Sitting around the table with all the family on Christmas day in 2009, Rebecca opened the little gift-wrapped box that had been placed in front of her. “Inside there was a ring!” she says. “Rob proposed to me in front of everyone. I was so surprised, I couldn’t eat my Christmas dinner!”

On the 10th June this year, Rebecca, 31, and Rob, 33, had a legal service in their family church before inviting friends and family to a humanist ceremony five days later at Windsor Great Park. “The service took place under beautiful oak trees,” says Rebecca. “We wrote our own vows and we didn’t know what each other was going to say until the actual day. The ceremony was so beautiful, it was definitely my favourite part of the day.”

Photography: David Jenkins Photography (davidjenkinsphotography.com)

When it came to finding the right venue, Rebecca and Rob wanted something special. “We wanted something we could personalise and make unique – the setting at Windsor Great Park was beautiful," it was the perfect place.”

Rebecca looked stunning in a Manuel Mota dress (pronovias.us) with lace detail. “I wanted more detail along the back of the dress and so I altered it," she says. "I went for a V-neckline which was more flattering. After trying hundreds on, this was the first dress that made me feel like me."

The bride accessorised her style with gold, strappy shoes from Badgley Mischka (badgleymischka.com) and a simple diamond bracelet given to her as a present from Rob. “As the dress had so much detail, I wanted to keep the accessories to a minimum," she explains. "A friend also gave me a pair of earrings which served as my something borrowed.”

With the alfresco location in mind, Rebecca decided to go for a diamante slide rather than a veil, which was tailor-made to fit with her dress style.

The maids wore stunning, floor-grazing gowns from Amsale (amsale.com) in plush purple, made of a loose fabric for a floaty style…

…while the little maids looked too-cute in pretty white dresses from Next (next.co.uk). “For thank you gifts, we gave the flower girls bracelets with individual charms to suit their personalities and the maids got individual jewellery pieces from notonthehighstreet.com," Rebecca says.

Rob wore a swoon-worthy grey suit from Reiss (reissonline.com) with brown shoes – cue Prince Charming.

For the bouquet, Rebecca chose lilac, blush and peach avalanche roses with lilac freesias, fragrant cream stock and fresh lime hydrangea with a few sprigs of lavender.

The flowers from Rebecca Jane Higgins Flower Couture (r@rebeccajanehiggins.com) helped to create the nature-inspired day. “With the wedding held outside, we continued the natural greenery theme inside the reception area using ivy, twigs and tree stumps as well as pretty bird details,” says Rebecca.

“The venue was very plain so I was nervous about whether or not we could pull it off, but all of my friends and family came together and worked with me for eight hours a day so that we could decorate the room,” she says. “It looked perfect, just the way we wanted it.”

Rebecca hung heart-shaped twigs with lavender entwined on the walls to add cool, rustic flourishes…

…as well as bird-shaped paper doilies for a funky new take on bunting.

The handcrafted centrepieces were made up of tall clear vases filled with large twigs. Hanging on the twigs were love birds and small test tubes holding gypsophila inside.

“My table plan was designed by Lesley Eaton (fotostory-uk.com), which we put in a frame and hung on an easel,” says Rebecca. “It’s so lovely we still have it hung up on our wall at home!”

The place settings, made of parcel tags and ribbon (coxandcox.co.uk), fitted the outdoorsy theme perfectly…

…and on the back of each place card was a personal, hand-written message for every guest.

Rebecca and Rob decided not to give the male guests favours, but Rebecca hand-made super-sweet, small, lavender cushions for the girls.

The bottom two tiers of their scrummy wedding cake was lemon sponge with a traditional fruit cake on top. “It was decorated with white icing, fresh flowers and a bird bride and groom on top from etsy.com,” says Rebecca.

While the catering was made up of Mediterranean-style food – think lemon olives and sun blush tomatoes to start and hot Italian Tuscan pork with fennel sausages and chutneys for the main – the couple opted for an all-too-tempting sweet table too.

And to keep the guests entertained? Well who better then Her Majesty The Queen? An impersonator kept guests laughing throughout the day and made for some fun-filled photographs.

“All in all we wanted to have a relaxed day with a rustic, whimsical feel,” says Rebecca. In keeping with the theme, Rebecca kept her make-up natural and wore her hair in a classic up-do. To read more about her bridal beauty secrets, grab yourself a copy of the January/February 2012 issue of You & Your Wedding magazine, on sale now. You can take a sneak peek inside the magazine here…

Photography: David Jenkins Photography (davidjenkinsphotography.com)