LAID-BACK LOVIN'

Laid-back lovin’ Claire and Dave’s country boho theme enjoyed a forest green and white colour theme

Images courtesy of Ellie Mac Photography

Claire and Dave first met when they were in their late teens at her best friend Cath’s house party. “Cath was then to become the maid-of-honour at our wedding!” Claire tells us. “It was almost 10 years later before we became a couple but we formed a close friendship in our mid-twenties. We used to speak every day and share a ‘fact a day’ - one of our favourites was quoted in the reading that Dave’s sister Sara gave at our ceremony!”

The couple became engaged on 16th August 2020 when Dave popped the question while they were on holiday in Ilfracombe, Devon. “We’d been together for five-and-a-half years but the proposal was still a surprise to me!” Claire tells us. “We had talked about marriage and the large festival-themed wedding that we were going to have, but I didn’t think he’d get down on one knee to propose, but he did!” Dave had asked Cath to make the ring which was a wonderful surprise for Claire. “It’s a beautiful silver band engraved with our initials in morse code,” she tells us. “He’d stored the ring in the glove box of the car as we drove around Devon, waiting for the perfect opportunity to ask me to marry him. We got out of the car at a viewing point which was on top of a cliff looking out to the sea and as I walked towards the edge of the cliff to get a good view of the sunset and turned around, he was on one knee holding the ring. I screamed with shock and excitement, I couldn’t believe what was happening! Of course, I said ‘yes’ and that was the beginning of our engagement.”

Here, Claire tells us about their country boho celebration...

Claire and Dave Boote married on 26th March 2022 at Banbury RegistrationOffice followed by a reception at The Barn at The New Inn, Oxfordshire.

Dave and I always talked about having a big festival-themed wedding. We had viewed Hadsham Farm in Oxfordshire which is stunning and had planned to book the venue for September 2023 but then we found out that I was pregnant. Our priorities changed and we wanted to get married before our baby arrived in June 2022. We booked Banbury Registration Office for 26th March 2022 which was the date of our seventh anniversary.

We decided to have an intimate wedding and only invite our immediate family to the ceremony and for dinner. The week before the wedding, I decided to invite some of my best girlfriends to witness the ceremony. They’d been part of our relationship from the beginning, having been friends with both of us, so it felt right for them to be there. The barn looked stunning with our handmade decorations in it. We had a wall of fairylights installed by Dave with a bride and groom sign.

I made a floral chandelier with Dave’s sister Sara and - his mum, Gilly that was suspended from the ceiling in the barn and looked incredible. We used an old hula hoop decorated with ivy from our garden and some fake flowers.

The dinner and reception were held at our local pub, The New Inn located in Middleton Cheney, Banbury. We know the owner, Nina who gave us use of the barn which fitted perfectly with our country, boho theme.

“We tucked into a meal at the pub with our family and then enjoyed a buffet in the evening with our friends also invited.” - Claire and Dave

We had a photo board for our guests to look at.

Our favours were bottles of homemade sloe gin that Dave’s mum Gilly created and personalised handmade wood slices that Dave’s cousin Ellen made. We also had chocolates and wildflower seeds. Our centrepieces were created with ivy from our garden. We had a hessian table runner and jars hand-decorated with lace and filled with candles or gypsophila that were placed on large wood slices. Our flowers included displays of delicate gypsophila.

“Our registrar was Sheila Norton and her son was in my year at school so she knew both Cath and me and made our ceremony feel very personal. It was nice to have a familiar face as we were saying our vows - along with Dave!” - Claire

I designed our place names to tie in with our theme.

My maid-of-honour, Cath, chief bridesmaid, Sara and our niece Eden picked their dresses which were different styles in the same shade of green. Our delicious homemade cake was gifted to us by my friend, Amie.

Everybody loved playing the peg game which is one of our favourites!

Dave looked so handsome in a three-piece blue check suit, white shirt, forest green tie and brown shoes.

Dave’s best man Craig and his partner Stacey gave Dave a pocket watch which they had engraved with our wedding date on it. The chain on his waistcoat made a lovely finishing touch. Craig wore his own blue suit to match Dave’s. Our male family members wore green ties to tie in with the theme.

Neither of us stopped smiling all day, the feeling of pure joy and happiness was overwhelming. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t a big festival-themed wedding, it was perfect the way it was, small and intimate. It was our wedding day and just making our promises to each other was all we needed, everything else was just a bonus.

I struggled to find a dress because I was 30 weeks pregnant on our wedding day. I decided not to go dress shopping in the traditional sense and ordered a lace dress with cami straps online. I found a fantastic seamstress, Karen Westgate, who added a corset back so that I was able to adjust it to fit. She also added the cuff sleeves and took it up at the front, leaving the back longer to form a train.

Dave and I created a playlist on Spotify to entertain our guests during dinner and the evening. We had always imagined having a band and DJ at our wedding (because Dave is a DJ) but we didn’t feel we needed it and we were right. More than 100 guests turned up for the reception, the majority of who were friends and many had not seen in other in years. The night was spent with everyone catching up. It was a fantastic vibe, everyone was so happy and we didn’t stop smiling. We were lucky to have our friend Ben bring his guitar along and play some songs which got guests dancing! We were blessed with a golden hour of sunset when our photographer Ellie took us to a field en route to the reception around 5 pm. It was the only time during the day that we got to spend together just us two. Driving in Dave’s dad’s Mini Cooper to the location that she’d personally found for us having just said our vows was a really special moment.

Top tip: “Invest in a talented photographer. The best choice we made was to book Ellie to take our pictures. Ellie did an amazing job capturing these moments which we can now treasure forever.” - Claire and Dave

THE DREAM TEAM

Register office, Banbury Registration Office, www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/community-and-living/births-deaths-and-ceremonies /ceremony-rooms/banbury-ceremony-room | Reception venue and catering, The New Inn, 01295 710 978, www.newinnmiddletoncheney.co.uk | Photographer, Ellie Mac Photography, www.elliemacphotography.com | Jewellery, accessories and wedding rings, Maytree Jewellery, www.instagram.com/maytreejewellery | Hair and make-up, Bridal by Charley, www.instagram.com/ bridalbycharley | Suits, Henry’s of Banbury, 01295 251 044, www.henrysofbanbury.com | Flowers, Davids Flowers, 07770 941 444, www.facebook.com/people/Davids-Flowers/100048484467129 | Wedding dress alterations, Karen Westgate Seamstress, 01295 258 908, www.facebook.com/Karen-Westgate-Seamstress-1287330194739813 | Stationery, Etsy | Dresses, ASOS | Boots, Heavenly Feet

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