A colourful & gorgeous barn wedding in Northamptonshire
Dodmoor House, Northamptonshire
I am thrilled to present to you Jade & James’s wedding story. This beautiful summer wedding was a feast of colour and retro vibes with sentimental and carefully thought-out details.
Jade, who is also a wedding photographer, did not hesitate in assisting me to help to tell their story, and my goodness, it’s an exciting read! I can’t thank you enough for sharing, Jade! Not only that, the planners at Dodmoor House were also more than happy to elaborate on their memories of such a brilliant day which can be read later on in this article (stay tuned). Thank you to all at Dodmoor House!
So, grab a cuppa, get comfy, and strap in for a tidal wave of warm and giddy feelings and a tonne of wedding inspiration! You will not be disappointed!
A huge thanks to Jade & James for having me along!
The Proposal
“James and I are keen live music fans and in 2019, we were fortunate enough to go to Glastonbury for the second time together (anyone who has ever tried for tickets knows how stressful it is)! The festival site is situated in the middle of what I can only describe as a small valley. When we were there, James asked me to go for a walk up the ‘big hill’ to have a drink and look out over the view. So, with my sister in tow, we make the climb up the big hill that has the Glastonbury sign at the top. We get to the top and James looks around frustratedly and then proclaims that this isn’t the spot and that we should follow him. Now, given he’s the chilled-out one in our relationship, I thought it bizarre, but my sister and I follow him anyway. He drags us down the hill and then marches us up another. To say it was a warm day was an understatement! It was roasting, even early in the morning! So, by the time we climb up this second very large hill, I am really warm and tired out. I plonk myself down and open up a tin of cider, only for James to suddenly be pulling me up saying that he wants a photo of the two of us – weird! He hates photos, but nevertheless, I pose as my sister composes the shot. I turn around to find my daft boyfriend down on one knee and holding out this wooden keepsake ring that reads ‘Jade, will you marry me?’ After some profanities and crying, I finally said yes! What a magical way to do it and in our favourite place!”
The Vision
“When we got engaged we didn’t have a crystal clear idea of what we wanted. What we did know is that we wanted it to feel warm, for everyone to have a great time, and for the music to be good! We both have a love for vintage fashion and James, in particular, loves anything from the 60s, so this really ended up being a small theme along with having as many personal references to our character as we could manage.”
The Venue
“The venue for our reception, Dodmoor House, was found whilst asking around. So many people had suggested it to us with a few stating they would have gone there if they had had the date available.
As soon as we walked in, we knew we loved it! It’s a beautiful barn conversion with the main barn having tall white walls and with a mezzanine floor that you can look out over. The space provided everything we wanted – a cosy atmosphere, a lovely courtyard area for the drinks reception, and a large amount of space without feeling cavernous. But one thing that has stood out the most about the venue was its staff – love them! They couldn’t do enough and every idea we brought to them was embraced! They always seemed as enthusiastic about our day as we were.”
The Ceremony
“The ceremony is the area of the wedding we wanted to make the most personal to us. We choose St Andrews church in Great Linford, Milton Keynes, which James had attended as a child, and I have gone to midnight mass there ever since my dad was buried in the churchyard. It’s close to our hearts and is a short walk from the pub we met in, The Nags Head.
The service itself was being performed by a minister we knew and trusted. We chose hymns and readings that reflected how we felt along with our personalities (including Bread of Heaven for the Welsh side of my family). We decided to get our friends involved by doing readings and to be our witnesses. We really wanted to make everyone feel involved instead of it just being the ‘formal legal bit of the day’. “
Readings & Music
“Music was a big deal for us. We spent a lot of time pouring over what song to have here and there. I walked up the aisle to ‘Time is on our side’ written by the Rolling Stones, a band we love, and performed by a soul artist called Irma Thomas. Because of Covid, we had a few postponements and wondered whether we should just have a small wedding but we kept coming back to the idea that we weren’t in a rush and we have time, so this song was so relevant to us.
We walked out to ‘All you need is Love’ by the Beatles, ’cause as cheesy as it sounds, we couldn’t think of anything more appropriate, and we liked the fact that James’s band currently closed their set with it.
Other ceremony music we chose were some of our favourite love songs and for our daytime playlist, we either chose love songs we adore, or our favourite songs that weren’t romantic but put a smile on our faces.”
Outfits & Accessories
“The dress is from Charlotte Bridal and bought from Tessa Francis Bridal Studio. I was torn between two dresses until I saw my mum’s face in the shop. I’m obsessed with it! And paired with my gold sparkly peep-toe shoes, I didn’t want to take them off. It was the right combination of comfort and detail. The back is particularly amazing. And my favourite bit is everyone told me that it was such a ‘Jade Dress’. I think that’s rather special.
