I barely know where to start telling you about just how much I love Kim and Paul, just how much I love Shustoke Farm Barns and how much I loved Kim and Paul’s Shustoke Farm Barns wedding. Does that give you an idea? These guys are such beautiful souls; I adored them instantly when we first met up to chat about their wedding and despite Paul being a photographer himself, I never felt under pressure shooting – in fact, it was kind of fun to talk cameras lots – sorry Kim! – on their prewedding shoot and Paul really understood when we chatted about timings for the day and available light as we approached the autumn clock change. Autumn flowers by the bucketload, incredible entertainment by The Trixta and the warmest feeling of love, family and friendship you could ask for… A perfect wedding day. Read on to find out more!

KIM + PAUL’S SHUSTOKE FARM BARNS WEDDING

How did you meet?
Our dads are both in the same band, the legendary Dark, so we’ve known of each for most of our lives. It had been over a decade since the band had split, but after the sad loss of Kim’s twin sister Carly, the band reformed for a charity gig! We met during that night which was full of emotion, family, friends and music whilst Carly looked down on us and worked her magic and that where our journey began… You couldn’t make this up!

Tell me your proposal story:
(Paul here) We planned a holiday to Looe in Cornwall for September 2016. Whilst researching things to do on our hols, we found some photos of St. Michaels Mount. As soon as I saw them, I knew this was the place I wanted to go down on one knee and pop the question. After stressful weeks of keeping the ring hidden, the proposal day arrived. I wanted to take a mini bottle of champagne for the big moment, along with some glasses. I needed something large to hide all these things. Luckily for me, Kim was used to me carrying around my massive camera bag on trips out! Perfect! I was all set. We got the boat onto St. Michael’s Mount around lunch time, but my plan was to wait until sunset to ask for Kim’s hand in marriage, which made me fairly edgy all day! I wasn’t letting Kim touch that camera bag! The stress was worth it in the end though, as almost everybody on the mount decided to get the last boat back to shore, rather than wait for the causeway to appear. As the sun was setting, with the mount basically to ourselves, I went for it! Kim was wearing sunglasses and took an age to reply. I couldn’t quite tell how she was reacting! Thankfully, after what seemed an age, she said yes! We then rang the families to tell them the good news (cue screaming!) and then walked hand in hand back across the causeway, and ashore! I think I did pretty well really!

Why did you choose Shustoke Farm Barns for your wedding?
We chose Shustoke Farm Barns for our wedding because we stumbled across it online, went to visit the venue, and fell in love with it! It just felt right!

What was it you loved about your outfits and accessories that made you choose them?
(Paul here again!) The tweedy waistcoats in our suits fitted perfectly with the barn style venue. I’ve always liked two tone shoes, so they were a no brainer. I chose the wooden cufflinks to fit with the theme of Autumn and trees.

(Kim) My dress – it was important that I could move around easily and simply be gorgeous! When I tried it on for the first time I felt beautiful and that isn’t something that comes naturally! To make it perfect, my diamante orange shoes – I wanted a wow factor, something people wouldn’t expect… So in-keeping with the autumn theme, and my favourite colour – they HAD to be orange!

Tell me about the vision you had for your wedding including your theme/colour scheme/styling/flowers:
We both love Autumn. It feels like our time of year! We’ve had a lot of major life events in September and October, With our wedding booked for October 13th, it seemed right to go with Autumnal colours and decorations for our big day. It felt a good fit for the venue as well. The flower lady gets all the credit for the design of the table flowers and bouquets! We were lost and she guided us to what ended up being stunning flowers that fitted brilliantly with or theme. Table names were always going to be music. In lots of ways, music has played a big part in our lives, both individually and as a couple. Our table names were bands that mean a lot to us for many different reasons.

What was your first dance and why did you choose it?
Our first dance was What Makes You Beautiful – The 1975. Most of our friends and family guessed we might choose a song by The 1975. We saw them as a support act in a room of no more than twelve people on one of our first dates, and have been to see them many times since. We’ve seen them grow as our relationship has! (A bit cheesy that!) The song choice probably surprised a lot of people though. A live lounge cover of the One Direction song. Kim had heard it and really liked it, and then on our engagement trip to Cornwall, a day or two after we’d got engaged, we found a light up frame with the words ‘You Light up my world like nobody else’, which we all know are lyrics in the song. (Don’t pretend you don’t!). The choice was made!

What were the most wonderful parts of the day for you?
We both genuinely loved all of it! We didn’t want it to end. It’s true what lots of our married friends had said; the day goes ridiculously fast!

(Paul) Getting into my suit, with all of the groomsmen getting into theirs was a special moment. I’ve known all of them my whole life, so to have them by my side was a great feeling. It was a feeling that was surpassed when i first saw Kim in her dress. Wow! What a moment. Obviously the dance floor part of the day was also excellent!

(Kim) Waking up and being able to scream “I’m getting married today” was a moment I never thought would come. Seeing my dad for the first time when I was all ready to go was such a magical moment. Knowing how proud he was of me gave me the strength to continue. Walking down the aisle and seeing my soon to be husband at the end, that was a huge rush of emotion that really overwhelmed me, when Paul first looked at me, everything settled and I smiled for the rest of the day. It was everything I ever wanted & more!

Why did you choose Hannah Hall Photography as your photographer, and what was your experience of your photography on the day?
We found Hannah online, just searching for local photographers. We met in Kino lounge in Kettering for a coffee, and decided pretty quickly that she was our photographer! As a keen photographer myself (Paul) I loved Hannah’s work. We both found Hannah really easy to talk to, and felt very comfortable with her.  A great photographer, with an artistic eye. On our wedding day Hannah kept us both calm at moments of nervousness, was just the right amount of stealthy to catch some fantastic natural shots of us and our guests, and documented our day perfectly. On top of all that, a lovely person!

What would be your best bit of advice to other couples planning their wedding?
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Whatever happens, happens. Just go with the flow and enjoy every second, because it really does go so fast.

A friend gave us a great piece of advice before our wedding day. He said “When you get a few seconds to be on your own, take a step back, and have a look around the room at all of your nearest and dearest, who are all there, just for you both, and drink it in. It will probably be the only day all of these people are in one place together. Be grateful, thankful, and proud of the day you both planned. It only happens once.” We did this, and i’m glad we did. What a great feeling.

Shout out to the following wonderful suppliers…

Venue: Shustoke Farm Barns / Dress Designer: Maggie Sottero / Gown supplier: Serendipity Bridal

Florist: Bloom In Scents / Cake: made by a family friend /  Bridesmaids: Sexy Her Dresses

Magician: The Trixta / Groomshire: Suitors / Entertainment: Dancefloor DJs

Planning your wedding at Shustoke Farm Barns?

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