How gorgeous is Sophie's wedding dress?!? I've been swooning over the long sleeved lace loveliness since I first saw this wedding from Kristian Leven. It's a bespoke creation made by the lovely team at The Bridal Gallery.

Sophie's choice of nude lace Bridesmaids dresses is lovely too and they compliment Sophie's own dress perfectly.

This is one of those weddings that manages to be both rustic AND glamorous at the same time and I just know you'll really, really love it...

Sophie The Bride: Greg and I got married in the beautiful village of Ickham in the Kent countryside on Saturday 2nd August 2014 where combine harvesters take priority over cars. It was an incredible celebration...not only because it was a big, bright, lovely day with all of our nearest and dearest (180 guests) but also because it was a military operation from start to finish and a total DIY project.

The Dress

My bridal gown was a bespoke dress made by the very wonderful and talented Jean at The Bridal Gallery - a small boutique in my hometown of Broadstairs on the Kent coast. Jean and her shop really are a hidden gem...I visited her 18 months before our big day and as soon as I walked through the door the experience and service were so tailor made and personal I felt as though I was her only customer! Her shop was the only one I visited and after trying on a few different dresses I found two styles that I absolutely loved.

Jean's creativity and attention to detail meant that she was able to take the two dresses and make a bespoke made-to-measure gown. I absolutely loved my dress...it had a bit of a vintage vibe going on and the most unique and intricate material. As soon as I put it on I felt so special - and received endless compliments!

My accessories were a necklace and earrings from Alex Monroe - and I opted for flat, comfortable sandals and a beaded clutch bag from Accessorize.

The Groom

Greg went for trousers, waistcoat, blazer and shoes from Ted Baker and a tie from Burberry. As Greg is quite broad he struggled to find a blazer to fit around the shoulders without being too baggy elsewhere, however Ted Baker were fantastic and offered so much guidance and a fantastic in-house tailoring service to tweak any bits to perfection!

The Venue

Our reception was held in The Littlebourne Barn in the village of Littlebourne which is a huge, historic thatched barn used mainly for arts and crafts shows and barn dances. It was the perfect place as it is not a traditional wedding venue, and was a completely blank canvas which meant we could have control over every little detail from the furniture and décor through to the catering and entertainment. We fell in love with the barn's rustic charm and the fact it was a little bit raw around the edges. We were really able to make our mark on the venue!

The Decor & Flowers

We didn't have a definite colour scheme but incorporated pinks and whites into the flowers which tied in well with the bridesmaids who wore blush pink. We had miles of bright floral bunting which gave a refreshing injection of colour in the barn. Greg and his groomsmen went for navy coloured suits with burgundy ties and pocket squares. We were very lucky to have two talented flower arrangers in the family, my uncle Peter and a very close friend Betty, who spent hours organising and arranging all of the flowers (which we got from a wholesaler).

We had an abundance of beautiful hydrangeas, roses, gypsophila etc which they placed in eclectic, vintage vases and jars all over the barn and church. We also had some wonderful larger displays on a vintage tandem bike and an old gardening cart which were amazing focal points. Both the barn and church smelt like a beautiful English garden!

Bouquets and button holes were from a local florist in Broadstairs called Flowers by SP. Sally (the owner) was wonderful and managed to create a beautiful traditional English countryside feel with lots of colour. I wanted my bouquet to have a wild look to it and she managed to capture exactly that. The bouquets and buttonholes which were tied with twine worked particularly well with the rest of the floral arrangements.

Decorating the barn was no small feat and required all hands on deck as the space is so large and the beams so high! We had to rely on family and friends to help us and we built a little army of volunteers who were incredible! I collected tons of floral bunting which we hung throughout the barn and we hired loads of festoon lighting which looked so atmospheric and really had the wow factor! The festoon lighting was from IA Sound & Light.

The Wedding Party

After hunting high and low for the bridesmaids dresses we went for some lovely blush pink fitted lace dresses from Next. We wanted to customise these so Jean at the Bridal Gallery made some beautiful cream floral bands which matched the material on my dress and attached them around the waists of the bridesmaid dresses giving them a special finishing touch! Again we went for navy fitted suits from Next for the Groomsmen along with some fun burgundy duck print ties and spotted burgundy pocket squares from ASOS. We found Next to be great for the men who are all different sizes as their suits come in lots of different lengths and cuts.

Our nephews were our page boys and wore cute navy shorts, waistcoats and shirts from John Lewis along with handmade checked bow ties which I found on Etsy.

Little Hope the flower girl wore a beautiful dress and shoes from the children's section at Monsoon - they have such a wide selection of styles that Hope's mother and I spent hours in the changing room making Hope parade up and down in a number of dresses!

The Ceremony

Our ceremony at St John the Evangelist church in Ickham was particularly memorable and a highlight of the day! My brother Jack came all the way over from Australia to sing me down the aisle with his acoustic guitar, playing Someone Like You by Van Morrison - there was not a dry eye in the house!

We also had an amazing worship band made up of some of our friends from our church in London. They literally had the church rocking and sang traditional hymns such as How Great Thou Art and Be Thou My Vision but with an upbeat, folkie twist to it. We also sang Swing Low, Sweet Chariot which went down particularly well with the rugby fans in the congregation - of which there were many! Having a live band in church kicked the day off to a fun, upbeat start, we loved the fact that the singing filled the church and could be heard from outside! Our friend Sheyi Martins sang a very moving gospel song during the signing of the register and then lead the band in "Happy" by Pharrel Williams as we excited the church. That was a great moment of celebration and joy as all of our family and friends clapped along as we walked down the aisle.