With a dress like this, I didn’t need much on top. I found a veil on Etsy, the lace matched the dress and my earrings were my ‘something borrowed’ from my nan. Finally, I got to buy the shoes I’d had on my wish list for a long time- perfect excuse! “
The Styling, Decor, Flowers & Cake
“The general idea for our décor was to make the beautiful space at Dodmoor House more personal. We did this using my own vintage suitcase as the card box, putting up a lot of photos, having a polaroid guest book, a Glastonbury-themed seating plan & table names, and for the name cards, we showed our love for Alice in Wonderland with hand tea stained and stamped name cards. It just made the space feel unique and our own.
For the flowers, it became clear that as relaxed as James is, pastel colours were out of the question! So instead, we had to have big bright colourful blooms! And in many ways, I’m glad. Muted colours might work for some, but we love colour and I think it really brought joy to the day.
The cake! In many ways, the part we were most excited for! The wedding was a great excuse to fulfil a bit of a dream – to have a recreation of the cake that appears on the front of the album cover of ‘Let it Bleed’ by the Rolling Stones! I searched for months to find a cake maker we really trusted and finally found Amelia Rose Cake studio who spent a lot of time going through the design with us and finding a way to confidently recreate our mad idea! Well if you can’t justify it on your wedding day, when can you?”
The Party
“We had a DJ in the evening, but to us not just any DJ, instead of hiring a wedding DJ, we asked a good friend and previous deck spinner at Bar central (a club night in MK from the early 2000s), to come and use his ability to read a room and provide us with a good mix of 60s, Britpop and Indie. We didn’t want to have a set where we hated 1 in every 5 songs, and we knew what he’d play would get the vast majority up dancing, ’cause that’s what our friends love anyway!”
Advice for other couples
“It’s so important to remember that it’s your day and that you are not going to please everyone, and that’s absolutely OK. Just give yourselves the day you want, be honest with your loved ones, and remember that the best bit is is that at the end of it all, you’re going to be married to your favourite person!”
Sophie from Dodmoor House
“My colleague and I hosted the planning meeting for Jade and James, and we both enjoyed these couple of hours SO much! They were so laid back and lovely. Such a cool couple, with such cool ideas! I remember them telling us everyone would go for a drink at the pub across the road from the church before jumping on the double decker bus, and we thought – we want to be guests at this wedding!
Jade and James had a lovely, relaxed day and I specifically remember the bus arriving to Dodmoor and there was such a buzz as everyone got off and entered the venue for drinks! Their Rolling Stones wedding cake is also a key memory of their day!”
Kind words from the couple
“Oh Claire! Having you on our wedding day was an absolute dream! Your presence in the morning was so friendly and comforting, you put everyone at ease! Then during the ceremony, the speeches and drinks reception we could hardly tell you were there. Everyone the day after commented on how hard you were working and how you never seemed to stop!
The photos themselves are utterly gorgeous, I’ve never felt so beautiful! They are timeless photos but they really feel like you caught the essence of our day and all the vibrance and fun that was had! Looking through the photos we both shed a tear… They just made us want to relive it all over again.
Thank you so much for capturing the day and leaving us with photos that we will never tire of looking at!
Love, Jade and James”
If you are having your wedding at Dodmoor House or in the Northamptonshire/Buckinghamshire area, I would be delighted to be your wedding photographer. Please get in touch with me for a chat about your day.
Claire x
Vendors
Church
ST ANDREWS CHURCH, GREAT LINFORD
Pre-reception Drinks
Reception Venue
Makeup
Hair
Cake
Flowers
Dress
CHARLOTTE BRIDAL BOUGHT FROM TESSA FRANCIS BRIDAL STUDIO
Bride’s shoes
Suit
Hair Pieces
Transport
Wedding Stationery
Caterers
DJ
BAR CENTRAL DJ MARK
Venue information
Dodmoor House is a stunning, exclusive use, award-winning barn wedding venue with a commitment to friendly, personal service, and making the day entirely ‘Yours’.
Dodmoor House Address: Dodmoor House, Weedon Lane, Northampton NN7 4TA
Dodmoor House Phone Number: 01327 341736
Take a virtual tour of Dodmoor House: Tour link
Capacity: Up to 96 guests the wedding breakfast, and up to 180 for the evening.
Parking: Ample parking onsite
Local hotels: Hotels link
Dodmoor House Open Days: Link
Dodmoor House Reviews: Link
Local Registrar: West Northamptonshire Council
