Emily + Chris had the most beautiful winter wedding with snow on the ground at Cripps Stone Barn in Oxfordshire. The Stone Barn is absolutely beautiful, it is rustic, mixed with an industrial feel and the best part, it is dripping with fairy lights which makes for some really stunning photos. The barn is warmed by huge open fire ovens in the kitchen which is exposed to the guests which make quite the feature.
I loved Emily + Chris’ day and I had the best time with these guys. The two of them just did not stop laughing, I really mean it, the laughter was constant and very infectious! Emily has gorgeous taste and had planned the day perfectly with a winter palette of mismatched blush dresses for the bridesmaids, blue suits for the guys and teamed alongside simple but elegant details in the barn: beautiful greenery and fun Christmas touches, like reindeer named tables with crackers for favours. And as you can see she looked stunning in her Annasul Y dress from Sass & Grace.
These two put on a fantastic wedding, the day was filled to the max with love, hugs, emotions and best of all laughter. Here’s what they had to say:
How did you meet? We met in 2006 on a night out in Basingstoke with mutual friends.
How did you become engaged and for how long had you been engaged before your wedding day? Chris arranged a surprise weekend away to the Cotswold’s for our 10 year anniversary. We stayed in a beautiful little cottage. He asked me while I was pouring prosecco for us both in the kitchen.
What happened along the way? We enjoyed our 20’s, had fun, travelled together and with friends, pursued our careers, purchased our first home in 2009 and our second ‘project’’ home last year.
How did you get here? We are best friends.
What made you choose your venue(s) and location(s)? It was definitely a joint decision. We enjoyed visiting the Cotswold’s for our anniversary/engagement. Chris did his research and found Cripps Stone barn in the Cotswold’s with a large indoor BBQ. It was the first venue we saw and it felt perfect. Chris took a little convincing but he agreed to a church wedding. I found the church and we thought it was absolutely breathtaking when we went to visit.
What made you choose your outfits? I like things to complement but not match. Therefore, our wedding party all picked their own dresses/suits. We just said blue suits and blush dresses. I showed my bridesmaid some photos I liked on Pinterest of mix match dresses and they spent time looking for their own dresses. I must admit we didn’t actually see the wedding party in their outfits until the day of the wedding! They all looked perfect.
What did you love about them? I loved the colours and how individual everyone looked while still looking like they were all a part of the wedding party.
What made you choose your decor and styling? It was Christmas time so we wanted to incorporate the fun of Christmas while also making it feel like a wedding. We purchased white and gold crackers from John Lewis in the January sales so that became our colour scheme. We added burgundy when we started looking for ties.
Tell me about your flowers/florist (bouquets, centre pieces & general decorative arrangements)? Beth from Go Wild Flowers did our flowers. She was in the barn when we first went to look around setting up for another couple. We just gave her free rein but asked that everything wasn’t matching too much. We also asked for some mistletoe between the two barns.
Tell me about your Ceremony including any readings, any special moments and your vows. Chris made a few errors with his vows which had us both laughing. The reverend also lit a candle and we sang “oh little town of Bethlehem” in loving memory of my nephew – this for us honestly felt so special. I know that my brother and sister-in-law were very touched.
Did you tailor your vows? Chris didn’t want a ring so we said the “giving of the ring” words together but kept everything else quite traditional.
How/Why did you choose Kirsty as your photographer? Kirsty was fantastic and she genuinely made us completely at ease. She smiled fondly at us when we just could not stop laughing. It was easy and Fun working with her. We loved Kirsty’s photos. Kirsty’s style is so relaxed and fun. We didn’t want our wedding day to be one group photo after another and Kirsty captures the whole day beautifully.
Did you have any entertainment (day & evening)? We had a superbly talented harpist called Jemima Phillips who played at the church and during the drinks reception – our guests could not stop raving about how amazing she was. We also asked the local choir to sing during the signing of the register. They helped enormously during the Christmas carols too. During the evening we had a band called Riot – everyone was up dancing.
What was your first dance song and why? Iris by the goo goo dolls. Um…we didn’t really want a first dance to be honest and felt very awkward doing it. It lasted about a minute before we begged our friends to dance with us. We picked the song literally the week before for no particular reason other than we both like the song. It was sung by the band which was special.
What was your favourite part of the day and why? All the laughing and smiling from everyone! It genuinely felt like everyone was having so much fun. I know the wedding day is supposed to be all about the “couple” but for us seeing everyone enjoying themselves made us so very happy.
If you could impart any words of wisdom to a couple planning their marriage and wedding day, what would they be and is there anything you would do differently? Just relax and put trust in all of your amazing suppliers – they really do know what they are doing. Try not to forget your boutique, be late or lock the only set of keys you have in the cottage.. oops!
I also read Kirsty’s article about not worrying if you get your dress dirty – I took her words of wisdom literally and now remembering laughing at spilling jagerbombs on my dress and walking in snow, mud, ash, wine and whatever else without a care in the world, makes me remember our wedding day with so much fondness.
Supplier Details
Wedding Dress – Sass & Grace
MUA – Alice Taper
Suits – Hackett
Floristry – Go Wild Flowers
Reception Venue – Cripps Stone Barn
Wedding Cake – Hannah Hickman
Catering – Cripps Stone Barn
Band – Riot
Harpist –Jemima Phillips
Wedding Car – Azure