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Harry + Laura | Iford Hall Wedding

Harry and Laura had a rustic village hall wedding at Iford Hall in Lewes with lots of DIY decor, hay bale seating, a marquee reception, and a celebrant led ceremony. They chose Iford Hall as their wedding venue, it was the perfect space for their summer wedding as they had their ceremony outside, their wedding breakfast in a marquee and their evening reception inside the hall.


bride and groom standing in wheat field, rustic wedding, wedding photographer sussex

Some of the brilliant DIY decorations they made include little wooden signs with the dates they met, when they got engaged and their wedding day, a wooden pallet for the order of the day which they hand painted, the seating plan, polaroid guest book, table names, and the best one; hundreds of origami paper cranes made by the bride which they used as their ceremony backdrop as well as having them on the tables and hanging from trees. They had a Japan theme to their wedding as that's where they got engaged so they had the origami cranes, a map of Japan as the seating plan, and cities of Japan as the table names.


DIY wedding decor, wooden wedding sign, village hall wedding sussex
DIY wedding decor, hand painted order of the day sign made from a wooden pallet, sussex wedding
DIY origami cranes for wedding decor
green tweed suit, lilac tie and lilac flower buttonhole, groom style inspiration for rustic wedding
groom and groomsmen before the wedding ceremony at iford hall in sussex, dressed in tweed suits and lilac ties
butter cup bus vintage VW camper van wedding car at iford hall, wedding car sussex
butter cup bus vintage beetle wedding car at iford hall, wedding car sussex

The groomsmen got ready at the venue, they had muted green tweed suits with a lilac tie which matched beautifully with their buttonholes from Kate Langdale Florist. As the guests arrived they got ready for the outdoor ceremony, there were two rows of hay bales and two rows of wooden chairs for the guests to sit on, I loved the relaxed vibe of this wedding. The bridal party arrived in two vintage cars from Butter Cup Bus, a green VW camper van and a cream beetle, both with flower garlands attached to the bumpers. The bride looked stunning in her wedding dress from Monsoon, it was modern and simple with floral details. She paired it with a floral crown and a lilac bouquet which created the perfect boho look for an outdoor wedding.


They had a celebrant led ceremony which was amazing, I wish more couples would do this as it's so much more personal. They chose Claire from Creating Ceremony as their celebrant, she was brilliant and told the story of their relationship so well. Their niece's and the mother of the bride both done a lovely reading each and then they had lots of people come up with ribbons for the hand fasting ceremony. I think it's so nice to have your closest family and friends involved in the ceremony, it makes it that bit more special. After the hand fasting they exchanged rings, made their vows and sealed it with a kiss. Everyone made a long line ready for confetti, they had a massive bag from Proper Confetti (the best confetti in my opinion) that was handed out to everyone. The confetti looked amazing, there was so much of it that you can't even see the couple in some of the photos!


outdoor wedding ceremony held at iford hall in sussex, celebrant ceremony sussex
bride being walked down the aisle by her mum and dad at outdoor rustic wedding iford hall sussex
creating ceremony celebrant leading outdoor wedding ceremony at iford hall in lewes
two little girls doing a reading at outdoor wedding ceremony, iford hall wedding
outdoor celebrant led ceremony at iford hall in lewes, wedding celebrants in sussex
bride and groom holding hands during ceremony at iford hall, outdoor wedding ceremony in sussex
hand fasting ceremony at outdoor wedding in sussex, iford hall lewes, wedding photographer sussex
bride and groom tying the knot hand fasting ceremony at iford hall outdoor wedding sussex
rustic outdoor wedding at village hall in sussex, origami crane backdrop for Japan themed wedding, celebrants in sussex
bride and grooms first kiss at outdoor celebrant ceremony at iford hall with diy ceremony backdrop made from origami paper cranes
confetti thrown at the bride and groom at village hall wedding in sussex
confetti thrown at the bride and groom at village hall wedding in sussex
confetti shot at iford hall wedding, relaxed outdoor wedding in sussex

They had pimms served as welcome drinks during the drinks reception by Orange Beach Bars who set up a cool wooden outdoor bar. The wedding guests chilled whilst I took the couple off for some portraits, the guys at Butter Cup Bus drove us down the road in the beetle to an open field where we took a few shots and headed back. I love how the photos turned out, the warm yellow field looked great with their outfits. When we got back we took the group shots in the small garden at the back of the hall, we took the standard family photos and then they wanted to add in some funny ones including the groomsmen lifting up the bride and them pretending the play cricket.


bride and groom with vintage beetle car by iford hall in lewes, rustic wedding sussex, boho wedding
bride and groom in the fields by iford hall in lewes, rustic wedding sussex, boho wedding
bride and groom walking through the fields by iford hall in lewes, rustic wedding sussex, boho wedding
brides bouquet in wheat field by iford hall in lewes sussex
groomsmen lifting up the bride, funny wedding photo, iford hall wedding
bride playing cricket, funny wedding photo, iford hall wedding

During the drinks reception the team at Centre Catering were preparing the wedding breakfast buffet. Iford Hall has a large kitchen area which is handy if you need to bring in caterers. They put the buffet out inside the marquee ready for the guests. Everyone sat down ready for food and went up one table at a time to the buffet. I think buffets are a great idea for relaxed weddings as there's lots of choice for everyone and they can choose their own portions so less should get wasted. After food they moved onto speeches, the bride and groom done a joint speech to start, then the father of the bride, then two of the groomsmen. The groomsmen definitely nailed their job of embarrassing the groom, one of them showed a photo of him in a miniskirt and one shared an embarrassing story which had everyone in hysterics. Then the dessert buffet was served, they had brownies, salted caramel cheesecake and Eton mess.


marquee at iford hall for summer wedding, marquee wedding sussex
DIY seating plan at Sussex wedding, Japan themed wedding decor
diy wedding decor, handmade table names, purple and green wedding decor, iford hall
bride and groom giving a joint speech at their wedding at ford hall lewes
wedding guests laughing at speeches, iford hall wedding, documentary photographer sussex
father of the bride giving his wedding speech at iford hall in lewes
bride and groom laughing during speeches at iford hall wedding, marquee wedding sussex
bride hugging her dad after wedding speeches at iford hall, lewes wedding
best man giving speech at iford hall wedding, marquee wedding sussex
bride and groom laughing during speeches at iford hall wedding, marquee wedding sussex
groom hugging best man after wedding speeches, iford hall lewes

After the evening guests had arrived everyone gathered inside the hall for the cake cut and first dance. They had two giant Collin the caterpillar cakes as their wedding cake which they chopped the heads off of, then they made their way to the middle of the dance floor for the first dance. They danced to Adore You by Miley Cyrus and then asked everyone to join in with them. The dance floor was packed which is always nice to see, people were taking polaroids and putting them in the guest book, drinks were being served at the outdoor bar, it was just a really nice vibe. The sun just started to come through the clouds so I took the couple outside quickly for a few more portraits, we brought a bottle of champagne with us to spray which made some funny photos. It was one of my favourite weddings, thank you Harry and Laura for letting me be a part of it!


bride and groom cutting the cake at iford hall wedding, wedding photographer West Sussex
bride and groom first dance at iford hall wedding in lewes

bride and groom spraying champagne at iford hall wedding in lewes, wedding photographer sussex
bride and groom showing off their wedding rings at iford hall wedding

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