Anna and David married in London. It was a very intimate wedding, held at “The Gun” which is situated in the Docklands on the Isle Of Dogs – overlooking the river.

Make sure you check out the Croquembouche that Anna and David basically well… beheaded with a sword! All reports indicate that it was a big hit with the guests. The loose colour scheme of complimentary blue hues meant that everything was kept informal and simple. I love the contrast of the blue flowers in Anna’s red hair. Stunning.

Anna The Bride: I remember waking up on the wedding day after having had an excellent night´s sleep, feeling very relaxed and calm. My hair stylist, Graham, arrived at my flat a few minutes early and the first half hour then continued to proceed calmly. After that, as more friends and family arrived periodically throughout the morning, things became a bit noisier but the atmosphere was full of joy and anticipation.  Two of my friends had travelled all the way from Hong Kong and Japan respectively for the day, and after not having seen them both for several years it was incredible to see them both sitting in my flat in London, sipping champagne and chatting.
 
Having started off so well, of course we fell behind our schedule but it didn´t seem to matter. The four little flower girls, aged between 2 and 5, were very excited to put on their dresses and twirl around a bit, especially the older ones who had arrived at the flat by 9 am. In choosing dresses for the little ones, I was concerned to make sure that they looked like pretty little girls and not like little girls trying to be grown-ups, which was not as easy as it sounds. In the end, however, they wore ivory dresses with little cardigans which I had found in Monsoon. My only other bridesmaid was my sister who wore a deep blue dress. We had had such difficulty finding something special for her that looked elegant and did not have unnecessary flowers or costume jewellery appended, and in the end we went to an old favourite in Tunbridge Wells, my home town, called The Italian Wardrobe which is located in an old house off the High Street.
 
I also bought my own dress in Tunbridge Wells, but from Isabella Grace Bridal. It took me two goes to decide what to buy, but second time round I knew immediately. I have never never been somebody particularly fond of frills or fuss, but I loved the wedding dress buying experience (much to my own surprise). Nevertheless, I kept accessories simple with flowers in my hair only and no veil or anything like that. However, having seen what Graham did with my hair I really felt there was no need for anything more in any case as he did an amazing job.
 
In the end, the day just passed like a perfect dream and I struggle to remember much of what happened from the point I arrived at the Register Office. So I am particularly glad that Hannah, our photographer, and Tom both captured the day for us so beautifully with the pictures they took. They slotted into our day perfectly too, and my mother was very glad to get a picture of camera-shy Hannah!
 
When I reached the Register Office at Tower Hamlets with my Dad in a white Rolls Royce, I was (so I am told) late.  My sister was keeping the flower girls amused but then it was ready to go in. The Register Office had not been our first choice of venue, but in the end we could not have found anywhere more perfect. The sun was shining, the building was a lovely nineteenth century design, the room was bright and there was a lovely garden at the back where we took pictures after the ceremony. The Registrars could not have been friendlier or kinder either, and our florist, Karen Woolven, had told me when she delivered the flowers to the flat how excited the Register Office was to host our wedding.
 
Flowers for me were very important as I have always loved flowers and gardens. In the end, with Karen¨s help, we chose spring flowers in white and blue, with my favourite blue hydrangeas included in the table decorations. The scent of white freesias was popular with our guests too.
 
As I walked into the ceremony room, I saw the face of my friend Nicole turned towards me beaming, and walking down the aisle towards David were just smiling faces. I do not think I have ever felt so happy as David and I made our vows before our caring friends and family.
 
After the ceremony, we headed for our reception venue which was the Gun on the Isle of Dogs.  The staff at the Gun were so friendly on the evening and our guests commented on just how nice and helpful they all were. I was not surprised though as we had had nothing but a great experience with them from the moment we first walked in and said we were thinking of hosting our wedding reception there. Their events manager, also called Anna, was attentive and helpful and gave us some great recommendations for our florist and DJ (Vince from Modern Events).
 
We held champagne and canapes in the covered marquee area, canapes were very popular and delicious! We also had speaches at that point, because one of the key things we wanted was for people to feel relaxed and the atmosphere to be friendly and informal. I think we achieved that. 
 
The little flower girls enjoyed sitting outside in the sunshine and watching the boats and the river. They were very well behaved as it was rather exciting day for them!
 
All the food was delicious. We ordered a Croquembouche cake from Fancy That Wedding Cakes which we cut with a sword! It was a bit of drama which was fun until on the second cut the cake nearly went flying. Hannah caught the events on camera, which makes a wonderful memory.
 
David and I had taken a dance class in the hope that we would not look complete idiots on the dance floor, but in the end we just pottered around a bit and probably looked very silly!  However, we laughed a lot even though I wondered why we chose such a long song!
 
The party went on until 1 am with Vince ensuring the energy on the dance floor remained invigorated. David and I could not have wished for a better day; all the pictures show us laughing and smiling, and all our guests eagerly doing the same. It still all feels like a dream to me, but I have some wonderful pictures through which to remember the beauty and joy of the day.

Photography by Hannah May
Venue The Gun On The Isle Of Dogs | Boutique Isabella Grace Bridal | Flowergirls Monsoon | Florist Karen Woolven | Cake Fancy That Wedding Cakes

Here are a few things that I love about Mhairi and Jamie’s wedding which took place at South Farm near Cambridge.

1. It took place on a Farm – I love an outdoor wedding
2. Mhairi arrived in a vintage VW Beetle and was subsequently transported to the venue in a Tuk Tuk
3. They found some amazing Gypsy Caravans to have as a backdrop for their portraits

Not that you need any more encouragement to read on, but this really is a fire cracker of a wedding with loads of rustic styling and personal touches, but enough from me…

Mhairi The Bride: Jamie and I met 2 and half years ago and were engaged for a year and two months before our wedding on 26th April 2014.

We wanted a relaxed atmosphere for a wedding day and didn’t really want anything too formal or traditional so we choose South Farm on the Cambridgeshire border as our wedding venue. We loved South Farm from the moment we visited as they are licensed for outdoor ceremonies that suited our rustic theme perfectly. They also had a Tuk Tuk that drove me from the main house to the ceremony which I loved as I have spent time travelling South East Asia.

I got ready at home in Cambridge and arrived at South Farm in a cream classic convertible VW Beetle. For my wedding dress I chose a beautiful lace dress from Paloma Blanca, it was the third one I tried but I particularly loved this one with the pretty lace overlay and low back. My shoes were ivory with a low heel which I bought from Debenhams. I don’t wear much jewelery so only wore some silver earrings that were a present from a friend and in my hair I had a few sprigs of baby’s breath to compliment my bouquet. I only had my sister as a bridesmaid and she wore a long dark purple dress from Dressy and my flowergirl was Jamies niece and she wore a pretty white dress from Monsoon. My hair and make up was done by Michelle Woodgate from a local beauty salon and she kept my make up very natural. For our flowers we wanted to bring in the Scottish Theme with a ‘wild flower’ look so choose thistles and baby’s breath.

Jamie and his Best Men and ushers wore Ted Baker suits with waistcoats and we sourced the bow ties from ‘April Look’ on Etsy. My Dad and Brother wore traditional Scottish Kilt outfits.

Our outside ceremony was beautiful. I walked down the aisle with my Dad to Pachabels canon in D. For the actual ceremony we choose to have some personal vows and three readings by close family and friends.. Scaffolding by Seamus Heany, Bruce Springsteens, If I should Fall Behind and an Irish Blessing, May the road rise to meet you.

Our wedding breakfast was in an amazing barn conversion that we helped to personally decorate with our family and friends. We had a lovely rustic theme with apple crates on each table and names of the places where we have travelled. Jamie is very talented and had made all the wedding stationery and place names. Each guest also received homemade fudge that my sister had Kathryn made and my Mum created the little hessian bags to put the fudge inside.. Jamie hand stamped kraft CD cases which contained a CD full of our favourite wedding songs. For the lighting we used fairy lights and candles. Our wedding cake was made by a friend of a friend and was created from different layers of vanilla, tiramisu, lemon drizzle, strawberry sponge and vanilla cream and lemon curd.. we also had a bowl of strawberries and blueberries to go with the cake!

Although we had a lot of help from family and friends our suppliers were brilliant! We chose Nicola Milns Photography to shoot our wedding as we loved her photos when we visited her website, and on the day she was absolutely brilliant and we loved her unobtrusive style and the finished photos. For the evening reception we chose Licence To Ceilidh who are a London based band that fitted our rustic theme and Scottish Heritage perfectly!

I loved every minute of the day and looking back wouldn’t have done anything differently!

Photography by Nicola Milns
Venue South Farm | Dress Paloma Blanca | Bridemaids Dress Dessy | Flowergirl dress Monsoon | Groom & Best Men/Ushers Ted Baker | Bow Ties Etsy | Rings Goldsmiths Band Licence To Ceilidh | VW Beetle SBI Weddings

Amy and Will had a relaxed foody wedding in a unique heritage venue Victoria Hall. There was much fun and epic floor-filler dancing. I love the Multi-colour bridesmaid dresses but even better than that I love that Amy and Will went for my favourite dinner arrangements… Family Service where a guest on each table is allocated a chef hat and apron and is enrolled to carve and serve for the table. Love it.

