Rustic Wedding - My Own Wedding Day - Sopley Mill - 28.08.16

My glorious rustic celebration was based at Sopley Mill, a stunning renovated Mill in Hampshire. As soon as we got engaged I just knew that was where I wanted to get married, and luckily my husband to be felt the same. The local river, The Avon wraps around this venue and the views across the meadows are uninterrupted which is what attracted us to it in the first place. As the venue is great for diy Brides it was right up my street - as I knew I wanted to do lots of the decor myself or ask local suppliers. The relaxed vibes were also very important to me, as I am not a formal sort of girl! 

-----

Our wedding day was 28th August 2016. When we went to view and consequently book the Mill, there were hardly any dates available. But the idea of a wedding on a bank holiday Sunday attracted me, because most people would have the Monday off work, and for family travelling down, this meant they could travel down on the Friday and leave on the Monday without having to take any of the working week off! 

-----

The proposal came in June 2015 - we had just over a year to plan and this was just before Manta Makes began. Hence how the decor became the items we sell!

The vision was to have a rustic theme in an informal setting alongside family and friends. I felt wood went well against my choice of wedding colours. My colour palette was touches of pink and purple which featured in the bouquet, corsages, ties and the bridesmaids’ dresses. I didn't want to choose a solid colour because I felt you can never ever match the colours perfectly - so having shades of certain colours means everything blends in. Or so I felt! 

----

Photography. On hand to capture every little moment was Andrew Millard Photography whose images here are really so special to me. He understood I hated having my picture taken and he captured some lovely photographs in colour and black and white, many without me facing the camera!

----

My dress was a cream satin dress which featured tiny pearls on the neckline. I don't have a very womanly figure and I am very straight up and down - so I wanted a really big dress to give me shape. I bought my dress from Chameleon in Pokesdown who offered a payment plan for wedding dresses which was what I needed as it was so expensive!

---

Suits - The groom and groomsmen suits came from Moss Bros - we actually bought them because they doubled up as the gifts to the groomsmen as well. My husbands suit had a different panel on the waistcoat. The bridesmaid dresses were from Quiz. In the sale in Debnahams, I was delighted with these light flowing dresses. 

My friend Viv owns Pretty Hooked a crochet company in Bournemouth. I asked Viv to make my beautiful flowers. And I am so glad I did, she did the most stunning flowers I have ever seen. They will forever be treasured forever. The flowers were all crocheted around wire for stability and beads and ribbons were added to complete the look. Whilst I love real flowers, my Grandmother always was an avid knitter, did crochet and sewed, so this really brought her into the wedding even though she is no longer with us. 

Now this is where we came in and our laser engraving machines!

We made most of the decor from the wooden table plan, wooden table numbers, to wedding place names and the post box for cards. 

Memorial. My husband and I have both lost our Father's so we had a memory ladder. This ladder had an in memory sign and then photographs of our Father's. It seemed like a nice way to remember them both on our special day. 

Wedding Signs were hired from Wisteria in Christchurch. Pop in and see their extensive range, I made sure we had a welcome sign and various other signs that we could not make in the style I wanted. They even personalised the welcome size with our own names. 

 It was the best day of my life apart from the birth of my children and every part of it was so very special. Here are the key contacts and links for the items: 

--------------------------------------

THE VISION - A rustic wedding in the Hampshire countryside.  

THE VENUE - Sopley Mill, Sopley, Hampshire. 

THE DRESS  - Chameleon Pokesdown Bournemouth 

GROOM’S ATTIRE - Grey and shades of pink - Moss Bros

MUSIC - Walk in song –  Kygo Firestone. First Dance - Kodaline Latch - originally Sam Smith (slow version) 

BRIDESMAIDS - Dresses from Quiz. 

THE FLOWERS - All from Pretty Hooked. 

THE PHOTOGRAPHER - Andrew Millard

---------------------------------------------------------

Memory wedding sign -