really captured all of the special moments. We are struggling to pick which ones to frame and put up around the house.

Your Photographer

The Honeymoon

The Honeymoon

The Honeymoon

The Honeymoon

The Honeymoon

The Honeymoon

The Honeymoon

We had the most insane time and did absolutely everything we wanted to! We asked for money for wedding gifts so we could have all of these amazing experiences without having to worry about too much of the cost.

The Honeymoon

Memorable Moments

Memorable Moments

Chris was outside at this time and he heard people saying “dance off”, so he literally runs in, gives his jacket to someone and starts doing the worm across the dancefloor haha. I never knew he could do that! It was so funny.

Memorable Moments

It honestly is the best day of your life! Do everything you want to do in exactly the way you want to. Like everyone said, the day will be over in a flash, so just take in every moment.

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