Amy The Bride: I’m not really a girly girl, so I wanted something simple and modern, yet with an elegant silhouette. I chose a gown by After Six (part of the Dessy group) which is actually designed for destination weddings and it fit the bill perfectly. My shoes were Jenny Packham for Debenhams. The bridesmaid dresses were inspired by some that I saw when buying my wedding dress, also by After Six, but for budget reasons I had a dressmaker make them up for me. She sent me a number of bright colour swatches to choose from as I knew I wanted individual dresses to suit the different personalities of my friends. The girls chose their two favourite colours and styles from which I then matched up all the choices to choose the best blend. They found their own shoes to wear for the day. We still laugh about Will’s suit. For his outfit for the day he spent more than me and the bridesmaids put together! Will bought an ‘investment’ suit from Hugo Boss, his shirt and shoes were also Hugo Boss. The groomsmen all bought their own slim fitting suits of their own choice and Will bought Hugo Boss ties for them all.

Will and I live in London now but I grew up in Leicester and my parents, family and many friends still live there. Will’s family are divided between the South and the Northeast so the Midlands made sense. We agreed that we wanted a pretty rural setting, easily reached direct from London by train if possible. Moreover we wanted a location where everything was close by – the ceremony location, a nice pub (in case of inclement weather) and the reception venue. We really wanted the day to flow rather than be disjointed by travel. Looking at train routes we decided to check out Oakham in Rutland. It ticked all the boxes, a beautiful and rural small market town with the stunning historical Oakham Castle as a potential venue. But it was Victoria Hall that helped sell it to me.

Good food was a priority for us and we already had our caterers in mind. We used a cater company run by British Masterchef Andy Gabbitas. We travelled up to his pub The Wortley Arms in Sheffield for a tasting session and to set the menu. It was sublime food. We explained that we wanted a very informal, family orientated feel for the day. We decided on Mediterranean antipasti for the starters as we regularly travel to Italy. Andy suggested the idea of the beef mains carved and served by one of our guests as a ‘chef’ on each table, which we loved. They also provided the table linens and tableware. We can’t recommend them enough. The fairy light trails used to dress the venue ceiling were provided and set up by a local hire company called Rutland Marquees. The rest of the decor and styling was done by friends and family, mainly the bridesmaids and Will’s Uncle Rog and Aunt Joan.

I went with a local florist Pollen Floristry, who designed me a fun and colourful bouquet to match my colourful bridesmaids. We were lucky enough to have the loan of Uncle ‘Big Jon’’s Bentley Continental to drive me from my parents house, where I got ready, to Oakham Hall. I wore simple stud earring from Ernest Jones Jewellers, our wedding rings were by Swiss atelier Furrer-Jacot, purchased from Mark Adam in Tunbridge Wells.

I got ready at my parents’ house in Leicester with all the girls. It was a lovely relaxed long morning of laughing at old photographs (mainly embarrassing ones of my sister and I) and giggling at old stories from our childhoods. Our hair was done by a local mobile hairdresser that my mum uses and my make-up was done by Nicola Honey who really listened to what I wanted. I don’t often wear make-up so it had to look as natural as possible, I was really pleased with the end result.

I walked down the aisle to Beth Orton’s duet with Terry Callier of Lean on Me. It’s a very emotional and uplifting song which is very meaningful to Will and I, so it had to be that. We’re not terribly serious people, so an awkward shuffle to a soppy song would never be our style for first dance. We chose Mumford and Sons’ ‘I will wait’, for our first dance, which involved lots of stomping, jumping and clapping and got everyone in the spirit as we’d hoped. We wanted to throw a real party for all our guests so we hired a Leicester band called The Atlantics. They are a fab party band, they kicked off with some 60s classics that got the dance floor full from the start and kept it that way all the way to the end.

Deciding on the Photographer for our Wedding day was one of our most difficult decisions, we knew that once all the hype and excitement had died down, only our photos and fading memories would remain. We looked for someone who had an impressive portfolio, someone who we really thought we could get along with and someone that would make us feel relaxed in front the camera. After trawling through numerous web pages and speaking to other friends who had recently married we chose Kate Tolson at Lucabella Photography. It turned out to be one of our best decisions.  When the photos came through we were blown away. Each one was well thought-out and really captured our day in the most magnificent way. We felt that Kate’s photos brought something special, something genuine, something that is only possible to describe when you flick through them months after the event and you just can’t help smiling.

My Advice would be try not to leave everything until last minute! It became quite stressful as a result in the final run up to the day. Decor was a last minute panic as we hadn’t given it a huge amount of thought in the run up. Get caterers that provide everything if possible, our caterers were great and took a lot of stress off us. Make a plan for all weather. We had hoped that guests would be able to stay and enjoy the grounds of Oakham Castle until it was time to head over to Victoria Hall but the weather thought otherwise, luckily we had a contingency plan of heading to local pub The Admiral Hornblower until the hall was ready. Keep everything nearby if possible, don’t get your guests traipsing around. We really feel that not doing this carried on the celebratory mood, there were no dips which we feel helped make all our guests feel really up for it in the evening. Organise a late night venue or extend your licence/agreement. We had only arranged to have Victoria Hall until 12am but many of our guests wanted to go on a bit later.

Finally everyone says it but don’t stress, it will all come together, and no-one ever notices the finer details that may have been missed. First and foremost your day is about the people that are there.

Photography by Lucabella Photography
Gown After Six (Dessy) Shoes Jenny Packham for Debenhams Groom Hugo Boss Venue Victoria Hall | Florist Pollen Floristry | Rings Mark Adam | Makeup Nicola Honey.

Rock My Wedding readers Carly & Simon both love the arts, particularly music and theatre. They reflected their shared passions with a Shakespeare themed wedding in old London town.

With a Justin Alexander gown, maids in Jenny Packham for Debenhams and photography by Dominique Bader this vintage inspired wedding is as beautiful as one of Will’s sonnets. I love the fact that Carly and Simon got up on stage to contribute a few lines in a play performed for their guests at the reception, check it out!

Carly The Bride: It was clear, pretty sharpish, that London was destined to be the location for our wedding. I’m from London and Simon’s lived in London longer than he has anywhere else so it’s very much our home, our stomping ground. On the hunt for venues, when I first stepped into St Etheldreda’s church I had a bit of wobbly moment, I knew straight away that this was where I’d like to marry Simon. It’s such a beautiful, atmospheric church – the oldest Catholic church in England, with an incredibly rich history – even Shakespeare has connections with the church. The area and the church itself has lots of ties to my family so it was really special being able to get married here.

We looked at a few options for our wedding reception and knew we didn’t want anything too grand or formal (we’re a bit scruffy round the edges); we wanted somewhere with character and a touch of style. Conway Hall, hiding quietly in a corner of a square in Bloomsbury and serendipitously a 10-minute walk from our church was everything we wanted. The hall opened in 1929 and it’s interior is largely untouched. With an elegant lobby, wood-panelled hall, balcony and stage (screaming out to be used) with a quote from Shakespeare above it – ‘To Thine Own Self be True’ – it just felt completely right.

Hair was a doddle, thanks to my hairdresser, Charlotte Russell, who’s been looking after not just my hair for years, but my mum and sister’s too.  I feel comfortable and very ‘me’ with my bob so want to do anything different. Charlotte gave my bob the magic oomph it needed and created gentle and ever-so-pretty up-does for the bridesmaids. Charlotte was so calm and made me and everyone else feel so relaxed.
I didn’t feel quite so confident about make-up, so I called on the wonderful expert, Mel Kinsman. I found searching the web for a make-up artist quite overwhelming (it’s a hard thing to choose online) – so thankfully our photographer, Dominique, recommended me some of her contacts, who eventually led me to Mel. I was so pleased to find Mel and loved the finished result, a natural look with BIG eyes.

I found the whole dress choosing adventure quite nerve wracking. Having never really dreamed of getting married I didn’t really know where to start or have a clear idea of what I wanted. After a couple of shop visits I tried on a few in the very lovely Angelica Bridal in Islington and my sister, Kirsty, picked me one to try on last as a ‘wild card’ option. ‘Try it on for fun’, she said. Of course, the wild card option was The One. A beautiful, 50s-style lace and tulle T-length dress by Justin Alexander. I think it was clear how I felt as soon as I had it on as I had to spin around a few times and had a big fat grin on my face. The dress was so fun and easy to wear, plus it sparkled and I got to show a bit of leg!

So with a dress like that I needed some impressive shoes as they would most certainly be on show. Rising to the occasion was a pair of gunmetal shoes called Genny from Kurt Geiger – just right as I knew I didn’t want anything white and angelic. These studded, spiky shoes had the grit and sparkle I was after.  Later in the even I did swap them for some silver Converse, much to Simon’s delight when he eventually spotted them and laughed his head off. The trainers came in very handy when pogo-ing to the band.

Finding the right  head piece was a bit tricky. I decided a long veil wouldn’t quite work with the dress and then thought a bird cage veil might do the trick, but in the end I settled with a simple and soft feathery hairband from, amazingly, BHS. Just goes to show that you don’t necessarily have to spend over the odds because it’s your wedding day. Sweet and simple felt just right as the dress had a big enough voice of its own. I kept things very simple with jewellery, wore one of my own bracelets and borrowed a pearl bracelet from my mum as my something borrowed. I bought a brooch to add to the dress as I didn’t like the brooch it came with, the sparkle of the brooch ended up matching my shoes brilliantly.

The beautiful bridesmaids were my sister, Kirsty and my two school friends, Anna and Sinead. Their dresses were wonderful prom-style dresses by Jenny Packham for Debenhams. For the ushers (Simon’s brothers, Tom and David; cousin Andrew; and mates Kris and Eliot) and best man, John, the suits – plus ties & pocket squares – were also from Debenhams. Simon, quite coincidentally was originally thinking of going for a fifties suit so the ushers’ suits had a slight fifties’ vibe. A vague theme was forming without us really planning it. My sister and I went with Simon to Selfridges to help him choose his suit. Kirsty’s eye for style was a godsend, she was ultimately our wedding stylist, as she should be, working as a buyer in men’s fashion. Simon chose an incredibly dapper grey suit, with a green tweedy waistcoat, and pink shirt, all from Ted Baker. Topped off with a maroon kooky bow-tie from Austin Reed and Jeff Banks shoes. Quite the gentleman (although some guests thought he looked like Dr Who!).

