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Natalie and Roger had a day that truly represented them and was so meaningful. Just you wait and see!
They had an orchard wedding, with an orchard ceremony at Natalie’s family home in the Somerset countryside, followed by a stunning pole tent marquee reception. They even had an apple theme throughout the beautiful rustic decor, with nods to apples.
It’s also wonderful to hear how they blended their Catalan and English cultures into their day. Their bilingual ceremony sounded really special indeed. From the gorgeous outfits to the stunning flowers and fun moments you’ll be sure to love their wedding story.
Thanks ever so much to Just James Weddings for sharing with us these sublime images.
Orchard Wedding
The Proposal
We got engaged in October 2021 while on a road trip around Tuscany.
We had visited Lucca and Florence before travelling through the Tuscan Hills towards Montepulciano. We stayed at a beautiful Airbnb that was almost embedded into the hillside with a large balcony overlooking the stunning Tuscany Hills and Montefioralle vineyard.
There was a gorgeous outdoor table and chairs under an arch overlooking the views and we sat to have a glass of wine and take it all in. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and Roger popped the question there with just the 2 of us. It was perfect!
The Vision
I (Natalie) had always wanted to get married at my family home in Somerset. My Dad had a cider company and I decided I wanted to have our ceremony in the orchard.
I really liked the idea of a rustic wedding. My Dad was a bit of a collector of random items like old door frames and barrels, which I knew I wanted to incorporate into our wedding.
We wanted to blend our cultures and traditions since Roger is Catalan and Natalie is English. In Spain, they do not have bridesmaids or groomsmen so we decided I would just have my sister as maid of honour.
We tried to add Spanish touches to a country wedding and because my family made cider and we got married in their orchard, there was an apple theme from a fruit picker’s ladder holding the table plan to apples used as the name places.
The Venue
We had a traditional canvas pole marquee in my Parent’s garden.
Our legal ceremony was held a few days before with just our families so we had our wedding day ceremony in the orchard just over a bridge adjoining the garden.
The aisle was formed from the rows of apple trees and we had an old door frame with two wooden barrels as our ‘altar’ and guests sat on hay bales. My Dad and I made a willow arch to mark the start of the ‘aisle’. Being cider makers, my parents already had an outdoor bar, which was handy.
We took a gamble and didn’t really have a wet weather option and luckily we didn’t have rain despite a week of awful weather leading up to it.
Your Outfits
Natalie’s wedding dress was from Alison Jayne Bridal in Bristol. I had no idea what kind of dress I wanted, and this was the 2nd shop I went to on my first day of dress shopping. The ladies in there were great and asked me try one of every style to find what I was looking for. I put on my dress and just fell in love with it.
I worried closer to the wedding day that my dress didn’t match the rustic theme of the wedding but I’m so glad that I went with that dress in the end and it just shows that you don’t have to stick to all the rules.
Roger’s suit was from Moss Bros. He went for a green, tweed three-piece suit. He is a perfectionist and put so much thought and time into all the details. I remember him spending ages looking for the ‘right’ white shirt. He looked incredible and it all paid off.
The Ceremony & Music
Roger is from Barcelona, so we had a Spanish-speaking English friend and an English-speaking Spanish friend who wrote and hosted our ceremony in both languages.
It was so unique and personal, that many of our guests commented on it being their favourite ceremony they had attended for these reasons.
In Spanish tradition, Roger walked down with his mum first to ‘Ay mamá’ by Rigoberta Bandini and then Natalie and her Dad entered to ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ a cover of ‘Fools Rush In’ by Hayley Reinhart.
After the ceremony, we hired a Spanish guitarist to play while the guests drank sangria and ate tapas-style canapés.
Your Photographer
James Clarke was our photographer and my Mum actually suggested that we get in touch with him as he is her friend’s husband. At the time, he was quite new to wedding photography but I am so pleased we decided to go with him.
James has a unique ability to make you feel completely at ease while taking couples photographs. We were laughing and joking the whole time and we felt so relaxed. His ability to capture the natural moments of the day while blending into the background is something that I hadn’t realised was so important on the day.
The photos are absolutely beautiful and he has since captured two of my best friend’s weddings. I would recommend him to anyone.
The Styling & Decor
We decided to go for a rustic/orchard/country theme and it was very much a DIY affair.
My dad had a bit of an eclectic collection of old door frames, antique garden tools, wooden barrels, an old traditional Victorian bath and even an old-fashioned bier (used for carrying coffins) that we managed to use for decor. We made the bath and some barrels cut in half into planters and grew flowers that would be in season during our wedding in September.
For marquee decorations, we kept it simple with hanging baskets suspended from the marquee (a much cheaper option). We painted a wooden pallet with the order of the day in a mixture of Spanish and English.
A few days before the wedding we collected lots of windfall apples to use for name places. I got some small wooden leaves off Amazon and spray painted them gold, then wrote names on them and pinned them to the picked apples. I did the same with small wooden apples off amazon to form the table plan.
Our florist was Luce (from Luce Loves Flowers). She has a rustic style so we just went for seasonal bouquets and rustic buttonholes. She also provided some greenery for the tables.
My Mum’s friend bought the table flowers from the supermarket which she assembled to a mix of stem jars and vases we found. Roger’s niece handmade candles for the table that sat on homemade wood slices and my friend made menus and order of service on rustic card.
Memorable Moments
My dad sadly died of cancer just 2 months after our wedding and so the photos and memories from our wedding are incredibly special to me. There are so many father/daughter moments as the bride and so I have some precious photos of the two of us and will be forever grateful to our amazing photographer, James, for capturing these moments.
It was the perfect day with all of our friends and family and I will cherish these moments forever.
The Honeymoon
We actually ended up having two! We originally planned to go to Japan but due to Covid restrictions we delayed it until the following year (we have just returned) and so we rearranged to go to Patagonia on a hiking tour through the stunning mountains of Chile and Argentina.
We had to cut that short due to some devastating family news and so we are heading back there for Christmas in a few weeks. Both will be bucket list trips for us and after a very eventful year, we are more grateful than ever to be making incredible memories together.
Advice For Other Couples
The biggest thing I learnt is that you can do whatever you want, however you want even if it’s not traditional or ‘on theme’.
I am so glad that we did our ceremony the way we did as it made it more personal and individual rather than hiring someone you’ve never met before to marry you.
How very beautiful!
Natalie and Roger, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your truly wonderful orchard wedding story.
Further Reading
