Big Fat Barn Wedding

12 June 2011

Lyme Regis Beach, Devon

Missie Cindz on the beach (Lyme Regis Beach, Devon)

Missie Cindz on the beach (Lyme Regis Beach, Devon)

All weddings are very different and this one certainly is :) bride and groom

The First Dance

This is my portion, I don't know what the others are having! The Wedding Trifle

The wedding picnic. Beautiful handmade and homemade delights by the bride and groom

One of the five stunning wedding cakes made by the bride herself. Stunning!!

Please will someone put the kettle on?

Having a good ol' dance with the bride's mum (showing her how it's done MC style! :)

Eating, Drinking and Dancing!
For the whole of this weekend I’d been at my good friend, Timmy and Annie’s wedding bash down in Honiton, Devon. I’d never been as far down South as there before – very green and colourful, it was just a shame the rain didn’t stay put! Timmy and Annie have always been a very ‘out-standing’ couple, a bit different and colourful in their own unique ways, so when I was invited to their wedding party which was held on a LIVE working farm (yes, the animals kindly gave up their rooms for us so that we could dance in the barn!), I knew straightaway I’d be in for a treat. Being a proper city-girl though, abit of barn dancing, rolling in hay stacks, folk music with traditional dancing all in the fresh countryside did sound a little scary but hey I knew I had to try something once.

Into the Woods
On a daily basis my ‘Designer’ lifestyle is one complete rush – running down or up the stairs, frustrating tick-tock of the clock, endless lists of things to do all written neatly then crossed through, deadlines for this and that almost unreadable by the end of the day, social media activities clocking up my scarce minutes, then there’s my food ramblings and articles flying out of my note book or saved onto my unkempt desktop ready to be emailed or posted onto my food blog. I’d love to slow down. Get some fresh air at the week-end, jump on a train and escape for a while in a countryside.

And I’m happy to say, that’s what I did this weekend.

We (@keeftango and @Lisajohiggs) found a nice destination – Honition and a really pleasant B&B – Park Barn Farm. This idyllic B&B was on a farm owned by Pam and her farmer husband, Derek, both who were very helpful and accommodating. This weekend I was going to make sure I’d put away my list of people to see, things to do and ‘tick-tock, tick-tock’ mindset away (but I couldn’t manage to put away Twitter I’m afraid :)

Honiton has so many green places. I’d highly recommend everyone a visit to Lyme Regis beach if you’re ever down in Devon, the harbour area of Lyme Regis was amazing – lovely cafes, ice-cream and sandwich shops and spending some time admiring the view along the coast is a must, there’s so many retreats with a strong village atmosphere in the air, a few independent coffee shops, you’ll learn where to go and pick up mushrooms/edible plants in wooden part of the city too, then discover that there are orchards around where you live. There were several occasions where I found myself tempted in stopping at the local deli to buy seasonal products and homemade jams or chutneys but I resisted, knowing that Sheffield Bradfield Farmer’s Markets would be on Saturday 18th June (wholesome Sheffield produce :)

Homemade all the Way!
Back to Timmy and Annie’s knees up. I absolutely loved Annie’s handmade white (1970s themed) dress – gorgeous, simple and neat, accompanied by red dainty shoes, striking red lipstick and a gorgeous headpiece, wow! and can I just say how much I loved how everything was ‘perfectly’ personal and tasteful. The outdoor picnic idea was cute and despite the light showers we experienced (which soon became heavy down pours), we were still able to have a picnic on the grass. Each station were given a picnic hamper containing local and homeade delicacies (made by the bride and groom) which included hummous, goats cheese and guacamole dips, carrot batons, homemade cheese muffins and savoury biscuits, locally picked strawberries and artisan chocolates and breads. Everything was just so different and welcoming.

The Cakes
Even the bride’s wedding cake (or should I put cakes), were homemade by the bride herself. The cakes menu included a NYC cheesecake, ‘Brooklyn Blackout’ chocolate cake, carrot cake, German apple cake and a Wedding Trifle!! Everything looked splendid and tasted just as good as they all looked – see photos above.

Memorable Moments…
Timmy and Annie’s 1970’s ‘First Dance’ – they’d been taking dancing classes and put on a performance which oozed abit of Rock and Roll fused with a bit of  lindy hop (see photo above), Annie’s mum’s poetic speech was incredible and watching Timmy running around like a headless chicken making sure the guests were OK was adorable too :)

What a fabulous day I had. It was a relaxed and informal occasion –  in short, a proper country wedding!

Thanks so much to Timmy and Annie for sharing their day with us.

Missie Cindz x

Missie Cindz