Holly and Tom had such an incredible day at Upwaltham Barns that it has left me feeling somewhat alliterative. Divine dress, fabulous florals, beautiful blossom, delicious details and scores of smiles, that pretty much sums it up perfectly!

Tom & Holly live in Australia so their wedding allowed them to catch up with lots of friends and family from back home, it was a fun celebration with a cool laid back vibe.

PIN THE GALLERY

Holly The Bride: We married at Upwaltham Barns West Sussex. We chose it as it felt just like home and we had always wanted to get married in the English countryside in an old barn. The big old barns were just beautiful and the staff were just so helpful and friendly. It was a very easy choice.

The History
We met in a famous Ozzy bar 6 years ago in Fulham on the dance floor and have been together since. It was love at first dance! After a few months of dating I followed Thomas back to Sydney where we did a road trip together around Australia. Thomas proposed to me after an adventurous hike and bike ride in the Australian Snowy mountains. It was a totally surprise especially as he purchased the ring from my home town in the UK which made it extra special. We were engaged 1 year before we married.

The Theme
Our wedding created it's own theme as alot of people travelled across the globe to attend our big day. Thomas and I also love adventures and exploring the world so the travel theme just made sense. He is my biggest adventure after all We both decided against a religious ceremony and instead chose our own vows and special readings to make the ceremony special and more us.

Family is very important to us so all children were welcome and we sat on long tables all together during our wedding breakfast.

The Dress
I wanted an Australian designed dress as we were getting married in the UK and I work in the Australian fashion industry. I chose Collette Dinnigan as she is my favourite Australian designer. It was love at first sight and it fit me perfectly.
I love everything about it and the way it made me feel. I just loved dancing the night away in it. It made me feel like a princess.
I remember during our wedding day everyone wanted to touch my dress and feel the beautiful hand embroidered fabric.
I hope one day to pass it onto my daughter ☺

The Look
parkly Bow sling backs by Kate Spade and I chose them as they were the most sparkly shoes I could find and they fit me like a glove. I had fresh flowers in my hair as I wanted a very feminine look. I wore 2 bracelets one from Mum and Dad by George Jensen which was a 30th birthday present and a gold daisy chain bracelet from Thomas which he gave me on the day.
I also wore my late Grandma's engagement ring which is very special to me. I bought the bridesmaids dresses online from Anthropologie I loved the bright red colour and gorgeous shape. I matched them back with polkadot shawls to cover their shoulders. For presents I got my bridesmaids an Anthropogie statement necklace and a silver bracelet from http://misuzi.com.au/ a gift from me which said I love u.

Photography
Our photographer was Helen Cawte and she was just incredible. Her attention to detail is phenomenal. Such a talented photographer who understood what we wanted so well. It felt like she was one of our guests and she managed to produce the most wonderful images. Helen captured our day perfectly and we couldn't be happier.

Flowers
I wanted lots of Spring flowers and for our displays to look as natural as possible. Just like someone had been out in a field collecting flowers and filling jam jars with them. We had large balls of baby's breath on silver stands on the tables which just added a touch of glam. The cherry blossoms added a colourful touch of colour and the most incredible scent to our ceremony. My gorgeous bouquet was a mixture of Australian natives, English spring flowers, Thistles and succulents (which mum has now planted).

Cake
Our cake was two delicious chocolate brown travel suitcases made by wedding Kate. http://www.weddingkate.co.uk/ The cake even had stickers from some of the countries we had been too and a luggage tag. We wanted something a bit different that would make people smile and I think we achieved this with the creative Kate.

The Ceremony
My father Chris Manhire walked me down the aisle. He is one of the most important men in my life and we are so close. I walked down to Angus and Julian Stone Jet Plane. We wrote our own vows. I have attached our order of service. For the readings we let the people reading them choose something that represented us. My brother Ben wrote us a special poem and Auntie Jackie read the Apache Prayer, which was really special.

The Food
Nibbles to Nosh- so so so so so good. The food was so yummy.

The Entertainment
We hired The Big Little band, a funky jazz band - they were perfection and they learnt some of our favourite songs.

The Transport
We had a vintage sussex bus to carry our guests to the venue and I Holly arrived in a VW camper van called Wanda from Sussex Cars. Tom and his boys arrived in a black cab.

The Favours
We gave bottles of yummy schnapps from our local distillery.

The Décor
Lots of travel inspired things..... each table was an important country in our lives. The table plan was a map and we included a globe for decoration. Lots of candles were used to create atmosphere and we created a photo wall of important moments and people.

First Dance and Memorable moments
We love all things Italian especially as Tom's Grandparents came from Italy. We danced to louis prima buona sera which was a lot of fun as this song always makes us smile. My favourite part of the day was looking into Toms eyes and saying my vows with our family and friends watching.

What would I have done differently
I would have had the photographer for the whole night as we missed out on photos of us leaving through a tunnel of sparklers.

My Advice
Stay calm and ask for help. The more you spread the load the better and friends and family are always happy to help.
I also recommend creating a mood board of everything you both love. It will help you visualise your big day:)
Don't forget to have fun you only get to do this once!

Venue Upwaltham Barns | Caterers Nibble2Nosh | Dress BHLDN | Designer Collette Dinnigan | Shoes Kate Spade | Bridesmaids dresses and necklaces Anthropologie | Hair Clare John from Richard John | Make-up Fiona Winterflood | Groom's suit MJ Bale | Bow tie and hankies Mrs Bowtie Best man/groomsmen Ties Benman Hire | Flowers Spriggs Florist Cake Wedding Kate Band The Big Little Band | Favours Wildbrumby | Transport Sussex Cars

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