We never set out to have a theme as such but certain things seemed to become prominent, our love for music and my love affairs with books and Shakespeare! Conway Hall didn’t need much dressing up as its features are interesting enough on their own. Simon and the ushers strung fairy lights up and dressed all the tables on the morning of the wedding (overseen by a couple of trusty girlfriends). Tables were simple and pretty, piles of old books – some of them nice and dusty – in the centre (many hired from Samantha at theletterlady@hotmail.co.uk) with scattered paper heart confetti, punched out of old books. That took some time…even my dad was involved in punching paper hearts. Each table was named after a Shakespeare play and had a copy of the particular play propped up on a bookstand. Guests were asked to write message in the book, so we now have a lovely collection of Shakespeare plays with messages written inside – numerous rude ones too! Inspired by RMW, we had a ‘table of pretty’, where we put pictures of our parents and grandparents on their wedding days, and more old books. You can never have too many books.

Stationery and little touches were quite important to us, we both enjoyed being creative with design and fonts. For the tableplan, I covered cardboard with pages from an old Penguin classic – Mrs Dalloway – and stuck each ‘cast list’ on top. Tables were named after a different Shakespeare play and each guest was a character from the play. Individual place names were stamped by hand on the back of book postcards. We designed the menus ourselves, agonising one evening over font choices.

Our favours were CDs with some of our favourite tunes on, including the song Simon wrote and sang to me when he proposed. His band – Flavatown – had hilariously recorded it specially. I found the idea for the vinyl-look CDs on RMW and our friend, and creative genius, Neil Stevens from Crayon Fire, designed the CD artwork, as well as our invitations – a very special wedding gift. Another friend, Rob, painted us a tree which everyone could stamp their thumbprints on to.

Our glorious blooms were provided by the incredibly lovely, Ruth Freeman of Gingerlily. I was keen on anemones from the start as they were my Nan’s favourite flower and my mum had them in her bouquet at her wedding, so it was meant to be. The anemones looked striking, particularly the white ones with the bridesmaid dresses. Ruth did a beautiful job on the bouquets, buttonholes and table displays. The table flowers were a lovely surprise as I didn’t know quite what to expect, I just knew Ruth was going to choose what was best and in season at the flower market that day. I wanted an unfussy, pretty and natural look and really adored Ruth’s choices of flowers, herbs and foliages. Ruth also filled one of my Nan’s old vases with more lovely blooms, which sat on the ‘table of pretty’.

There was something incredibly calming about walking into St Etheldreda, seeing everyone’s smiling faces and then seeing Simon waiting for me. I don’t think I stopped smiling, from the priest’s opening words about bumblebees to when I put Simon’s ring on the wrong finger, to Simon’s accidental comedy trip on the way out. It felt like the start of something new even though we’ve been together for thirteen years. We had one bible reading and a second reading from Shakespeare’s Tempest. Everyone sung their hearts out, the trumpeter trumpeted and the sun actually shone in April.

celebration and party we really wanted to throw, plus we managed to surprise everyone with a short play. Just as everyone had sat down, some ‘cleaners’ arrived on stage insisting they were booked in to clean the hall. They were actors cunningly disguised as cleaners who went on to perform the hilarious Pyramus and Thisbe, the play-within-a-play from Act 5, Scene 1, at the end of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Simon and I had a few lines to contribute too and we’d asked a friend to secretly jump up and be Puck at the end. Surprises all round. We really wanted to make people smile and I think we succeeded.

Our first dance was a bit of a mash-up, Two Become One by the Spice Girls, quickly moving in to Girl From Mars by Ash, which started all the dancing and the twirling. Live music was a must for our shindig so we hired a brilliant three-piece band, called Happy Daze from Function Central They rocked the hall, got everyone dancing and played some absolute classics – thoroughly recommend them. Simon and his band Flavatown, also graced the stage at the end for some boozy tunes and noise. Our friend Matt took some fun photobooth-style pictures for us in the evening, so we’ve got lots of comedy pictures of friends and family.

Choosing Ginger Jar to be our caterer was one of the best wedding decisions we made. Jenny at Ginger Jar was brilliant to work with, full of creative ideas, invaluable advice, patient with all our questions and able to work within our budget, as well as having to work in a particularly small and basic kitchen! Most importantly, the food was delicious and we received so many compliments on the menu. Starter was slow-roast belly of pork with black pudding, caramelised apples and baby leaves; main was posh shepherd’s pie – confit shoulder of lamb with salsa verde, potato galette and glazed summer vegetables; and dessert was Sticky Toffee pudding with salted caramel sauce. Jenny also played a huge part in making the wedding play happen, as she recommended her brilliant actor boyfriend James, and he assembled a fantastic bunch of actors, in quite a short space of time, to perform Shakespeare for us.

The cake was courtesy of Marks and Spencers and we jazzed it up with some help from Ruth’s flowers and Lego versions of ourselves, complete with lego guitar amp and a stage. Sadly, we were having too much fun and forgot to cut it! Oops. We chose our favourite cheeses for the evening from La Fromagerie in Highbury. Wine and bubbly came from Majestic, beer and soft drinks from a well known supermarket, and the spirits were collected from trips through various airport duty free lounges.

We saw Dominique Bader’s photographs on RMW and immediately fell for her timeless, elegant and stylish pictures. Dominique took such beautiful pictures that we will always treasure and she really captured the essence of the day – the laughter and fun. We felt so at ease with Dominique and it was a pleasure to have her photographing our wedding. Everyone should book Dominique for their special day! Thank you, Dominique.

If things get stressful, just hold on to the easiest, simplest part of the whole wedding madness – you’re marrying the person you love, your best friend. When decisions making got tricky or I couldn’t face thinking about money and budgets, Simon was great at reminding me how amazing it was that we’re were organising this big party for all our friends and getting to celebrate the years we’ve already had together and the years we have to come. Do exactly what you want on your day, don’t feel you have to follow any rules or traditions. And savour every minute in your beautiful dress!

Advice from Simon: I recommend choosing a DIY venue.  Although it’s a bit more work on the day in setting up we used a load of our friends to help with this. The venue also put no corkage on drinks and Ginger Jar were happy to accommodate serving our own booze for the evening.  Along with the DIY decorations, this saved us a lot of money and meant we could maximise our budget in other areas, the food being the principal one.  I like my food!

Photography by Dominique Bader
Venue St Etheldreda’s church and Conway Hall | Makeup Mel Kinsman | Boutique Angelica Bridal | Dress Justin Alexander | Shoes Kurt Geiger | Headband BHS | Maids Jenny Packham for Debenhams | Groom Ted Baker | Blooms Gingerlily | Band ‘Happy Daze’ from Function Central.

It’s a bit of a fashion fest this morning folks. I love seeing a black tie wedding and Rickies Paul Smith Tuxedo is absolutely perfect. Danielle chose a couture Phillipa Lepley gown paired with Manolo Blahnik shoes. I told you it was a fashion fest!

I love the blue colour scheme and am especially fond of Danielle and Rickies incorporation of a cocktail hour in the early evening. Oh and Rickies Whiskey bar sounds pretty spot on too…

Danielle The Bride:As soon as I got engaged I was dying to try on Vera Wang’s stunning Gemma and Kendall dresses. All of the gowns were beautiful but I couldn’t decide if I wanted to feel sexy or like a princess on my wedding day. My friend recommended Phillipa Lepley so after my appointment at Vera Wang I headed over there. When I saw my dress I knew it was the one! It had the best of both worlds. The hidden corset gave the dress the fitted look I wanted while the skirt screamed princess, not to mention the never ending train with beautiful hand stitched lace on the endless layers of stunning French tulle. But what really sold this dress to me was the fact is a one of a kind couture gown, I truly felt special and unique on my wedding day. Wedding dress shopping was one of my favourite parts of wedding planning sadly it only took me 1 day 3 appointments and 4 hours to find my dress!

I am looking to pass on the dress now so any enquiries please contact me at Danielle.rickie2014@gmail.com

After finding the dress I immediately went to the next task – shoes! After proposing pink to my bridesmaids as the colour scheme and none of them seeming very excited it was clear I needed to rethink. After looking through bridal magazines I came across a wedding were they had gone with a mixture of cobalt & baby blue and instantly fell in love. With a cobalt blue colour scheme it meant only one shoe would do, Hangisi Satin Pump in cobalt blue by Manolo Blahnik. I have been in love with these shoes for years and that it was the perfect excuse to get them! For further accessories I wore a cathedral veil and pearls.

As I am Canadian and therefore half of the wedding guests would be travelling we wanted the venue to be both truly British and convenient for everyone to get to. We immediately narrowed our search to venues in and around London. After a month of looking for the perfect Venue we came across Stoke Place. Good food was important to us and we noted that the venue has won awards for its food lending us the confidence this would be the case on the day. The grounds were spectacular and the friendly staff were also a huge selling point.

We picked hydrangeas and lilies to be the main flowers for the day as we wanted the table arrangements to be simple and classic. The Mother of the Bride who had taken a flower arranging course performed all the arranging for us.

The flower order was placed in advance and then collected from David Gibb at the Covent Garden flower market the morning of the wedding. If you are confident in arranging your own flowers I highly recommend this route. You will get great quality flowers and save a lot of money.

