Laid Back & Vintage-Inspired Cripps Barn Wedding: Laura & Tom

Emma Case Photography

May 15, 2013

Laura&Tom-103

Sometime late last Summer I strolled into my favourite wedding boutique to visit my friends, Laura & Emma, who own it. Whenever I’m in central London I always pop into Fur Coat No Knickers to see their latest pretty vintage wedding dresses, to drink some Cava and to catch up on all the latest gossip. But this fateful day in August was different. I was greeted at the door with squeals from Laura, “I’m engaged! Tom Proposed last week!” she shrieked. More Cava was popped and we started to discuss all things wedding – but this time not other people’s – hers!

Working in with wedding industry, Laura had quite a good idea about what she did – and did not – want for their March wedding. She knew Emma Case was the girl to shoot it and that obviously she’d be wearing a dress from Fur Coat No Knickers. She also knew they wanted something casual, low-key, fun and stress-free.

Laura&Tom-41

“To Have Emma Case to snap our big day was amazing”, Laura began. “She and husband Pete are so cool and so chilled and they capture everything. They are like two little meerkats popping up and down throughout the day and they are such a laugh. We love our photos so so much. The photo shoot bit of the day was awesome fun and they made us play lots of games to keep us relaxed. I loved this part of the day because Tom & I got to spend some time together. Emma & Pete made us feel so comfortable and it was so fun. I can’t recommend them enough. They totally rocked our day.”

Laura&Tom-43

“I never thought I would get married”, continued Laura. “I met Tom when we just opened Fur Coat No Knickers, he must have been frightened meeting someone who worked in the wedding industry. I’m surprised he didn’t run a mile! Then one day I came home after cycling from the west end to south London, sweating and looking all minging and Tom proposed! It was just a normal Tuesday evening at home. The proposal was a DHL parcel which I ripped open thinking it was stuff for the shop but I was wrong… a helium balloon popped out with WILL YOU MARRY ME? written on it, with a ring tied to it and a bottle of bubbles. I cried –  he cried and then we got smashed!”

Laura&Tom-48

“My inspiration really came from working in weddingland and loving vintage bridal. I was super lucky because meeting so many brides-to-be in the shop meant I could hear all about their ideas and take lots of notes! Also obsessing over Rock n Roll Bride for the past five-odd years meant all the homework was basically done for me. Rock n Roll Bride is totally addictive and so easy to check in any time of the day to get a quick hit of creative loveliness and very cool weddings!”

Obviously owning a vintage wedding dress shop, the pressure was on to find the perfect dress. However instead of opting for a vintage gown, business partner Emma offered to make Laura her perfect gown herself. “Everyone was trying to guess what I was going to turn up in!” she laughed. “The night before, my parents and friends were still trying to guess. They all thought it would be short and brightly coloured – haha they were wrong!”

Laura&Tom-82

“I was extremely lucky as I was in very safe hands with Emma. She really looked after me. We had a play, tried lots of dresses on (it was very weird being on the other side by the way!) and laughed a lot when they didn’t suit me or do up! Then we found one I loved, it was an original vintage 1930s frock, but I’m so tall it was too short. So we made the decision to have a vintage-inspired dress instead and that Emma would make it. We found a beautiful gold metallic lace and placed it over an ivory silk – I loved it! I suppose my brief was for it to be more like an evening dress than a big white dress. I felt great all day and it was so comfy.”

Laura&Tom-63

The wedding was held at Cripps Barn in Cirencester which they found after seeing it featured on Rock n Roll Bride. The couple decorated the large space themselves, with help from friends and family in the morning. “We collected books from charity shops and covered them in fabric for table numbers with tin hearts and gold leaf numbers on. We had loads of white tin jugs in various sizes from ikea for our flowers all in different sizes. Our seating plan was painted on two old doors which we covered in retro polaroids on blue ribbons. The big wicker trunk was borrowed from my mum and we filled with blankets for warmth in the evening as there was a bonfire. The vintage suitcases were hand painted with signs on to put cards in and we borrowed two bikes from friends to use as sign posts to the venue. We covered them in flowers and balloons and they looked great.”

Laura&Tom-90

“Our favours were home made brightly coloured bowties for the boys and heart sunglasses for the girls. We put them in little white boutique bags so no one knew what was in there, with name labels on, hand done with stencils. It took hours but it was well worth it. People loved them and most wore them all night!”

“There’s nothing I’d change about our wedding”, Laura concluded. “Well maybe we would have got married earlier in the day so that the day could have lasted longer! I can’t thank my wonderful parents enough who helped so much with making the day happen – financially and also with all their support. Getting married is just the best! Enjoy every minute brides-to-be. Also big thanks to Kat of Rock n Roll Bride for having such an inspirational blog and showing everyone how weddings can be different, cool and personal.”

Laura&Tom-118

Suppliers