Jazz And High Tea At Bartholomew Barn.
Jazz And High Tea At Bartholomew Barn.
via
Kirsty and Tom are the cutest. I mean the absolute sweetest. You only have to look at the header image at the top here to see how much these two adore each other.
The pair opted for a humanist wedding ceremony at Bartholomew Barn set against the gentle strains of jazz floating in the background on the breeze. Perhaps more unusually Tom actually got in on the action and played as part of the Jazz band to Kirsty's delight.
This wedding folks, well it makes my heart sing. From Kirsty's floral maids to the flower strewn aisle created by all of the guests through to the passing around of the wedding rings and the table with old wedding photos of their grandparents and parents as a way of celebrating marriage, this is a couple who have their priorities straight. Because that's what weddings are all about - love and acceptance and family.
Perhaps most poignant is the emotional exchange between Kirsty and her Dad who is blind and hearing impaired. I'm not going to say too much here as I want to let the pictures speak for themselves but I want to say that Andy Squires captured it all perfectly with real love and soul.
Kirsty The Bride: My beautiful lace, classic, vintage dress from Paloma Blanca made me feel at my best but also relaxed and happy on the day. The men's handkerchiefs were the same material as the bridesmaids dresses. I sourced some extra material from Vivien of Holloway and made them to match.
Our relaxed, romantic venue - Bartholomew Barn - was situated in the stunning countryside of West Sussex. We fell in love with its rustic charm and peaceful setting. We didn't really apply any specific colour, just happy colours and florals in a vintage country style. Anything we fancied really all shoved in together.
We accessorised the venue with lots of blousy late summer blooms; every table arrangement was slightly different. Mismatched vintage jugs filled with natural, garden style flowers in pink, mauve and cream colouring and all slightly different. Two large flower balls hung from the ceiling in the barn to decorate the interior. I went a bit over the top with flowers but I don't regret it in the slightest.
The humanist wedding ceremony was provided by the wonderful Zena Birch. The humanist wedding ceremony allowed us to have total freedom over our ceremony and be able to express how we felt about love, marriage, life, our family, our friends, our community and our future. As all our guests entered they took a flower and placed it in the aisle for us to walk down on. I walked down the aisle to "to build a home" by Cinematic Orchestra which is a beautiful song that is very special to us.
During the ceremony our wedding rings were passed round the entire wedding party in a "warming of the rings" ritual where our guests were able to hold them and wish us well before they were returned to us via our little page boy Noah. Together we all sang "I get by with a little help from my friends" by The Beatles. We had four readings, all chosen by the readers, and kept secret until the day. One was written by Tom's sister Jo, my stepdad Michael read from the bible, my friend Alex read 'Apache Blessing' and my friend Sam read "I carry your heart with me" The ceremony was the most important part of the day for Tom and I and we absolutely loved it.
Entertainment was provided by a band Tom put together in Brighton consisting of his friends he plays with in various Jazz bands. Fantastic! Our DJ made sure that the dancing continued all night.
The wonderful Andrew J R Squires Photography photographed our special day; it was a total pleasure to get to know and have him as part of our day. The photos are everything we hoped for and more, he is a very talented and a gorgeous human being.
Andy was able to catch the exchange between myself and my dad who is blind and hearing impaired. Before we went to the barn I took my dad through what I was wearing so he could build up an image in his mind what I looked like by touching the dress, the veil, the flowers and shoes.
This seemed like a normal thing for Dad and I to do but Andy really saw that as special. I was so touched to see these photos as I had no idea he was still taking any; it was a special moment for us, skilfully caught on camera. Andy captured the love, fun and emotion of our wedding and I will cherish the photos forever. Andy has his own story which reflects my dad's in some way and after meeting my dad I think he saw that there is hope, lots of it.
We had a table with old wedding photos of our grandparents and parents in lovely old frames to celebrate marriage. It also allowed loved ones who have passed away to be somehow included and remembered.
My Mum, her friend Claire and Tom's Mum made lovely country bunting with breast cancer awareness logos on to raise awareness. All niftily run off on the sewing machine. Our homemade table plan made from an old trunk decorated with material inside, and lace with other matching fabric made into the different tables. All of our tables were named after places we had travelled to in the world together. This was topped off by favours of homemade strawberry jam made by Tom's Mum and decorated by my Mum. Vintage tea cups and side plates also helped to set the scene on the tables and were hired from Tea With Lily. Lastly, cocktails served in mini milk bottles with vintage colourful strippy paper straws, and large decanters were available for cloudy lemonade.
Photography by Andrew J R Squires Photography
Venue Bartholomew Barn, Kirdford, West Sussex | Dress 'Amber' by Paloma Blanca | Boutique Mirror Mirror Bridal Boutique | Shoes Irregular Choice | Groom's outfit Next | Florist Quince | Caterer Good Taste Catering | Vintage China Tea With Lily | Bridesmaid dresses Vivien of Holloway | Celebrant Zena Birch.
Vote RMW as Best Wedding Blog 2014
We are so pleased to be shortlisted for Best Wedding Blog in the Perfect Wedding Awards 2014! Please click the link below and vote for us! It literally only takes 10 seconds...
![See on Pinterest](/webapp/images/pinterest_logo.png)