This glorious day was a pure happy fest from beginning to end. Whopping great smiles, fun moments and bucket loads of love all round.

WWW readers Amy and Michael were married on the 5th September 2015 and held their reception at Nettlestead Place in Kent. It was important to them that their wedding day was local and personalised. Many of the rustic touches were hand made or from their shop or home.

Amy chose a romantic Naomi Neoh dress with lace edged veil, which looked so very beautiful and her maids donned mocha multi-way dresses with flowers in their hair. The boys looked brilliant too, in tweed and chino outfits from their menswear shop Monks Clothing. Oh the style, simply perfection.

Alex Tenters Photography, many thanks for providing the amazing images.

THE PROPOSAL | Mike took me away for my birthday to Bath. We did the Roman Baths followed by a spa and a night out with lots of cocktails. The following day, both fuzzy headed, Mike suggested we go for a walk along the canal before heading home. I could see he was looking for something and then round the corner appeared a boat with covered in loads of white cushions and a white canopy, like a massive chill out area. We went and sat down and he said I could have my birthday present, he had made a jar full of lavender and notes listing out all the different things he loves about me and the last one told me to close my eyes. When he told me to open he was crying holding a big morganite and diamond ring!

THE VISION | We wanted our wedding to be a local affair and just reflect Mike and I with plenty of personalised touches. Most things were either made by us, from our house or from our shop. We weren't fussed on it being particularly traditional we just wanted it to be fun!

THE PLANNING PROCESS | We were engaged for 2 years as we also set up a shop in-between getting married and engaged but from the outset it was important that if we could make it we would! This became even easier being self-employed because I could make things, plan and organise all day at work if I needed to, and also delegate crafting jobs to the staff!

BUDGET | We spent around £15k but I would have said our wedding would of cost around £20k but as we knew almost every supplier we had a lot of suppliers gift us their product/service or give it very discounted.

THE VENUE | Our venue was Nettlestead Place. A beautiful residence which hires it gardens out for marquee use. We personally knew the marquee hire so we managed to get the marquee for a full week to prepare! We arrived there by vintage cars which were supplied by a close family friend I have known since I was about 13!

The catering was supplied by our local pub. We didn't want a formal sit down meal so every table had sharing platters which came out on rustic boards for an informal and personal experience.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | My dress was Marianne from Naomi Neoh. I had it amended at the top as I'm quite petite and only decided the day before to actually wear the flower. I also had a bridal belt which I bought in America and changed into for the first dance. I had a cathedral veil which absolutely did my head in and I took out as soon as I could! And fresh flowers in my hair!

FINDING THE DRESS | I thought I had found my dress, a tight form fitting mermaid lace gown, but decided I would go dress shopping one more time. When shopping I noticed some blush dresses, not at all in the style I liked but I wanted to try them on as they were blush. As soon as I put it on I knew this was the one and got 'that feeling' which I thought I had before but definitely not.

GROOM'S ATTIRE | We knew that we wanted the groomsmen slightly different and not in traditional tails. We wanted them to wear items from our menswear shop and the groomsmen ended up being head to toe in our shops products which made it even more special. Mike wore a bespoke suit from our shop tailor. I didn't know what Mike would be wearing, he opted for a double breasted jacket which looked amazing and I bought him a rose gold pocket watch on the day.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | I walked down the aisle to Ben Howard Old Pines and we had the church band doing the hymns including Shine Jesus Shine, having gone to a Catholic School all of the guests clapped which was fun. Rev.David Green did our service and was so funny he had the whole audience laughing and so did Mike when he was nervous and forgot his words! I regularly go to church so having a priest I know well, and a church band who I see most Sundays was really special for me. Our church reading was by a close friend to us. We didn't know what it was going to be so when she read it out in front of everybody it was the first time we heard it. Mike also wrote and read out a poem for me which I didn't know he was doing.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | I had 5 bridesmaids, including my sister, God Daughter and best friend who travelled from South Africa to be there. They wore convertible dresses and had fresh flowers in their hair. My bridesmaids went over and above to make me feel special, showering me with gifts on the morning of the wedding, planning surprises along the whole way and helping/organising so much on the last week. I genuinely couldn't have done it without them, they each bought a skill to help with the running and were vital to make the wedding what it was.

THE FLOWERS | My local florist and fellow shop owner did our flowers, they were very simple just whites. Mike, his dad and brother all had thistles in their button holes as they are Scottish!

THE CAKE | My cake was plane white and purchased from M&S and myself and the bridesmaids spent weeks before making sugar paste flowers and decorating the night before. They were so delicate to make and paint but it was so special to see all set up and know we had created it.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Our photographer was a family friend and one of the ushers brother!

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | We wanted to make everything personalised to us. So a lot of pieces we made had personalisation on them. Nothing was really bought; it was all made by us, or from our house. Even the massive LOVE letters outside were made by our usher and bridesmaid. We also wanted it to be fun so had a massive white bouncy castle to entertain the kids!

THE HONEYMOON | We went to Hong Kong and Thailand which was perfect for the madness in preparation.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | Getting ready in the morning with my girls! I'm a make up artist so a colleague did my make up, a friend did my hair and it was so much fun it the morning. Walking down the aisle and seeing Mike for the first time is something I will never forget, but generally all our family and friends being together and mixing was unforgettable.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Don't blow the budget but don't go without! We didn't have a videographer because I didn't think we needed one and decided it is sensible to draw the line somewhere and I really regret it! You only get married once!

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photographer | Alex Tenters Photography

Marquee | Cavendish Marquees

Venue | Nettlestead Place

Flowers | West Malling Flowers

Cars | Maidstone Wedding Cars

Make up | Sarah Rumsey Make Up Artist and Amua

Catering and bar | Duke of Wellington Ryarsh

Dress | Judy Mott

Groomsmen | Monks Clothing

Utterly brilliant.

Thanks so much to Amy and Michael for sharing their story with us here at WWW xo Lou