WEDDINGS An English country wedding and a surprise proposal.

SUMMER WEDDINGS

An English Country An English Country WEDDING WEDDING

This month we’ve some blooming beautiful ideas for your forthcoming This month we’ve some blooming beautiful ideas for your forthcoming wedding as a team of local wedding suppliers led by photographer wedding as a team of local wedding suppliers led by photographer Amanda Forman and makeup artist Alice Snell gathers at Barnsdale Gardens Amanda Forman and makeup artist Alice Snell gathers at Barnsdale Gardens to create a stunning ‘English Country Garden’ themed summer wedding... to create a stunning ‘English Country Garden’ themed summer wedding...

Blooming beautiful... that’s the only way to describe this styled wedding shoot held at Barnsdale Gardens in high summer, with the best local suppliers providing all the elements you need to celebrate your special day. To show just how good a Rutland wedding can look when you seek out the creativity and flair of local suppliers, Barleythorpe photographer Amanda Forman and makeup artist Alice Snell have pulled together local wedding suppliers to create this stunning summer wedding shoot. It’s difficult to find a positive in Covid, of course, but the lack of people walking around Barnsdale Gardens did nonetheless afford Amanda and her team the chance to use the unusually deserted gardens as a backdrop for a showcase designed to provide ideas for your own Rutland wedding. “When putting together the plan for this styled shoot, we knew our dream location would be Barnsdale Gardens. We wanted to show just how beautiful Rutland is and what alluring locations it has to offer. Barnsdale Gardens is such a beautiful location and one that isn’t celebrated enough when it comes to its capacity for weddings,” says Amanda.

“The team at Barnsdale Gardens were so friendly and accommodating from start to finish. Charlotte who organises the weddings was on hand all day for anything we needed.”

“As suppliers, we chose to work together on this project not only for the shoot concept that we all found fitted our brands well, but also the alliance in our styles of work and to help showcase what incredible local talent Rutland has to offer.” “It was important to us that all of suppliers were local and we can safely say we achieved this with our incredible creative team.”

“We chose to split the styled shoot and work with two couples on this occasion, which enabled us to really showcase our range of expertise. Jack, and florist Amanda, worked seamlessly together to create multiple sets and floral designs for the day, including the aisle, drinks table, wedding breakfast, cake hive and so much more. It was so exciting seeing the designs come to life and even more so when you compare the vision from Jack’s sketches to the final images.” “Working with two couples also allowed us to showcase two completely different bridal looks so our hair and makeup artists Michaela and Alice were in their element and Naomi from Lace & Pearl bridal was

able to showcase two completely different wedding dresses.” “Styled wedding shoots are so much fun to be a part of and it allows so many of us to work together and showcase the very best of our talents. It also allows us to give inspiration to brides and grooms still planning weddings, and show them beautiful stationery designs, plus delicious favours in the form of biscuits from Caroline at the Kitsch Hen and tell them about the beautiful sounds of our harpist Harriet Flather. “We truly hope that this incredible shoot not only gets couples excited enough to start planning their weddings again but also to book and shop locally for their wedding. It has been a long year for the wedding industry and for our couples and we are so looking forward to working with them again!” n

An English Country Garden Wedding: Our Local Suppliers...

Wedding Styling: Jack Barton from Pretty Quirky, 07842 289620, www.prettyquirkyhire.co.uk. Floral Design: Amanda of Amanda Steele Flowers, 01572 717757, www.asteeleflowers.co.uk. Photography: Amanda Forman Photography, 01572 492791, www.amandaforman.co.uk. Makeup Artist: Alice Snell, 07568 511436, www.alicesnellbridal.com. Hair Stylist: Michaela at The Boho Bridal, www.instagram.com/the.boho.bridal. Wedding Stationery: Lucy of In the Details Design, www.inthedetailsdesign.co.uk. Wedding Cake: Michele at Love Life Eat Cake, www.lovelifeeatcake.com. Harpist: Harriet Flather 07771 552945, www.harrietflather.co.uk. Handmade Biscuits: Caroline at The Kitsch Hen, 07799 516179, www.the-kitsch-hen.co.uk. Wedding Dress: Naomi of Lace & Pearl Bridal, 07402 248276, www.laceandpearlbridal.com. Wedding Veil: Kat from Olive & Grace Bridal, www.etsy.com/uk/shop/oliveandgracebridal. Wedding Venue: Charlotte at Barnsdale Gardens, 01572 813200, www.barnsdalegardens.co.uk. Our Models: With thanks to Hannah Goodwin, Sam Payne, Nikki Cooper and Matthew Favell. n 103

Surprise, Surprise!