The aim with the decor was to make it both personal and tie in our colour scheme. The rooms were decked out with blue and cream tissue paper puffs. Blue Lillie scented candles were scattered on the tables as well as varying sizes and shapes of white candles around the perimeter of the wedding breakfast room. The Ladies and Men’s bathrooms had emergency kits with almost everything you could possibly need as well as flip flops in the ladies to encourage dancing all night long!

Having a massive sweet tooth the only way to go with favours was a pick and mix table which was the focal point for one of the rooms. Mini take away boxes with personalised stickers were left on each guest’s place setting to fill. Additional little extras like the MR & MRS and chair signs were used on the head table. To keep it elegant little silver ball table name holders were used as well as retro blue straws for the cocktails. Majority of these extras were ordered online from Not On The High street. For the table plan we had a map of all the places we had been together and the tables were named after these cities.

After giving my bridesmaids free reign to pick their own dress and none of them being able to decide I became a true bride and picked one myself. With all of them having different bodies types I found aspects I liked from numerous dresses they had tried on and had a tailor combine them to make the perfect dress! One of the bridesmaids is a professionally trained singer as well as a TV presenter so it was important to incorporate her talents into the day. She sung as the bride entered which was a special moment – everyone had tears! During the ceremony there were also some lovely readings by the Groom’s sister, Bride’s Sister in Law and God Mother. For those of you struggling to find a reading I high recommend Sonnet XVII by Pablo Neruda.

Throughout the whole planning process the Rickie had mentioned he thought live music would create a special atmosphere, however we weren’t sure where the money for that would come from. Keeping his wishes in mind I went to work searching to find the perfect group to surprise him with. Working with Vanessa at AllegroArts Live music I listened to various artists, when I came across Mood Swing who I thought were perfect. Just to confirm I had the vibe Rickie was looking for I casually played one of their covers one evening at home to see what he thought. Rickie’s face said it all; I called Vanessa and booked them the next day. Mood Swing were amazing on the day of and gave our cocktail hour the perfect touch of romance.

For the evening it was all about the Party. We wanted to ensure our guests were up dancing all night long. At an open day at the venue we came across Mighty Fine and were so impressed they had done an event in Danielle’s home town in Canada we thought it had to be a sign. Mighty Fine understood the importance of keeping the party going, they gaged the crowed perfectly and had everyone chanting one more song at the end of the night! The service from start to finish was brilliant. We particularly liked the online playlist, where we could build in all the songs we did (and didn’t) want.

The quality of food at Stoke Place was one of the deciding factors as to why we chose the venue. During the day everything was good quality and most importantly hot (We have lost count the amount of weddings we have been too with cold food). They were extremely accommodating with our dietary requirements and the service was good considering a high number of guests. The evening buffet was also good quality as were the canapés. Many guests have commented it was the best wedding food they have had.

The cake was provided by Lilybean Bakery. We had three tiers consisting of chocolate, vanilla and lemon and she also made edible minions as our cake topper for our second traditional fruit cake home made by the Groom’s father. If you love a moist chocolate cake you need to contact Lilybean Bakery!

We wanted a photographer that was a little different and Liam Smith didn’t disappoint. We particularly liked his artistic eye for shots which differed from the other photographers we met with. As the photographer is such an important part of the day I was hesitant to make a decision, but then Liam said something that really stuck with me. He asked me whether or not I felt comfortable with him, did I generally like him? He reminded me that him I would spend a large majority of the day together and if I was comfortable he would reflect in the shots he would capture. For a photographer to be so honest, and have such confidence in his work I knew we were making the right choice. Looking back at our photo’s it was the best decision we made. I have since recommended him to every friend I know getting married, warning he books up quick so get in there fast!

A unique aspect of the day was that I organised with venue to put together a whiskey bar for Rickie. It was a surprise and they set this up with his favourite types of whiskey and ice. It went down amazingly well with everyone although there were some sore heads in the morning!!

Photography by Liam Smith
Gown Phillipa Lepley | shoes Manolo Blahnik | Groom Paul Smith | Venue Stoke Place | Cake Lilybean Bakery | Entertainment Mood Swing & DJ Mighty Fine.

When Movie Producer Tarquin Pack and Fashion Designer Sophia Rogge tied the knot in the heart of Wiltshire they chose to host the celebration in their new home, a sizeable farm house with barn and marquee to house their nearest and dearest for the occasion.

This mornings offering of real wedding eye candy delivers you a super alternative Boho style which Sophia and Tarquin totally nailed. To perfection! Check out those incredible outfits, this one really is a must see, for all you fact fans out there Sophia’s veil and headpiece was designed by Justin Smith who designed Angelina Jolie’s headwear for the Disney film Maleficent.

Sophia The Bride: We chose to get married in February as we wanted to ensure all our guests could join us and there wouldn’t be any cross over with someone else’s special day, which can happen in the popular summer month weddings. We wanted it to be small but it got quite big, we realised that a wedding is a moment to bring the people you care about all together and it turns out we have much family and friends!

Both Tarquin and I shy away from the camera after a life time of knowing that we are not the most photogenic couple but on first meeting James he instantly put at us ease. And on reflection getting James to take the photos at our wedding was the best decision we made other than agreeing to marry each other.

Photography by James Green
Brides Gown Sabyasachi | Jewellery – bronze African arm cuff and earring from a market | Veil/Headpiece Justin Smith Venue Decor/styling – Bride | Caterer Gideon Hitchin |Wedding Planner Jonathan Seaward
Stationery – Mount St Printers | Entertainment (day & evening) Cut A Shine

Hello everyone and happy Sunday.

It’s that time again folks – a quick look back at the last seven days in blogland. We’ve got weddings, inspiration and a whole lot of style.

The Littlest Boho

When Movie Producer Tarquin Pack and Fashion Designer Sophia Rogge tied the knot in the heart of Wiltshire they chose to host the celebration in their new home with a super alternative Boho style wedding. This one really is a must see, for all you fact fans out there Sophia’s veil and headpiece was designed by Justin Smith who designed Angelina Jolie’s headwear for the Disney film Maleficent. See the whole post here.

Absolutely Captivating.

One of the most wonderfully elegant weddings to ever grace these pages. A romantic affair staged at the divine Notley Abbey. This pair look like something out of a fairytale. See the full post here.

Read All About It

This week also saw the launch of the very first Rock My Wedding Magazine. Not only are we providing you with a wealth of inspirational styling ideas, we are also including completely exclusive never-seen-before real weddings that are as beautiful as they are attainable in terms of decor, fashion and frolics.

We’ve made sure the way we present imagery is clean, modern and ever so lovely, we want you to really really see every single gorgeous detail.

Our first issue is our beauty edition, as well as all of the above you will also find an easy smoky eye tutorial and various ways to “recreate” the looks our gorgeous models are sporting, not to mention all sorts of make-up recommendations…

What are you waiting for? go take a peek right here.

Rock My Style

Over on our lifestyle blog Rock My Style, there’s been a whole heap of fashion and beauty chat. Lauren C has been on the hunt for a blue dress to wear for her friend’s wedding, Charlotte has been discussing her nail habits and Miranda shared some great fringe-spiration after a recent haircut.

Well, that’s all from me – thanks for stoping by and we will see you next week for even more eye popping wedding inspiration..

Take care peeps and happy Sunday.

Adam.

We have for you an absolutely perfect DIY wedding at Sam our Sam’s parent’s home in Banchory, Aberdeen. They built a marquee on their beautiful land & ceilidh danced until the wee hours of the morning.

Featuring a homemade cake, homemade decorations, homemade stationery… Even the groom and his best man served their own home-brews. There was a BBQ feast followed by strawberries. Rain interfered with proceedings somewhat but then made way for a terrific rainbow.

Ella The Bride: My bridesmaids (two school friends) and I all grew up together but now live in different cities so one bridesmaid booked a dress showing for Perfect Bridal Rooms in Aberdeen when we would all be back home for Christmas. Being a bride I still wanted to look like myself so immediately fell in love with the fun, short dress that perfectly fitted the bill. I let bridesmaids choose their own dresses and was thrilled with the summery coral colour they chose, I then bought the same material and had a neighbor make a mini version for my 1 year old flower-girl niece Ella.

Pete kept his outfit a surprise until the day of the wedding. His bestman, ushers and he all wore full Northumberland Tartan kilt attire (him being a Geordie lad!) I’d never imagined getting married anywhere other than my childhood home as I loved it so much growing up. It took a fair bit of convincing of my parents before I persuaded them logistically it could work. We hired a marquee that the farmers allowed us to erect in the field by the house. Afterwards my mum was so happy that we had a wedding that meant so much to the family.

There was no strict colour scheme at all. My extremely talented and creative auntie Lynn handmade hundreds of different coloured paper pom poms and miles of bunting in bright colours to decorate the marquee. She also decorated jam jars and filled them with wildflowers (from her garden) and hung them on shepherd’s hooks in the walk up to the marquee. Jill from Hay’s Flowers is a local family friend who knew exactly what we wanted before we even discussed it. The wildflower bouquets for my bridesmaids and me were exactly what I had dreamed. We had wee posies of wildflowers in jam jars on all the tables as well as homemade table names featuring stories and pictures from our favourite places.

Since I am a teacher I had my students handwrite our Orders of Service, which they were extremely honoured to do! The ceremony was an informal non-religious event in the marquee with readings and speeches from friends and family.

Pete first heard Teannaich whilst at University in Edinburgh, I had never heard them but trusted his judgement and they certainly got the party in full swing! They used a mixture of traditional ceilidh music spliced with rock inserts. Both Pete and I love BBQs so it was natural that we should have this as our wedding menu. For dessert we had strawberries and cream with the strawberries delivered by local producers (Castleton farm) and topped off with homemade lemon drizzle cake with lemon buttercream lovingly made by Pete’s sister Imogen.

