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Emily & Adam’s Southend Barns Wedding

by Emma Hla
Images by Adorlee.

Weddings at Southend Barns are always a joy to see and Emily & Adam’s big day is no exception.

With copper and peach vibes, their gorgeous Westie-poo fur baby in attendance and an abundance of Winter Pimms, this beautiful celebration is bound to put a smile on your face this Monday!

Notes from the Bride

Emily:

When we were looking for a venue we wanted somewhere that you could have the ceremony and the reception in the same place so people could relax straight away knowing they wouldn’t have to go anywhere. We wanted somewhere which had the wow factor and also had homely cosy atmosphere.

When we found out Southend Barns was booked up for the following summer, we decided to have our wedding in January 2016 and embrace the winter wedding theme. I started to imagine how beautiful our day could be with wintery blue skies, fire pits, faux fur and warm winter Pimms. This was definitely the place where our visions could come true.

Our guests even now over a year after our wedding don’t stop talking about Southend Barns, everyone we speak to says just what an amazing venue we chose to hold our special day.

Also it has to be said the service we received from Alice was great, she made us feel special and nothing was too much trouble.

As we were having a winter wedding this was our main inspiration. We also really like metallic colours so we decided to choose copper as our metallic and main theme colour.

Back in 2015 when I was trying to source things of the copper colour it was actually quite difficult as the trend hadn’t really set in, now if I was planning a copper wedding there would be things everywhere for me to choose from!

The copper candlesticks and holders were from: H&M home. Adam created the copper table numbers from Soldering Copper Pipe and fittings together – Adam works within the Plumbing industry so this was a personal touch which our guests loved.

I had tried on getting close to 100 dresses and I was worried I wouldn’t find the one, nothing felt right on me. I wanted something that had sleeves, a small amount of detail, nothing too big and something light that I would be comfortable in all day (I couldn’t believe how heavy some of the dresses I tried on were!).

I found out Chameleon Bride in Bournemouth were having a Maggie Sottero designer day and there was one dress in the collection that stood out which I was desperate to try but, again it just wasn’t the one. Whilst I was there I tried on others and when I tried on Ettia I totally fell in love with it soon as I put it on. It was just what I was after, I was so happy and felt so special and yes there were tears! I never thought I’d choose something so glam with all the diamantes and beading but I fell in love.

As I knew it was going to be chilly I also wore a cream fur jacket from Coast. One of my friends also gave me her Grandmothers brooch for my ‘something borrowed’.

I was set on having a floor length veil and the one I chose was by Joyce Jackson in the colour Rum Pink. My shoes were a bargain and from Topshop. I didn’t want anything with a big heel as I knew I wouldn’t be able to last all day. I chose a gold sparkly pair with a small block heel.

Our hair and makeup was done by the amazing Lauren and Lucy at I.D Makeup, Hair and Beauty in Chichester.

We got ready in the bridal suite at Southend Barns. I was overwhelmed with how they made me look and didn’t think I could ever look like that. The attention to detail was amazing and they were with us until we walked down the aisle to make sure we were looking my best with any last minute touch ups taken care of.

We chose Nicci after hearing about Adorlee at a Southend Barns Wedding Fayre, we then looked at her portfolio and saw she had photographed at Southend Barns many times and all her photos were beautiful. We met for a coffee and knew that Nicci totally understood the look we wanted in our photos and decided to book.

On the day Nicci made Adam and I feel very comfortable, we were both really nervous having our photos taken but looking back at the photos now you can’t tell at all. I am so pleased with the way they turned out, I can’t believe that was actually our wedding. We have had so many compliments about our photos. I would recommend Nicci to anyone, even if you aren’t getting married in the same area as we did she loves to travel.

We chose Rococo Florist in Chichester for our wedding flowers. As we were having a winter wedding we wanted the flowers to tie in with the theme so we chose berries to bring warmth, silvery / dark green leaves and also peaches and whites to tie in with the copper theme.

We showed the florist some photos and described what ideas we had and then on the day I couldn’t believe how they had created my vision. The flowers were just beautiful.

I also added a touch of ribbon to the bouquets.

My friend Lacey made our wedding cake. We both absolutely love chocolate so this was the theme.

My favourite part of the day was the ceremony and walking down the aisle, seeing everyone’s faces staring back at me smiling and crying. I was so emotional and cried pretty much the whole way down too as I was so happy that all my friends and family were in one room at the same time just for our wedding day. It meant so much.

We didn’t want to leave our pet dog Wilson out of our special day so he came too! Some of our favourite pictures are with him. He is a 4 year old Westie-poo.

I wouldn’t change anything from the day it was perfect. On reflection though I wish we had booked a Videographer. Before the wedding we weren’t fussed about having a video as we said when would we ever sit there and watch it. Well since the wedding I’ve wanted to re-live the day several times so this would have been perfect.

Finally, just want to say how amazing all the staff at Southend Barns and Field & Fork were. We were treated like we were the only ones getting married there ever, it was so special and we were truly overwhelmed at their service and kindness.

Credits

Venue Southend Barns | Photography Adorlee | Catering Field & Fork | Florist Rococo Florist | Bridal Designer Maggie Sottero | Veil Joyce Jackson | Bridal Boutique Chameleon Bride | Bridal Jacket Coast | Hair & Makeup ID Makeup, Hair, Beauty.

Lots of love…

Tags: Coco Collection, Rustic Romance, Southend Barns, Wedding Inspiration, Wedding Venues, Wedding Venues in West Sussex, West Sussex
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Meet the author
Emma Hla
Emma is the founder & curator of these award-winning pages. Passionate about venues, interiors and a good Whiskey Sour. You'll also find Emma working as a Creative Director consulting for wedding venues around the UK.
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