It wasn’t a ‘will it/won’t it’ sort of day.  It definitely would, and it definitely did!  What can couples do when you have meticulously planned an outdoor ceremony and the weather just won’t play ball?  The ceremony took place in an isolated and magnificent barn at Wood Farm Barn in Benacre.

The morning of the wedding I always text my couples to double check the contingency we have arranged – on Saturday, the groom and his crew were ahead of me and by 9am they had sorted

• moved all the benches into the barn
• re-routed the bride’s entrance away from the deep puddles
• had as many spare wellies as they could muster
• got people to donate umbrellas for the day
• planned for the ceremony to be in the adjoining empty barn and moved everything from seats, to decorated arch, photo-board, cones of lavender inside
• spare jelly babies for the kids
• a couple of little gifts in a bag for the couples’ little boy to keep him amused

As it turned out, the weather stayed dry for about 30 minutes and that coincided with the  fabulous and very simple ceremony.  The bride looked spectacular,  the groom was nearly bursting with pride, the guests were stunning. And the girls were very clever and wore self-draining shoes!!  We had just finished and moved into the main barn where the canapé were being served when the heavens opened.

There were some beautiful little touches in the main barn – the naked cake on a raised dais covered with a tented net affair;

a special cocktail set aside for the groom’s dad who sadly passed away a few years ago, all the guests had their favourite combination at their place settings (Bacardi and Coke, Whisky and Soda, Gin and Tonic, Apersol  and Soda etc).  

Phew!  By the way, if you are wondering why no pictures of the happy couple this is because they preferred it this way.  I never post pictures of couples unless they consent.