The Barn at Bury Court Wedding by Claire Barrett

A holiday military wedding in Surrey, England

Polly and Michael’s beautiful wedding took place on a frosty winter’s morn in the English countryside. The ceremony was at the tiny and very old church where the bride was baptized. Even though the church was very small, six bell ringers still managed to squeeze in so guests could hear the bells pealing the declaration of their marriage. Polly’s school music teacher even lead the congregation in a fun rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas. Her gift to Michael was a painting of his army officer grandfather (his inspiration) on a map of Burma, where he was stationed in World War II. Polly’s dad was also an army officer. Many of the wedding details were handmade – even the confetti – either by the bride or local artisans. Their wedding day was also the bride’s birthday and her parents’ anniversary, so the date was especially meaningful for all involved. Michael’s Army Officer comrades held a sword Guard of Honor for them to walk through to the dance floor for their first dance, and Michael cut the cheese wheel “wedding cake” with his ceremonial sword. They served traditional British food at the reception: Scotch eggs followed by bangers and mash. Michael’s sister did most of the singing at the reception with the band lead by the best man. Claire Barrett captured their incredible celebration!

The wedding planning began when I chose my wedding dress (it happened to be the second one I tried on), a whole 15 months before the big day! As soon as I put it on I knew instantly that this was the one for me! From this moment, decisions became relatively easy as the style of my dress (tea length with a cowl neck) determined the choice of bridesmaids outfits, flowers and types of decoration for both the Church and the barn.

Michael and I knew that we wanted it to be simple, comfortable and stylish. The colour scheme was kept to winter whites with pockets of silver. The simple colour palette complemented the time of year and kept to the three key words we had agreed to. Being so near to Christmas, we introduced hints of the festive period: baby’s breath wreaths, natural balls of mistletoe from local woods, mistletoe favours lovingly crocheted by my friend, candy canes and not to forget the Christmas music during the service and the wedding breakfast. Also, the welcome drinks were mulled wine and cider to get people into that Christmas mood. The candles were bought from Anthropologie to provide a Christmas tree scent for the festive season… the barn had a huge, beautiful Christmas tree in situ for our wedding. The subtlety of these details really enhanced and personalised our day, and made every part of it feel warm and intimate. – Polly
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