- Feb 15, 2022

Jess & Justin - Talton Lodge

When I first joined The Rustic Wedding Company, I was given access to the shared files where we store all of the images taken from weddings.

This one caught my eye and I've been thinking about it since. I love everything about it, the colour palette, the venue, the styling and how you can see just how beautiful this couple really are from the inside out (and that's without talking to Lesley about them who has just confirmed how wonderful they were to work with.

Jess and Justin first contacted us in 2019 with the aim to style their day in 2020.

Well, we all know what happened from there, whilst Boris was busy being force fed birthday cake and hosting wine & cheese parties, we were all moving wedding dates and rearranging plans. Jess and Justin were one of those couples who unfortunately had to move their day into the following year.

Finally in September 2021, Team Rustic got to pack up both the vans and head off to the beautiful Talton Lodge located just outside of the stunning, historic Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Talton Lodge hosts not only a grand country house, but also a Tipi so it's pretty much two wedding venues for the price of one.

This wedding was one of our bigger weddings of 2021 and took us a whole two days to set up. Including running chairs from one side of the venue and over a little country road to the next after the outdoor ceremony. That was no easy feat but, Jess and Justin have some wonderful friends who jumped in to save the day and help us with the manual labour - thanks guys!

We did everything from the ceremony set up to the florals, the tipi set up and the personal stations and what a pleasure it was.

Jess and Justin chose a stunning sage and blush colour palette with lots of foliage and personal elements which included the homemade gin favours that they had been brewing for a quite some time. (man alive did they smell strong!)

Using our wooden signage set on an easel and dressed with mixed green foliage, Jess and Justin welcomed their guests to join them outdoors for their ceremony set in the beautiful September sun & they were so lucky with the weather.

We created a simple but effective aisle walkway for Jess by adding lanterns at floor level and two floral pillars at the end of the alter allowing for the incredible scenery to be the main backdrop. The venue boasts breathtaking grounds so their chosen colour palette worked perfectly with the natural elements we were fortunate to be blessed to work with.

The table plan was set on our signature Rustic Romance wooden board with sprigs of foliage. Guests then found their seats in the tipi which was adorned with lots of greenery and delicate blush blooms.

Seated around circular tables, Team rustic created showstopper arrangements placed on riser stands to add height with foliage trailing down in a non uniform style.

We used our ever popular glass cylinder vases into the centrepiece within the riser stands and added a lit pillar candles for a touch of class and romance.

We used blush napkins folded neatly and draped over hammered copper charger plates to draw the eye down to the guest seats. Team Rustic also created menus on rustic kraft card and layered individual name places with blush edging which were lovingly hand-written by the fabulous Steel City Scribe. Finished with a gentle sprig of foliage and a homemade Sloe gin created with love (and maybe a hangover or two?) from the gorgeous couple, we loved the creating layers, tones and textures on each setting.

It goes without saying that we went all out on the top table (our signature style!), adding long, full length floral arrangements to the edge of the trestle tables creating height, light and colour with our favourite Ester and Erik candles in different shades of blush. We mirrored decor from the guest tables by adding hurricane vases to the ends of the trestle table and created ambience by lighting them up for the perfect mood setting.

Jess and Justin chose a neon backdrop which added a party vibe and brought the fun factor - which suited them just perfectly. (I know the after party continued well into the early hours!)

Team Rustic love creating little areas which we call "stations" for your guests. Jess and Justin let us go with the flow on the day of set up and we created a small Sparkler Station complete with cuddle blankets in apple crates next to their fire pit area.

We also set up a guest signing station with a lockable cards box too for safe keeping and then there was their cute furry friend who had a little station all of their own - aka Buddy the silver tabby!

There is absolutely no way Team Rustic will forget this wedding in a hurry, it had all the elements we love in a wedding and Jess & Justin really were a dream to work with. We had so much fun and have such fond memories to take away from this event.

You can imagine how touched we were when an email pinged into our inbox recently from Justin who had left us such a beautiful google review, knowing we had been a part of your amazing day and your everlasting memories fills us with so much happiness and pride for what we do.

"Lesley and the team made our September wedding truly amazing - using her skills was without doubt the best decision we made! Due to a covid cancelled wedding we originally booked The Rustic Wedding Company 3 years before we finally tied the knot - during this time we changed out minds on just about every detail but Lesley couldn’t have been more patient and helpful. Her eye for what works was invaluable, and her flowers were absolutely beautiful!

We enjoyed the what would be daunting process of organising the wedding so much - Lesley made it so easy for us, she was amazing. Even on the day itself the Rustic team worked tirelessly to ensure everything was immaculate and as perfect as we could have dreamt. Everyone needs a Lesley in their lives! Thank you so much!!!"