Coast Meets Country

Chloe actually manages the venue, so you might think she’s a little biased, BUT I think it would be very hard to marry anywhere else after working at and knowing such a beautiful location!! With a coast meets country vibe, and the perfect balance between rustic and contemporary (thanks to their brand new reception barn) this really is an idyllic place to celebrate.

Keep reading for all the details and a sneak peek inside one of our newest additions…

Chloe says…

East Afton Farmhouse was the only venue we ever dreamed of using for our wedding celebrations. The venue is very familiar to us (as I manage the venue!) and we’d always lived and worked close by. As soon as the venue opened in 2017, we always knew that one day we’d love to get married there.

We cannot think of a more beautiful country venue that has as much flexibility, different spaces to use, all weather areas and accommodation for family and friends on site (up to 17 people can stay). The charm of the venue is that you get more than one day (4 days on the weekend) to create memories with family and friends. We spent our time working as a team to decorate the venue, watching films in the cinema room, catching up over dinner and reminiscing over the wedding day at a BBQ with all of our guests the day after.

We were very lucky to be one of the first couples to use their new wedding barn, and it really was the icing on the cake! Everything was perfect and better than we could have ever imagined!

I searched ages to find the right dress and found my dream gown in Anya Bridal Couture just outside of Portsmouth. The showroom is a beautiful converted barn in the countryside with hundreds of dresses to choose from. The gown chosen was Essence of Australia which was then fitted and amended closer to the wedding day to suit personal requirements. The mink dress is covered in hand sewn sequins and beads to give it a vintage look. The veil was also purchased from the same place – a floor length trailing veil with subtle beading.

I wanted the hair to be very loose and flowing and opted for a low bun and hanging curls at the front. The perfect makeup was done by one of the bridesmaids, again very subtle and natural with Charlotte Tilbury ‘Pillow Talk’ lipstick.

We wanted our August wedding to be summery with light colours and so Steve’s groomsmen opted for a stone coloured suit from Matalan and a navy tie. These were then tailored to fit everyone.

Our main goal for the décor and styling was to bring the outside in, so that the indoor spaces shared the greenery and the nature from the courtyard and gardens. We’re very lucky that the new barn at the venue has one wall which is 50% glass looking out into the courtyard through fruit trees, that were in full bloom for our August wedding. We chose greens, whites and blush to keep everything simple and elegant to suit the farmhouse country location. Table décor included silver candle holders and white candlesticks as well as eucalyptus on every places setting, a menu printed on recycled paper infused with lavender seeds (so our guests could plant them afterwards) and a brown string tie with a brown tag for the place name.

We were very lucky to have a good friend and work colleague offer to do our flowers, a new and flourishing florist – Afton Blooms. Joanna helped us bring together our vision of exactly what we wanted and made lots of suggestions, including mood boards to finalise everything in the lead up to the big day.

We wanted to keep everything very green, neutral and natural in the style of meadow flowers. Our ceremony arch had beautiful blush roses and an abundance of greenery. This arch was then moved to behind the head table later in the day. My bouquet had the most beautiful David Austin garden roses with a silk ribbon tie.

Our table centrepieces were tall vases filled with water, then a layer of moss, and then an explosion of different shades of greenery. We envisioned trees on the tables and this was spot on!

Steve had the most wonderful aunt who offered to make our wedding cake for us. We decided on a 3 tier cake, very neutral in colour to go with our scheme and then greenery to decorate. The flavours were chocolate fudge, lemon and victoria sponge. Our cake stand was handmade by our good friend at Woodsmokeco and engraved with our personal details as a wedding present.

The food was delicious. All of the catering, including canapés, 3 course meal and evening food was organised by chef Kevin Hendy and his brilliant team.

We started off with a selection of canapés to go alongside our welcome drinks and then sat down for a 3 course reception meal. The meal included a mezze style sharing board for starter, beef feather blade or chicken supreme for main and then chocolate brownie or pavlova for dessert. We had a few vegetarians and these were also well catered for.

The evening food included a few of our favourites with something for everyone, including: stone-baked pizza, chicken burgers and pulled pork baps. The evening food option changed quite a few times in the lead up to the wedding and Kevin was very flexible at assisting us with making our final choices.

Our favours were bottles of homemade limoncello – our new favourite liqueur following a recent trip to Greece that we wanted to share with our guests!

Our photographer was Little Isle Photography – a married duo, Kimmi & Sam, working together to capture all of the special moments. They were amazing at blending in with the guests and making us feel at ease throughout the whole day. We are both a little camera shy and the candid natural shots were just as important for us. Both formals and natural shots were captured in abundance. We were sent a handful of images the very next day – a snippet of what else was to come!

Best part of the day

Our favourite part of the day was the ceremony. There is something so magical about being apart the night before and then seeing each other for the first time just before you become husband and wife. It is warming to see each other smile and to hold each other’s hand whilst you commit to each other. It is also the first time you get to see everyone dressed up ready to celebrate with you for the rest of the day!

From one couple to another…

Parts of our wedding day were over in such a flash – we were ever so grateful for the photos and videography and being able to relive the best day when we received these a few weeks after the day. Definitely invest in a good photographer and videographer.

Canapés were a huge help in keeping everyone sober during welcome drinks. We offered a wide range of welcome drinks with something for everyone!

Elements of your wedding don’t have to cost the earth to be some of the favourite parts of your day. Accept kind gestures from friends and family – they know you inside and out and will give you the best of everything you could ask for, and know you better than you know yourself! We were so lucky almost all elements of the wedding were done by friends and family in the hospitality industry!