Today we are in a picturesque Cotswolds village for an intimate affair.

Justine and Callum chose to marry on the 26th July 2014, hosting their marquee reception in a quaint back garden setting. They envisioned a small relaxed wedding day with great food, drink and entertainment for their guests.

With the open sided marquee they kept their décor simple, there were fresh blooms and a Gin and Tonic bar. Brilliant.

Justine wore a stunning lace dress with her hair in a romantic loose style and the bridesmaids wore the loveliest blue frocks.

Thanks so much to Tracey Hosey for sharing her wonderful photographs today.

THE PROPOSAL | On a lovely sunny spring morning in a small clearing in the woods near our house where we often like to go running Callum stopped mid-run and said he "needed to tie his shoelace", instead he took the opportunity to get down on his knee and take out the ring from his jacket pocket (after quite a bit of nervous fumbling and me wondering what on earth was going on!).

THE VISION | A small and intimate wedding with a mixture of traditional aspects like the formal Church service combined with a very informal and relaxed reception which would be simple but have great food, alcohol and entertainment.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | Callum is far more decisive than I am and really took charge of the planning which was hugely helpful, we did choose our vendors together and decide on details we both were happy with but it was great having him being so hands-on.

BUDGET | We started off with 15,000 in mind but ended up spending £18,000.

THE VENUE | My uncle Grant and his husband David were incredibly generous in agreeing to let us host the reception in the garden of their beautiful home which is in an idyllic village in the Cotswolds, it really made for a gorgeous and very intimate setting. Months of hard work went into getting the garden ready and it looked spectacular on the day, which really meant we didn't have to do much in the way of decorating.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | I found my dress while on a trip home to visit my family in Cape Town where I am originally from, my mum and I went shopping for it together (just the two of us) and it was one of the first we tried on at Elbeth Gillis boutique in Cape Town, we almost couldn't believe how easy it was, I can be a very fussy shopper! It wasn't the style I originally had in mind but I fell in love with it right away, classic and elegant but not too formal, with some lovely detailing and a lace train which I adored. After a few alterations my mum brought the final dress over in her hand luggage on a trip to visit me a few months before the wedding.

GROOM'S ATTIRE | Callum wore a bespoke fitted morning coat, waistcoat and tie from Favourbrook, his best men also wore waistcoats to match his.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | We had two readings, my Uncle Grant read Corinthians and Callum's sister read a beautiful reading for us which she wrote herself.

For the cocktails before the meal we had a contemporary string quartet called the London Studio Players who specialise in playing modern music, this was great as it gave us some informal and relaxed background music to start the evening off with.

After the meal we found a great wedding DJ company called Stylish Entertainment, the music they played appealed to all the age groups of our wedding and kept our friends and family dancing to the very end, which is something we were really hoping for. We also really didn't want any of the cliché wedding tunes and Nigel from Stylish Entertainment's mission statement is to avoid all of these songs!

THE FLOWERS | We did all the Church and reception flowers ourselves buying them from New Covent Garden market - I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get the maximum amount of blooms for their budget although keeping them cool the day before was a bit stressful in a heatwave! In the Church we didn't want anything too stiff and formal so had two beautiful huge altar pieces of hydrangeas, white roses and greenery. At the reception we had different centrepieces for each table using wicker baskets loaded with herb plants and glass vases filled with lavender, roses, hydrangeas, freesias, agapanthus and lots of candles, each table had a unique look to it, I was very lucky to have a talented friend to take charge of the flowers, he knew exactly what I wanted and did an amazing job.

For the bouquets and buttonholes we used a local supplier in Cirencester, The Garden and Plant Company who were fantastic. I loved my bouquet which had a mixture of country blooms and herbs, and the simple hydrangea blooms which the bridesmaids carried. The buttonholes of thistle and lavender were also a hit.

THE CAKE | We decided not to have a cake, with plenty of canapés, hog roast and deserts we knew our guests wouldn't be left hungry and didn't feel it was important to have a cake cutting. With the money we saved we hired the string quartet which we think added a lot more to the day.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY | Tracey Hosey from Tracey Hosey Photography. We spent a long time looking for a photographer as we were after a very natural style of photo with minimal set pieces. What was great about using Tracey is that we had a couple's shoot a few months beforehand which allowed us to get comfortable with her as neither of us really like having our photos taken. On the day she was amazing and very unobtrusive which allowed for us and our guests to relax and enjoy the day. The photo's as a result were beautiful and managed to capture moments that would otherwise have been missed by us.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | Callum is a great lover of Gin and was determined to have a Gin and Tonic bar, we provided each table with a Gin Menu which gave details about the gins we had available. It turned out to be a great talking point with everyone going around trying each other's gins!

We were lucky to have perfect weather so could keep the marquee sides lifted (our marquee had a very open design which is a bit different from the usual marquee structure) bringing the reception into the garden which meant that guests were surrounded by beautiful greenery and we didn't have to do much to the marquee itself. We sourced an antique mirror to write the seating plan on which looked beautiful.

THE HONEYMOON | We're planning on going next year so still haven't decided where to go yet! To be honest we are enjoying being married before having to plan another major event.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | Too many to write down. The speeches from my Dad and from Callum and definitely the Best Man's speech! Seeing everyone having such a good time and having all our family and friends together was incredible.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Think of it as a big party for you and your friends, relax and try not to stress about the little things which on the day won't seem so important.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Marquee | Artisan Marquees

Photographer | Tracey Hosey

String Quartet | London Studio Players

Bouquets and buttonholes | The Garden and Plant Co.

Dress | Elbeth Gillis Bridal Couture

Grooms and groomsmen's attire | Favourbrook

Bridesmaids dresses | etsy.com, with earrings made by my friend and bridesmaid Kate Kuhlman

What a gorgeous location.

Thanks so very much to Justine and Callum for sharing their beautiful wedding with us here at WWW XOXO Lou