Jenny and Ben’s August wedding is instantly a favourite for me – they’re the loveliest, sweetest couple and their day just rocks my wedding bloggy WORLD!! There are some wonderful ideas I just know you’ll love – aside from the hundreds of pom poms, there’s a mobile gin factory on a VW camper van with jars of spices and copper pots to make your very own wedding gin right there on the day – genius. There are sunflowers and pinwheels in a rainbow of colours, along with fairy lights everywhere, and fabulous vintage style tea length dresses, and GLORIOUS florals – it’s just everything. Jenny looks stunning in her Brighton Belle dress. Ben’s relaxed look gets a huge YES from me: suits are not obligatory for weddings, guys! He looks fab – and more than anything, the happiness between these two is infectious. They describe their day as “a colourful rustic, vintage, craft collaboration with a gin twist!”

Every moment is caught beautifully by my lovely friend Linus Moran Photography – who gets the most amazing review from our happy couple. I’m going to begin today’s feature with their recommendation for Linus as an Eggbeer Farm wedding photographer – it is one of the most heartfelt reviews for a wedding photographer I’ve ever read, and absolutely wonderful to be able to share their words with you. Linus was there from morning until night, unobtrusively capturing everything from Jenny’s time with her bridesmaids right until the dancing and photo booth fun (with One Booth) at the end of the night!

 

Wedding photographer’s website:

https://www.linusmoranphotography.co.uk/

How did you choose your photographer?

Once the question had been popped it was time to let the planning begin! After scanning what seemed like hundreds of wedding photographers’ websites (because we probably did!), we came across Linus’s site. What struck us first was how natural the photos looked, every photo looked like an intimate moment that had been captured by chance. Some brimmed with colour, others contrasted elegantly in black and white. We loved the style! Another big draw was that many photos were of guests just laughing and having an awesome time, memories we were keen to have captured at our own wedding. An email, a phone call and a joint viewing of the venue later and we had our photographer!

Were you pleased with your wedding photographer? Do tell… we love a brilliant review!

We absolutely loved the whole experience! Linus spent time explaining the process to us and listening to what we wanted. Not only is Linus genuinely thoughtful in the advice and suggestions he makes, he had clearly taken on board what we wanted for the day, this is evident in our wonderful wedding photos. During the lead up Linus kept in contact, checking we were all set and getting a clear idea of how the day would play out. On the morning he arrived at the perfect time while I was getting ready with my bridal party. After this he seemed to be here, there and everywhere capturing many touching moments and some beautiful photos of the venue. Other than saying how much they love our wedding photos, many of our guests have also commented on how they hadn’t even noticed Linus was present while taking many of them , a compliment to his craft I’m sure. We were just blown over by the photos when we were sent them. They told the story of our day so perfectly and captured all of our favourite moments in gorgeous vivid colours and striking black and white. What more could we ask for? We absolutely love our photos and can’t recommend Linus’ natural style and expert photography more!

Tell us about the moment you saw your wedding photos for the first time?

Armed with a glass each of our wedding ‘Jen & Ben and Tonic’ gin, we opened the link. I immediately teared up where as Ben just said ‘Wow’ repeatedly while we took in each photo. It’s hard to write about seeing the photos for the first time as a moment as we literally spent a few hours going through them selecting our favourites, reminiscing about the funny moments , sweet surprises and all round best day of our lives. When photos take you right back to a moment you know you made the right choice. I just wish we could do it all again but at least we have these wonderful momentos to reminisce over!

 

Wedding venue:

Eggbeer Farm, Cheriton Bishop – all round amazing party venue!

Where did you find your suppliers? (Blogs, magazines, recommendations?)

Endless trawling of websites for the let us stumble upon the venue Eggbeer Farm and our photographer Linus Moran.
I found our florist ‘Ditsy Blooms‘ and caterers ‘Rusty Pig‘ at The South West wedding fair. We saw ‘ Still On The Move‘ gin Distillery making gin in their rustic VW van outside a farm shop and fell in love! The talented jeweller ‘Into Jewellery‘ who made the bridesmaids necklaces to mother of the brides jewellery to match their outfits was a recommendation.

What’s your top tip for saving money?

Work out your budget and stick to it. This shouldn’t be taken lightly as you will always be tempted with buying more.
As our theme was quite vintage/rustic I found lots of bits including wool in charity shops and made endless pom poms by hand rather than buying them. Other decorations I bought from buy and sell websites. My Mother kindly offered to make our wedding cake. This made it all the more special and saved some much needed pennies, It also happened to be delicious!

… and which elements of your wedding are you glad you spent more on?

The food, singer/band and gin! The ‘Rusty Pig’ caterers were absolutely phenomenal. Guests keep asking me to remind them what the different elements of the sharing platter meal was as the flavours were so unique. The woodfired pizzas they did in the evening were also a massive hit! We had a beautiful ‘post modern jukebox’ styled singer Terrie-May Mcnulty during the canapés who Ben had secretly prepared a song with. She learned the Ukelele to play while he sang to me, such a sweet surprise! The Jacks Band were knock out and the whole wedding party hit the dance floor for every set. The gin made by ‘Still On The Move’ which we got to create and name prior to the big day was such a hit. The vw van still looks amazing in photos!

