WWW readers Victoria and Jim were married on the 6th September 2014 at the B arley Town House in Hertfordshire. They hoped for a relaxed wedding, from stress free planning to a big party to celebrate. On a budget of £7500 they DIYed much of their colourful rustic day.

I so love the hessian table runners, heart book art, pom poms and bunting. Then of course there were the flowers, statement Sunflowers and Daisies were used throughout which looked so very pretty. Victoria donned a beautiful flower crown and statement necklace which worked perfectly with her Pronovias Nerga gown.

Thanks today goes to Grace and the Heart for sharing such wonderful images to pore over.

THE PROPOSAL | On our first holiday abroad together in Costa Teguise, Lanzarote. Jim carried the ring around with him everyday until the time was right, after a fabulous meal we took a bottle of wine to the beach at night with a blanket, under the stars and he proposed, was perfect. Was just us two on the beach. and pretty much exactly a year on we got married. He proposed on the 3rd September 2013.

THE VISION | Totally relaxed day filled with our dearest family and friends. Nothing stuck up or posh. I wanted our guests to feel at home and have a fantastic party to celebrate our special day. We wanted the feel of earthy, rustic and natural. I love sunflowers so I knew from the beginning this will be my main theme along with daises, I didn't want any roses anywhere.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | It all came pretty relaxed, we knew the feel we wanted and with searching online it all came together. Luckily we both wanted the same feel and both have the same taste which made it very easy.

BUDGET | We started at £5,000 but without really counting it all up I think its closer to £7500.

THE VENUE | Barley Town House, Barley, near Royston, Herts. A gorgeous village building across from the church. It's a 16th century building with loads of character and low wooden beams. As soon as we walked into the building we both knew it was our perfect location. We hired the whole building as an empty shell and we added everything else, down to the caterers, bar, etc

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | My dress was the first dress I tried on by Pronovias Nerga. Its was perfect & exactly everything I could dream of. It fitted our theme perfectly and I've always liked something a little different to the norm. I haven't ever seen a dress like it before which is just what I wanted. My necklace was a handmade one off from the USA from the etsy site, soon as I saw it I needed to have it. My shoes were from Dune, I hunted for months for yellow shoes and I found them finally.

FINDING THE DRESS | My mum lives in Scotland so I waited until she was over to go to my 1st dress shopping trip along with my maid of honour, the first dress I tried on was my perfect dress. Had a fantastic experience, the girls at the dress shop (Serendipity Bridal) was very helpful throughout the whole process, from picking my dress to collecting it days before the wedding.

GROOM'S ATTIRE | Hired suit from Debenhams.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | I walked down the aisle to Eva Aassidy - Fields of Gold. I love her and the song fitted perfectly, especially as the mention of barley in the song, and as that's the name of the village we got married it was perfect. We had a reading from Jim's two sisters and my brother, they created the reading together and we never knew what it was until on the day, was such an emotional part. It meant such a lot to us both. We walked out to Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole as we have always loved that song. Our first dance was I Wont Give Up by Jason Mraz, the words of this song mean a lot to us both and was our perfect choice.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | My maid of honour is a dear friend and I also had my younger sister. We had two flower girls who are our nieces and a page boy who is my nephew.

THE FLOWERS | I knew sunflowers would be my main flower as I love them. I wanted a real natural feel to my flowers, as if you had just picked them from a field. Really rustic and fresh with daises, grasses, moss etc. a big must have, and something I knew I wanted from the beginning was my stunning floral crown. It was perfect. once I saw my flowers for the 1st time I cried, they were so perfect.

THE CAKE | Again we wanted a rustic feel, so we had our bottom tier which was chocolate cherry flavour as a tree trunk with our names carved in a love heart, the middle tier was lemon and the top was Victoria sponge, we had daises falling around our cake. I absolutely loved my moss and daisy detail from our florist for the base of the cake, it was exactly what I wanted, to look like the cake was the tree trunk on the mossy earth. our cake toppers were made by my sister in law, she did a fabulous job, of course we had myself and Jim at the top then we knew we had to have our cats, Lacey and Luther who we love so much. It also tasted amazing!

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Was the fantastic Grace Hamilton from Grace and the Heart. We both didn't want any old fashioned stuffy photographs I love natural shots and I came across Grace online by a recommendation. She was exactly what we were after. We had a fantastic engagement shoot which was great to put us both at ease for the big day. Grace became a friend who we both felt totally relaxed with, along with her assistant Victoria Harding. I totally trusted her to take the photographs without feeling I had to give her a list what to take.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | We pretty much made it all. Ebay was my best friend. From designing and making the invites to making the hessian table runners and adding cotton ribbon edging to it all, we made metres and metres of bunting. It took its toll but all the hours and days making everything was totally worth it and it didn't go un-noticed. Our last minute detail was one of my favourites, a massive hanging pom pom chandelier. We noticed in the venue there was a big hook in the middle of the room and with the very high ceilings we just had to hang something there, I got lots of different sizes of paper pom poms from ebay, a twig wooden round ring and twine and tied it all together, really did add the finish touch to the room.

THE HONEYMOON | We always wanted to go to Italy, so we toured Italy for 10 nights, starting with Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Pompeii and our finial destination was an island off Naples called Ischia, this was our chill out couple of days from a very busy sight seeing week.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | Seeing my flowers for the first time when I cried, seeing my dad for the first time in my dress, walking down the aisle, I was so overwhelmed by it all and how gorgeous the venue looked with the fairy lights and seeing a room filled with my loved ones. Saying our vows, I took in every word and didn't let go of my husbands hand. Dancing all night. My trip to the venue with my dad in the awesome Flo the camper van, I love camper vans. Also to have my family travel from Northern Ireland and Scotland meant so much to us both.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Do exactly what you both want, its you day. Luckily we didn't have any family issues or pressure. its your day so do exactly what you want and enjoy every minute, its truly the best day of your life. Also enjoy the planning process, I kept wishing the months to fly by for the wedding day to arrive but enjoy this stage also as it all goes by so fast.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Venue | Barley Town House

Photographer | Grace and the Heart

Dress | Serendipity Bridal

Florist | Heidi Appleyard

Cake | Jennies Cake

Bar | Mobile Bar Company

Transport | Go With The Flo

Perfection.

Thanks so so much Victoria and Jim for sharing your lovely wedding story today XOXO Lou