Charlotte + Mackenzie | November 2024

Charlotte and Mackenzie’s wedding was at cosy Milton End Barn deep in the Cotswolds countryside.

I was struck, as soon as I stepped into the ceremony space, by the brilliant banner (“Home is wherever I’m with you”) that hung front and centre, perfectly rust-coloured in the rustic space. “My Nana made it!” Charlotte proudly informed me, when I went to say hi to her and her beautiful posse of bridesmaids in the bridal getting-ready lodge.

You’re the apple of my eye, home is wherever I’m with you

A nana-sewn banner? Erm, what could be more delightful?!

And ‘home’ was a theme running through their ceremony, and their story, so a homemade banner made by family just set a lovely, comforting tone right at the front.

I’m giddy about seeing so many different bridal dresses in this line of work, and Charlotte’s look blew me away when I saw her. Absolutely stunning. Especially the billowing, detailed sleeves. Although it made me giggle when I googled what that particular sleeve shape is called (‘bishop sleeve’). Lacks romance if you ask me. I think we need to task someone in the fashion world with coming up with new names so we can do away with some of the worst offenders (I’m looking at you ‘leg-o-mutton sleeve’).

I’m happy arriving at a venue and having a little nosey around, doing my own informal recce, but one of the loveliest parts of the day was how helpful Rebecca (from planning duo Holly and Rebecca Weddings) was, as soon as I arrived. She gave me a mega warm welcome, made sure I knew where everything was (having never been to this venue before) and then - in the quieter moments - we had a good old natter. About what? Weddings of course.

Gorgeous photos by Edd Taylor Weddings

I’ve talked before in these blogs about how much I love live music at a wedding (not that I expect if you’re reading this you’ve read every other word on this site HA!); live instruments and singers add so much to the sense of occasion and excitement.

For this November day, sax player Kyri serenaded the couple in and out: Charlotte arriving down the aisle on her mum’s arm, and then the bride and groom going back down the aisle to whoops and cheers at the end of the ceremony, out into the low winter sun. And it’s not just exciting running a ceremony with a live musician - it’s also a smooth experience (mega-smooth with saxophone) because the timings, volume and mood can be managed in real time. As the officiant, I can share little nods (if the space is laid out where you can see each other!) so that the music can run shorter, or longer, or begin earlier. Often I’m sharing that nod with venue staff who press play on a spotify account - which is great, which is fine - but live saxophone? Me oh my.

Charlotte and Mackenzie wrote their own vows, long and meaningful, and since theirs is a love story that began when they were teenagers, there were plenty of tears from friends and family as they watched on.

There was such a sense of comfort and homeliness in the day - not just the cosy barn on a winter’s afternoon, not just their little niece Eden running to Uncle Mackenzie after the ceremony for cuddles - but the real sense that the bride and groom had been entwining their lives together since they met at a 16th birthday party, and truly are home to each other. As the poet Beau Taplin said, some find their home in a person:

Home is not where
you are from

it is where
you belong.

Some of us
travel the whole
world to find it.

Others,
find it in a person.