Where did you buy or source your wedding stationery – or was making it a labour of love?

We made our own save the dates but had our invitations made by the wonderful ‘wedding tea towel‘ company. When our invitations had been recieved we had loads of compliments from guests about our choice!

Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?

I had always wanted a tea length wedding dress. I tried on a few designs that online I had thought ‘that could be the one’ but on just didn’t suit me. It’s so funny that the dress I ended up buying I had initially said I didnt like as it didn’t fit with a preconceived idea I had. Any wedding dress with pockets it’s also winner!

Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:

Cherry Blossom Bridal Boutique, Taunton
Dress designer – Brighton Belle by True Bride

Tell us about your accessories: jewellery, shoes and anything else!

I was lucky enough to be able to wear some Edwardian family jewellery on the day which went perfectly with the vintage style dress. My shoes were ‘Rainbow Club‘ – so comfortable!

And what did the groom wear?

Ben wore a white shirt with ‘Marc Darcy‘ tweed waistcoat, tan chinos and vintage ‘Oliver Sweeney‘ brown brogues. I bought him a cream wool tie and a Woodford mechanical watch to wear on the day. Each groomsman wore a pair of socks that matched one of the bridesmaids skirts.

Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?

To go with the colourful theme each bridesmaid wore a different coloured tulle skirt from ‘Elsie’s Attic‘. They paired this with mismatched tops and I loved how this turned out! ‘Into Jewellery’ made seaglass silver necklaces for each bridesmaid to match their skirt, they looked stunning!

Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?

‘Changing Faces‘ did our makeup and ‘Viva Hair‘ did our hair. Both did amazing work and I couldn’t recommend them enough!

Describe your wedding flowers. Who arranged them for you? (florist details would be lovely please)

‘Ditsy Blooms’ in Budleigh Salterton did our magnificent flowers. We arranged to meet with Beth the owner and basically said ‘we want wild, seasonal flowers with loads of colour including pom poms ‘. She did a fabulous job of turning our description into reality!

General styling – did your venue need much decoration?

Luckily we had a very supportive family and bridal party who arrived the day before and helped us decorate well into the night. The main barn is 15th century and with all the fairy lights is magical on its own. However, with bunting, pom pom stings, flowers, photos and lots of vintage props, we made it our own.

Crafts and makes – tell us about any homemade elements of your wedding… did you enjoy them?

I loved the process or making lots of crafts for the wedding. It was a great way to relax in the evening and I even feel like I’ve lost a hobby now the wedding has come and gone. I made hundreds of pom poms, a few light up pom pom ‘chandeliers’, gold framed blackboards and other little details. I really enjoyed it!

The wedding cake: what kind of cake did you choose and why?

My Mom Kaye made a delicious 3 tier naked wedding cake. 1 layer was victoria sponge, 1 layer was lemon and elderflower drizzle and a third layer was vegan lemon drizzle cake. I loved the idea of decorating it with just a few bright flowers which my cousins kindly did on the morning. Although it wasn’t eaten on the day it made some great hangover food the day after!

Entertainment: any musical recommendations, surprises or treats?

Ben actually played guitar during our ceremony as we had everyone sing ‘Happy Together’ by the turtles. This went down a treat!
Terrie-May Mcnulty was our singer for the canapés. She has the most amazing voice and sings mostly show, film and vintage tunes but kindly focused more on ‘post modern jukebox’ style songs for our wedding. Her rendition of Frozen’s ‘let it go’ had all the guests singing! Terrie-May and Ben had secretly learned a Ukelele version of Elvis Presley’s ‘can’t help falling in love’ and he sang this just before we went in for our wedding breakfast – such a sweet surprise!
Our evening band ‘The Jack’s’ were just an absolute knock out. The dance floor was always packed and they learned our first dance song for us. The last song of the night they had all of our guests stand in a circle singing while we danced in the middle – what a perfect way to end the evening!
A big surprise for us is that my brother George and our Maid of Honour Sandrine had secretly booked ‘Silhouette Sarah‘ who in minutes cuts out the side profile of your face. We absolutely loved her and each guest got to take their silhouette home as a memento of our wedding.

Words of wisdom: share your best piece of advice for other couples:

Take some time out for each other on the day as it will fly by. Arrange a big or little get together the following day to reminisce or even just to catch up with those you hadn’t had time to chat to properly on the day. We had a bbq brunch pool party which was a blast!

What’s the best thing about being married?

Never having to make pompoms ever again…  No! The feeling of pride I get when I call Ben my husband, he’s a pretty awesome guy!

Favourite supplier web links for other brides and grooms:

Www.linusmoranphotography.co.uk
http://onebooth.co.uk
www.silhouetteartist.co.uk
Www.ditsyblooms.co.uk
Www.rustypig.co.uk
Www.intojewellery.com
Viva Hair
Www.changingfaces.net
Www.stillonthemove.com
Www.thejacksband.co.uk
www.nightingalemusic.co
Www.weddingteatowels.co.uk
Www.cherryblossombridal.co.uk
Www.higher-eggbeer.co.uk