Sarah & James: A Sunny September Wedding at Tythe Barn

Quite simply, we fell in love with Tythe! We viewed a few other venues, but nothing compared. Emma, the owner, gave us a tour during an open day, and we were immediately drawn to the outdoor space, the beauty of the finishes, and the true highlight—the stunning Farmhouse. I honestly couldn’t stop thinking about it after we left.

Many venues only offer single-day options, where you’re in and out within 24 hours. From the start, James and I knew we wanted a second day at the venue, and Tythe provided this in such a beautiful setting. It truly won us over on every level.

I wore a dress by Kelly Faetanini, a New York-based designer. I fell in love with it when I tried it on at Ellie Sanderson in Beaconsfield, but when they mentioned it was by a New York-based designer, I just knew I had to wear it—since James and I met in New York. It felt like an extra-special detail that would mean so much on the day! We added the pearl belt just to give it a little something extra. My earrings were Lily & Roo, and my pearl shoes were from Charlotte Mills to match my dress.

Phoebe Hayter was our makeup artist, and we all absolutely adored her. On the morning of the wedding, she felt like one of the girls, and everyone looked like the best version of themselves! Timea Breban was our hair stylist, and she was wonderful! She’s a true perfectionist, which every bride deserves on her big day.

James and his groomsmen surprised us all by wearing kilts and trews! I had wanted James to wear a kilt for years, but he made it clear that would never happen. So you can only imagine my surprise when I saw him in full Scottish attire! His choice to wear it on the most important day of our lives was incredibly selfless and meant the world to me.

From the start, I knew I wanted pink and red to be the colors woven throughout our wedding—I’ve always loved those two together! We worked with Dani from Maple & Rae to create our stationery, and her work was incredible. It was important to me that these elements had personality, felt pretty and playful, and Dani delivered just that!

For the tablescape, I wanted something elegant and striking yet colourful and warm at the same time. We worked with Duchess & Butler to bring our place settings to life—adding elegance with gold-rimmed glasses and gold cutlery, while touches of color and warmth came through in the pink botanical placemats and napkins. Lizzy, our florist, created a gorgeous display of bud vases and helped me source pink and red dinner candles to add pops of color throughout.
Since we were getting married in England, I wanted to incorporate little touches of my Scottish heritage throughout the day. For instance, we had a piper play as guests arrived and again as we walked down the aisle, served haggis as part of our canapés, and used a tartan ring cushion that matched James’s kilt.

As we met in New York, it was also important to weave details into the day that paid tribute to that. Our welcome sign was a play on the Frank Sinatra lyric New York, New York, and a very dear friend—whom we met on the same day in New York—delivered our story during the ceremony. For the evening, we served pizzas with New York-inspired names; our table names were all places we had visited together during our year there, and the final song our band played was Empire State of Mind. Every little detail tied back to our story, which meant so much to us.

We chose Lizzy Jones at The Flower Story. Naively, I went into wedding planning thinking flowers were one of the less important aspects of the day, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Lizzy understood my vision before I even did, selecting the most stunning flowers that were not only elegant but also perfectly suited to the rustic charm of the venue.

I couldn’t stop smiling when I saw the flowers on the morning of the wedding—they were absolutely perfect and added so much to the space. Lizzy also went above and beyond for me; I would recommend her in a heartbeat!

We didn’t have a cake! There were a few wedding traditions we didn’t want to follow, and the cake was one of them. For our day two at Tythe Barn with our closest family and friends, we ordered the biggest red velvet Hummingbird cake we could get our hands on, and all tucked into that instead!

Absolute Taste, Tythe’s chosen caterer, provided catering on both Saturday and Sunday. We are big foodies, so the food was important to us, and the team delivered. They were flexible and allowed us to tweak the menu, including bringing in some haggis for our canapés!

We spoke to a few photographers before choosing because we wanted to find the right person. James and I aren’t really ‘photo people,’ so we were looking for someone who would focus less on structured poses and more on capturing us naturally—happy and smiling in the moment.

It was also really important to connect with our photographer since they’d be around us the entire day. From the start, Lauren was so easy to get along with—it felt like she just got us. Plus, her work was beautiful. It was a no-brainer for us!

It’s so hard to choose just one part of the day because it was all so special—the whole weekend was—but three moments stand out in my mind:

I spent the morning with my bridesmaids and my mum. The anticipation and excitement were incredible, and it was made even better when the girls surprised me with my ‘Something Blue’ gift: a video message from Anthony Costa, from my favorite boyband, Blue.

Turning the corner to walk down the aisle, and seeing James standing there in his kilt, looking incredibly handsome. I was completely shocked!

My mum walking me down the aisle and delivering her hilarious speech before dinner. Mums don’t always get much recognition on their daughter’s wedding day, so I feel incredibly proud that mine played such a huge role in ours.

Agree on your budget before you start planning. This might seem obvious, but it’s so easy to get carried away before you’ve really crunched the numbers.

Don’t be afraid to break away from wedding traditions! Adding your own flair makes the day even more special. If your budget allows, I highly recommend having a smaller day-two celebration—it’s something you’ll never regret, and it gives you a chance to catch up with guests you may have missed on the big day.

Take little private moments together throughout the day. Weddings can be overwhelming, so it’s important to step back, be present, and take it all in.