Tithe Barn Wedding in Ditcham England | I’ve planned a lot of weddings, but Gemma’s and David’s ceremony and reception was by far one of my favorites.This couple is one of the kindest, most amazing pairs and it was a dream to work with them.
Gemma and David knew exactly what they wanted for their wedding. What was especially heartfelt and sentimental about their ceremony is that it was held at the same church where Gemma’s father is buried.
Both Gemma’s and David’s top priorities for their wedding were that they wanted to be surrounded by family and friends and “throw the party of a lifetime,” as Gemma says.
They were, indeed, surrounded by loved ones and it was an absolute blast!
Alright, let’s break this wedding down and talk about all of the fun details.
I’m going to turn it over to the bride Gemma, so you can hear her thoughts about every detail firsthand.
Gemma on “The Dress”
“Given how indecisive I am, I have to admit that the prospect of looking for a wedding dress made me very apprehensive. Needless to say, at times it felt like I had tried on every dress in London!”
It quickly became clear that I was best suited to a fuller dress with minimal lace, but finding such a dress after the Royal Wedding (when lace was all the rage) was like finding a needle in a haystack! Luckily for me, my mum was incredibly patient the whole way through and came with me to every appointment I made (of which there were a lot!).
Mom had previously mentioned to me that she had come across a wedding dress shop called Sassi Holford when she was visiting Taunton and at the time thought how she’d love to see me in one. Once she had said this I couldn’t not book an appointment and it was there that I found the dress! The minute I tried on ‘Grace’ I knew this was the dress for me.”
Gemma on “The Bridesmaids”
“What can I say about my bridesmaids, they truly were absolutely brilliant on the day. When thinking about bridesmaids dresses I initially liked the idea of dove grey but after trying on several shades we all decided that a soft pink would suit them better.”
“Maids to Measure where we got the Georgina dress from were brilliant and I’d really recommend that any bride goes there for their bridesmaids dresses! Their styles are really modern and sophisticated and there is just so much choice! My bridesmaids looked stunning on the day and I was so honoured to walk down the aisle with them behind me.”
Gemma on “The Beauty”
“My sister and I love to wear makeup and discuss our tips and makeup ideas and so for me, it was important that I chose the right makeup artist. A work colleague recommended Antonia from Elle au Naturel and the minute I went on her website and saw my friend’s wedding photos I was sold! All I wanted was to look like the best version of myself and Antonia certainly achieved this”
Tithe Barn Wedding in Ditcham England | Gemma on “The Groom”
“Whilst David and I wanted as traditional a wedding at possible, following various attempts at finding a mourning suit, we finally decided that a three piece suit was for him. David wears a suit for work and so really liked the idea of being able to wear his wedding suit time and time again. A friend of mine recommended Oliver Brown in London and from the minute we stepped into the shop we knew we had found the right place! The tailors were exceptional from start to finish and together helped us pick a charcoal grey herringbone suit with a dove-grey waistcoat. His pink tie and pocket square came from T.M.Lewin – quite possibly the only place we could find that stocked the correct colour pink!”
Gemma on “The Church”
“Choosing our venue was quite possibly the easiest decision we made through the whole planning process! I was brought up on the South coast and so I always knew that I wanted to get married in that area. My father is buried in St Thomas a Becket C of E Church in Warblington near Emsworth and so when discussing locations and venues, there was no doubt we would be holding our ceremony in that church.”
Gemma on “The Venue”
“Choosing the location for the reception was equally as easy. I had catered at weddings at the Tithe Barn in Ditcham when I was younger and had always dreamed about having my own wedding there one day. With this in mind, we didn’t even feel the need to visit any other venues! We went to the Tithe Barn to have a look round so David could see the space and were instantly sold.”
Tithe Barn Wedding in Ditcham England | Gemma on “The Decor”
“We wanted to create a romantic and soft feel with lots of candlelight and flowers. To ensure we had as many flowers as possible each person’s place name was a little bottle with a flower in with a handwritten name tag strung around the neck of the bottle.”
“We had also decided to have festoon lighting and lanterns across the whole of the barn. These were rigged up by Matt at Cinemmatag which I understand involved scaffolding given how high the ceilings are at the barn! They were worth all the effort though!”
“The wedding day itself was very rainy and dull. Whilst not what any bride would ask for, this, coupled with the candles and festoon lights made the barn look magical!”
“We had charbonell and walker truffles as our favours in pink boxes to tie in with our pink, grey and white colour scheme.”
“Emily from Date Saved created all our stationery, from the invites to the table plan and table numbers and did a fabulous job!”