Our photographer Elizabeth from Tub of Jelly was absolutely brilliant. She was extremely relaxed and unimposing and blended in with the guests allowing her to take fantastic natural shots. We are over the moon with the photos and cute little video she made for us that really capture the feel of the whole day.

Photography by Tub of Jelly
Bride’s Gown Ellis from Perfect Bridal Rooms | Florist Hay’s flowers | Marquee Craigievar Events Hire | Caterers: BBQ by Delilicious and Strawberries from Castleton Farm Shop | Bridesmaids Dresses Alfred Sung by Dessy | Groom & Groomsmen Northumberland Tartan | Stationery: Invitations designed by Pete’s sister Alexandra Clarke | Entertainment: Ceilidh by Teannaich | Transport Allan & Black Coaches

Faye & Coops both work with Derren Brown, who was also a guest at this wedding. Relaxed, fun and gorgeous pretty much sums up their big day and they also lived by the RMW Mantra of “Your Day Your Way” choosing to do their own thing rather than play by the wedding rules.

Faye and Coops photographer Steve Gerrard is an old friend of Team RMW, when not shooting weddings he can usually be found shooting pop and rock stars so he’s used to rubbing up next to a celebrity or too… But after this wedding Derren Brown mentioned him in a tweet and temporarily crashed his site. Having had a good look through these amazing images I can understand why.

Faye The Bride: Langley Priory in Derbyshire was our perfect venue. We had a look on the off chance, as it was very close to Coops’ family home, and loved it. I’d always talked of getting married next to lakes and willows and this fitted the bill perfectly. Teri-lee and Tim were so lovely and accommodating, we couldn’t have asked for more. For the reception we opted for a teepee in the grounds from PapaKata, who were great.

I don’t wear lots of make-up normally so I didn’t want to go overboard. I’d hate to look like a completely different person walking down the aisle! It’s the same reason I didn’t smear on the fake tan – it’s just not me. I had understated lips with black eyeliner. My make-up artist was Emma Mc she was lovely and understood my minimalist needs.

I designed my own dress from images of other dresses with help from my dress maker Teresa. I knew that I wanted an A-line skirt in tulle but looking around dress shops everything I liked the look of restricted my movement. I couldn’t have that; I’m a very practical girl. In the end we even added pockets to my dress, it was wonderful. I went for a-line since it has always been the most flattering on my figure. Since the beginning I knew I wanted to wear some kick-ass boots with my dress. After some searching and unsuccessful wearing-in of boots that tried to eat my feet, I found these from Aldo. They’re so amazing and on the day I was definitely the most comfortably dressed. My headpiece was Jenny Packham’s Acacia II borrowed through eBay from Natalie at fab*furn8ure, £40 for the week which is really great value and counted as my something borrowed! I also wore a marcasite necklace that Coops bought for me when we were first together. We didn’t want a formal bridal party so the boys just wore their best suits. I’m really jealous of the bridesmaids dresses, the fabric we found was such a beautiful colour. My mum made them, they’re basically infinity dresses that you can wear in any style, £30 for both! She did a wonderful job on them, she’s got to make me one next.

We didn’t really have a colour scheme, we just knew we didn’t want a normal “white” wedding with chair covers and table cloths. The teepee and location really set the theme. We decorated the tables and teepee with antique books and old cameras, as they’re our main interests. All of the props came from Sarah at Something Old Something New. I can categorically say our wedding would have been nothing without her. She was unbelievably helpful and her props looked stunning on the day. My mum dyed some muslin dark grey for table runners and we hung ivy and fairy lights everywhere. I went round in circles trying to choose flowers and in the end I left a lot of it up to our florist Kerry from The Blossom Tree. I trusted her so much since every example picture I had shown her turned out to be one of her displays anyway! I went for white and green on the chair ends and tables and pastel shades for my own bouquet. My bridesmaids had bunches of white gypsophila and my mum, Coops’ mum, sister and auntie made buttonholes from white roses, lisyanthus and ivy.

I walked down the aisle to Stand By Me by Ben E King, not particularly original, we know, but it’s Coops’ favourite song. Since we’re both quite childish it was a complete surprise to me that my favourite part of the day was the ceremony. We both giggled and cried our way through it. Coops’ granddad read our only reading from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, ‘Love is a temporary madness’, a slightly altered version I found online. Immediately after the ceremony we played Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, it’s lovely hearing that song now. For the reception a friend of a friend set up his decks. Our first dance was Postcards From Italy by Beirut, we’ve always danced about the house to it so it seemed fitting.

Maverick, our caterers, were absolutely great. Yet again we didn’t want the normal fare, we wanted a selection of different bowl foods, thai green curry, prawn linguine, vietnamese beef salad, lamb tagine and sausage and mash. They were small portions so everyone could try more than one. Despite our slightly odd requests Maverick did a wonderful job and everyone complimented the food. For desert our friends and family had made cakes, they were all delicious! We have a brilliant graphic designer friend that knocked up our invites in a jiffy, based on a design I’d seen somewhere. We loved them, they were perfect. Place names for the tables were written on plantable paper (paper with wildflower seeds in) so they doubled as our favours. I was still messing with the table plan at 7pm the night before!

If I have any advice it would be to get your venue, marquee (or tipi!) hire, florist, photographer, make-up artist booked as early as you can. It was a real rush to get everything done, Coops was away on a theatre tour from Jan to July so he couldn’t help and the stress of arranging it all affected me a lot. We were incredibly lucky with who was available for our wedding but I’m sure it could have been a different story! Obviously lists are your friend, mine got so large and daunting I had to start new ones. Keep your spreadsheets up to date, 3 days before the wedding I found out I had only been quoted for coaches and not actually booked any, so that could have been a disaster!

BIG LOVE to our photographer Steve Gerrard with Alex Miller, they came up with absolutely perfect shots, couldn’t have asked for more. And such lovely people, really made us feel relaxed.

Photography by Steve Gerrard
Dress Teresa at Chalk Boutique | Venue Langley Priory | Teepee PapaKata | Makeup Emma Mc | Decor Something Old Something New | Florist The Blossom Tree | Catering Maverick

We’ve already met Lucy & Danny once before… We featured their engagement shoot back in June this year, you can catch up on all the details here. So how do you follow such a romantic engagement (involving a serious amount of kissing underneath a Cherry blossom tree)?

Well… with this!

Lucy The Bride: We were married in a beautiful little village church in Stansted Kent. Our wedding reception was in a barn next door to the church. The barn was a complete blank canvas so we were able to put our own
stamp on it to reflect our style!

Danny has always had a passion for comic books so we had to work that in to our wedding somehow, and rather than me walking down the aisle as wonder woman, we decided to take a more subtle approach to the theming by having superhero table names and cufflinks that we made for the ushers. I really love bright colours too so the comic book theme and colour scheme went really well together. We made a lot of things ourselves which was both stressful and fun at the same time, though it was
worth it in the end to add that personal touch. I think my favourite home made things were the comic book “Mr & Mrs” and our little cake toppers. Our gorgeous cake was made by my very talented friend and tasted amazing!

My favourite part of the day was the ceremony. I don’t think I have ever been more nervous in my life than when I was stood by the church doorway and heard the start of that bridal march, but my dad took my arm to lead the way and as soon as I saw Danny I was relaxed and couldn’t stop smiling. My brother gave a reading which just made the ceremony all the more special. We hired a really cool VW campervan to take us for a little ride after the ceremony. It was nice just to have a little bit of alone time and let it sink in that we had just got married! It’s so easy to get swept away and realise that you have barely seen each other all day. The band we hired (ReCover) were fantastic! They had everyone up dancing straight away and did a great version of our first dance song. My advice would be to dance as much as you can all night long as it goes so quick!

The day was captured beautifully by our photographer (Lemonade Pictures). We had an amazing day and couldn’t have wished for anything better.

A beautiful day at the victorian winter garden hall in Hexham. Ellen choose Cornflowers in remeberance of her late grandmother and the decorations flowed from there. Beautiful wild flower arrangements everywhere and lots of fun and games, aeroplane kits, lawn games and a caleidh. Ellen carried an authentic vintage purse bought by her mother decades ago and beautiful sparkly pumps.

Ellen The Bride: Before Tom and I got married, we had already been together for 8 years. Neither of us had any real set idea as to what we wanted from our wedding day, but we were clear about its key components: we wanted it to be fun, totally unpretentious, and we wanted it to reflect the partnership we had already built together. We often hold parties for our friends, so we basically approached the wedding like we would a great shindig: we needed great food, booze, quality music to dance to, and all the right people there to celebrate with us.

The main thing we wanted to get out of our wedding, though, was to have a day in which everyone could be completely relaxed, not worry about “wedding rules” and just be themselves. For us a fundamental element of the day had to be that we could celebrate with our family and friends without worrying whether or not everything was perfect or matched up to convention: we just wanted to have FUN.

There were also aspects of wedding traditions that neither of us felt reflected our relationship: after 8 years together, for example, it felt odd to have my Dad give me away, so Tom and I walked down the aisle together instead. It felt fantastic for us to walk down the aisle as a team. Similarly, we worked hard on the vows together so that they reflected how far we’d come already. We approached everything together, with an enquiring mind, to ensure that every element of the day felt personal to us. We didn’t do this consciously, or as a grand political statement, but rather because our wedding day meant an awful lot to us and we didn’t want to just go through the motions that were expected of us.

