Sally and Ian wanted their relaxed wedding to be a unique fun filled day for all – family members made beautifully handmade village fete games for the guests to enjoy playing and Sally and her bridesmaids crafted homemade decorations and flower crowns for the big day. Both the garden games and decorations were such a success that Sally has now started her own business hiring the games, decorations and props and also takes commissions for flower crowns, wedding favours and table settings inspired by those she made herself for her wedding day.

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Tell us a bit about you and your husband, when did you get married? Where did you meet?
I got married on 15th August 2015 (luckily on a sunny Saturday!) Ian and I met 9 years ago through mutual friends, there isn’t really an exciting story other than I just saw him at his local pub and we were boyfriend and girlfriend a week later!

How did Ian pop the question?
Ian asked me on a random Thursday night, I got home from work to candles, flowers and a bubble bath! He had planned to do it the week before when we were away in the Cotswolds, but the ring wasn’t ready! When I asked why a Thursday night he said it was because after he got the ring he couldn’t wait for the weekend!

Tell us about the ring!
Ian had my ring made; I love anything vintage so he went for this style! It means so much to me that he went and chose a design and went and had it made just for me – it makes me love it even more!

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What did you do for your hen party?
I was pretty greedy when it came to my hen parties; I definitely wanted to make the most out of the bride to be title ha!
I had a weekend dressed as a banana in Barcelona with my bridesmaids, and new sisters which is a weekend we will never forget (especially because we all got a matching heart tattoo on our ankles).
I then had a ‘home hen’ in Nottingham, this time dressed as a Penguin. All of my closest girl friends came to this weekend and it was BRILLIANT, it consisted of cocktail making, chilli shots, singing Oasis in the street and karaoke! Then to finish off my pre-wedding celebrations I had a meal with my family and bridesmaids.

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Who helped out with all the planning for the big day?
I had a very set idea of how I wanted our wedding day to look (bridezilla alert) but everyone helped me pull this together. When Ian was on his stag do, I had a craft day with the girls to get all the little DIY bits together.
My aunty and uncle were also amazing, they made all of our garden games and even got there early on the morning of our wedding to set up!
I wanted to do everything myself for the day, we even did our own flowers! My mum dad, family and friends all came with us on the day before the wedding to decorate the venue (when it was worryingly pouring down with rain)

Tell us about your dress
I’m not really one for dresses, so I knew a princess dress wouldn’t be for me! I wanted something vintage looking but simple. I saw my dress and knew it was the one; It was covered in sequins with little flowers. It had a very relaxed look which I knew would go perfectly with the style of our day. It was by Eliza Jane Howell and called ‘Eliza’

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How did you decide on hair and make-up?
I just wanted a better version of my normal makeup. I wanted to look like me in my wedding photos, but just with better skin (ha) so this is exactly what I asked for from Helen my makeup artist. My lovely friend Roshni came round to do my hair! I wore a flower crown (which me and the girls were up early making on the morning of the wedding) so just wanted to waves in my hair.

Did you have something old, something new, something borrowed something blue?
I did, for my something old and borrowed I had an award that my Grandad had as a bus driver. I attached this to my bouquet – It was so nice having something of my Grandads with me on my wedding day. For my something blue my mum and dad bought me some blue Pandora earrings and for my something new, I had a beautiful necklace from Ian which was given to me on the morning, with a little letter!

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Tell us about your bridesmaids – how long have you known them & where did you meet?
I had six bridesmaids! My twin sister Samantha was my maid of honour (I call her Mamf) Mamf was always going to be my maid of honour! Ian is also a twin, his sister Zoe was also one of my bridesmaids and this meant so much to both me and Ian.
Jessica and Chantelle are my friends from University and I had to have them as part of my big day! Lottie and Madi are two of my best friends – I have known them both for about 9 years they mean the world to me.

Did you decide upon the bridesmaid’s dresses by yourself or was it a group decision with all the bridesmaids?
All of my bridesmaids are SO different, so I had no idea where to even begin looking for dresses. I found the dresses online and they were all very quick to say YES!

How did the bridesmaids wear their dresses?
Even though I thought the dresses would be perfect for them to wrap in ways that would suit their styles, on the morning of the wedding they all decided to wrap them the same way. They tied the dress in a knot on the front – they looked beautiful.

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Do you think your bridesmaids will wear their dresses again?
Yes! The dresses all fitted them so perfectly that I think they will be able to wear them again wrapped in different styles.

