It is so wonderful to be able to share Lucy and Carl's rustic, fun and intimate wedding with you today. The wedding took place in mid July at the beautiful Crockwell Farm in Eydon, against a stunning backdrop of the Northamptonshire countryside. The day was filled with personal details and elegant styling to make the day extra special for Lucy and Carl.
Lucy wore Suzanne Neville's incredible Gigi wedding dress, opting for the fitted skirt version as an alternative to the standard A-Line. This exquisite gown is covered from top to toe in delicate petals and embroidery, and was just perfect for Lucy's Summer wedding in the English countryside. To style her look, Lucy wore simple jewellery to complement the detailed nature of the gown, along with Loeffler Randall's gorgeous Camellia sandals.
Read on to find out more about Lucy's dress shopping experience and her wonderful wedding to Carl.
Suzanne Neville Gigi wedding dress
I wore Gigi by Suzanne Neville and I loved it so much. I always knew I loved the square neck line and this was fitted too which suited me more than an A line dress. I had tried on Gigi in the A line but it just didn't feel right and my mum had seen the fitted style online so Miss Bush very kindly got a fitted version of the dress in from Suzanne Neville's London store for me to try as they don't stock that style so then I could try both on together, it made my decision easy then as it just felt right and I could see them both.
I was with my mum and sister when I found the dress - we all knew it was the right one 100%... I had tried on a lot of dresses by the time I made my decision so I knew exactly what looked right on me and everyone agreed it was miles above all the other dresses I had tried, we all loved it so much.
Dress Shopping
The team at Miss Bush are incredible and the chapel/shop is gorgeous. Rosie was so helpful on both of my appointments and knew her stuff! Jo was insane too with the alterations and did it perfectly, I loved my appointments with her as she kept me calm and had a really warm personality and presence.
I had seen the dress slightly cheaper in another shop and Miss Bush team offered to give me a veil voucher to make up for that difference - I knew I wanted to buy the dress from Miss Bush as the service and team was amazing rather than another dress shop that were cheaper and closer to me - Miss Bush felt much more professional and knowledgeable than other shops I had been to.
Styling
I went for very simple in all other aspects as the dress spoke for itself with all the beautiful detailing all over it. I absolutely loved the square neck line so I chose not to wear a necklace as I didn't want to take away from the neckline. Equally I went very low key on jewellery as I wanted my arms to be bear so that my ring was the main event and nothing took away from the dress. I wore my mums tiffany pearl earrings as my something borrowed and slipped into my up do hairstyle I bought some beautiful ceramic hairpins that matched the flower detailing on the dress. I had tried on some like this at my first dress appointment so always knew I would have that style.
My shoes were Loeffler Randall Camellia Pleated bow shoes and they were really classic and simple but so comfortable - that was really important to me!
A fun, rustic and intimate wedding at Crockwell Farm
We got married at the beautiful Crockwell Farm in Eydon which is the most stunning, rustic countryside venue - we loved it from the second we first viewed it. I had always wanted a rustic orange/green theme and the venue just fitted it perfectly. I absolutely love the colour olive green so that was always going to be in the scheme and the venue had a lot of foliage around to decorate the venue, a lot of which were olive trees so I knew it was meant to be when we viewed it!
We stayed quite simple with the decor as the venue was stunning without any added extras! Our flowers were a mixture of beautiful greens, toffee's, oranges and we had roses incorporated - roses have a special meaning to me and were great for the time of year too. Our florist Claire created some beautiful displays for different areas and we were able to move a few around which was great. We had a neon light saying 'The Haywards' which I had always wanted at our wedding and Claire framed that beautifully, the flowers were so stunning.
Our dogs are like our babies so we had them at our ceremony and for photos afterwards which was so lovely, they looked amazing and they stole the show! We also had little peeping heads made of them both to put on our cake which was so cute & everyone loved. Our photographers were an incredible team of 3 who captured photos and videos of the day and made me feel so calm and at ease - they also popped up a photo wall for the evening which was really fun!
Another great touch we added was QR codes around for people to access an app (POV) similar to a polaroid camera where they got to take x25 photos each that were unable to be viewed until the next day - they turned out great and were good fun. We also put anniversary cards on the breakfast tables (we had 12 in total, one between about 6 guests) and we asked people to sign them so that each year on our anniversary we have a card to open which will take us back to the day and see what advice our family & friends wrote us! I can't wait to open them all for the next 12 years!
We had Laura Williams do the music/entertainment for our whole day; she sang and played her guitar for the ceremony & drinks reception and then got the party started in the evening with another guitar/singing set and then onto DJ'ing the night away for us along with Liz the amazing saxophonist who was amazing and a huge hit with our guests!
The best bits
It is so hard to name just a few but I really loved my morning getting ready and spending time with my bridesmaids and mum. It was really calm and peaceful, all the stresses and nerves from the weeks and months leading up had melted away when I woke up and I was just really at peace and excited for the day ahead and to marry Carl. I was able to really take in and process what was about to happen and I felt so excited to walk down the aisle when the time came!
I absolutely loved our ceremony too, we had a humanist ceremony by a celebrant who is a friend and it was so beautiful - we were able to totally tailor the whole thing ourselves so it was so personal and lovely, we wrote our own vows to each other which we hadn't heard until the day so that was so special.
So many moments were amazing but we tried to make sure we were present and took little pockets here and there, just the two of us, to take it all in and not let the day fly away from us.
Lucy's Advice
It is easy to say but harder to do, but try and not sweat the small stuff as it really is so unimportant on the day! Create an amazing atmosphere by there being love in the air, happiness on your faces and great food, music and drinks! The tiny details can be the most stressful but are not important. Little personal touches are lovely to really add the personality of the couple to the day but don't panic over napkins and cutlery - no one cares!!
Suppliers
Photographers: Ayelle Photo
Flowers: Hibiscus Floral Design
Venue: Crockwell Farm
Hair & makeup: Ruby Peacock Bridal Beauty
Caterers: Ross & Ross Events
Bridesmaid dresses: ASOS
Cake: Nats Tasty Cakes
Singer, guitarist, DJ: Laura Williams music
Sax: Liz Greenwood