Ollie and Emily's Rustic DIY, Intimate Autumnal Wedding Day

If you’ve got your big day booked already and are looking for inspiration for your October wedding, we’ve got a treat for you today! Ollie and Emily got hitched on Halloween weekend last year and although they didn’t want to go full on Halloween styling they added stylish festive touches to their autumnal wedding feast! They tell us about their romantic, relaxed and intimate wedding day, full of personality character and a gold pumpkin or two!

“Ollie and I met 8 years ago whilst working at our local pub The Lindsey Rose. We were both saving to do some travelling (me to Africa, Ollie inter-railing in Europe) and it wasn’t until we returned from our separate travels that sparks started to fly. After encouragement from our co-workers, we went on our first date! And the rest, as they say, is history!”

“The proposal was totally unexpected, but absolutely perfect too. Ollie got down on one knee on the beach at Aldeburgh on a cold, bright November day in 2016. Although we regularly go to Aldeburgh – it’s our favourite place for fish & chips and ice cream whatever the weather! It is also the location of our very first date, so it made the occasion extra special.”

“We wanted an intimate and relaxed wedding with only our closest friends and family. It was important to both of us that our wedding reflected us as a couple and our personalities too. This meant that the planning was very much a family affair – with lots of them getting involved with the DIY decorations, the catering and other parts of the wedding too.”

We went for a ‘magical woodland’ theme including autumnal wedding colours and a country vibe. In a way it had a timeless feel to it too, from the ceremony in our local regency style church, the gathering of our guests at The Lindsey Rose pub (where we first met), to the banquet style layout of the table at the venue and the country barn dancing in the evening. The venue was a stunning Tudor barn in the next village, which we chose almost immediately after getting engaged – we didn’t even look at any other venues! The place has a magical feel and turned out to be the perfect backdrop for our wedding.”

My dress was by designer Katya Katya which took me an age to find! I really struggled to find something a little bit different and that fit with our theme. It was all lace, with an intricate scalloped hem and train, delicate capped sleeves and a real boho feel to it that I loved.”

“To continue the country theme, Ollie chose to wear a tweed waistcoat and jacket from Scottish tailor Walker Slater who have an outfitters in London. He paired them with a tailor-made pair of chinos from our local suit fitters Coes in Ipswich. Our groomsmen also had tweed waistcoats and jackets which we found in Moss Bros. Our page boy’s outfit, also tweed, we found online. The bridesmaids were in elegant, berry coloured dresses from Phase Eight and my flower girl had a matching sash on her dress from Monsoon.”

“Our florist was incredible, she really listened to what we wanted and ultimately I left her to it(not knowing much about flowers myself!) and what she created was just perfect. My mum created our wedding cake, a three-tier masterpiece, finished with fresh flowers from the floristand a handmade cake topper. The rest of the decorations, which were simply fairy lights and lots of foliage were created by using greenery from our neighbours and friend’s gardens! My mother-in-law created the garlands that we draped around the impressive light pendants in the barn. Two of my favourite things were the gold-sprayed mini-pumpkins we used for table decorations (it was Halloween weekend after all!) and the bespoke gin bar that Ollie made. We even personalised each gin to relate to Ollie and I. The banquet style dinner we had at the venue was brilliant, we had a hog roast with all the trimmings and a mouth watering sticky toffee pudding too. The evening guests were treated to lots of homemade goodies that were all personal favourites of Ollie and I, and also made by several members of my family.”

“The best part of the day is hard to choose, we just loved having everyone together to celebrate our special day. When we sat down to eat, seeing all our guests enjoying themselves put a smile on our faces. The most fun part was the country barn dancing, as everyone got involved and we danced all night!”

Top Tip : “Be flexible, enjoy the planning and the preparations, do what makes you happy. Our day turned out to be so much more than we could ever have hoped for and I believe it was because we didn’t put too much pressure on ourselves and just enjoyed the day.”