A Christmas Love Story - Gemma & Andrew

Last Christmas, our rustic wedding barn was transformed into a fabulously festive wonderland as we hosted a truly unforgettable December wedding for Gemma and Andrew. Guests arrived wrapped in cosy winter cheer, welcomed by a drink and the log burner fire roaring. It was a joyful, spirited celebration where rustic elegance met holiday sparkle, creating the perfect backdrop for a couple’s magical and festive “I do.”

We talk to bride Gemma about planning their winter wedding . . .

We live ten minutes down the road from The Oaks and had seen lots on social media regarding it being a country style wedding venue. We’d attended many weddings over the couple of years prior to ours but hadn’t seen any venues that let you have exclusive use for the weekend and loved the idea of not being ushered in and out. Both of us are completely Christmas obsessed and had seen the Oaks decorated for their Christmas parties. We loved the way the venue looked cosy and homely with the log burner before any decorations had even been added.

Our first memory of the venue was an appointment that we had a year prior to our wedding. We’d viewed a few different venues but the others had multiple people walking around at the same time, and were almost conveyer belts of viewings. When we arrived at The Oaks, it was peaceful and homely and when Julie met us with the same Christmas Craziness we couldn’t not book it! 

We wanted a Winter Wonderland theme with lots of snowy garlands, bouquets, fairy lights and candles. We wanted to go down the route of a “woodland Christmas” rather than “traditional Christmas” theme and Julie even decorated the venue in line with this. The groomsmen wore deep green suits and the bridesmaids wore forest green dresses…we loved the way everything looked and we were so grateful for The Oaks helping with that vision.

We chose to have the Lantern and candle package and this made life a lot easier on the day of the wedding. We decided to do a lot of the decor ourselves…we made the table centre pieces, sweet table, wedding cake and the decoration hanging above the top table. Having the candle package pulled all of this together and made everything look cosy and festive.

We also had the drinks package which included drinks on arrival from the Church and bottles of wine on the tables. Everybody really appreciated this touch and it meant that everybody could tuck straight into their Christmas dinner without having to visit the bar.

There are so many happy memories from our wedding day but we have a few memories from the whole experience that will stay with us forever. I will never forget decorating The Oaks the day before our wedding. The fire was on, Christmas songs were playing and everybody was pulling together to get everything sorted with a glass of Prosecco. I immediately felt less stressed for the wedding day. On the day itself, the most memorable part was The Singing Waiters…my husband surprised me by booking them and had been liaising with The Oaks to arrange this. Everybody was up on their feet and it really set the tone for the rest of the night.

We had acoustic singers during our drinks reception, The Singing Waiters after our meal and a band called The Upstarts at night. All were honestly incredible; they included all of the guests and got everybody up on their feet dancing and singing. 

Dress|| J&J Design Designs Bridal

Suits || ASOS

Band || The Upstarts

Entertainment || Vox Secret Singers

Florist || Parsley & Sage

Photographer || Luke Warwick

Hair || Kimberley Hairdressing

Videography || Ryan Murrell Videography