Julie + Matt // The Festival, Hertfordshire

Julie and Matt wanted a less formal reception with a festival vibe and boy did they achieve that. First things first though and that was a traditional church service at the Parish Church of St Mary's in the gorgeous sleepy village of Thundridge.

The church, instead of being decorated with flowers, was adorned in bright coloured balloons, and filled with family, friends and little runarounds (children)! A very emotional pair of 'I wills' later and the party headed a short walk to the White Horse pub. The grounds were turned into a festival theme with an open marquee, bales of hay, tippees for the children and a play area, bunting, vintage style crockery and shabby chic tables and chairs with an eclectic mix of crockery and cutlery and cute little jam jars with a beautiful array of wild flowers, vintage boxes, blankets in wheelbarrows for the chilly evening later. A delicious buffet for the afternoon followed by 'the' most delicious hog roast for the early evening fed this wedding party.

Throughout the afternoon the runarounds were entertained by a balloon artist (The Frozen theme seemed to be the favourite) and a face painter allowed the children to enjoy being their favourite characters. A bouncy castle was definitely favoured by the runarounds too and provided hours of fun. Lots of tired little cherubs by the end of the evening as you can imagine.

The speeches were hugely entertaining/emotional/fun and followed by the Naked Cake cutting (I caught Julie sampling some when she thought nobody was looking).

The late afternoon brought with it the band, Dusty Wagons, who played a fantastic set with a charming folk background, next up was the talented singer, Jamie-Lee Kearney, who's smooth voice was just stunning and finally the sound of Tom Braggins who's eclectic mix of tunes finished the mini music festival.