Full of rustic charm, good food and great music, this adorable vintage wedding makes our hearts sing!
How they met
Sparks flew between Charlotte and Rob when they met during a night out. “We were out clubbing in London when we got talking and realised we were both from the North,” Charlotte recalls. Their first date – a walk on the beach with ice creams in hand – cemented the bond between them.
The proposal
Rob chose a very special location for his big moment. “He asked me to marry him at sunset on the beach in Whitstable – our favourite place on earth,” says Charlotte. “I was very surprised, I’d had no idea! He’d even managed to ask my dad’s permission during a round of golf, which I thought was so sweet.”
The bride’s outfit
Charlotte took a step back in time to find her perfect wedding dress. “As soon as I walked into The Vintage Wedding Dress Company in London, I felt like I was in a dream,” she explains. Charlotte chose an original 1970s dress in lace, opting to have sleeves added for her early spring wedding. “I felt so comfortable in it, and knew I would be able to dance in it without falling over,” she says. “I couldn’t stop smiling, and neither could my mum.” The bride found her lace pumps, headband and veil in the same boutique, and completed her look with a vintage brooch.
The groom’s outfit
Smart shopper Rob wasted no time in finding his perfect wedding outfit. “He wanted something a bit different, and more casual than a traditional wedding outfit, and found a fantastic tweedy blue suit in Topman, with the help of his best man,” Charlotte says. “We decided together that he should also wear a bow tie, because they’re such fun.”
The bridesmaids
Charlotte chose five bridesmaids – her sister, Jess, her three best friends, and Rob’s niece, Mollie, who all looked like English roses in their full-length gowns with on-trend pleated skirts. “My mum spotted the dresses in Warehouse, and they were just perfect,” Charlotte remembers. “We didn’t waste any time making decisions, it was first choices all the way.”
The ceremony
Charlotte and Rob chose the Ashes in Staffordshire as the venue for their big day – a restored and converted 17th-century farm at the foothills of the Peak District. “Music is really important to us, so it played a big part in our ceremony,” Charlotte explains. “We chose every single song, from pre-ceremony until the end of the night, and I walked down the aisle to Zorbing by Stornoway – our favourite band.”
The flowers
A friend of a friend put together the beautiful, vintage-inspired bouquets and flower arrangements, which included loose sprays of gypsophila for the bridesmaids, and unstructured posies in jam jars and tea cups to decorate the venue. “The flowers were amazing – we wanted something rustic and pretty. They were everything we’d hoped for, and more,” says Charlotte.
The reception
After the ceremony, the guests moved across to the Ashes’ reception barn. “We both love food, so the menu was really important, but we also wanted to keep it relaxed and simple, so we decided to serve pie and mash,” explains Charlotte. “We chose a selection of pies, and put information about them on each table, but no one knew what they’d been given until they got stuck in!”
The details
For Charlotte and Rob, creating the perfect relaxed, country vintage theme was a labour of love. “We spent months collecting things, from jam jars to vintage suitcases,” Charlotte recalls. “We also had our table plan typed and displayed on an old-fashioned typewriter – we wanted it to be eye-catching.”
The cake
The mouth-watering three-tier wedding cake, smothered with fresh strawberries and cream, was made by Charlotte’s granny. “She’s the queen of cakes, and it was so special that she made it for us,” says Charlotte. “Rob’s mum is also an amazing baker, and made some extra cakes for the cake table.”
The favours
Charlotte and Rob collected vintage tea cups for their female guests, and made marmalade for the men.
The honeymoon
The couple took an adventure-filled break to South Africa.
Real Wedding Gallery
