Ceri & John - Herefordshire Festival Wedding with Yurt Reception
An amazing festival reception on a beautiful spring day!
Ceri and John married in May at Linton church in Herefordshire and their amazing festival themed yurt reception was held in the back of the local village pub, the Alma Inn in Linton (near Ross-on-Wye). Linton is such a pretty little village, I'd say it has a very English country village feel with the village church, a 50 metre walk to the local pub and the cute telephone box on the side of the street too which is lined with pretty little cottages! Most of Ceri & John's day was planned from New Zealand where they were both working at the time, Ceri said that they instantly knew what they wanted from their day - relaxed, informal and a day that was personal to them both, their day was filled with so many handmade elements and they said that although they had done a lot themselves, they wouldn't have been able to have achieved what they did without the help of their families and friends.
Ceri initially wanted their reception to be in her mum's garden but they chose The Alma Inn which is their local pub and hosts Linton Festival every year and is well equipped to host a wedding. Ceri and John decided to hire their yurts from Tents4Elements, they were keen to have a rustic look but something professional and well built. They also hired the benches, lighting, stage, vintage bottles, flags and a fire put from them too. They fell in love with St Mary's church in Linton and loved that their guests could walk the short stroll from the church down to the pub. The church is home to one of the oldest yew trees in Britain!
Ceri and John chose a village fete/festival style wedding and wanted to create that lovely atmosphere on the day (which they definitely achieved!) Locals from the village lined the streets to see Ceri, her Brother and Bridesmaids arrive by the Westons Cider dray (pulled by two gorgeous shire horses Prince and Ben) - Ceri mentioned being from Herefordshire that it's no secret that she's particularly fond of Stowford Press so the transport was an easy decision. After the wedding, Ceri and John enjoyed the ride to The Alma followed by their guests on foot. Outside, they had various fun games including splat the rat, a horse racing game, giant jenga and a horse shoe throwing game too.
Ceri's beautiful dress was from a small boutique in Hereford called Satin and Silk. It was the first dress she tried on but went through lots of transformation to turn it into her dream dress which was shortened and she had a 1960s style belt made from the off cuts. Ceri finished it with the lace overpiece with beautiful buttons down the back. Ceri said buying her shoes was more stressful than finding a dress! Ceri wanted her shoes to make a statement being on show and she found Rachel Simpson shoes whilst at the Vintage wedding fayre in Hereford - they were stunning! Ceri's bridemaid dresses were a real find too! Ceri had found them whilst out with her mum but with 7 bridesmaids, they were out of her budget at the time. She then came across them in the sale at Laura Ahsley and were a steal at less than £40 each! John's suit was from Next and the tweed waistcoats were from River Island.
For their meal, they chose a picnic theme with cold meats and salads, John originally wanted to cater for the wedding himself but Ceri persuaded him to book a caterer. They chose CaterCater and they allowed John to design all of the recipes for the meats and salads (they were amazing!). John also made 120 scones for the dessert the day before the wedding too! Ceri made the tomato chutney which served as favours and place names too! And Ceri made their four tiered naked wedding cake decorated with berries, Ceri even made the tiny bunting for the top (she's so talented)! Monmouthshire Hogroasts supplied their pig roast for the evening. There's a funny story before their cheese cake too which involved Ceri's mum's dog 'Daphne' jumping the garden fence and breaking into the box of cheese that had been delivered and devouring half a wheel of stilton! Apparently John was secretly pleased as he could make an early start on the Stilton! Their cheese was supplied by The Courtyard Dairy.
Ceri ordered gypsophila, roses, chrysanthemums, eucalyptus and veronicas through a wholesale florst called Just Flowers in Hereford, she assembled her own bouquet which looked incredible! She also made the men's buttonholes and the bridemsaids had small gypsophila bouquets. ceri also hadmade metres upon metres of bunting for the tents and borrowed some that her mum had made for hers too. Ceri made their stationery with burlap and hearts and her mum spent hours printing for them using their bespoke wedding logo.
Everything looked amazing! Their day was so incredibly beautiful and filled with so much care, hard work and love and it was so much fun to capture!
Their day was captured on film by Adam Lyduch who was incredible and a pleasure to work with. Ceri and John's evening entertainment was by a band called Beats and Pieces and they had a dj set too. Ceri and John loved the idea of using natural petals for their confetti and ordered this with Shropshire Petals and made the cones.
If you are planning a village fete/festival themed wedding and are looking for a wedding photographer, please take a look at my website and you can get in touch by email info@hayleymorrisphotography.co.uk I'm based in Worcestershire however I travel all over the UK to capture love!
I hope you enjoy viewing Ceri & John's day!
