Fiona and Ashley’s rustic barn wedding in Oxfordshire, with Carol Elizabeth Photography
Gorgeous newlyweds Fiona and Ashley’s spring wedding from Stratton Court Barn is just fabulous – they used rich purple tones to create a luxe, sophisticated wedding theme and chose a venue with oodles of cosy character which needed just a few creative touches to bring it to life. With a canopy of fairy lights and pretty floral styling, this is a lovely wedding I’ve been excited to share with you! Images are by our lovely team member Carol Elizabeth Photography, who is based in Oxfordshire and gets a glowing review from the happy couple!
Wedding photographer’s website:
www.carol-elizabeth-photography.co.uk
We searched for photographers in Oxfordshire and looked at lots of websites! We wanted a more natural style of photography and we didn’t want our photos to look too posed, so we narrowed down our search by picking photographers who fitted our desired style. We used price to narrow down our search further as we had a maximum budget in mind. We then had phone calls with our shortlisted photographers as it was important to us that they were easy to talk to and understood what we were looking for. Another thing that we took into account was whether the photographer had been to our venue or whether they would be happy to visit the venue beforehand, as we wanted them to be familiar with the layout and where would be good spots to take photos. Carol ticked all the boxes for us.
We were so pleased with our photographer. We both feel awkward in front of the camera but Carol made us feel so relaxed and we couldn’t have been happier with the results. Carol was really easy to chat to and made the whole experience really fun.
We were over the moon when we saw our photos. We really enjoyed reliving our special day.
Contact & Bookings: Stratton Court Barn photographer Carol Elizabeth Photography
www.carol-elizabeth-photography.co.uk
Instagram.com/carol_elizabeth_photography
Facebook.com/carol.elizabeth.photography.uk
Twitter.com/CarolEliz_Photo
Pinterest.com/carolelizphotos/
Can you describe your wedding in fewer than 10 words?
Exactly what we wanted
Your wedding style or theme:
Barn/rustic with purple colour scheme
Where did you find your suppliers? (Blogs, magazines, recommendations?)
We were lucky that we were friends with a few of our suppliers so we didn’t have to look around, but for others we browsed the web, looked in magazines and Pinterest for inspiration, and went by recommendations from others.
What’s your top tip for saving money?
Work out what’s most important to you and prioritise where you are going to spend your money. Also, make use of friends’ skills!
… and which elements of your wedding are you glad you spent more on?
Photographer, band and dress!
Where did you buy or source your wedding stationery – or was making it a labour of love?
We bought our save the dates, invites and table plan from Lola and Elvis, but made our table numbers, menus and place names ourselves.
Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?
Yes! I’d tried on quite a few different styles and this one incorporated all the things I’d liked about others. I knew it was ‘the one’ when I tried it on. Butterfly Bridal gave me a lovely experience when I went in to try on dresses and even gave my bridesmaids and I glass of fizz to celebrate me finding my dream dress.
Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:
Essense of Australia and Butterfly Bridal. Liz from E C Seamstress did the alterations for me and she did a fab job!
Tell us about your accessories: jewellery, shoes and anything else!
I wore ivory shoes made by Rainbow. My bracelet and earrings were from Beaverbrooks.
And what did the groom wear?
We hired navy Ted Baker suits for the groom and the groom’s party from Moss Bros. They were doing an offer where the groom goes free if you hire 5 suits! They then had purple ties and pocket squares to match the theme.
Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?
They wore short purple dresses. Liz from E C Seamstress then made some beautiful sashes to match our flower girl’s dress.
Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?
I used Elliston Bridal Hair and Makeup. Georgia was amazing from start to finish. She listened really carefully to what I was looking for and I was so pleased with the result on the day.
Describe your wedding flowers. Who arranged them for you? (florist details would be lovely please)
Jen from Jennifleur did our flowers and they looked absolutely beautiful. We don’t know much about flowers so just asked for a purple theme. Jen did the bridal bouquet, my bridesmaid bouquets, buttonholes, corsages, centrepiece arrangements and of course decorated the arch, which looked incredible! She even supplied some roses to go in my bridesmaids’ hair at the last minute!
General styling – did your venue need much decoration?
We hired fairy lights from Something Borrowed who created a beautiful canopy for us and our florist decorated the arch, but other than that we loved the barn as it was.
Crafts and makes – tell us about any homemade elements of your wedding… did you enjoy them?
We got hold of a pallet which we painted in ivory and then wrote the order of the day on it. I have always been horsey and have my own horse so we also incorporated horse shoes into our centre pieces. We painted them and then tied ribbon around them, kindly supplied by Liz from EC Seamstress.
The wedding cake: what kind of cake did you choose and why?
Ash’s aunt very kindly made our cake. Neither of us like fruitcake so we went for a naked 3 tier cake – chocolate, lemon and Victoria sponge. It all got eaten!
Entertainment: any musical recommendations, surprises or treats?
We had Sam Lewis Band in the evening and they were brilliant! They filled the dance floor.
Words of wisdom: share your best piece of advice for other couples:
Enjoy every moment on the day and take a few minutes alone together as the day will fly by!
What’s the best thing about being married?
Knowing that we’re going to share the rest of our lives together.
Favourite supplier web links for other brides and grooms:
https://www.carol-elizabeth-photography.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/ellistonbridalhair/
https://www.facebook.com/jennifleurflorist/
https://www.facebook.com/ECseamstress/
https://www.samlewismusic.com/
http://www.strattoncourtbarn.co.uk/
http://www.butterflybridalboutique.co.uk/
http://www.somethingborrowedeventhire.co.uk/
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