Countryside Festival Chic Pink & Blue Wedding

Countryside Festival Chic Pink & Blue Wedding

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WWW readers Tom and Sian were married on the 2nd August 2014 in the Gloucestershire countryside. They wanted a festival chic feel to their wedding and laid on some brilliant entertainment for their guests.

From live music and a casino to a bouncy castle and a scrumptious paella meal, they thought of every little detail.

I love the pink and blue colour scheme, the field location and epic layer wedding cake. Divine.

Thanks so very much to the amazing Charlie Campey Photography for sharing these photographs with us.

THE PROPOSAL | Tom made several failed attempts at a proposal whilst on holiday in Barcelona in the summer of 2013! His romantic plans were hampered by a series of unfortunate events including Sian getting sun stroke in Parc Guell, a rubbish lorry disrupting one of their romantic dinners and the world diving championships taking place one night alongside the Magic Fountain! In the end, we flew back to England without an engagement proposal so Tom quickly booked a weekend holiday to London for the following week. We spent the day having a Michelin-starred lunch in an Indian restaurant (our favourite cuisine), hearing Mozart performed by candlelight at St.Martin's in Trafalgar Square and then spent the night at the antiques-laden Rookery hotel in Farringdon where Tom (finally) proposed!

THE VISION | Countryside festival chic.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | We did all the planning ourselves. Sian had the idea for bunting invitations which Tom then produced himself on the computer. We also created our own website ( sianandtom.co.uk) for guests to RSVP and request songs.

BUDGET | £18k

THE VENUE | A field in rural Gloucestershire (at Tom's parents house) in a village called St. Briavels.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | The dress was by Rembo Styling and was called Clara (which incidentally is Sian's Nan's name!)

FINDING THE DRESS | After a day of dress shopping with Tom's Mum and 4 sisters, Sian eventually found the dress with Amy and Karen (bridesmaids) in a wedding boutique off Oxford Street.

GROOM'S ATTIRE | The grooms were wearing charcoal grey 3-piece suits (Topman) with green, knitted woollen ties and pocket squares (The Tie Bar, USA). Tom also changed into verdant green Vans for the first dance and rest of the evening!

THE READINGS & MUSIC | We had 4 readings during the Humanist ceremony: Rae (Tom's younger sister) read an extract from 'Bridge Across Forever' by Richard Bach. Cats (Tom's eldest sister) read 'Thoughts on Marriage' which she wrote herself. Aimee (Sian's sister) read an extract from 'The Invitation' by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Karen (one of Sian's bridesmaids) read 'The Best is Yet to Come' which she wrote herself.

In the late afternoon we had The Marionettes perform live who are a vintage, 1940s style 3-part harmony trio (one member of which is Tom's cousin).

In the evening we had a digital Jukebox that all our guests could use to request songs.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | Sian's four Bridesmaids were: Aimee, Maid of Honour - Sian's younger sister Amy, Karen & Sofie - Sian's friends.

THE FLOWERS | The flowers were planned, bought and arranged by Tom's auntie Christine Bradley. The bridesmaids had pink hydrangeas and Sian's bouquet had pink roses.

THE CAKE | The cake was a three-tier 'naked cake' from Sandra Monger Cakes with a chocolate, fruit and lemon layers decorated with fresh fruits

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Charlie Campey Photography

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | We had 3 marquees in total: an open-sided large gazebo which we had the outdoor ceremony under; a large marquee for dining and then a slightly smaller marquee for the evening entertainment.

The all-white Bouncy Castle was brilliant fun for both adults and children. It kept children guests busy and also provided some excellent photos for us!

We had Shelley Fairplay performing on the harp as our guests arrived and during the ceremony. This was a surprise that Tom had booked unbeknownst to Sian and, as we left the gazebo at the end of the ceremony, she also played 'How long will I love you' by Ellie Goulding which Tom had specially requested and she had learned to play.

Whilst the vintage band were providing beautiful background music, our guests could enjoy playing at two casino tables. The roulette and blackjack tables were a nod to our future Honeymoon trip to Las Vegas. The guests were also given personalised money with which to gamble.

Our guests could also enjoy an ice cream from our vintage ice cream vendor bicycle. We had asked our 5 sisters (Tom's 4 and Sian's one) to each choose a flavour of ice cream or sorbet. Our guests could then order one of these.

The favours we provided for our guests was for them to help themselves to sweet treats from our personalised sweet cart which was created by Sian's bridesmaid Karen Roadnight.

For lunch, we had three paellas cooked by Jonathan at Paellas Inc. Our guests had chosen their paellas online beforehand and we served up: a Spring Vegetable Paella; a Cadiz Paella with chicken, chorizo and baby cuttlefish; and, a Spring Paella with sea bass, cray fish, courgette and white truffle.

The place names were spelt out using Scrabble tiles on wooden racks and the tables were numbered using photocubes that were made up of photos of Sian, Tom and their close family at that age. We also created personalised iSpy books for our child guests to keep them busy during the meal and the speeches! Tom handwrote the table plan onto a vintage mirror that was displayed on an artist's easel outside the marquee.

Our evening food was a Caribbean buffet catered by Marinades restaurant from Cheltenham as Sian's Mum and grandparents are from Trinidad.

As the evening got a bit colder, guests could sit on hay bales around a fire pit which were also decorated with vintage picnic blankets.

In the evening marquee, we had vintage furniture and some large illuminated letters spelling 'S & T' alongside the black and white dance floor. We also created our own photo booth with a camera on a tripod and an old suitcase filled with props. We hired an old typewriter for guests to leave us comments and messages on the day. We also served up the cocktail that won the 'Cocktail making competition' Sian hosted on her Hen Do!

THE HONEYMOON | We went to Tulum in Mexico for a week and enjoyed snorkelling in the Caribbean, diving in cenotes and exploring ancient Mayan ruins. We then spent 4 nights at the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | The first bounce on the White bouncy castle...

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Be creative and personalise your day just for you. Don't feel confined or restricted by tradition. Even our most traditional of guests were impressed and overawed by our personalised and unique touches.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photography | Charlie Campey Photography

Jukebox | Digital Jukebox Hire

Cake | Sandra Monger Cakes

Marquees | Windsor Marquees

Bouncy Castle | The White Bouncy Castle

Harpist | Harp Wales

Casino | Griffin Casinos

Paella | Paella Inc

Caribbean Buffet | Marinades

Vintage Blankets | Vintage Hire

Dance floor | Little Gem FX

Gorgeous.

Thanks so so much to Tom and Sian for sharing their wonderful wedding with us here at WWW XOXO Lou

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