Buddileigh Farm is one of my favourite Cheshire farm wedding venues. It has a relaxed, family feel to it and every wedding that i’ve photographed there has been the best party. Stu and Rhyanne’s wedding was no different. They used their love of Mexican culture and colour to bring the day to life. The decor for the reception was beautifully vibrant and I couldn’t help but smile. Here is Rhyanne to tell you all about the suppliers they chose for their Mexican fiesta.
Venue – Buddileigh Farm, Betley.
We chose this venue because of the all-in-one nature but also because there was plenty of space there. We loved the outdoors, so were hoping for a nice day so we could make the most of it (which we had!). It also had donkeys, which was a winner for us. Carol the owner was incredibly helpful and really helped with extra decorations, thoughtful touches, recommendations for other suppliers and just made our day run smoothly. This venue also comes with the huge benefit of the holiday cottage to stay in the night before and night of the wedding, so great for bridal prep and not having to travel far at the end of the night!! We knew that we wanted to find a farm wedding venue in Cheshire because it’s close to family and Buddileigh Farm ticked all of our boxes.
Caterers – Ridgway Caterers
We had researched these guys online before choosing, looking for caterers who could work easily in a marquee and we had heard good things about them. Went for a tasting session and it was just amazing – sticky toffee cheesecake of dreams!!
Evening catering – Pinky’s Hog Roast, BBQ and Grill – Amazing food and service, plenty of food and some great Veggie options too!
Outfits – Bridemaids dresses from Oasis – chosen as they were at a good, affordable price and suited all of my bridesmaids. Groomsmen and Grooms suits were from L and J formal Hire Ltd (Cheshire) – mostly chosen for the beautiful tweed waist cost that Stuart wanted as soon as he tried it on! But also, customer service was great and we had a really relaxed appointment there when Stuart went to try things on.
Bridal gown – J&J Bridals, Newcastle-under-lyme – I found my gown at the NEC national wedding show and it just so happened to be from a local dress shop too, it was clearly fate! I am still in love with it, it was exactly what I wanted.
Flowers – Flora Buttons
Flowers were done by an amazing family friend, she doesn’t really cater for weddings commercially but the flowers were incredibly professional, creative and colourful! She even managed to add touches of our mexican theme with succulents in my bouquet and the buttonholes.
Rings – Biagio Jewellers – Bicester
A jewellers close in the town were we live, they had a great selection, very friendly and helpful staff.
Cake – My amazing Mum – she is extremely talented!!
Decor
Again, all of the decoration (planning and making) was mostly down to my Mum. We did help out occasionally but she really made it look as stunning as it did.
Evening entertainment
The Th3rd Coming – a local band, Stu and I saw them when we were at a Gin festival in Alsager the year before the wedding. We weren’t going to have a band at the time but when we heard them and saw how they got the crowd going, we knew we would love them to be there on the day. They played a great set and got everyone dancing – they even did a cover of a Jungle Book song, which we loved!
Keith Kemp – our amazing DJ who provided us with lights, mics etc to use throughout the day and did a great job of keeping the party going in the evening!
Hair – MJ’s Hair, Bradeley, Stoke-on-trent
Mary did such a stunning job on my hair and all of my bridal party. She was very reasonably priced, gave me a few trial runs before the big day and on the day she was on-time, enthusiastic and did a professional job. She did 6 hairstyles in plenty of time and we were all ready with time to spare!
Make-up
My wonderfully talented cousin, Kim Steele
Photographer – Laura Rhian Photography
We chose Laura because we wanted the photos too reflect our relaxed day, not too many posed ones and really capturing the emotions of the day. After speaking to her via skype and seeing her portfolio, we had no doubt she would do an amazing job. Both Stu and I were worried about being awkward in front of a camera and both in our pre-wedding shoot and on the wedding day, she made us feel relaxed, made us laugh and also made it feel like we were just spending time together. We think the photos are incredible and have now covered the house in prints! So many of our guests have complemented the photos, saying how they truly reflected the day and I have also had many comments to say how great Laura was on the day – most of the time, none of us even noticed she was there, making for some stunning candid shots!
— When you were planning, what were the most important things that you wanted for your wedding? —
The most important thing for us when we were planning the day is that we wanted it to be relaxed, fun and memorable. I wanted guests to have freedom to enjoy the day as much as possible because although they obviously came there for us, it is so difficult to get around everyone during the day, so I wanted there to be plenty to keep them entertained and happy. The lawn games we provided at our wedding really helped to keep everyone enjoying the day (the weather helped!), lots of different areas for people to branch off and have a chat but whilst still keeping the structure of the typical wedding day, to bring everyone together for those key moments. As well as the guests being relaxed, the more laid-back atmosphere we had meant that Stuart and I were just so free to enjoy the day without any pressure. I also think us having one venue, with plenty of space, really helped to allow everyone space to interact as individual groups but also as a whole wedding party.
— Is there anything that you wished you had done differently? —
I honestly don’t think there is a single thing I would change. To use the day was perfect. The only thing I would say is that there are so many people there that you love and want to spend time with but you are limited on the time you can spend with each group of people. Although I do think we spent a good amount of time with all of our guests, I will always wish that we could of had more – maybe weddings should be a two day event? ?
3. The main advice I would offer is to not sweat the small stuff and don’t worry about things being perfect. There are some things that you but so much time and effort into thinking about and sorting out but when it comes to the day, these are some things that you don’t even notice. You notice the bigger picture on the day, not the finer details. And also, make sure you have an amazing photographer because it really is the most spectacular day and it goes so fast, you will want some stunning photographs afterwards to cover you house in – they make you smile and remember all the different parts of the day whenever you see them.
— Can you offer any advice to couples in the planning process? —
When planning the wedding, as I said before, we just wanted something fun and not too formal. The idea for our Mexican fiesta just sort of arose when we were talking about some ideas (most of which were probably a bit too wild to pull off ? ). One of our favourite films is ‘The Book of Life’ which is about the Mexican day of the dead, so once this popped into our minds, we thought it could make for some really fun decorations and theming – we chose to have a few less skulls and a bit more of the Mexican vibe though! We also really like tequila, so that sealed the deal. Also, having friends and family that were so excited to be involved in the wedding planning process really helped. Stu and I were not too picky about how we wanted the day to be, so we were happy to have plenty of input and my Mum pretty much planned the whole day for us, making suggestions on venues, making pretty much all of the decorations and the amazing wedding cake. Also, having enthusiastic family and friends to help out does really help to keep costs down too!
Most of the suppliers we chose after doing some research online and hearing recommendations from people who have used them in the past.
If you are looking for a wedding photographer who loves shooting for relaxed couples and who might make you laugh so hard that you snort, then I would love to hear from you.
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I also have some helpful wedding planning blog posts for you to have a look through here.