A Handmade Cooling Castle Barn Wedding with an Italian Vibe

I just know you will fall in love with every detail of Kelly and Luca’s beautiful Cooling Castle Barn wedding. This wedding is so stylish, and if you are looking for inspiration for a castle wedding then look no further! The couple wanted a rustic Italian vibe, and the result is really chic — crisp whites, an abundance of pretty green foliage and pops of copper feature throughout the beautiful styling.

Rustic simplicity and elegance are key. Simple sprigs of rosemary tied with string on the place settings, and copper sequinned table runners with pretty little vases of white flowers create a real wow factor on the tables. There’s also elegant copper calligraphy galore.

Kelly and Luca really thought about the little personal and fun touches to complete their wedding. Each member of their bridal party received a lovely little box filled with little treats, guests received favours in personalised hessian bags, and they even treated their guests to a sweetie buffet and a shot and pimp your Prosecco bar (my kinda wedding!).

When you see these amazing pictures by Michelle Cordner Photography you will see just how much attention to detail Kelly and Luca put into creating their perfect Cooling Castle Barn wedding.

Italian Vibe

“Luca and I wanted our wedding day to represent everything we enjoy and love, and to share it with people we care about. Luca is half Italian so we wanted to introduce an Italian vibe all the way through the wedding, from the food, style, language and even their traditions.

“As soon as we stepped inside Cooling Castle Barn wedding venue we fell in love with the place. Its wooden beams, high ceilings, exposed brick and perfectly kept lawns were exactly what we’d been looking for. It gave our day the relaxed atmosphere we wanted.”

Simple and Traditional

“I always knew I wanted a wedding dress which was quite simple and traditional, and I wore a Mori Lee ivory lace detailed floor length dress with scalloped lace neckline.

“I decided to have my hair and make-up the way I would usually style it myself, so I looked like me. It was just more of a glam version of myself, and I loved it!

“My four bridesmaids wore full length one shoulder dresses in mauve. The style suited every one of them and they looked gorgeous. It was the very first dress they tried on which I was so happy about — they made it so easy for me.”

Adorable

“Luca wore an Italian inspired three-piece navy blue Ted Baker suit with an ivory paisley tie, silver pocket watch and tie pin, and brown Italian leather shoes. He is a die-hard West Ham fan, and the only element we agreed could be West Ham related was his socks, which were claret!

“Luca’s groomsmen wore a similar suit to him, but wore a navy blue tie. Our little pageboy, our god son Jayden, wore a kid’s version of the suit with his white converse trainers — he looked adorable!”

Fight Back the Tears

“We decided on a string quartet for the arrival of our guests, ceremony and reception drinks, which went down a storm. Estilo absolutely nailed it and were so friendly. They played me down the aisle to Christina Perri’s ‘A Thousands Years’, and I had to fight back the tears; they played it beautifully.”

White Flowers and Foliage

“We wanted a lot of foliage around the venue and in my bouquet so we went with gorgeous white flowers and a whole host of different types of eucalyptus. I had a gorgeous loose hand-tied textural bouquet with silver dollar eucalyptus, white stocks and Norma Jean roses tied with an ivory ribbon. My bridesmaid had a smaller version of that too, and the men wore buttonholes that complemented the bouquets.

“Cooling Castle Barn is such a stunning wedding venue so it didn’t need a lot doing to it, and Karen from The Flower Mill did the place justice and seemed to enhance its beauty!

“A close university friend of mine also helped with some additional flower displays. She created a flower frame for our table plan made of eucalyptus, white and soft pink flowers, and also made some eucalyptus wreaths we attached to the front of the sweetie table and guestbook/cards table. They both looked fab, and better than I could have ever imagined.”

Alfresco Feel

“Nature, Italy and romance were sources of inspiration, and we decided to use simple materials such as kraft paper, cardboard, twine, jute, glass, candles, eucalyptus, rosemary and wood. We tried to keep colours minimal and used natural greens, soft pinks and whites along with accents of copper and mauve.

“We decorated our tables with very simple centrepieces — three different level glass vases filled with hand-tied white flowers, surrounded by candles, all sat on a sequin copper runner.

“Festoon lighting across the barn and fairy lights around the beams gave the place the alfresco feel we wanted.”

“I’m a graphic designer and was adamant I wanted to put my stamp on the look and feel of the day. It took a lot of blood, sweat and sleepless nights but I was over the moon that my vision came to life on the day. I made everything, from the table name signs, table plan, card box, signage around the bar/barn and place settings, to the welcome signage and display. I took a lot of inspiration from the likes of Pinterest, Instagram and wedding blogs.

“Our cake was a beautiful four tiered rough iced cake decorated with beautiful sugar icing flowers to match my bouquet and eucalyptus.”

Out of this World

“Our first dance was so special; my cousin Jordan sang our favourite song which made it so personal. After all the formal dances had finished Luca and I called everyone up to join us in the Candy Dance. It was amazing to dance with everyone we love as an untraditional first dance with them all. Even my nan got involved!

“Our photographer, Michelle Cordner, was out of this world. We had originally booked another photographer but just didn’t click. As soon as we met Michelle and I saw her work I knew she was the perfect person to shot our wedding — she understood what we wanted. She captured it all; the emotions, laughter, details… I couldn’t have asked for more from her.”