Despite this generally unstructured approach to the wedding, we actually had tons to do to get it in order – our venue only came with the space, so everything else was completely DIY. We couldn’t have managed it without the amazing help offered by our family and friends in setting up the venue the day before – it meant that by the time we got to our wedding day we had already been bowled over by the immense support they had shown us, we honestly couldn’t have done it without them!

Before our wedding day we were somewhat sceptical at the idea that it would be “the best day of our lives” – there was so much riding on its success, and it just seemed unfeasible that such a thing existed outside of Hallmark cards. In reality, though, it really was magical: not just because everything worked perfectly, the weather was beautiful and the venue flawless, but mainly because it was simply amazing to have everyone we cared about rooting for us, and enjoying themselves.

If we had any advice to offer after our wedding, it would be to work as a team, and only agree to things that you are comfortable with. We were constantly told by our loved ones to please ourselves in preparing our wedding, but in reality a wedding is a public affair and we felt quite keenly that we wanted to have a day in which everyone would feel welcome. Saying that, the fact that we wanted to accommodate our guests’ needs should not come at the cost of being forced into doing something you don’t feel comfortable with. The fact that Tom and I worked so closely together on the preparation of the wedding meant that we could maintain a united front when under pressure from other people’s suggestions, which turned out to be crucial in having a day that reflected us so well. I have absolutely no idea how some brides manage taking on the organisation of the wedding single-handedly: Tom and I divided the tasks fairly evenly, and this still took loads of work! (And we’re genuinely quite organised people!) It meant that we ended up with a day that we were both really happy with, and meant that in the run-up to the wedding the burden was halved and the excitement shared.

The Brides Fashion and accessories

It’s fairly safe to say that I was a somewhat reluctant bride when it came to wedding dresses – the only reason I decided to wear white was on the basis that no-one else would be. I was absolutely horrified at how expensive wedding dresses were, and pretty demoralised by how centred around the dress the day is generally considered to be: I got married so I could be with my love forever, not wear an enormous, expensive meringue once!

It’s kind of ridiculous, then, that I ended up with such an extremely pretty, traditional dress. I scoured end-of-line, vintage and second-hand shops and couldn’t find anything that suited me (turns out bosoms were tiny in the 50s, who knew), so eventually admitted defeat by going to more conventional wedding dress shops. There I found that there was no such thing as “The Dress” – it turns out that anything that costs £2000+ looks pretty fab on, so I found it really hard to choose, and still couldn’t bear the expense. So I compromised by seeking out a sample sale, and getting my dress from there.

Having spent some time living in Spain I was immediately attracted to lacey detailing, but otherwise my main concern was just making sure I could move and eat in it! The dress I chose was lovely and light, and I just felt completely myself in it – my main fear was that I would feel like an idiot even if I looked good!

I was really pleased with my hair and make-up for the day thanks to Vicky at Pins, Petals, Powder – she was really responsive to my ill-formed thoughts, and managed to turn my extremely thick, unruly hair into a beautifully relaxed up-do which I felt completely at ease in and lasted all night despite copious dancing!!

I only managed one ceilidh dance in my big wedding dress – it was just too boisterous! I’d bought myself a cheap lacy number from H&M for dancing in, and wore my favourite old Irregular Choice heels to go with them.

My Mam gave me the pearl earrings as a gift, as well as a 1920s handbag of hers. I had TWO engagement rings to wear (kind of excessive, I know): Tom proposed with a beautiful amethyst, rose and white gold ring rather than a “rock”, because he knew that I had already inherited a more traditional engagement ring. They’re both really unusual, don’t really match each other, but have immense sentimental value – so I wear both all the time.

The Groom’s Fashion and accessories

Tom didn’t have any set ideas about what he wanted to wear either, but was pretty adamant that it should feature a waistcoat! His one shopping trip with his Best Man entailed a visit to one shop and most of the afternoon spent in the pub – turns out boys love gender stereotypes! So Tom and I went shopping together and quickly picked out a very sharp-looking steel-blue number for him. He chose the ties for himself and the Best Man which I initially hated – but was proven totally wrong as the dusky jade colour worked perfectly with the other colours on the day.

The Venue

Although Tom and I met at university, we are both from the North East and were agreed from the start that the wedding should take place there. We were spoilt for choice for venues in Northumberland as it’s full of castles and country houses, but were concerned that such grand venues wouldn’t really suit the laid-back day we intended – and a marquee or teepee sounded too risky for the blustery Pennine weather! The Hexham Winter Gardens were a perfect find for us – we loved the immense amount of light and space it offered with plenty of outdoor space.
It used to be a Spa Hotel in the 19th Century but is now the local comprehensive school – which meant that it was a really beautiful, unusual space that felt special without being overly grand. Its size had the added benefit of allowing us to hold the ceremony and the reception in the same place, which was a major factor in making the day hassle-free.

The one downside of the venue was that it was entirely DIY – I initially sold this to Tom as allowing us “greater creative control” and to save money. I think we managed both, but it did require a lot of organisation on our part to ensure all the different suppliers delivered on time and that we had everything we needed in advance. As a school, we were only able to set up out of school hours the day before the wedding – this meant all furniture, crockery, flowers etc. had to be delivered and in place and all decorations put up in just over 5 hours!! We were totally reliant on our friends and family in helping us to sort this out – and they were absolutely incredible! We were really pleased to end up with such a personal day that everyone had a hand in making, but it was a Lot of work in advance of the day.

Colour Scheme/Décor

If there was one thing this wedding didn’t have it was a theme. We really just picked and chose decorations that appealed to us and that we could make cheaply and by hand!
I knew that I wanted deep blues and greens for the flowers, and this grew towards an intuitive inclination towards nature and the outdoors (which we both love). Shortly before the wedding, we realised that we’d unwittingly stumbled upon a vague Midsummer Nights’ Dream theme with lots of flowers, fruits and stars everywhere – it felt fortuitous given that our first date Should have been on Midsummers’ Day (I postponed it by a day to look busy!), but that was a complete accident.
Tom is a keen amateur artist, so he painted mini watercolours of mountains in the Lake District for each table. We combined placenames with favours by using peaches with little leaf name flags, and used vases and teapots from our Mums’ and Ellen’s Grandma’s cupboards for the table flowers.
We decorated the hall with homemade star garlands and pom poms, with lots of bunting to fill in the gaps.

Flowers

One of my favourite things about the day was the flowers – my Mam arranged all of the table/hall decorations and they were well beyond anything I’d envisaged! We sourced all of the flowers from a local wholesaler, who organised the bouquets and buttonholes for us too.
The only thing I was adamant that I wanted for the wedding was cornflowers – which we combined with delphiniums, peonies and stocks for a very pretty, English country garden effect.

The Wedding Party Fashion

Tom didn’t have any groomsmen, and we let our Best Man, Ben decide what to wear himself.

I let my two bridesmaids, Becky and Vicky, pick their own outfits – we went for a deep blue to match the cornflowers, but I wasn’t dead set on that particularly. My main aim was that they felt themselves in what they were wearing, and given that they are grown women of completely different shapes and sizes I thought it made more sense to let them pick! Becky lives in Aberdeen while Vicky and I live in London though, so we had fun taking stupid pictures of ourselves in changing rooms and sharing them with the other side of the country to compare notes…

Ceremony

Initially Tom and I had wanted to take a straightforward approach to the ceremony and just recite the vows recommended to us by the registrar: we felt that a legal ceremony wasn’t really capable of reflecting our relationship anyway, so why fuss over the detail? When we saw the suggested ceremonies, however, we really didn’t feel that they reflected us at all – and mainly just made us cringe horribly!

So over a couple of pints in the pub one wintry evening we sat down and wrote our vows together – it was really nice to be able to say them in private to each other before the ceremony itself, and I think it must have worked as there wasn’t a dry eye to be seen during the ceremony!

We’re both avid readers and former Arts’ students, so snobbery was always going to be an issue when tackling the cheese-fest that is wedding readings. I’d also spent days searching for readings for my sister’s wedding a few years previously, and wanted to find something a bit unusual that also reflected us as a couple. Tom’s sister Helen read ‘Nay, but I fancy somehow’ by Robert Louis Stephenson, our friend Jerry read ‘Tin Wedding Whistle’ by Ogden Nash, and our bridesmaid Vicky read an extract from the Odyssey (chosen on the basis that few weddings include the sentiment “Despair to their enemies, joy to all their friends. Their own best claim to glory”).

We really had no intention to be so particular about the ceremony, but ended up restructuring the registrar’s speech and the wording of our vows quite significantly so that they reflected our marriage as a marker in our relationship rather than being the start of it. There is no reason why you can’t do this – the legal obligations form a very small part of the ceremony itself – and I’m really glad we did as it was a really personal, moving ceremony.

Entertainment

Music of all kinds was a really big part of our day – which was largely thanks to my little brother Will! He is a freelance musician, and transposed a version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Bron-Yr-Aur’ for us to walk down the aisle too which was AWESOME (particularly as it was so sweetly played that no-one noticed we were secretly rocking out).

He also organised a brass quintet (with him on tuba!) to play fantastic big band and jazz tunes after the ceremony while we were having drinks on the lawn. It meant the absolute earth for him to play such a fundamental role in the day, particularly as he did it with such characteristic coolness!

In the afternoon ‘The Hedgehog’s Skin’ ceilidh band held a traditional Northumbrian ceilidh for us which was immense fun and got everyone up and dancing. We really couldn’t have asked for anything more from the band – their musicianship was stellar, yet they were really unassuming and their caller was great at explaining all the steps to everyone! They were a really crucial part of making the day fun and relaxed – and could even play the tune we wanted our first dance to!

