Clare & Dan's Colour Pop Southend Barn Wedding

When it comes to planning a wedding during a particular time of the year, it is always a lovely idea to let the lush tones of that season dictate your colour palette. But we find the best way to make it really personal to you is to add a twist that has 'you' written all over it. Clare and Dan's wedding is a perfect example of that. Choosing to get married in Winter, they opted for a neutral base of whites and lush greens but threaded throughout their flowers and their decor gorgeous pops of coral pink, setting the whole look off wonderfully. Holding their wedding within Southend Barns in Chichester, the neutral, rustic interior ensured their colour choices sat beautifully within the venue. Through their wedding planning, Clare and Dan have really embraced the charm within the little details, discreetly adding really personal touches throughout. From handmade snowglobes based on each table name, to guest's pictures printed on marshmallows, look out for all the sweet additions to their special day - there's lots of them!  

The Couple 

"On the day of our wedding day, we would have been together for 3 and a half years. Dan is a Paediatrician and a keen wildlife and travel photographer, soon to be working professionally as a newborn photographer. I have recently left a long career in children's nursing, most recently as a clinical nurse specialist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, which is where we met! I am now starting a new career as a florist!"

The Proposal 

"With Italy being my favourite country, Dan took me away as a surprise and on the final day of our holiday he popped the question! The weather was terrible that day so we decided to head to a local vineyard for a tour and tasting and then back to the hotel for a spa treatment. When we came back to our room, there was a table laid for two with candles, scattered petals and a bunch of roses. Dan casually explained he'd planned the dinner because it was our last night but due to the rain the staff had moved it into our bedroom. During dinner, a notebook appeared on the table. Inside was a brief story of our relationship in the form of amazing doodles by Dan. As I read the last page, next thing I knew he was beside me on one knee! I asked him what happened next in the story and he started to say how he felt about me and our relationship, then asked me to marry him! He had a ring to put on but explained he wanted to take me shopping so I could choose exactly what I wanted! Amazing! Of course I said YES! We enjoyed our dessert and phoned some close family and friends, before a drink in the hotel bar to celebrate."

The Venue

"Southend Barns was the first venue we looked at and after looking at several other barns along with boutique hotels, nothing else compared. We were attracted to it's relaxed, homely feel in the Sussex countryside not far from the sea. We loved it's originality, decor, layout and stunning sister pub where I stayed the night before the wedding. Everything suited our taste and it wasn't too big or showy, which was important to us."

The Dress

"My dress was by British designer, Terry Fox and it was called Lovestruck. I chose it because it had so much detail yet it was very subtle. The dress had several different types of lace: polka dot, chantilly and appliqué as well as having plain sequins and beads. The lace was ivory over a champagne colour silk meaning the dress had a beautiful warmth and vintage look about it. I wore a chapel length, single tier veil with very subtle diamantés and a handmade hairpiece that Dan bought me on our last night in London before the wedding. I wore gold and pearl jewellery along with peach and gold Rachel Simpson vintage style peep toe shoes. To keep me warm after the ceremony, I wore a champagne coloured feather bolero and green Joules wellingtons for some fun photos with Dan and the farm alpacas!" 

Flowers

"With it being Winter, choice of flowers were limited especially because I wanted them to be in season with the least amount of mileage in getting them to the UK. I love flowers and my dream was a loose bouquet, lots of green, white and peach flowers and foliage with a pop of coral - my favourite! I wanted a small trailing bouquet and my florist Lynda delivered my vision based on various Pinterest images, magazine cuttings and discussions. The flowers and foliages were many of my favourites - astrantia, seeded eucalyptus, rosemary, hypericum berries, juliette roses, ranunuclus, Queen Anne's lace, thalaspi and viburnum. I had a small framed photograph of my Gran tied to my bouquet too as she was sadly unable to make the journey down from Scotland due to ill health. All the arrangements used in the ceremony were moved to the threshing barn and in the ladies bathroom. My bridesmaids each had a bouquet of only one type of flower each and my flower girl Rose had a wand with trailing ribbons." 

