“My husband, Andrew, and I first met at secondary school, when we were on a school camping holiday at Golden Cap in Dorset,” says Jenna. “It is our favourite place to go and he later proposed there, too. It was on the hottest day of that year, so I was a lovely hot, sweaty mess!”

Spontaneous dress shopping

Jenna originally bought a plain dress elsewhere, but wasn’t happy or comfortable in it. “When I was in Bristol with my mum, returning the other dress, she suggested that we have a look in WED2B,” she says. “I was unsure, as I don’t wear dresses and I’m not really into them. I walked in and the manager asked what I was after. All I could say was a wedding dress, as I really had no idea! So, with the help of my mum, we picked four random dresses.”

Searching for The One…

“I spent ages trying them on with Erin, our bridal consultant, and I kept returning to the same dress, Melissa,” says Jenna. “After a few hours I was still feeling hesitant, but on my way out I saw another dress in the window. It happened to have my name, Jenna. My name is very hard to come by, so I had to try it on! I took Jenna and Melissa and went back in, and we were lucky enough to have Erin again. She was brilliant and really honest about what suited me. Finally, with Erin and my mum’s help, I ended up choosing Melissa. I couldn’t be happier! I accessorised my dress with a fluffy cape and muff made by my gran, who is a dressmaker.”

bride getting ready for wedding

Choosing a venue

Jenna and Andrew married at Orchardleigh House, near Frome. “The venue was a fairly easy decision,” she says. “We looked at a couple of wedding brochures and visited a couple of places. My husband fell in love with one whilst I fell in love with another, so I visited both on my own a week later and walked the inside and outside of each. On the second viewing I preferred husband’s choice, Orchardleigh, as I felt more of a connection there.”

Real Weddings Bristol: Jenna and Andrew

The big day

The couple married on Friday 21st February 2020. “We had different types of music throughout,” says Jenna. “I walked in to ‘A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri and our exit song was 'Love Story’ by Taylor Swift. Our first dance was to ‘Never Seen Anything’ by The Script. My dad walked me down the aisle and made sure I didn’t fall down the steps. Although, if I had, he would definitely have come with me, as there was no way I was falling on my own! It was a lovely sunny day for the time of year, with pretty clouds that looked amazing in the photos.”

Rustic and environmentally friendly

“I am not very traditional, so our theme was a bit different,” says Jenna. “My husband left it to me and everyone told me my idea would never work. Let’s just say I proved them wrong on the day! I went with a rustic, environmentally friendly theme. We used minimal plastic and had recycled and second-hand items. I decorated glass jars with hessian for the tables and placed candles in them. We had hessian bunting, second-hand fairy lights and wicker baskets for cards and gifts. There were also pallets for our order of service and seating plan.”

Superhero style

“Everyone said it wouldn’t work, but our table theme was Superheroes,” says Jenna. “Not something you would usually think of for a wedding! Each table had a different name or group. My fantastic florist designed a floral arrangement for each table, based on the table name. My top table, for example, was Guardians of the Galaxy. She researched each table, so the flowers matched the colour scheme and even created tokens to go in the flowers. In the top table flowers there was a baby Groot, a mix tape and even headphones. She did an amazing job! When the people who said it wouldn’t work saw it, they praised me! They couldn’t believe how much my crazy idea worked and linked well with the rustic elements. My photographer took pictures of each centrepiece, so we could remember each one.”

rustic wedding day

My top tips…

“Go for what you want, not what others want,” says Jenna. “If you have an idea, go for it. Talk to your florist too, most of the time they want a challenge!”

Jenna’s Dream team

Photographer: Adam Barnard (adambarnardphotography.co.uk)

Venue: Orchardleigh Estate (orchardleigh.net)

Florist: Tina at Evergreen Floral Design (evergreenfloral.co.uk)

Cake: Michele Jones at Icing on the Cake (icingonthecake.me.uk)

Makeup: Gemma Avent (facebook.com/Make-up-by-Gemma-Avent)

Hair: Lynz at Creations Studio (creationsstudio.co.uk)

If you would like your big day to be one of our real weddings please click here to share your story and photos with us and we’ll be in touch.