Food

We really wanted our wedding breakfast to be a laid-back, informal affair, and in particular felt that having a heavy three-course meal on a summer’s day would be far too stuffy and leave everyone wanting to have a nap! Jackson’s caterers were able to provide a perfect solution for us: a lovely selection of cold meats, cheeses, salads and quiche served to the tables that everyone could share. They also provided a hog roast in the evening which was exquisite and went down a storm. Most importantly they were a really competent, calm influence and helped in ‘fill in the gaps’ with serving drinks etc, which really helped the smooth running of the day – an easy thing to forget is necessary at a DIY venue.

A big way we got people involved in our wedding day was by asking for them to bring a cake instead of a gift for us. We were so touched at how much effort everyone went to despite the distances most people had come!

As Tom’s grandma is a star fruitcake-maker, we asked her to make a small cake to be our ‘cutting cake’ for photos. Tom’s granddad also got involved and they created a cake that far exceeded our expectations – an amazing two-tier number with handmade butterflies!! Our friend Anna did an amazing job of knitting our fox cake-toppers (in honour of our shared love of the much-maligned London wildlife!).

Photographer

We weren’t really sure about having a photographer to start off with – we were quite happy to make do with the very competent amateurs amongst our family and friends rather than have a stranger along to our wedding! Most of all, we really hated the idea of posed shots – they never seem to reflect people at their best and most of all take up loads of precious party time!

Having SJ as our photographer was the perfect antidote to our fear of bad photography: she was fantastic at talking through everything in advance of the day to make sure we were comfortable, and was such a lovely, calming presence on the day itself. We immediately felt at ease with her and she captured the mood of the day beautifully – it’s just wonderful to have so many pictures of everyone laughing and being themselves!

Videographer

We didn’t actually know that we had a videographer – until we found out that it had been done behind our backs! Our friend Lee (who works in TV) managed to secretly film a montage of all our nearest and dearest belting out Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” at the wedding (The Boss is the third person in this marriage). It was hilarious and so well done, and easily one of the most touching gifts we received. Although we can’t remotely understand how he was able to film it during the day without us noticing – just goes to show how rushed off our feet we were!

Rock My Wedding readers Bec and Chris chose a barn venue for their wedding. They originally looked at having a Stately Home venue but unfortunately the ones they went to see were let down by the ropey furnishings. I totally get this… You don’t want to be distracted on the biggest day of your life by a dodgy carpet!

Their rustic celebration was packed with pretty styling touches and some really cute DIY elements and those pastel mint bridesmaid dresses from Coast look fabulous.

Bec The Bride: I tried on 35 dresses until I found the one. I always knew I wanted Lace and a button back but the style I had no idea about. When trying on dresses they all looked lovely but I never Loved any of them until the only day I went without my mum and I tried on ‘the’ dress. it was completely different to all other styles I had tried on before but the moment I tried it on I felt instantly special and knew it would go with our venue and style of the wedding perfectly. After buying… Wow did I panic. Was it right? Had I chosen correctly? I went to my first fitting 6 months later and saw it hanging in the dressing room and I fell in love with it all over again. I didn’t want to take it off!

The Grooms Fashion

Chris knew that he wanted a navy tailored suit and he heard Reiss offered a tailor service at their bluewater store. It was an easy process from getting measured to choosing every last detail of the suit, even down to the stitching. It took 6 weeks from the initial fitting / consultation to receiving the suit. He didn’t show me the suit so it was a surprise on the wedding day and I must say he looked so hansom as I walked down the aisle to him. Chris loves his shoes and knew he wanted munk shoes from the start and his Russell and Bromley shoes were the perfect choice to match his Navy suit.

The Venue

I always wanted a barn wedding but Chris always liked the idea of everyone being able to stay under one roof but as we looked at stately homes the silly things like carpets and curtains turned us off and back on to looking for a Barn wedding. Blake Hall was the third barn we viewed and we loved it the moment we walked in. The barn was stunning and the service we got from Austin on just the first meeting made us know that everything would go smoothly on the day.

Colour Scheme/Decor

We choose mint and peach as our colour scheme purely as we fell in love with the Coast mint dresses our bridesmaids wore and Peach because of our love for David Austin peach roses. After hours, days, weeks and months on pinterest and Rock My Wedding we decided we wanted a rustic themed wedding with logs and upcycled tins with flowers as our centre pieces. We didn’t want them to take up too much room on the table to obscure people’s views. We collected hundreds of corks and got friends to collect for us not really knowing what we wanted to do with them but using them in the end as people’s names settings and for a sign at the Bar. It was special for us that everyone helped contribute to the décor of our day.

Our good friends own a vintage hire company called Little birdies vintage hire and they were amazing, each month suggesting items we could hire to add to our theme. They even made us our bunting and boy was there a lot of bunting. At the time little birdies vintage hire didn’t have step ladders for us to hire so we used Vintage style hire to hire 2 sets of ladders that made up our table plan and a few extra suitcases and apple crates to create our entrance to our aisle. Shrinking violets our amazing florists helped set this up on the day as I knew that however they would display this would look fab and they didn’t let us down.

Flowers

Shrinking Violets Lorraine and Nicky were the amazing and I would highly recommend them. Everything they touch looks incredible. Lorraine and Nickys style is exactly what we wanted for our rustic/vintage day. My bouquet had everything from David Austin Roses to succulents and the Bridesmaids had a simple hydrangea bouquet with some grey foliage. Another flower I fell in love with was the Billy balls which is when our theme colours changed from mint and peach to mint and peach with a touch of yellow! It’s now been over 2 months since we got married and Chris’s button hole still looks like it did on the day. Chris didn’t want a big flower as his button hole so when we found the billy balls we knew they would make a perfect button hole to commitment the navy suits.

The Bridal Party

The bridesmaids wore mint long dresses from Coast and they had initial gold pendant necklaces from kate Spade. At the meal gave them all a kate spade bangle to go with the necklaces as their gifts. The groomsmen wore navy suits from TM Lewin and ties from Reiss.

Ceremony

We choose our best friend Vic to read a reading at our wedding. Vic searched the internet high and low and in the end decided that she would try and write the reading herself. It was truely special and personalised to the two of us. We didn’t read the reading when we sent it off to the registars for approval so on the day it we was blown away.

Love is collecting him from the pub when he was “only staying for one.”
Love is eating all of her chocolate so that the temptation is gone.
Love is being adamant that you are right and nevertheless letting him win.
Love is saving her from having to clean the inexplicable juice that leaks from the bin.
Love is being silly together and laughing so much it hurts.
Love is being thoughtful and putting away his shirts.
Love is getting her a cold flannel when she is feeling sick.
Love is building a life together brick by brick.
Love is the ache in your chest when you are apart.
Love is an exciting adventure, a new chapter of which you’re about to start.
Love is all of these things and many more, for you to explore as man and wife.
Today… Tomorrow… For the rest of your life.

Entertainment

Our Dj was a friend of Chris’s . It was so nice to have a friend as the DJ he arrived early so he could hear the speeches and even picked up the task of videoing them.

Food

The cake was made by the very talented Lucie Waller of Wonderland Bakery. I met lucie at the bluewater wedding fair and we arranged a meeting at her house in Essex. Lucy made up a section of cakes and as soon as I tasted her fruit cake I knew she had to make the cake. Not many people are a fan of fruit cake but lucie makes the best I have ever tasted. We went for top tier fruit, middle tier Carrot and bottom tier sponge. As Lucie was the first person I booked I changed my mind of the style of the cake a few times. Poor lucie was very patient with me and the Cake on the day looked incredible. Lucy can make anything so this was quiet a simple design but everyone commented on how amazing it looked and tasted. Lucie also in shrinking violets so it was nice that they had worked together in the past.

The Photographer

Where do I start! Our Photographer was Laura Babb. We found Laura be googling creative wedding photographers. I am really into my photography and didn’t want the usual cheesy snaps. Laura’s style blew me and my husband away and after meeting her we didn’t book to meet anyone else as we knew she would be great. Lauras service is something you would never imagine from a photographer. Laura sets up groups for all of her clients to chat about wedding issues from where to find a good florist to where to buy wedding underwear. Laura is super helpful and throughout the process it feels like she was helping with the planning of your wedding in addition to being the photographer. We had an engagement shoot included so we headed over to Greenwich. Chris has never liked his photo being taken and Laura put him at ease and after walking away that day he said how happy he was that we had chosen her. It was a really hard process to choose what photos to pick for our album as we love every one. Friends and Family have said our photos are the best they have ever seen and how she really captured the day.

DIY

Myself and Chris spent along time decorating tins, making sweet favours, Signage like our welcome sign for the day and we wouldn’t change it for the world although it took along time. Looking back at our photos and comments we had on our day made every bit of the details a special part of our day and made it ours.

Michelle & Fritz married at the gorgeous Grittenham Barn. It’s a blank canvas, which they loved, and so decorated it themselves completely. From DIY Chandeliers to pom poms to a handmade garland for the ceremony backdrop. This duo’s paper based talents extended to the stationery too, which they designed themselves. Clever people.

I kinda wish I’d been a guest at this one – there were so many games and activities to keep the guests entertained… I bet everyone felt really looked after. There are so many other amazing details too – you’ll just have to jump in and take my word for it.

Michelle The Bride: Fritz proposed to me back in 2012 while away on holiday in New York, one of my favourite places, it was truly one of the most beautiful moments ever shared – apart from the wedding of course! 
We always knew we wanted our wedding day to be relaxed, laid back and just good fun for all our closest friends and family.  

