70’s Retro meets Disco Wedding!

Centering on a wedding with pops of red and pink, disco balls and love in its brightest form, Jenni Defalco a talented make up artist became the creative director of a 70’s meets disco wedding shoot. This exciting shoot pulled together some wonderful suppliers- so here’s a run down of the day including everyone involved!

I started the day leaving early and travelling to the Church Manor Barn in Wicklewood. A beautiful village just on the outskirts of Norwich. Picturesque as Norfolk always is, you arrive at Church Manor Barn by driving through a tree lined avenue setting the scene for the day ahead.

The venue boasts a beautiful glass fronted building, which overlooks lush fields with nearby grazing sheep. The building itself can accommodate up to 250 guests seated for dinner. A huge dance floor, and the ability to section off parts of the barn to reduce the capacity or create more intimate spaces.

We lucked out with the weather, it was a glorious sunny day, with clear blue skies, which meant the team could spend time inside the barn, but also out in the grounds where couples have the option of marrying in one of the outside locations, and have the opportunity to have photos after their ceremony.

Lucy from Church Manor Barn warmly welcomed us, and provided us with the much needed tea, coffee and biccy’s that would wake us all up and get the team chatting. It was so lovely to come together with people in the wedding industry to bring someone’s creative vision to life.

While the room was being decorated, and the models were in hair and make up. DJ Wayne took to the decks to provide us with

some dancefloor wedding classics to keep the energy up!

I also got to play with Wayne’s new drone, which I prefaced with ‘I shouldn’t be allowed to play, I might break it!’ Wayne did look nervous as I struggled to get the drone back to where we were standing.

While I was playing with the drone, Jenni and Victoria our gorgeous model started with hair and make up. Jenni focuses on using make up to enhance rather than mask, so that means super glowy skin and soft tones, fresh and polished and ready for the camera!

Jenni styled Victoria’s hair in a half up, half down with a beautiful loose curl, which complimented the style of the stunning dress provided by Camilla Brides. The dress was simply beautiful, with so much detail across the entire dress.

At the same time Helen from Creative Decorations made a start on the backdrop for the ceremony which was an existing archway within the venue, and the selfie station for the after party!

Now I may have become slightly over excited at the prospect of helping Helen blow up the balloons for the shoot. She did impart a lot of her knowledge, and was very patient at showing me how to expertly prepare the balloons. All I can say is I was having way too much fun. What can I say I’m easily pleased.

Helen has been running her business for 15 years and is meticulous with her attention to detail and creative flair.

Fresh out of hair and make up and into the stunning wedding dress. How gorgeous does Victoria look?

The flowers were supplied by The Floral Trojan who used beautiful red and pink florals to create the bouquet, button hole for the groom, and the disco ball florals.

The person behind the camera capturing the day was India who I’ve been lucky enough to work with previously.

India has such a calm presence, making her photo subjects feel at ease while she snaps away to catch the perfect moments. She is super lovely, and able to instruct you to capture the shot she’s looking for.

India seized the opportunity of blue skies and grabbed Victoria and her real life husband Graham for some outdoor shots. 

Church Manor Barn has picture perfect garden spaces which can be used for photography or for the ceremony itself. The framing of the hedge and the tree in this photo is just magical!

If you’re looking for a venue which has outdoor capacity in a stunning private garden, the ability to seat 250 people for the reception, has an onsite bridal suite called The Pheasantry AND the whole site has a sustainable focus then this venue is for you!

It was time for the ceremony, and my trusty disco pants were on, and ready to celebrate the couples love story!

As a celebrant it’s always so fascinating to find out how a couple met, and chatting with Victoria and Graham in this shoot meant that I got to know them pretty quickly as a real life couple.

I loved hearing about their engagement and how they planned and celebrated their own wedding day.

I really enjoyed spending time with them both, such warm and genuinely interesting people. I was chuffed that I got to explain what a celebrant is, what I do for my day job and how I can add different elements to a wedding ceremony.

So when I whipped out my Handfasting cord, I knew I’d have to explain what we would be doing next. So for those that don’t know here’s a little about Handfasting:

It is an Ancient Celtic tradition dating back to 7000 B.C. A cord or piece of material was used to bind the couples hands during the ceremony. Ancient Celtic law would see the union of two people as a trial period, which would last for a year and a day. It was seen as a declaration of intent to marry showing others they were already committed.

Hands are bound using ropes or ribbons of your choice and the reasons behind the colour choices are shared as I bind your hands together. Once a blessing has been shared, you remove your hands together and are left with the knot, which is where the phrase tying the knot comes from.

The Handfasting cord is then a symbolic element which you can keep and display at home as a memento of the day. A gorgeous way of adding a different dimension into your wedding day, and looks great in photos!

After the ceremony it was time to party- cue the selfie station! 

Thanks to Jenni and all of the suppliers who came together to make this wedding shoot look amazing!

Now it’s over to you, Go and give everyone a follow on socials!

All the love,

C x

@indialaurenphotography

@churchmanorbarn

@jennidefalcomakeup

@charlikerrcelebrant

@creativedecorations

@thefloraltrojan

@camillabrides

@dj_waynestuart

@vbhemsworth