This month’s couple surprised themselves by expecting to plan a rustic-style country wedding, only to realise that a rather more formal wedding at Newark’s Stubton Hall was more their style...

Wedding Photographer: Rebekah Robert Photography, 07736 931496, www.rebekahrobert.com.

SURPRISES WERE A FEATURE of Tom Green and Casey Fletcher’s wedding from proposal to reception. Living on the Nottinghamshire border, the couple met 14 years ago, and three years ago Tom hatched a plan for a surprise proposal. The incurable romantic booked a cruise holiday, whisking Casey away from work unexpectedly one day. Casey was surprised, too, when their parents joined them on holiday, and again when she was given a treasure hunt, which took her all over the cruise ship. The final clue led Casey to Tom, who was waiting for her to find him, at which point he proposed, with many people around to cheer the newly engaged couple on. Back home, wedding planning began in earnest but took another surprise twist. The couple had discussed what sort of day they wanted and decided that a rustic wedding with tweed and hay bales was their preferred style of wedding. “We’d seen a couple of barns nearby that offered rustic weddings and we were quite sure of the style of wedding that we wanted. One afternoon though, Stubton Hall near Newark were hosting an open day and we wanted to go along to meet a few suppliers,” say Tom and Casey. “We were absolutely adamant that it wasn’t our kind of venue but to our surprise upon walking in we both well in love with it. We booked it that same day for both our ceremony and our reception, which we were delighted with, but it did necessitate a rethink of the other suppliers we’d use as it was going to suit a more formal looking wedding.” “The wedding fair also enabled us to meet a few other suppliers and one thing we did find was using businesses who were already familiar with Stubton Hall meant they’d know the best angles for photographs, the best places to put the flowers, where the cake could stand and so on.”

“Another appeal of Stubton Hall is that the place has 25 bedrooms, and we were keen to have our ceremony and our reception in one place. Having rooms available to guests too meant that they wouldn’t have to travel home or find accommodation elsewhere.”

The couple’s wedding took place on February 29th – a leap year. Casey opted for a russet colour for her bridesmaids’ Vera Wang dresses. Her own wedding dress was from Nora Eve and was an A-line dress with sweetheart neckline and beading and embroidery to the bodice. Tom meanwhile opted for classic black Hugo Boss dinner suits for both him and his Best Man, Will. There was another accessory, too, in the form of his and hers Christian Louboutin wedding shoes and brogues. That was Tom’s sartorial contribution and one that enabled a few nice photos with the couples’ red soles on show. “We were really keen to use flowers to make the most of Stubton Hall’s setting,” the couple say. “We blew the budget for blooms a bit but they looked really lovely and our florist, Michelle at Jacaranda, was able to bring the red colour scheme into the arrangements too.” “I think we were quite lucky with our cake as well. Again we initially thought we might like a rustic-looking ‘naked’ cake but when we opted for Stubton Hall instead, we had a rethink and chose a four-tiered cake with white icing and a Dom Perignon-style crest with our names on.” >>

WEDDING SUPPLIERS

TOM & CASEY GREEN

Wedding Ceremony & Reception: Stubton Hall, Newark, 01636 626187 www.stubtonhall.co.uk. Wedding Flowers: Michelle at Jacaranda Flowers, 07815290744, www.jacarandaflowers.co.uk. Wedding Cake: Rosie Denyer, www.thepinkcakebox.co.uk Hair/MUA: www.alisonjennerhair.com. Entertainment: www.six15events.co.uk. Photographer: Rebekah Robert Photography, 07736 931496, www.rebekahrobert.com. n

“I wanted to make sure Casey had the best day possible and we think it was the happiest day of our lives!”

>> “We had one tier of cherry bakewell sponge and another of strawberry and champagne flavour, both were absolutely delicious!”

“The evening reception was wonderful too, and we were lucky to have been introduced to Six15 entertainment who we went to see during a live performance. They combine live sax, violins and bongos with a DJ to perform party songs. It sounds like an eclectic mix but they really read the room well and ensured that was a good mix of music to keep everyone entertained.” “One other supplier we need to mention is Rebekah and Robert, our husband and wife team of photographers. Their images are stunning and they were so lovely and warm to work with!”

“We both worked hard to create a day that we’d really enjoy,” says Tom. “I wanted to be involved in the wedding planning to make sure Casey had the very best day possible and we think it was the happiest day of our lives!”

Wedding Photographer: Rebekah Robert Photography, 07736 931496, www.rebekahrobert.com.