‘The best wedding yet, a wedding that no one will ever forget!!’
(And I don’t think anyone will !)
An adorable Essex woodland wedding location:
The captivating woodland ceremony space at Captains Wood Barn
The Theme:
The Scarecrows’ Wedding by Julia Donaldson meets Taskmaster meets Frozen.
The Brief:
Child friendly, inclusive, celebratory and a little bit different…
I think we can achieve that…
Jo and Steve were very specific from the outset, this wedding wasn’t just their day, but their whole family’s day. They wanted their 2 young daughters fully immersed in the wedding from start to finish, and to that end, they wanted the ceremony to reflect their love of their favourite book and movie .
Even before the wedding party made their grand entrances ( Steve by tractor and trailer with his stags and Jo, fashionably late, by horse and trailer with her maids we were ringing out the bells.
Steve had spent the past 2 years sourcing numerous handbells which were handed out to the children to ring whenever the word bell or bells was said…just as in Harry and Betty, the Scarecrows wedding ceremony.
It was a joyous sound with which to greet the smiling faces as the trailer passed by the ceremony space.
It’s so much fun putting a ceremony together that encompasses the passions of all involved.
The bridesmaids had made some extra decorations for them in the form of scarecrows which were tastefully placed ahead of the ceremony, we had props and nods and surprises that just screamed Steve and Jo.
The guests all primed with bells, ooooohhhhs and aaaahhhhs in all the right places and with a nod to one of the couple’s favourite TV shows, Taskmaster, some surprise challenges were included as they battled for bragging rights over each other.
Steve has developed his culinary skills and exacting tastebuds over their 12 years together and so was blindfolded and set a taste challenge.
Nothing too onerous, it was after all his wedding day…
Tell me what the food is and name the flavours you can taste.
Food…easy crisps…no risk of any mishaps on a hot sunny day with a bag of crisps.
The flavours, the hard bit….eased in with Ready Salted, before moving onto Chicken Shawarma and finishing on Margherita Pizza flavour (all courtesy of the Co-op irresistible range)
He easily guessed the ready salted and we are all impressed he got the underlying chicken tones, but he failed miserably on the pizza front.
Oh well…2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
As their story continued to unfold and those that didn’t already know, found out about Jo’s love of all things Harrison Ford, it was inevitable her task was to name the films that 3 stills were taken from. Best man Will held up the photos for us all the see and for Jo to hazard a guess. She fell at the first hurdle with Call of the Wild, but easily knew Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars…2 out of 3…equal bragging rights, just as it should be.
With Disney song lyrics as a reading, beautifully read by Louise one of Jo’s bridesmaids serving as a preamble to lovingly exchanged vows and joint promises to their girls we arrived at the ring exchange. And so, with one more task to complete, Best man Will was once again in action delivering their rings inside a Davinci Code puzzle cylinder ring box. (It’s been sat in my office waiting for just the right couple to solve the code) Steve set about cracking the puzzle, so I could throw away the curtain rings we had on standby just in case.
Hopefully they have some cracking photos and video images capturing the facial expressions as he worked it all out.
With much bell ringing, cheers and applause they were introduced as the new Mr & Mrs before being showered in confetti and bubbles as everyone exited the woods.
What a glorious start to a fantastic summer wedding, and there was plenty more to come!
Unlimited ice-creams and sausage rolls with Pimm’s and fizz met us on the lawn which was laid out with games and a bouncy castle for the kids.
Anyone who was brave enough ( that was everyone, and some twice) went on the hair-raising tractor ride through the woods, I think I ended up with more twigs in my hair as branches whacked me on the head than was left on the trees, but oh what fun….
And the really brave souls had a sit on Crewe, the magnificent family horse who came out to say hello.
There was so much to do and enjoy and Steve and Jo really pulled off the laid-back wedding they wanted to.
With personal wedding favours in the form of assorted glassware, (mine is a gorgeous Bristol Blue wine goblet) guests we treated to a feast of a BBQ and Eton mess before enjoying a mini Colin or Connie caterpillar instead of a slice of traditional wedding cake and then the party got started, just as the ceremony did, with a nod to the fact this was a family affair and all the kids present got to enjoy a mini disco all of their own with mums and dads dancing to Baby Shark…
A good time for yours truly to wend her way home after a corker of a day.
Huge congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs you pulled it off, it really was the best wedding yet, a day that no one will ever forget!
Just some of the on the day suppliers who made it all possible
@captainswoodbarn the family are just amazing and so welcoming
@michelle_funkycelebrant
Howard the Tog @absolutephotouk
The videographers @mcj_instagram
Martin and crew from @convivo_dining
Not forgetting the lovely bar staff and Lloyd the DJ that evening
For more information on how you too can create an adorable Essex Woodland wedding, how you can include all of your favourite shows, books or movies, get in touch soon and let’s see what magic we can weave together
For more information and ideas about how we can work together get in touch now
I can’t wait to work with you and create something funky and magical.
