Real Wedding – Romi and Neil – Shelley Bell

Oh June you do spoil me…..not only did I have two weddings in one weekend, I had two multicultural weddings and both of them with a trapped Sciatic nerve – Marvellous!! In this blog, find out how to absolutely smash a festival style wedding in a blank canvas, dry hire venue whilst absolutely recognising and celebrating your heritage with multicultural styling.

Where: Barnfield Weddings at Brickwall Farm, Halstead. https://brickwallfarm.co.uk/weddings-events-venue-hire/

When: June 2024

Who: Romi and Neil

First Contact: Barnfield Weddings is a new and exciting wedding venue in Essex, not far from the Suffolk border. It’s a working farm which comes equipped with magnificent open spaces, a copse ceremony area made from Willow trees, a gorgeous lake and a soon to be renovated ceremony barn. I was recommended to Patsy, the manager of the family venture, by one of the businesses that has a unit on Brickwall Farm and after a brief and exciting tour, I was happy to be a recommended supplier on their list.

So when Romi and Neil went to visit the site they were given my details and got in touch via my website. We scheduled a video call and realised they were less than 3 miles from me in Colchester and so we scheduled a planning meeting and got to know each other. I was first given a copy of their wedding invitation which had a brilliant simple drawing of a tipi next to a lake with bunting, musical notes and even ducks and this gave me the vibe for the day – relaxed, chilled, music centred and fun – got it!

We also discovered quite quickly that they had a clear vision and had contacted numerous suppliers, mostly via Instagram, or there were friends of friends who were supplying services and it was all a little confused. So they not only booked me as their Celebrant but as their planner and on the day coordinator, I was thrilled to be able to flex those new skills.

Wedding Day: My trapped nerve persisted and meant that I felt absolutely useless when it came to helping to put chairs out in the ceremony area, or even to be able to walk upright, (that was until I had moved about a bit and it started to free up) Not that I was really needed, Patsy’s husband Simon and sister Zoe were on the ball and more than capable – even when the rain came!! After a mild panic and a call to the bride about whether we initiate plan B – a standing ceremony in the partially renovated barn, we agreed to wait fifteen minutes and see what the state of play was – thankfully the sun came out and so the guests came down to the Willow copse and we got cracking.

Now, if I for one moment thought I was the star attraction I couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only was I joined by magician extraordinaire Dean Allen Jones but we were accompanied by the brilliant Gemma, content creating genius, known as @The_Wedit who said at one point “Will we know when they are coming” about the approach of the bride and groom, “Oh yes” I said as the Dhol Collective drummed Romi and Neil to the ceremony space, surrounded by orange smoke from a smoke bomb.

The crowd were warmed up and ready, the sun shone, they all stood and clapped and cheered and laughed in all the right places. We had a ceremony of laughs and at its core a romantic story, all wrapped up in a handfasting and signed off with a slightly damp certificate and a bespoke poem, which the crowd absolutely loved! As Romi and Neil walked off once announced as Husband and Wife, escorted by the Dhol Collective I was approached by two fellas who told me how amazing the ceremony had been, how the poem was just totally them and that one of them had a celebrant for a sister and that he had to tell me I was better than her!! 🙂

Once I’d packed up and driven to the reception area it was time for my coordinator hat, welcome drinks and confetti throwing – what a raucous bunch but they were so ready to celebrate! The best man approached me at one point and told me he hadn’t prepared a speech and wondered what he should say – I gave him my top 3 winners (to be revealed another time) and a bit of adlib encouragement and he was ready to smash it.

Dinner was served with burgers, salads, Jerk Chicken, Paella and lashings of signature cocktails and drinks served by the two bars we had on site. Guests were kept occupied by Dean’s amazing magic whilst they waited for their tables turn to be served. For a desert, cupcakes or ice cream. The Best Man speech was a smash hit and then it was time to hit the dance floor, warmed up nicely by the Dhol drummers backing some dance track classics to the bunch of ravers that made up the wedding party.

Job done, it was time to say my goodbyes and thank yous to all the amazing suppliers and to Patsy and her family of legends who more than made up for my inadequacies and made sure everyone had everything they needed for an amazing evening of drink, dance and celebration. I had a hot date with some Ibuprofen and a hot shower!

Celebrant Led: Only a celebrant could put all the personality and style that these two had into a ceremony that was romantic, funny, enthralling and mesmerising and only a celebrant could have done it accompanied by such smashing musical accompaniment – culturally exclusive musicians are not allowed with Registrars and as the venue does not have a licence then it was not an option.

Only this celebrant could have pulled it all together with the client and the couple to deliver an event that was so successful that no-one even remembered it had rained on their arrival!

My happy couple of clients said after ” We have had such amazing feedback, everyone loved it and enjoyed themselves so much. We had no idea that you were in pain and that makes us appreciate you even more for your professionalism and attention to detail. Throughout our journey you guided, gently reminded, kept us on track and coordinated. We had the ideas but no structure, you gave us this and opened our minds to possible pitfalls. Everyone needs Shelley in their lives – thank you for everything, it was perfect in every way, worth every penny.”

Loved it!