“We decided not to use table names but instead chose a famous quote about marriage or love to be written under each table number. My favourite was Winston Churchill’s ”my most brilliant achievement, was my ability to persuade my wife to marry me.”
Gemma on “The Flowers”
“I found Catherine from the flower bazaar on the Tithe Barn’s recommended website and from the instant we met her she put us at ease. She instantly understood exactly what we were looking for and she got it spot on on the day.”
Gemma on “The Food”
“David and I enjoy good food and wine, so wanted to make sure that this love came across at the wedding. We came across Tom from Tourelle at an open day and the Tithe Barn and the minute David tasted one of his brownies he was sold. Tourelle is led by husband and wife Tom and Yvonne and their passion for their food was so clear from the moment we met them.”
“The wedding breakfast was a trio of salmon followed by a rack of lamb and a trio of desserts to finish. We served Sauvignon Blanc (our favourite white wine) and a red that we fell in love with whilst holidaying in Italy. For the evening, Tourelle provided pulled pork rolls which were to die for! I hear some of it was even taken home by the ushers as it was too good to leave! We couldn’t have been happier with Tourelle and would recommend them to anyone.”
Gemma on “The Cake”
“Our cake was made by Rebecca at Sweetie Pies Boutique Bakery. Rebecca made the cake for my friend’s wedding last year and on seeing and tasting it we knew we wouldn’t find anyone better!
We knew we wanted a simple cake which was adorned with flowers and Rebecca certainly got the brief right! We alternated the tiers between a more traditional Victoria sponge with a red velvet and it was absolutely delicious! The flowers provided by Catherine added the finishing touches and looked amazing.
As if one cake wasn’t enough we also had a cheese ake from the Cheese Works in Cheltenham.” Cheese Works was brilliant from start to finish and sent us testers of all of the cheese before we placed our order.”
Gemma on “The Entertainment”
“David had a lot of input in the wedding and helped me an enormous amount but the entertainment was his one to organise.”
“David came across the band called the modern way via a booking site called the alive network and we couldn’t have been happier with them. They played both modern and older music and got everybody dancing!”
“We were also keen to do something different and fun but weren’t too fussed about a photo booth as we wanted everyone on the dance floor at all times! David’s work friend had told him about a Venezuelan wedding tradition called la hora loca. This translates to crazy hour and is almost like a mardis gras style hour where people dress up with masks and props and dance to Latin American music.”
“The band announced la hora loca and with the help of the groomsmen and bridesmaids all the props were distributed to the guests in a slightly unusual manner(by being thrown off the balcony!) La hora loca was absolutely amazing and we have some truly hilarious photos to evidence this!”
Tithe Barn Wedding in Ditcham England | Gemma on “The Videography and Photography”
“For videography, we came across Emma Stock when searching on the Internet for wedding videographers in Hampshire and were so impressed with her videos. Emma was again great to have around on the day of the wedding and really captured the most amazing moments”
“We were so lucky to find Emma Coleman from blink photography. Both David and I really dislike photos of ourselves or even having our photos taken so knew we needed a photographer with a reportage style.”
“When Antonia told me that she also dislikes having her photo taken but had a friend Emma who she would trust to photograph her wedding we knew we had to find out more. Emma was just the best from start to finish! She was a really calming influence and managed to put us both at ease throughout the whole day. Given that the forecast was for rain I was so worried we wouldn’t get any photos so couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the photos Emma took. She provided a slide show of her best photos which reduced me to tears instantly – she managed to transport us back to the day and caught all the special moments for us to treasure forever. We are so grateful that we found her!”
Tithe Barn Wedding in Ditcham England | Gemma on “Love From Mwai”
“Given all our grand plans for the barn and in light of the fact that the wedding was going to take place in Emsworth about 40 minutes away, it soon became clear we would be in desperate need of some help setting up the barn and the church. Luckily for us we came across Mwai, a wedding co-ordinator who I genuinely now think of as our guardian angel.”
“Whilst we had all of the ideas for the wedding ceremony and reception, it was Mwai who put these all into action and created the most stunning wedding we could have hoped for – the photos themselves are evidence of this. Having planned every minute detail of the wedding it was so hard for David and I to hand over the reigns to someone else, but knowing that Mwai would be there co-ordinating everything made us feel so much happier in the run up to the wedding. Mwai was just fantastic before and on the day of the wedding and we owe so so much to her.”
Congratulations again, Gemma and David. It was wonderful to be a part of your big day!
If you’re newly engaged or are looking for someone to help you plan your wedding, I’d love to learn more about your vision, style, and needs and discuss how I can help.
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