During the service Greg's sister read a very apt reading from Captain Correlli's Mandolin entitled 'Love Is A Temporary Madness', whilst my stepfather read a modern version of Corinthians 1 -13 taken from The Message version of the Bible. Afterwards, my little brother and close friend both said prayers for us to which they received a loud round of applause!

Entertainment

Our day was filled with a variety of live music from start to finish. After the music at the church, our guests arrived at the barn and were entertained by local singer Jaeger Jones on the lawn outside. Jaeger has an incredibly soulful voice and was the perfect accompaniment for welcome drinks in the sunshine! After the speeches our evening entertainment kicked off with The Midnight Rebel band who definitely kept the party going. We chose the 7 piece line up fronted by the gorgeous Beth Morris as they played an eclectic mix of hits from The Rolling Stones right through to Daft Punk which suited our mix of guests well. Not to mention, Beth has a knock-out voice! The dancefloor was packed from the first song to the last. Was safe to say it was a bit of a knees up - my Grandad was the first on the dance floor!

The Food

Food was a biggie for us as we wanted to make sure that our guests were well fed and watered throughout the day plus we didn't want to go for traditional wedding grub. We went for a menu that reflected our relaxed and fun countryside vibe and opted for canapés such as pork pie wedges served with my Nan's homemade chutney and 'Scotch' Quails eggs with smoked haddock and a watercress mayonnaise.

For the sit down wedding breakfast, our guests tucked into big sharing plates of Mexican beef, goats cheese and squash frittata, fresh citrus chicken, barley pearl tabbouleh and some lovely big salads. We loved the informal option of the sharing plates and it was great to look out and see everyone tucking in and passing the food around the table. It was a great talking point and got guests really involved by serving one another. The wonderful Stella Grove and her right-hand woman Marina, were in charge of the catering and provided our yummy canapés and main meal. They are based locally and work so hard to make sure that the produce they serve is locally sourced, fresh and seasonal! We wanted to create an atmosphere of old friends sitting down for an informal and relaxed meal and they certainly helped to execute that!

For dessert we had a "Great Wedding Bake Off" table and got all the ladies in the family (and close friends too) to bake their signature cake. We had a wonderful spread with cakes of all shapes and sizes to accompany our centrepiece wedding cake - a tiered Victoria sponge which was made by a family friend and decorated with beautiful fresh pink and ivory flowers and fresh berries. Although two of the tiers had the traditional buttercream and jam filling the other tiers had delicious alternative fillings such as lemon curd and a frosted strawberry filling.

Our cakes were served with vintage tea cups and saucers, some of which were collected and sourced by us and some of which were hired from Party In A Teacup who have an amazing collection of pretty and delicate bone china! In the evening we served a locally sourced tiered cheese cake with fresh bread and homemade chutney as well as a big vat of chilli which was made by the bride! Not a scrap was left at the end of the evening!

The Videography

Our Videographer is a very talented friend - Matt Murphy - who made the most amazing film of our day. Because of the feedback he received and numerous people getting in contact with him to ask him to film their special day, he is now setting up his own video business! Initially we weren't sure about wedding videos but it was 100% the right decision and is lovely to have a glimpse back into the most important day of our lives!

The Photography

We cannot recommend our wedding photographer Kristian Leven enough! He is such an amazingly talented photographer with a real gift for capturing "those" moments. From day one Kristian was friendly, relaxed and very professional. Our wedding photos capture our big day perfectly and will be a constant reminder of how special it was. We went for Kristian because his pictures have a photo-journalist style and he tends to avoid posed photos which was just what we were after.

The Transport

In order to transport our guests from the church to the barn we hired an old London route master which was waiting for our guests as they came out of the church. As we live in London, we wanted to have a little nod to the big smoke and going for a vintage bus tied in perfectly with the overall look of the day. Our guests loved the fact they were given an old fashioned tear off ticket in order to board!

Whilst our guests were getting driven down the road, Greg and I took the opportunity to escape for half an hour and have a glass or two of bubbles and take in the fact that we had just become man and wife! We hired an adorable 1974 VW Beetle convertible called 'Delilah' which whisked us away for some 'time out' and then drove us into the barn to a series of honks and a loud cheer from our guests!

The DIY

My lovely Mum designed and made all of the wedding stationery from the invites to the order of service to the name labels and 'advice cards' we asked guests to fill in. My Nan made her special Dowerhouse chutney for 180 people so that we could give each of our guests a jar as favours. She also made the table runners for each table which matched our bunting, sourced vintage crockery and made a tonne of cakes. My stepdad made us a huge bar out of wooden pallets which was an incredible focal point in the barn.

We sourced dozens of vintage jars, vases, crates, a tandem bike, hay bales, rugs, an old garden cart, and bunting from markets, charity shops, and friends in order to complete the look of the day.

My dad and step-mum transported alcohol for over 180 people over 1300 miles from Spain to Canterbury!! We served gin and traditional lemonade and rum and ginger beer in jam jars with floral straws and also provided local Kentish ale.

We allocated one friendly and welcoming person on each table to be a "Table Mummy" so that they could meet and greet the other guests on their table and lead in the serving of sharing plates

We made our own photo booth and assigned a corner of the barn so that guests could have some fun dressing up and taking snaps. They say that it's the people who make your wedding special and we couldn't agree more - without the help and considerable talents of so many of our nearest and dearest we would never have pulled off such a unique and incredibly personal day.