If you’re planning a spring/summer rustic wedding, then prepare to totally crush on Jenessa and Michael’s stunning big day celebrations.
Finding their perfect venue in Yorkshire Wedding Barns – an exceptional rural setting complete with two amazing barns, idyllic grounds, fabulous accommodation and breath-taking country views as far as the eye can see – Jenessa and Michael’s planning got off to a flying start.
Keen to let the barns speak for themselves, styling was kept simple with pretty ‘just-picked’ style blooms and rustic log-slice centrepieces and name place holders, all brought together with touches of burlap and twine.
Keeping the vibe relaxed, Jenessa and Michael swerved a traditional wedding breakfast instead opting for fitting rustic sharing platters of food for the day and a street food barbecue van for the evening fuel.
Of course, they brought the fun factor too, with acoustic folk band entertainment filling up the dancefloor and some vibrant smoke bomb action for some truly awesome couple portrait images.
With images by Hayley Baxter Photography
PROPOSAL
Jenessa says: We got engaged on 9th September 2017, whilst in Verona. We were travelling around Italy for three weeks and Michael popped the question in our first stop!
SETTING
We set the date for 23rd August 2019, with both our ceremony and reception at Yorkshire Wedding Barn in Richmond, Yorkshire. It was one of the only dates that the venue had available two years in advance.
We chose this venue as we wanted a barn setting for our wedding. This was the first place we visited, and we fell in love instantly! The views are amazing and the setting perfect!
THEME
We wanted a rustic feel to go with the barn, so all decorations we made had a ‘rustic’ feel to them; from the handmade jars on the tables to the choice of flowers. We didn’t dress the venue too much though as we didn’t want to detract from how gorgeous it is itself. Instead we just added some little touches that we felt complemented the setting.
Our colour scheme was cornflower blue, which we picked as it’s bright and cheerful.
DRESS
After trying on various dresses, I ended up purchasing the very first dress I tried on. I got it from Scarlett Poppy bridal boutique in Pudsey, Leeds. The dress was by Sweetheart, style number 6116. I teamed it with Rainbow Club’s Farrah shoes.
GROOMSMEN
Michael and the groomsmen wore three-piece suits from Charles Tyrwhitt with red ties.
BRIDESMAIDS
The bridesmaid dresses were from Coast in beautiful cornflower blue.
BEAUTY
Makeup was taken care of by Natasha of Pure Opulence Beauty while hair was styled by Carly Turner Hair who works in partnership with Hair By Hannah Taylor.
PHOTOGRAPHER
Hayley Baxter captured our day, who I would highly recommend due the quality of all her work. I was recommended her by my florist who had seen her at a venue and said how friendly and helpful she was. When I checked out Hayley’s work, I loved how natural her shots were, all her reviews were amazing and when I reached out, she was exceptionally friendly.
On the day Hayley fitted in and I didn’t feel like she was even there, nothing felt forced and everyone commented how friendly and lovely she was. We were over the moon with the final images.
As a special touch we set off some smoke flares, which we had seen done when scanning wedding forums and looking for what style of photos people had. We thought it would be great to do this in the stunning fields surrounding the venue, and the photos turned out exceptional!
STYLING
All the flowers were taken care of by Stems of Leeds. The spec we worked with was medium/large, loose style, just-picked look with lots of silver Eucalyptus foliage. Flowers to include were white Veronica, very pale pink large headed Dahlia, pale pink Rose, green Eryngium (Thistle) and white Rose.
CAKE
We chose a naked style wedding cake from Slice of Yorkshire.
DINING
The food for day and night was done by Smokin Blues, who we would very highly recommend. We chose them as we wanted to have a non-traditional meal. Instead the food was served up on big rustic boards on the middle of the table where people could themselves. It worked excellently and exactly what we asked for! The evening food was served up from Smokin Blues’ burger truck, so everyone could go up and order their own food.
ENTERTAINMENT
We went through a company called Entertainment Nation, where there was a variety of different genres and artists you could choose from. We wanted an act that could do everything from Motown to right up to date music, getting everyone on the dancefloor. As such, we chose Wayfarers – a feel good acoustic folk band.
THANKS TO
After our big day at Yorkshire Wedding Barn, we would 100% recommend the venue to couples looking for a barn with stunning views rolling over fields. The location was perfect, the high-quality onsite accommodation allows everyone to be a part of the day /weekend.
We hired both barns at the venue and all the onsite accommodation. All the staff were friendly from start to finish and Olivia, who is the organiser, was fantastic, sorting all the suppliers on the day and doing everything behind the scenes which meant it ran so smoothly. We didn’t have to be interrupted at any point.
BEST BIT
I loved the whole day and it honestly exceeded my expectations. Everything went even better than we imagined and to see all of our close family and friends together was amazing.
I entered the barn through the top stairs and walked down these to be greeted by my father, this was a particular highlight- as I walked out I could see my husband-to-be waiting for me with the biggest smile I have ever seen. It made me feel like the luckiest lady alive!
HONEYMOON
We went to Mauritius and stayed at One & Only Le Saint Geran – heaven on earth! It’s the most beautiful hotel and exceptional service. Ten out of ten and 5* in every aspect! We would return in a heartbeat – if we could afford to!
ADVICE
Enjoy the day! It goes so fast so make sure you take two minutes to yourself to look at how the day is going, seeing all your family and friends together…just soak it up!
Also, don’t stress the small stuff. Nobody knows what you are planning or what you were ‘meant’ to do or give, so just spend the time enjoying every minute.
Michael was very hands on and involved in everything – he did most of the planning! He had in his head what he wanted to achieve, and he simply brought the ideas to life!
