We have another seasonal treat gracing these pages on Monday, but right now be a guest at Nicola and Jack’s Clock Barn wedding.
Thanks to Jessica Hayman Photography for sharing their big day!
Nicola says…
Clock Barn was the third venue out of four that we looked at and we pretty much new straight away it was the perfect place. The first two were a bit small and the fourth was way too big. It was also all in the one building and as we were planning a November wedding we wanted to make sure the guests didn’t have to venture outside if they didn’t want to. This turned out to be a great decision as it poured down all day! It was really cosy and intimate with lovely features like a snug room with sofas and a fireplace. Plus the main barn was so beautiful you could do so much with it.
My wedding dress was the second dress I tried on (making all this sound easy) and although I tried a lot on afterwards I didn’t like any of them as much. It was an A line, Mikado ball gown by Justin Alexander, with buttons down the back and a mid length train. I had a long veil with crystals in but other than that there was no sparkle or embellishment. It was from Brides of Southampton and they were absolutely fantastic.
My hair was half up half down and had flowers above the veil line. Shoes were Carvela (not that you could see them but I loved them) and I changed into blue ones for the evening. My mum surprised me with a jacket on the morning of the wedding, which was Qnique Bridal, sourced through Brides of Southampton. I couldn’t find anything I liked in the lead up and just accepted I was going to be cold but then she found this one with ‘Wifey’ written on the back and it was perfect. The three bridesmaids wore floor length wine coloured dressed from JJ’s house and Quiz shoes. They all had their hair up as mine was down, and all had flowers in their hair. Groom, best man, three groomsmen and father of the bride all wore the same suits. Ted Baker, navy three piece suits hired from Moss Bros.
Our colours were reds, burgundies and navy blue, with copper accessories. The darker colour palette worked for an autumn, almost winter, wedding and the candles made the barn feel even cosier.
Our florist was Copperbox Floral Design. It’s run by Jackie Wild who we know through family friends and who recommended her to us. The main decoration for us really was our flowers so there were loads! We had a ceremony table run which we used on the top table, 10 wreath centrepieces, a huge floral arch which was between the main barn and the dancefloor, bouquets and buttonholes. She also decorated our seating plan frame and put little flowers in some of the vases we had bought for decoration. They were full of reds/burgundies padded with some foliage and for the copper detail we used ‘quicksand’ coloured roses as a bit of light. Flowers included; roses, lisianthus, skimmia (which looked great in my bouquet as they hung at the front), chrysanthemums, Leucadendron, hydrangeas, tea grass, populous and so much more… Jackie did a really fantastic job.
We had booked our cake with Caked Away, but unfortunately they were unable to make it in the end as Kelly was delayed returning home after a holiday, but she was great and organized Sparkle Bakes to step in before we even knew there was a problem. We had a three tiered cake, lemon drizzle bottom, chocolate middle and fruit top. White ruffles on the bottom (a bit bridal), navy in the middle and copper on top. Reception drinks were bucks fizz and mulled wine. We had ham hock, roast beef with veg and eton mess – all delicious and they did a great job at keeping the wine flowing. In the evening we had a ‘grown up’ hot chocolate bar that was one of the best decisions we made. The Bailey’s hot chocolate in particular and we had pizza for evening food.
Our photographer was Jessica Hayman Photography. She was brilliant from start to finish. We had a pre wedding consultation with her to run through what we wanted on the day and she was so great in answering our questions and figuring it all out with us. She got so many amazing pictures (around 1,000!) and even braved the weather with us when we went out to get our couples photos. We’re so pleased with these umbrella shots and they are some of our favourites of the day. We get comments all the time about them because they are so unique and beautiful. She stayed right through to the party in the evening so we have every aspect of the day captured making it almost impossible to choose the pictures for the album as we were so spoilt for choice. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Jessica!
Best part of the day
It’s so hard to pick the best part of the day, I honestly loved it all but I would probably say the evening. Having everyone you love in the same room, chatting, laughing and dancing with them is the best. Plus you have the best outfit on you’re ever going to wear to a party!
From one couple to another…
I think our words of wisdom are the same as we were told but probably didn’t listen to. When you’re planning a wedding, especially a big wedding, you can get obsessed over tiny details and everyone says it, but honestly on the day you won’t care.
There are things I spent hours making/deciding that I didn’t even notice on the day. I was also so worried about the weather and in the end I loved our rainy day pictures. Basically, with the best will in the world you don’t know what’s going to happen on the day and by that point you just have to roll with the punches. We were so happy and had the best day of our lives and so the little stuff (even the big stuff) just falls by the way side.
One bit of advice we did take was to try and take 5 minutes for just the two of you. It’s so overwhelming having the ceremony and then greeting everyone that I’m so glad we took 5 minutes to basically say ‘hello’ before the madness starts all over again.
Venue Clock Barn
Photography Jessica Hayman Photography
Cake Sparkle Bakes
Flowers Copperbox Floral Design
Wedding Dress Brides of Southampton
Band Technicolour via Alive Network
Based on a weekday wedding in January.