A Rustic Marquee Wedding in Natural Whites and Elegant Greens

I remember the first moment I saw my wedding venue. It was the first and only one my husband and I viewed. Afterwards, we sat in the local pub and over a delicious lunch of baked camembert cheese we both realised we had all the feels and knew it was the one. The date was available, there was on-site accommodation for all of our guests including those who would be travelling far from Australia (spending as much time as possible with them was so important to us), the wedding coordinator was the loveliest lady I’ve ever met, I could get ready upstairs then make an entrance down the grand staircase, and the caterers were more than happy to do a bespoke banoffee pie for dessert (that last bit totally sealed the deal for me!). The lovely couple starring front and centre right now also loved their venue for lots of reasons, including a very heartfelt one. Groom Luke is in the army and bride Katrina is a primary school teacher and they tied the knot on a summer’s day on the 26th of August 2016 at Shearsby Bath in Lutterworth, Leicestershire.

“We are both quite chilled and laid back and don’t like too much fuss and wanted our wedding to appear rustic. I really like a contrast and felt that the navy blue and mint green complimented each other quite well, along with the lace and hessian. However, I did worry that the colours we had chosen were quite wintery rather than summery, although altogether it created a fresh atmosphere on such a crisp summer’s day.”  

Photography by Daniela K Photography

The stunning bride chose the ‘Savita’ design by Modeca, with a long train and mermaid silouette, from Icon Bridal. Utter perfection.

“I tried many dresses on and came to the agreement that I didn’t suit the colour ivory, so this is the reason I chose to have the ivory/mocha option. The dress was in two parts, so the bottom was a mocha silk fitted dress and then the lace overlay went on top. I knew I always wanted a lace type dress, but had no idea that it wouldn’t have been all ivory. The dress was really comfy too and with it being in two parts the silk underlay gave me enough support so that I didn’t have to wear a bra -bonus! I also loved the lace detail and the train.”

Katrina added a long veil, bejewelled Dune heels, and Miss Dior’s ‘Absolutely Blooming’ perfume (specifically chosen by Luke for their special day). The groom also gave his bride a beautiful bracelet from Totans Jewellers on the morning of the wedding and her drop diamond earrings were from a boutique in Peterborough. Make up was by Eva Gruszczynska with hair by Jenna Holmes Warren from Bespoke Hair Design, who added sprigs of gysophila to her pretty up-style.

Luke donned attire from T.M. Lewin – a navy blue suit, navy blue and polka dot tie, and cool navy blue braces. The groomsmen wore similar outfits, choosing funky bow-ties. What a stylish bunch!

Katrina arrived in style to the ceremony in her uncle’s vintage black MG. The couple struck gold with a sunny day and married outdoors under the Veil Bandstand at Shearsby Bath.

The beautiful bride was accompanied by her dad for the aisle walk to a harp cover of ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri.

Rockingham Flowers prepared the pretty floral displays and Katrina chose blue thistles to link with the navy blue colour scheme and the eucalyptus leaves to suit the mint green.

“We loved the different elements the venue had to offer. It has a marquee, an outside bandstand, an inside ceremony room and an orangery. We loved that we could incorporate all of these different places on our wedding day. Thankfully, the weather was on our side that day so we were able to have our ceremony outside.”

“I remember going to Shearsby Bath for my nanny and grandpa’s wedding anniversary dinner. He is no longer with us now, so this gave it an extra special feeling too.”

Katrina was familiar with her photographer – Daniela of Daniela K Photography – as she has taken many of her other family members wedding photos, including her sisters, so the couple were onto a good thing with their wedding pictures.

“No words can describe Daniela – she is such a lovely person and is so passionate about photography. She is warm and approachable and so non intrusive. My guests did not even see her taking photographs, I’m sure she has an invisibility cloak! The time she takes to get your pictures perfect is very much appreciated. She has great attention to detail, is creative, innovative, and finds props and places that compliment and make your images unique and so different to any one else’s.”

“Daniela’s creativity doesn’t stop at the wedding. When we received our images it wasn’t just on a normal USB stick; it was nestled in a personalised rustic wooden box with dried out rose buds and the USB stick was shaped as a key – just lovely!”

The navy blue colour scheme continued with the bridesmaid’s gorgeous Elise Ryan floor-length gowns, with lovely lace detailing on the front and back. The girl’s added nude heels from Dorothy Perkins, gypsophila in their upswept hairstyles, and Jon Richard via Debenhams blue navette crystal earrings and bracelets.

I just love Luke and Katrina’s meeting story – and Luke’s very romantic proposal.

“I was working at Nando’s at the time. Luke’s Mum had come in for a meal with her friend and then had said to Luke back at home “have you seen the waitress in Nando’s? She has the most beautiful smile.” Luke then replied ‘Yes, I have been trying to see that girl for ages.’ She doesn’t reply to my Myspace messages (old school!).”

“Then a few months down the line, on a night out with our friends, Luke and I began to talk and then it was happily ever after. We were together years before we got married. Our engagement was in Wales and Luke very thoughtfully filled our lounge with balloons and on each one there were messages saying what he loved about me. I have kept all of these messages in a special trinket box.”  

“All of the decorations were either sourced by family and Luke and I or handmade. Luke’s mum made the beautiful bunting that decorated the marquee. We had antique glass bottles for table centre pieces and large glass vases and circular mirrors. The vintage candlesticks were from charities and car boots.”

“We used pallets to display the ceremony times and ‘pick a seat not a side’ sign. There were lampshades in the centre of marquee with material draping down and these later became great accessories on the dance floor!”

“My auntie Lynn and cousin Sophie made our cake. I love anemones, but due to the season my florist was unable to get these, so my auntie and cousin handcrafted the anemones. Sophie, who has a Fine Art degree, also painted one of the layers of my cake with anemones.”

The Brace Boys trio played funky tunes to entertain the guests into the night.

“Our first dance was to Daniel Merriweather’s ‘Could You’ – Luke and I listened to his album on repeat when we first got together.”

“I loved all of our day – it was all so different that I cannot pick a favourite moment. The excitement with my bridesmaids in the morning, the nerves in my uncle’s car on the way there, the shining sun as I walked down the aisle, the warm greeting from my hubby at the altar, the dancing and all of the laughs everybody had on the dance floor and the love train around the marquee.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“A wedding is a party not a performance – if at the end of the day you are married to the one you love, then everything went perfectly. Make time in the day to take it all in. Sit back, relax and enjoy spending time with the people you love and who mean the most to you.”

It’s been such a pleasure to share your divine day Katrina and Luke and thank you both for allowing us a peek into all the little details. Also a very big thank you to Daniela for catching the joy and delight experienced by the newlyweds throughout their big day. I know that if I was a wedding photographer I would have total job satisfaction from seeing the happy expressions on all of the couple’s faces.

Have a groovy weekend lovelies – and go forth and conquer that wedmin!

Love Jo -xo-