Fun outdoor farm wedding with colourful barn reception

The beautiful couple who’s wedding we are sharing with you today truly had their wedding their way, choosing their starting point to be a day built around the people that they wanted there. I adore this sentiment and it really shines through in the gorgeous images captured by Dasha Caffrey.

This fun, relaxed, country inspired wedding is full of the biggest smiles, heaps of laughter, colourful rustic DIY decor and the most divine looking wedding cake made from cheese.

A beautiful July day for a summer wedding

Clare and Ian (Clarkey) were married on a beautiful July summer’s day at a ‘friend-of-friends’ farm in West Stoke, near to where the groom grew up. Wanting to steer away from the traditional their charming day and laid-back style is sure to be one you will love.

A relaxed bridal style

Clare went for a beautiful relaxed style for her big day which I adore: “My wedding dress was by a South African designer called Kobus Dippenaar and I got in at a beautiful shop called Morgan Davies, they’re the first European stockist.”

Personal bridal accessories

The accessories chosen all had meaning to Clare: “All my accessories were personal, my tiara was Clarkey’s Nanny’s, my earrings were my Grandma’s, my necklace was a gift from my sister and my bracelet was a gift from my girlfriends.”

Grey bridesmaids dresses

The stunning muted silver bridesmaids dresses, that perfectly complimented Clare’s dress, were from Ghost.

Pastel coloured wedding flowers

Pretty pastel-hued flowers were chosen to reflect the relaxed feel of the day: “Our flowers were from a wonderful local florist called Joanne Rivers. We wanted loose unstructured arrangements to fit in with the farm.”

Mismatched groomsmen

Claire and Ian went for a mix-match look for the groomsmen, choosing matching accessories to bring their look all together: “The suits were from Reiss. We only dressed Clarkey and his brother, the best man, in the same suit. We didn’t want a formal look. We matched the ushers by making them all wear the same socks and ties.”

Hay bale ceremony seating

The ceremony was held in one of the top fields on the farm: “Everyone sat on hay bales that we hired from a local farmer and we got married under a willow pagoda, which was grown by our friend Sushil.”

Classic car wedding car

“My friend Sam has his own classic car company and drove my dad and me to the ceremony in the most beautiful car. It was great having someone I love collect me – it helped my nerves.”

Legally married in Ireland with brides grandparents

“We actually got legally married in Ireland the week before our big day as my grandparents weren’t able to travel over. It was important that we included everyone that we loved and it was our way of making sure they had a part in it.”

A personalised outdoor ceremony

“It also meant that we could design our own ceremony for our big day and get married outside which we wanted to do. A family friend, who is also a minister, conducted our ceremony and we designed the whole thing ourselves. We had four readings read by two friends and a representative from each family.”

Old barn wedding reception

After the ceremony all the guests made their way down to the reception which was held in a barn in the farm:

“It had this beautiful empty old barn that they used for the village Christmas carols. It was a blank canvas that we could do what we wanted with. The fact that we weren’t tied to a certain caterer/ band/ drinks/ decorations was important to us. We had the meal in a marquee from a company called Pole to Pole which we attached to the barn.”

Barn wedding decorations

“As decoration in the barn we asked everyone to bring a photo of themselves with either of us. These were hung using little brown pegs and we now have them in an album. My mum made 72 metres of bunting to decorate the barn and the field. We also had a hen and stag wall so that those not at the pre-celebrations could see what happened.”

What a fantastic idea the photo wall is, what a great way of sharing the whole experience with their guests!

Handmade wedding centrepieces

“Our centrepieces were all homemade. Our place names were little luggage tags made out of the leftover invitation card and handwritten by Clarkey’s auntie Iris. We collected the jam jars throughout the year and decorated them with ribbon.”

Strawberry jam wedding favours

“Our favours were little jars of strawberry jam, which read ‘spread the love’. My Dad grew the strawberries and my Mum made the jam. Our table plan were little black chalkboards that we hung from a tree. They were made by our friend.”

Dried flower confetti made by the brides grandma

“Our confetti was made from dried flowers, which my grandma collected with her neighbours. She even made the little confetti pouches out of brown paper. The logs were cut from a tree at my grandparent’s house in Ireland and driven over – my mum wanted a little piece of Ireland there.”

Handmade wedding stationery

“We made all our own stationery. We bought a specially made stamp for the invitations and made everything else on our little printer at home. The suitcase I used for collecting the cards was my Grandma’s great uncles. We used beer mats collected by Clarkey’s grandad.”

Photobooth and alternative wedding guestbook

“We used chalk and a duster for a photo booth blackboard that belonged to my grandad. My friend Satal made all of our signage. Instead of a wedding guestbook we asked everyone to sign a picture which Clarkey’s auntie Iris had drawn for us. That’s not to mention everyone that helped us decorate the day before. Our wedding was a real team effort.”

Their wedding breakfast was full of games, laughters and a few (happy) tears,

Cheese wedding cake

Clare and Ian decided made a more unusual choice for their of wedding cake, which was beautifully decorated with fruit and flowers:

“We decided to have a cheese cake, as we’re addicted! We got it from a shop called The Cheeseboard in London. We served the cheese with an Iberico ham for the evening buffet. We also had cupcakes for those with a sweet tooth that were delicious and made by a local cake maker called Amanda Reilly.”

Free wedding bar with donations to a charity

Clare and Ian’s idea for how to offer drinks to their guests is a fab one:

“We had a free bar so asked everyone for a contribution to the Anthony Nolan Trust, which is a wonderful charity. We made our own flavoured vodka and created our own labels.”

Spotify playlists and an evening band

“We created playlists on spotify so that we had all of our favourite music on throughout the day. In the evening we had a band called The Replays, which played all our favourite classics. We created spotify playlists that we could put on when the band were taking a break. It meant the dance floor was full all night.”

Relaxed and soft natural wedding photography

All the memories from the day were captured by a photographer who’s style matched the aesthetic of their day:

“We used a wonderful photographer called Dasha Caffrey. I fell for her photos because her style is relaxed and soft. She somehow captures the fun and love. We love our pictures.”

Best memories of the day

Clare shares her best memories from the day:

“The thing I remember most about the day was how happy everyone was. I remember sitting for dinner and just listening to the room – everyone was laughing and giggling.”

A wedding built around family and friends

“Our family and friends mean a lot to us. We identified everyone we wanted to be there and then built the wedding around that. We didn’t want to be constrained by a number. It was really important that we had the day we wanted. We got to choose everything; what we wanted to eat and drink, we picked every song that played, we wrote our own ceremony, every inch of the decoration were our own ideas.”

How breathtaking are those last few portraits?  I can see why they love their photos so much! Thank you to Clare and Ian for sharing their beautiful, heartwarming day with us! I feel positively beaming after that and hope you have all enjoyed sharing in their day just as much as I have! Wishing them a life time together filled with as much love and laughter as their wedding day.

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Photographer – Dasha Caffrey
Brides Dress – Kobus Dippenaar from Morgan Davies
Bridesmaids Dresses – Ghost
Grooms & Groomsmen Suits – Reiss
Make-up and Hair Artist – Isabell Boettcher
Marquee – Pole to Pole
Florist – Joanna Rivers
Cheese Cake – The Cheeseboard
Cupcakes – Amanda Reilly
Band – The Replays