Decor

"We wanted our day to feel relaxed, welcoming, different and beautiful. We wanted it to feel like we were having a special party at our own home (in our mansion farmhouse of course!) We planned and did almost everything ourselves, detail and staying within budget were very important and thankfully we delivered! Just a few of the decor elements that made up our day were: 

• Place Names - we borrowed some vintage letter stamps from friends and stamped names and woodland images onto brown luggage tags. These were then tied onto sprigs of rosemary plucked straight from my mum's garden! 
• Table Names - We named all our tables after places we had travelled together and lived. Each table name was framed with one of Dan's gorgeous photographs of that place. He also made snow globes in jars to reflect the tables, which was a really lovely touch.
• Favours - We came across Boomf marshmallows after deciding we weren't going to have any wedding favours! This meant that 10 days before the wedding we had to stalk all of our 150 guests on Social Media to find photographs of them to print on the marshmallows! We thought they were so fun and original, despite me having to wrap them all seperately in cellophane! It was worth it though, they looked fantastic and the guests loved them.
• Centrepieces - Following my first experiences with Pinterest, I decided to design the centrepieces that were then put together by our family friend Lynda Wardle (lilymayflowers). Slices of tree trunk from her garden were cut and stacked before being decorated with a large clear glass hurricane lamp, white or coral coloured candle, gyposphilia, foliage, rosemary and miniature gold pine cones. Cracked gold tea light holders went around the wood on the table. 
• Additional Decor - We had a mat at the entrance that said 'baby it's cold outside' and some beautiful chalkboard signs including one for the bar that said 'trust me you can dance - Alcohol'. The barn provided firepits, marshmallows and heaters aswell as beautiful fur blankets. We had lots of candles scattered everywhere, in jars, in candlesticks and on their own just to create a cosy ambience. We had framed photographs of our parents and grandparents on their wedding days and plain memory candles in different sized jars for each of our grandparents that had passed away."

Favourite Moment 

Clare: Walking with my dad and bridesmaids from the bridal suite, then seeing all of our guests in the beautiful dairy barn. The marriage ceremony was also so gorgeous and magical.

Dan: Seeing Clare looking so beautiful as she walked down the aisle, along with the incredible food. 

Advice 

"Enjoy all the planning, remember to put yourselves first as it's your day and take breaks if things are getting a bit much or if people are interferring!"  

Explore More Barn Wedding Venues Here

Suppliers

Photographer: Clarke Photographic 

Ceremony Venue: Dairy Barn at Southend Barns

Reception Venue: Threshing Barn, Southend Barns 

Flowers: Lilymayflowers by Lynda Wardle 

Stationery: Drawn and painted by the goom and then final creative services by his brother MJL Creatives 

Table Plan: Made by the groom, including all drawings for the tables

RSVPs: Postcards the couple designed due to their love of sending post cards and receiving post! 

Catering: Field and Fork 

Cake: Made by the bride

Music: The Fix Band

Decor and Styling: By the bride and groom 

Dress: Boa Boutique Richmond 

Accessories: Veil by Joyce Jackson at Boa Boutique, pearl and crystel hairpiece by Gillian Million, shoes by Rachel Simpson, champagne feather bolero by Liberty in Love. 

Hair and Make Up: Clare Parker at Marvellous Make Up

Bridesmaid Dresses: Biba at House of Fraser 

Groom's Suit: Suit and shirt from Suit Supply, tweed waistcoat from Austin Reed, shoes from Russell and Bromley, Liberty print tie and pocket square featuring coral as a subtle tie in to the colour scheme

Confetti: Shropshire Petals and Bespoke Confetti 

Wedding List: John Lewis and Prezola 

Chalkboard Writing: Sarah McKenzie at Scribbler Sussex