WPC Real Wedding: Victoria and Josh's Wiltshire Farm Wedding

On holiday in Portugal we visited a deserted island for what should have been a gorgeous walk and lunch. However, the rain and wind was torrential which put a spanner in Josh’s plans! We abandoned the walk and went straight for lunch. After a long lunch, it looked like the weather was improving and we decided to venture out to the lighthouse before our boat was due to take us back to the mainland. But before we’d even got to the door of the restaurant, the boat driver hurried to ask us if we wanted to go back early as they were ready to go. I immediately said yes, however, Josh intervened and said we would be back in half an hour. I just remember looking at him stunned and reassuring the skipper that we would be maximum 10 minutes. Safe to say we did take the full 30 minutes to revel in the moment and enjoy the crashing waves. I have to say, we are looking forward to returning to the island sometime in the near future in hopefully different weather conditions.

We loved the whole experience, from start to finish! It was lovely to be able to come in to the showroom and choose our presents in person. I loved the fact that we always saw the same person as well. It allowed us to build a relationship with them and Emily was outstanding in her job. She was so great at suggesting ideas, not judging when we disagreed and nothing was ever too much of a problem. We opted for a flexible list, and we loved how easy it was to chop and change the list around after the wedding. 

The farm where we live, in the beautiful Chalke Valley, in Wiltshire.

DP Marquees did our wonderful traditional pole marquee. We couldn't reccommend their service enough.

We chose all the decor ourselves. We hoped that all the little touches would reflect our personality as a couple. We wanted decor that was sympathetic to the surroundings and felt very relaxed. 

Josh's grandmother did all the flowers in the marquee and the church, which looked stunning. We wanted a relaxed natural look with pops of pink, greens and whites.

Puggs Meadow Flowers based in North Dorset created our amazing bouquets and buttonholes. They produce the most beautiful hand-picked home-grown english flowers. 

I had the most incredible experience buying my wedding dress from Gillian Million. She speciailises in second hand dresses, or ex-sample sale dresses or dresses that didn’t get the go ahead to be made. You get some beautiful one-off pieces. When we arrived for our first visit, she said that it would be like visiting five shops in one go and my goodness was she right!! I know I got my dress at a drastically reduced price because the designer didn’t get the repeat on the pattern. I bought my heels from Russell & Bromley.

My four bridesmaids wore turquoise halter dresses with a silk bodice and a lace mid-length skirt that I found on NEXT. 

I got myself and my bridesmaids some amazing Short Safari Pyjamas in Rhino Grey from C.St. Quinton. They're a really great company that have a mission to protect endangered wildlife. They are currently protesting in our pyjamas against rhino poaching.

Heather Alexander did my make up. I was so happy with it and how it stayed on all day! Heather is a beauty therapist and makeup artist based in Wincanton. She travels to Dorset, Wiltshire and Devon to do brides and all their bridal party's make up.

Zara Perry did our fab hair. We all had gypsophila which is a great flower to use in your hair as it keeps it's shape throughout the day.

Josh and his ushers all wore traditional morning suits. Josh's suit was from Roderick Charles.

We drove to Calais to pick up our wedding wine and champagne. It was a really fun weekend away! We visited the battlefields and stayed in a lovely Airbnb. It is a great excuse for a weekend away, we would highly recommend to other couples.

Rebecca Green Catering did the most amazing food for the wedding. For our main we had chinese style pork belly which was incredible. We can't recommend her enough.

Andrew Billington was our phenomenal photographer. We were blown away by how he captured every moment of the day so perfectly, effortlessly navigating all sorts of weather and light conditions!

In the church we had the incredible singer Camilla Foster Mitchell who performed operatic style singing. She was wonderful. Our party band were BB3. Their music was epic and kept everyone on the dancefloor. 

We wanted to have children at the wedding, so to keep them occupied, having fun and leaving their parents free to enjoy our day, we hired Freckles Childcare. Their Wedding Nannies came fully equipped with toys, games and so much energy, and kept the children entertained all day. If you’re planning on having children (your own or guests) at your wedding then we would highly recommend using Freckles, they were professional, so accommodating and brilliant with the children. The nannies kept the children entertained once we arrived at the marquee and then took them home to bed, leaving the parents to enjoy the evening in full. Also selfishly, it was so important to us that we got to enjoy being with our friends and that they weren’t worrying about what their children were doing. Freckles couldn’t have done a better job.

Do a welcome line! This was the best advice we received. Why? Because we were then able to make sure we had said hello to everyone and could go on to enjoy the night talking to who we wanted and actually being able to have a few real conversations. We’ve all had those events before where we’ve felt like we’ve been saying hello to people and just after the last person arrives, the first person starts leaving so you’re then saying goodbye to everyone!! Doing the welcome line just allowed us to relax and totally be present in the day.

Get ready with plenty of time – I didn’t do this and all I would say is you need more time than you think once you’ve put your dress on!!

Steal moments for yourselves, or even if just by yourself and you have a moment to stop and take it all in. Do this as regularly as possible. It helps slow down the day!

I’m a WPC stockist so have had an insight to the showroom and personal before. I couldn’t wait to be on the other side of it, doing the shopping and drinking the Nyetimber!

Victoria's company is Glebe House Designs where she creates feather art sourced on the family farm. Choose from a selection of beautiful sillhouettes or create a bespoke design with her. 

Wedding List: The Wedding Present Company

Marquee: DP Marquees

Marquee Flowers: Groom's Grandmother 

Bouquets and Buttonholes: Puggs Meadow Flowers

Bridal Fashion: Gillian Million & Russell & Bromley

Hair: Zara Perry

Make Up: Heather Alexander

Childen's Entertainment: Freckles Childcare

Catering: Rebecca Green Catering

Music: Camilla Foster Mitchell & BB3

Photography: Andrew Billington