Did your husband-to-be know what you and the bridesmaids would be wearing?
Ian had no idea what I was wearing, I am rubbish at keeping secrets but I managed not to tell him until he saw me on the day! He did know what the bridesmaids were wearing and even helped me pick the colours.

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What was it like getting ready on the morning of your wedding day? How did you feel?
I was expecting to be really stressed, we were up at 5am making our own flower crowns, but it was so relaxed! We had champagne, our faces were being made pretty, we did each other’s hair and some of my other closest friends came round! I loved it.

Were all of your bridesmaids with you when you were getting ready?
Mamf, Charlotte and Jess all stayed with me at home the night before so they were there with me when I woke up, the other girls joined us about an hour later

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Did you give your bridesmaids a gift?
On the morning of the wedding, I gave each of the bridesmaid’s infinity earrings with a little letter thanking them for being with me on the day.

What flowers did you have?
My bouquet was gypsophila with pink peonies, I loved it! The bridesmaids all had a simple bouquet of gypsophila which matched the groomsmen’s button holes.

Did you throw your bouquet?
I completely forgot to – I wish I had of though the day just flew by so quickly! Bonus though – I got to keep the bouquet for myself!

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Where did you get married?
We got married at the Royal Arms, a little rustic country pub in Sutton Cheney.

Did you have music to walk up the aisle?
I walked up the aisle to Songbird by Oasis, and I walked out to Sally Cinnamon by The Stone Roses.

How did you decide on the style and look of your wedding?
I love anything vintage, so there was no other style for us! I wanted the venue to be covered in personal touches and vintage decorations while having a summer fete theme in the field outside. It all came together really well.

Where did you get all your decorations?
I bought our decorations from everywhere and anywhere, anywhere I spotted something I would buy it! Car boot, eBay, vintage shops, charity shops! I absolutely loved collecting everything and seeing it all come together.
I wanted to have the whole marquee and outside heavily decorated, so it was full of wooden apple crates, flowers, wooden step ladders and old suitcases!

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Did you have any additional entertainment or activities during the day?
During the day, we didn’t want our guests to be standing around waiting for the evening entertainment so we had garden games! We couldn’t find anywhere to hire these games so instead we made them for ourselves. It was the best decision; all of our guests loved it!
We had everything from space hoppers to archery. They made for the best photographs and it got everyone involved and chatting and having fun together.

We loved it so much we have even set up a company called Daisy Chain Wedding Hire hiring these garden games and our other decorations out to other couples in the Midlands!

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What was your first dance?
Our first dance was Baby I’m Yours by Arctic Monkeys played by a brilliant Indie band called Cool Hand Luke.

What was the best part of your day?
My absolute favourite part of the day (other than getting married of course) were the garden games, I loved playing games with everyone and seeing them all smiling and laughing!

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What is your favourite photo from the day?
I have two favourite photos of the day, first is me and Ian during our first dance! My other one is with my bridesmaids and we all can’t stop laughing at having our pictures taken. We all absolutely love this photo.

What advice would you give to brides to be?
Just enjoy it!! Don’t let the little things bother you, when you wake up on the morning of the wedding just go with whatever happens because by the time you go to bed you will be married so just enjoy the rest of the day.

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If you love Sally and Ian’s wedding the great news is you can hire it all! The fun garden games, the beautiful decorations as well as all the vintage props. You can even order wedding favours, name cards and flower crowns too! www.daisychainweddinghire.co.uk

Sally’s stunning dress was by Eliza Jane Howell – www.elizajanehowell.com

Sally and Ian got married at The Royal Arms, Sutton Cheney – www.royalarms.co.uk

All these wonderful photographs were taken by Vicky at Ambrose Photography – www.amrosephotography.co.uk

Sally’s make up was flawlessly applied by makeup artist Helen – www.helenbrady.co.uk

The bridesmaids looked beautiful in our long Willow dresses in Dusky Pink & Dove Grey Long Willow Dress

The personalised cake topper was from Etsy – www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ReadyGo

The brilliant Indie band that played the first dance was Cool Hand Luke – www.functioncentral.co.uk/acts/cool_hand_luke

Sally and her bridesmaid’s flowers were hand tied by Evergreens – www.evergreens-florist.co.uk

And finally Ian and his groomsmen all looked extremely dapper in their suits from Next – www.next.co.uk