Summer Wedding at The Ashes Barns

Summer Wedding

at The Ashes Barns

Faye & Jon's Summer Wedding

We’re loving Faye and Jon’s lush Summer Wedding at The Ashes Barns. They had a fun, relaxed barn wedding and made the venue their own with homemade creative touches.


Paris Proposal


The plan was to go to London for my birthday, however when we arrived at London St Pancreas, Jon told me we were actually going to Paris. It was such an amazing surprise, once it had sunk in, my first questions to Jon were – had he remembered the passports and had he got any Euros!

After an amazing dinner in a small French restaurant and lots of wine Jon persuaded me to go up the Eiffel Tower. As we reached the top platform the light show began and Jon proposed, I was so overwhelmed I just couldn’t stop smiling/laughing. The next day we went and put a love lock on the bridge by Notre Dame and I couldn’t wait to tell everyone our news.


Our Perfect Wedding Venue


We knew from the start that we wanted a relaxed summer wedding, a big party with our loved ones. We viewed The Ashes Barns on a wintery morning in February and fell in love with it!

It had both indoor and outdoor space which was important to us, the venue felt very secluded so it felt like we were in our own world. We had the perfect summer wedding at The Ashes Barns, the sun was shining, all the windows and doors in The West Barn were opened and it just felt like one large space full of family and friends.




Our Day, Our Way


We loved our ‘Find Your Face to Find Your Place’ table plan. We got an old picture of every guest and had them printed as mini polaroids, then wrote their table number on the bottom. We put them all on a trellis panel in a random order so everyone had to have a good look at all the pictures to find out where they were sitting.

Unfortunately, my Dad passed away a few years ago, it was really important to us that we have him there with us in his own way. My brother gave me away, and during his speech we all had a shot of rum, as that was my Dad’s favourite drink. It was great to be able to raise the toast, although it wasn’t to everyone’s taste, there was a lot of funny faces pulled!


Getting Creative!


I love crafts so I wanted everything! I started gradually doing bits and buying things about 1 year before and it soon accumulated. We got lots of ideas from Pinterest, one of our favourites was an old window which we brought back to life with a bright blue paint job and a message written on the glass for the guests ‘pick a seat not a side, you’re loved by both the groom and bride’ which we placed outside the ceremony room.

We hung lots of photos of us with friends and family across the bar on string with pegs, it looked great and we loved going through all the snaps on the run up to the wedding with glass of fizz one Saturday night.




Floral Artistry


Our florist, Nadia was just wonderful. We wanted to feature thistles as Jon’s family are Scottish but everything else we left to Nadia and didn’t disappoint! From my amazing bouquet, to the bridesmaids/flower girl’s posies and the gent’s button holes. My favourite arrangement was the one she designed for the ceremony table which we had moved to the top table. It was just perfect and I feel it really made The East Barn look extra special for our ceremony.

I painted some tins which I tied string around and Jon’s Mum and Dad filled them with lavender from their garden. We then tied them to the ends of the seats down the aisle for the ceremony.


Florist – Nadia Di Tullio

Trust Your Instincts


I found my wedding dress in Brides and Gowns in Derby which was the first shop my mum and I visited. I went for a Sottero and Midgley dress that the shop assistant picked for me. It wasn’t what I would have chosen, which made me love it all the more, it just felt different to what I’d normally chose.

I remember Fiona (the shop assistant) asking how I felt and I just said ‘special’. I didn’t want to over think it, so I ended up picking my wedding dress in under 2 hours. We think it may be the most decisive I’ve ever been on a shopping trip! It was a really special moment shared with my mum which I will always treasure.




Bridesmaid Dresses


I had 4 gorgeous bridesmaids who were amazing when choosing their dresses, I think they would have all happily worn bin bags if I’d asked them! We also found their dresses in Brides and Gowns. We went for a pale pink colour and they all wore the straps differently to add their own touch and all looked stunning.

Our flowers girls picked their own dressed from BHS, they had such a great range. They both looked gorgeous in the ivory floaty dresses which had a little sparkle too.


Looking Good!


Jon and the Usher’s navy suits were hired from Moss Bros in Derby. We went for a floral tie with blues, pinks, white, green and yellow which we picked in Primark, definitely our star buy for the wedding!

The ushers wore blue braces with tanned leather buckles which we found online, with tanned brown shoes.
Jon wore a grey Ted Baker waistcoat with a pocket watch which I sent him as a wedding gift on our wedding morning and pink handkerchief.
We had two handsome page boys who wore navy shorts and braces with a bow tie which my cousin made out of the same ties we had purchased for the ushers. They looked adorable!




A Wedding Breakfast to Remember


We loved everything about the food on our wedding day.
Our first experience with Jenkinsons was at our Wedding Experience Event and the food was delicious. We both love our food so it was extremely difficult to decide on a menu as Jenkinsons cater to almost anything you’d ask for.

We went for brie parcels with cranberry sauce to start as we are big cheese lovers. Then we had lamb shank for main with dauphinoise potatoes, honey roasted carrots and sugarsnap peas. Dessert had to be something special, we went for the trio of deserts as we found it impossible to pick one! Toffee apple crème brulee, salted caramel tart and a white chocolate and honeycomb cheesecake.


Making Memories


Simon and Anna (We Are The Clarkes) were our videographers. My mum and dad had their wedding day filmed over 26 years ago and I love watching it, so to me it was a no-brainer to have a videographer, Jon took a little persuading but we’re both so glad we went for it. We can honestly say we could not recommend having a video more, we still can’t stop watching ours and seeing all the laughs and smiles on our guests’ faces is a real treat.

Videographer – We Are The Clarkes



Shout Outs


Steve (Bridgwood Photography) and his second photographer were great. We got relaxed, natural photos of us enjoying ourselves, which is just what we wanted.

Wedding Photographer – Steve Bridgwood
Ice Cream – Polly’s Parlour
DJ – Strictly Weddings
Bridal Wear – Brides and Gowns Derby


The Last Word


I remember a close friend telling me after her wedding that it is the best feeling having everyone you love in one space together for just one day and on our wedding day it completely made sense. It really was the best feeling in the world.

Try not to get too bogged down with the planning. It sounds cheesy but on the actual day all we cared about were the people that were there with us watching us take our vows and then partying with us after, drinking and dancing the night away.

"We loved hosting Faye and Jon’s Summer Wedding at The Ashes Barns, it was awesome! Wishing you both every happiness." The Ashes Events Managers xx