A rustic wedding at Bassmead Manor Barns

As soon as Anneke and James saw Bassmead Manor Barns, they could visualise their whole day – even the menu

A rustic theme

‘We knew we wanted a barn venue and Bassmead Manor Barns was the first one we looked at – we fell in love with it right away,’ says Anneke. ‘The theme we had in mind was rustic and pretty, using lots of wooden crates and logs, with a little glitter thrown in for good measure.’

In the Rickey barn, where the couple held the ceremony – including ring vows they wrote themselves – they chose simple rose petals to scatter down the aisle. For the reception, they went with lots of flowers, gypsophila and tree trunks to blend into the pastel colour scheme and create a country feel.

‘We love our food, so the menu was really important to us,’ says Anneke. ‘For the drinks reception, we had Gin Berry Fizz and Berry Blush cocktails, with canapés that included mini burgers, curried lamb and arancini balls while guests were entertained by a harpist.’

For the wedding breakfast, they chose Scotch Egg to start, followed by Beef Wellington, a surprise course of lemon sorbet with a shot of vodka, plus a trio of desserts – treacle tart with salted caramel ice cream, chocolate brownie with white chocolate snow and a panna cotta in a dark chocolate cone.

‘The desserts were the standout dishes for me,’ says Anneke. ‘I have a really sweet tooth, so they were always going to win hands down!’

After being entertained by a singer between the wedding breakfast and the evening party, guests even found room for wood-fired pizzas, which were served in the courtyard garden. ‘Our first dance was to Perfect by Ed Sheehan and sung by Cara Beard. However it wasn’t choreographed as the groom as two left feet,’ says Anneke.

To keep with the muted colour theme at their wedding at Bassmead Manor Barns, James chose a vintage three-piece suit in grey tweed, the bridesmaids wore dusty pink maxi dresses and Anneke went for an ivory dress by Stella York with lace across the shoulders and a sparkly belt.

‘It made me feel like a princess because the cut of the dress hid everything so well! It was the first dress I tried on, in the second shop we went to. I knew it was the one when my bridesmaid started blubbering on the sofa in the bridal shop.’ Anneke accessorised her look with simple, but sparkly earrings from New Look and shoes from Debenhams.

Favourite moment

‘Reading our personalised ring vows to each other was definitely my favourite moment of the day,’ says Anneke. ‘I will always cherish the moment we placed each other’s rings on the ring finger and read our promises to each other.’

Top tip

‘The day goes by so quickly, I’d advise any couple to take 10 minutes while the guests are finishing up the wedding breakfast to go for a walk together alone. It also helps the huge amounts of food to go down – especially in a wedding dress. I could feel mine getting tighter and tighter with each course!’

LITTLE WHITE BOOK

Venue bassmeadmanorbarns-weddings.co.uk
Photography redpeacockphotography.co.uk
Bride’s dress Stella York from veronacouture.co.uk
Groom’s suit vintagesuithire.co.uk
Bridesmaids’ dresses asos.com
Hair danicazurawel.com
Make-up sarahevansmakeup.co.uk
Flowers danayoungflowers.co.uk

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