The Farmer and The Florist

Renowned for its passionate foodie approach and glorious Cotswolds setting, I couldn’t have picked a more perfect venue for this farmer and florist to tie the knot. Naturally, all things floral were up to the bride, Liah, Luna Phases Florist, and it was only fitting that flowers should be incorporated in EVERY aspect of the wedding. From the decor (it’s wild, abundant, and seriously impressive!), the stationery, and even the dress itself.

Every wedding is personal, of course, but I can’t get over how Liah and Peter managed to infuse SO much of themselves into their big day. The wild English florals, the labour-of-love wedding signage, the fact that they designed their wedding rings, and they even provided their own home-raised beef from the family’s farm for the wedding breakfast. And as Liah says, in true farmer fashion, no wedding is complete without a tractor ride. Of course!

It’s fun, floral, and fabulous (three more excellent Fs for you!), and I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do. Keep scrolling to find out…

Liah says…

We fell in love with Old Gore Barn as soon as we stepped foot in the beautiful Cotswold stone barn. It had the rustic rural vibe that we both wanted. It oozed character and charm but had the finesse of a luxury wedding venue. We couldn’t have chosen a more perfect setting for our day. The staff were incredible, and the food was out of this world!

Peter didn’t know this until the wedding day, but the entire wedding, colour scheme and florals were designed around my wild card wedding dress. I didn’t want a traditional white gown, and after visiting numerous bridal boutiques, I started to lose hope as nothing was fitting the bill. I had always envisioned a floral wedding dress, so I was delighted to find White Lace & Butterflies, a boutique bridal store specialising in ‘out of the ordinary’ bridal styles. The beautiful hand-painted Willa gown by Savin London was everything I could have dreamed of in a wedding dress, and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it in the window; I put it on and instantly knew it was the one!

My bridesmaids all chose stormy blue dresses from JJ’s House, and our daughter wore the most adorable Gardenia flower girl dress from Arabella & Rose.

My hair and makeup team were fantastic. Hair by Gabrielle did an incredible job with my and the bridesmaid’s hair, and I was fortunate that my cousin Gemma is a makeup artist. She took care of my bridal make-up, carried my face in her bag all day, and touched me up when my tears got the better of me. Beccy Brotherton was the second team member and did a fabulous job with the bridesmaids.

Peter and the groomsmen were all styled by Cookham Formal Hire. We purchased Peter’s suit and hired the blue tweed suits for the groomsmen. I made all of their lapel pins with feathers from the estate where we live as a personal touch and a nod to the farming way of life.

Designing our wedding rings was one of my absolute favourite parts of wedding planning. We visited the incredibly talented Suzannah Key in Winchester, where we discussed design options. As a florist, my job is very hands-on, so I wanted a beautiful yet practical ring. We created a design based on my existing engagement ring with the addition of two teal sapphires and two smaller diamonds. Peter often joked about my love of “Liah Green” or teal to most people, so it seemed only fitting to include the gorgeous teal sapphires in my wedding ring. But the most exceptional detail was that we used my Great Nanny’s wedding ring that she left to me and some of her gold jewellery that I had gifted her as a child to create the new setting for the gemstones to sit. Nothing was more special than having a part of her there with us on our wedding day and for the rest of time.

Your invitations are the very first impression your guests will receive about your wedding, and being a florist, our wedding was always about flowers, flowers and more! The gorgeous wildflower gatefold invitations with single-card evening invitations and matching envelope liners from Tavern Creative were the perfect way to tell our guests about our upcoming nuptials. It made me do a little happy dance when I first received these and started to send them out to our loved ones.

Every element of the décor and styling was super personal to us. I hand-made our wedding signage with wood from the farm and my trusty Cricut machine. It was undoubtedly a labour of love, but the results were worth it. I also made the name places with ribbons that matched the bridesmaids’ dresses and iron-on vinyl with every guest’s name.

Having been a florist for over 15 years (Luna Phases Florist), I was instantly inspired to create gorgeousness and loveliness within the venue with sweeping floral staircases and flower columns that could almost reach the sky. Planning the floral elements and smaller details was so exciting. Having created hundreds of wedding flowers for other couples, it felt surreal to design my own finally. With the help of my team, we made a wow factor entrance for our guests and an immersive backdrop for our ceremony, where we brought the outside in. I wanted to create an ethereal midsummer garden with abundant English foliage and wildflowers, foxgloves and delphinium, garden roses, peony, sweet peas and wild jasmine. As you walked into the barn, the smell of flowers was a sensory sensation!

Our wedding cake, a three-tiered lemon heaven cake made by Toria Sefton, most certainly tasted heavenly. It sat amongst a wildflower meadow that took centre stage in the dining room.

We both loved the open-fire cooking stations and meat feasts at Old Gore. As a farmer, Peter is passionate about good food and absolutely loves his meat. He was keen to provide his own home-raised beef from the family’s farm for our wedding feast. We were thrilled that the chefs allowed us to supply our own beef. Peter chose our 35-day dry-aged sirloin beef to serve to our guests, and it was a real highlight of the day to share our produce with our friends and family. (Whitby’s Family Farm). The chefs did a phenomenal job cooking the steak perfectly for so many guests, and all the guests said how amazing the food was.

Choosing a photographer is probably one of the most important suppliers to get right when planning a wedding. The day goes by so quickly that the images they capture are ones you will look back on in years to come, so you must love them, as there’s no way to go back and capture them again. You have to connect with your photographer’s style and also with them as a person to ensure that you get it right. We immediately knew that Emily Collett Photography was our photographer after browsing her portfolio. When meeting her for the first time, we asked Emily how she felt about putting on some wellies and hopping over a fence to take a walk through the cows to capture our engagement photos. She said she was always up for a challenge, and we knew then we would be in safe hands. We were so happy with our engagement and wedding gallery.

In true farmer fashion, no wedding is complete without a tractor ride, and the sweeping driveway and rolling hill backdrop of Old Gore was the perfect setting for Peter to take us for a spin in the limited-edition Gold Belly Massey Ferguson, much to my surprise on the day! It was pretty entertaining to climb up on it with a full wedding dress in tow, but it was one of the most memorable parts of our wedding day, and the video footage captured by Fox & Blossom is simply stunning.

Nero String Quartet played during our ceremony and gave me goosebumps as they performed Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ as I walked down the aisle.

We wanted to add a personal keepsake for each of our wedding guests to remember our day, and Katy Locke Design provided the most beautiful live illustration portraits for our guests to take home with them. We also had Darren Campbell magician perform for our guests, who were all surprised and delighted by his incredible talents, and Georgia Thursting performed acoustic love songs during our wedding feast, amped it up after desserts, and got the party started with her soulful R&B hits,. Finally, The Four Kicks were the perfect band to carry us through the night with their upbeat setlist. The guys had the most incredible energy, knew how to keep the party alive, and packed the dance floor all night.

From one couple to another…

Drink it all in, take a moment to look at your loved ones, and soak up their love for you. It truly is the most magical feeling having your most treasured people all in one room to celebrate your love for one another. It’s a feeling I wish I could bottle up and keep forever.

Don’t rely on a vintage Land Rover to get you to the ceremony… you might break down three times on the way and have to get your groomsman to pull out the spanners and syphon the fuel. It certainly made for some fun pictures, though; thank goodness the groom still managed to arrive on time!