Barn at Berkeley Wedding Photography
After a busy summer season I have finally gotten back around to blogging and first up are the wonderful Hana and Cam. Their pinecone-filled winter wonderland wedding at The Barn at Berkeley will stay with me forever. I’m a big fan of this venue, their fairy lights make it the perfect setting for a winter wedding. Check out the Barn’s blog post about planning your own winter wedding here.
Below is a selection of the photos of this beautiful Barn at Berkeley wedding. Hana herself has taken the time to tell you all about how this very special day came together (below the photos). It’s well worth a read!
If you’re in the process of planning your big day and want to have a chat with me to find out more about my wedding photography package then drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you.
How we met… Cam and I met at work. We worked in an office and got chatting at the printer one day. The rest is history…
The proposal… The proposal was based on the film ‘he’s just not that into you’. Ben Affleck hides the ring in the pocket of an old pair of trousers that Jennifer Aniston hates and goes to throw away. He tells her to check the pockets first and she finds the ring! Cam is a bit of a hoarder so we had planned to go through his wardrobe and get rid of his old clothes!
The venue… We found The Barn at Berkeley by looking for barn wedding venues in the South West. We wanted a relaxed setting where we could have the ceremony and reception in the same place. They were very flexible with the catering and drinks options, which was a breath of fresh air compared with some of the other venues we considered! We both loved the fairy lights over the courtyard too.
The look… I went to quite a few bridal shops before I found my dress. I set an initial budget and didn’t find anything I loved. I realised I would have to stretch the budget a little to get the dress of my dreams! I did some internet research and figured out the designers whose dresses I liked the most, and looked up which bridal shops stocked them. I eventually found my Madeline Gardner dress in Special Day & Appletons, Keynsham. They were very friendly and put me at ease. I found the shoes in a David’s Bridal in Birmingham. I had gone with a friend who lived in the area to look for dresses and saw the shoes just as we were leaving. They were a bargain at £40! We hired the groomswear from Slaters. We knew we wanted to incorporate tweed into the suits and Slaters had some good options at a reasonable price. We also got the groom’s suit free as we hired 5 suits. I found the bridesmaid dresses on Joanie Clothing via an advert on Instagram. I had been googling grey and silver bridesmaids dresses and an advert for Joanie Clothing popped up on Instagram one day, with the exact dress I had been visualising! My bridesmaids and I stayed at De Vere Tortworth Court the night before the wedding. We had our hair done by Esme from Betties + Baldwins and make up by Sally’s Makeup. I was so nervous in the morning that I could hardly drink a glass of champagne!
The flowers… I found the florist Longlevens Flowers on Instagram by searching #southgloucestershireflorist. I got quotes from a couple of other florists but Longlevens Flowers were the most reasonable and seemed to know exactly what we wanted!
The decor… We wanted to keep the cost of the décor as low as possible and were going for a ‘winter woodland’ theme, so we enlisted our friends and family to collect pine cones and save their old jam jars. We filled vases from Ikea with pine cones and battery powered fairly lights as the centre pieces. We also put candles in the jars and put them around the vases. We lined the aisle with candles in jars and pine cones surrounding each jar. We also made the order of service ourselves with an old pallet and lots of inspiration from pinterest! I made the invitations and table plan with some silver paper, brown card and my dad’s old printer!
The cake… We found the cake maker Pretty Amazing Cakes in the Bristol & Somerset County Wedding Magazine. We had a tasting of the many different flavours and Anne sent us some sketches based on the things we wanted to incorporate. We went for a 3 tier cake of vanilla and raspberry jam, chocolate and salted caramel, and lemon drizzle on the top.
The music… We chose instrumental piano and guitar versions of some of our favourite songs for the guests arrival and ceremony. Cam’s 3 year old nephew was the page boy and he walked down the aisle with a chalk board around his neck saying “sorry uncle Cam, she’s marrying me instead!”
The party… The reception was in the grand hall with a roaring log fire and a fairy light canopy provided by Blue Goose Hire. We had canapes and a 2 course wedding breakfast. We had live music from a band called The Jacks, who I booked through Warble Entertainment. They were brilliant and soon had everyone up dancing. We had bacon rolls, chips and cake in the evening and sparklers in the courtyard before everyone left.
Best bits… Our best bits were walking down the aisle together after the ceremony, our first dance (the John Mayer cover of Beyoncé’s XO) and sparklers with everyone outside under more fairy lights!
The honeymoon… We went on a mini-moon a couple of days after the wedding. We stayed in a luxury treehouse in Somerset, which we booked through Canopy & Stars. It was exactly what we needed to relax and take it all in after all the hustle and bustle!
