Sandhole Oak Barn

Claire & Daniel's Autumn Wedding Claire and Daniel's wedding theme was simple country glamour.

Claire and Daniel were on a 6 month round the world trip. "My friends had all been hinting that Dan would propose and I had my suspicions about him taking my Dad down to the pub for a man to man chat the day before we left. It got to the last week of our holiday and I was convinced that he'd changed his mind! Finally on the penultimate night of our trip in Palm Springs, on top of a mountain overlooking the Conchella Valley at sunset, Dan got down on one knee and popped the question. So romantic and well worth waiting for!"

They struggled to decide where in the country, or indeed the world, to get married as they searched but found nothing that was quite right. "The moment we walked into Sandhole Oak Barn for a wedding fayre, we knew it was the venue for us." Sandhole was booked just 8 months in advance.

Claire's dress was an ivory satin gown by Forget Me Not Designs. It was strapless with a sweetheart neckline, a puddle train and rouched detail on the right hip. It was very light and easy to wear. Her tiara and veil were from Wedding Belles at Kibworth and her garter, a present from her Mum, was from La Senza. Claire also wore a Pandora charm bracelet, which was a gift from her closest friends and family on the morning of the wedding.

Claire's two bridesmaids wore tea length mink dresses from Principles and ivory shoes from Monsoon with a pearl bracelet and ivory roses in their hair.

Daniel, his bestman and ushers wore grey morning suits from Moss Bros with ivory waistcoats and verona cravats that matched the bridesmaids dresses. Daniel wore an ivory cravat to match Claire's dress.

Claire carried a hand tied bouquet of ivory roses, bouvardia, hydrangea heads, hard ruscus foliage, lissianthus, freesia's and beautiful green blackberries for an autumn twist. The bridesmaids had smaller versions.

They hired a chauffeur driven Beauford Tourer from Now and Forever Cars in Congleton. They only put the top down after the ceremony, so as not to mess up Claire's hair!

The Oak Barn provided such a simple, elegant backdrop that it needed very little augmentation. They had white table linen with black organza ribbon detail. The table centrepieces were elegant black candelabras with church candles decorated with trailing flowers including elements of Claire's bouquet together with oak leaves and grasses to continue the country theme.

As favours, Claire and Daniel used Nestle Animal Bars, re-wrapped in ivory paper, printed with guest's names - a Martha Stewart inspired idea. For the children, they gave them cuddly farm animal toys from John Lewis with ivory ribbon to attach their name tag.

Claire and Daniel's cake was a beautiful ivory 3 tier fruit cake, homemade by Claire's brother-in-law's Mum and skillfully decorated with iced petals.

We asked Claire what the best part of her day was; "So many favourite bits - waking up to a cloudless blue sky, seeing everyone beam at me as I walked up the aisle, the carefully choreographed first dance, Dan's uncle performing a song with the band, the beautiful sunset, but above all the dancing was superb, until my new husband grabbed the mop and began riding it around the dancefloor like a horse!"

We also asked Claire if she had any tips for future wedding couples; "Our midweek wedding took the stress out of getting the suppliers we wanted without 2 years notice and there were bargains to be had. Also, our guests got an extra long weekend away. Thursday is the new Saturday!"