After looking at countless venues, we came across Grittenham Barn. I remember thinking this is exactly what we had been looking for, so the date was set for the 19th July 2014! We wanted to plan/design the majority of everything ourselves and the venue allowed us free range. The venue consisted of a barn, lake, gardens and even its own donkey! We didn’t have one definite theme but we felt it naturally took on a  vintage/rustic look to the day. We choose a colour palette of mints, teals, peaches, pinks and golds styled with materials such as washi tape, twine, paper, and lace. I made a variety of decorations myself from finding fabulous DIY projects online, being a creative at heart I loved creating  the decorationst for the wedding; from the DIY chandeliers to the DIY giant feather heart which adorned the fireplace. Online blogs allowed such creative freedom, I literally trawled through diy projects picking out projects I felt would compliment the venue as well as putting our stamp our personality on the whole wedding. We also brought a variety of decorations, like the paper fans that embellished the brick wall behind the top table and the bright pompoms that hung from the iron chandelier in the ceremony room. We know weddings can be a long day so want to keep our friends and family entertained. We put in comfy seating  in one part of the barn and games such as giant Jenga,  a coconut shy, full-on scalextric set, and the game pucket in the garden. In the garden we placed picnic balnkets and decks chairs for guests, adding to the laid back feel.

When it came to my dress I knew the back of the dress was just as important as the front. luckily the 2nd shop we came across I found the perfect dress, a beautiful lace slim fitting dress with a satin cowl that draped over the back. From the beginning I always knew how I wanted my hair and make up on the day, I was so grateful to find Kitty from ‘Kitty Boo’ she specialised in vintage styling she did an amazing job I was so happy with the results – thank you Kitty! 
I found the pretty mint bridesmaid dresses on the high street,  a steal at £50 per dress, this was a blessing as I did have 5 bridesmaids!

For Fritz’s suit, he set about searching the high street to find something slightly unusual. Unfortunately he couldn’t find anything close to what he wanted so he went to a few bespoke tailors in Brighton and decided to have the suit made by Gresham Blake. The fabric was actually a reverse of a darker teal in the sample book, and he wanted to go brighter which wasn’t a problem. For the lining he went with mint, as too with the back of the waistcoat, and then finished off the lining with pink piping. The shoes were from Next and had a casual feel, in keeping with the atmosphere of the day and with a teal sole, they complimented the suit. Like my dress his suit was kept a complete surprise from me until the day of wedding, we felt this was a lovely way to both share the special moment of seeing each other for the first time at the ceremony.  

With the groomsmen and best men suits fritz really wanted to avoid blacks, navys and dark greys. He relied on the ties and handkerchiefs to make the statement and the suit needed to be quite subtle. He hired the suits and chose a light grey suit and coupled with this with light teal / turquoise accessories from Manshop, Burgess Hill, which complimented both the bridesmaids dresses’ and his suit.

For the flowers we choose ‘Angel like Flowers’ they completely understood the feel I wanted the flowers to have and we chose a colourful wild and rustic theme for the flowers. To carry that through to the button holes I used peacock feathers and natural twine. For my bridal bouquet we chose a relaxed hand-tied bouquet of mixed flowers and foliage /buds a “just picked from garden” feel. The bridesmaids had hand-tied bouquets of Coral /Peach Snap dragons. For each table centrepiece we chose to have a selection of bottles and jam jars, all different shapes and sizes surrounded by tealights. Each group of bottles were placed on crochet doily’s which I individually brought from e bay. For the top table Angel made beautiful silver birch logs with matching wild flowers. Angel also created a cute antique gilt picture-frame with dangling tiny bottles and flowers inside that we hung above the fireplace in the barn.

For the food we decided to have a lamp spit roast. Vanilla Catering helped us though this decision and they were happy to arrange the cooked lamb served up on each table. We complimented this with a selection of  lovely cold salads to give a more summery, barbecue feel to fit with the seasonal weather. Again, to have everyone sharing and passing around the lamb, salads, and rustic bread accentuated the feeling of a party, steering away from anything too formal and keeping the vibe relaxed. When we decided on the cake I had seen miniature beach huts cakes somewhere in Brighton and thought this would a perfect alternative to one larger cake, the design reflected our home town Brighton, seagulls included of course!

It was really important for us to have live music at the wedding, we found a great band Belle & The Whistles; a vintage style band playing a mixture of songs from the classics to modern day songs. They added an extra dimension to the day and got everybody on their feet for a cheeky dance.

I absolutely loved creating and planning our day, for us it was all the little projects that brought the day together as a whole. I would really urge people to use all the DIY projects out there, it really does allow you to add your own stamp on your wedding day. We would like to say a special thank you to Hannah May for capturing all the amazing moments, a truly incredibly talent and such a lovely lady she made us both feel so relaxed in front of the camera, and has captured some very special moments that we will never forget!  We really can’t thank all our beautiful friends and family for making the day truly magical!

This afternoon we have a stunning welsh wedding at the beautiful Peterstone Court. Full of smiles, big balloons, ferns and mountainous views…

Anna and Mike live in Australia but decided to tie the not in Wales and we are all the richer in the eye candy department because of this decision, so mahoosive thanks go to Ann and Mike you’ve brightened up our afternoon with this little Welsh wonder.

Anna The Bride: I think you could call me the last minute, indecisive bride and Mike a horizontal groom. We’re from Cardiff Wales and currently live in Fremantle Western Australia so planned our wedding from the other side of the world with an 8 hour time difference. In reality we threw it all together in the two weeks leading up to the wedding. This meant that some bits I’d pinterested to death (menu cards) didn’t get done, there were a lot of last minute challenges such as the chairs being cancelled days before the wedding, which all led up to the most incredible day of our lives.

I think our wedding led on from our engagement, Mike had the most incredible ring designed and hid is under the floorboards in our house. After all that effort he decided to propose on a whim whilst we were chilling in our PJ’s and my nails were chipped. Our wedding was just like this example of unplanned perfection.

The Venue


The church was walking distance from the venue. It was amazing walking back to the venue with all of our friends and family and really gave us some time to soak it in, one of my favourite pictures is me hugging my bridesmaid on the walk. 

As the venue is quite far from where most of our guests live we put on a bus to shuttle people back and forth. This worked out really well and meant everybody could let their hair down.



The Dress




What can I say about the dress?! A nightmare that turned into a dream… Perhaps because we were planning the wedding from so far away, my dress felt like the one thing I could control. 

I bought the first dress I tried on, after trying on about four dresses on our holiday back to Wales I decided it was too hard to buy a dress in wales and have fittings from Australia so in a stress I went back to the only shop I’d visited here and bought the first dress I’d tried on.

 I would never have thought I would want something puffy but for me (a person who would rather be overdressed) after trying on a puffy ball gown every other dress I tried on I just felt like I was in a maxi dress. In the end it was go big or go home.

The top was originally completely encrusted in bling, something that was hilarious after a champagne lunch but tear inducing when reality hit and I picked the dress up 8 weeks before the wedding. It was awful having a dress that didn’t feel like me (not a bling person), people choose dresses for all sort of reasons but ultimately you are the person who has to wear it so it should reflect your everyday taste.

I managed to find a designer who was willing to help me rework the design. We removed the bling and added the lace – this simple alteration calmed the overall look down and created my perfect dress.

If you can’t afford couture I found reworking an existing design was a cost effective alternative and in the end I wouldn’t have changed a thing about my dress. The dress ended up being a reflection of my everyday style, it felt like me and I was so happy to wear it.

Accessories

To finish off the look I decided to hire two sashes just two days before the wedding I visited To Have and to hire in Cardiff and found the matches from their amazing collection. One for the day and one for the evening. 


When it came to hair accessories I ended up with the more is more approach! 

A few days before the wedding I decided I wanted a veil. I was really lucky when I visited a bridal shop who offered to sell me one there and then as they normally take months to order. My plan was to take it off as soon as the ceremony was done but I figured you only get to rock a veil once so it stayed!



I had bought quite a few pieces but on the day I decided that all I wanted to wear was a bracelet given to me by my late father on my 18th birthday. It felt so nice to have him with me and I would highly recommend wearing something that means something to you. It ended up being my something blue and old.

Shoes

I’d toyed with the idea of going all out designer but then decided if I was buying a pair of jimmy choos I wanted something I would wear time and time again so I thought I would save money and found a pair of fabulous topshop shoes online. When I arrived home I tried them on and they were really squeaky so I did a last minute dash to Dune and bought the most comfortable shoes ever. They had a hint of old school glamour/ballroom and I didn’t cry when I scuffed them on the dance floor.



Hair & Makeup


I have to mention my hairdresser and makeup artist. Both of whom were wonderful. Trying to find people from the other side of the world was tough going and in the end both came on personal recommendations. I absolutely loved getting ready with my girls and mum and the atmosphere getting ready was sublimely chilled – a morning I will remember forever. Both of these girls contributed to this really chilled out vibe and wowed at all the right moments. Just gorgeous.



Having never had a hair trial my hairdresser Joanne Lebeau was incredible, she managed to understand exactly what I wanted and got it right first go. She came as a recommendation and I have to say was amazing on the day. Obviously used to doing weddings she didn’t judge when we watched Father of the Bride on repeat, played us a wedding playlist, knew how to work the hair flowers, veil and even expertly helped me in to my dress.

I knew I didn’t want to look like a drag queen but I also didn’t want to look like I’d rolled out of bed. Jemma did a lovely job, when I looked in the mirror I still looked like me but a bit more glamourous. I felt done up (which I asked for) but not cakey.

The Groom

Mike’s an electrician so it’s not often he gets to wear a suit. He didn’t want to wear traditional tails but wanted to wear a three piece. He opted for a Reiss slim fit suit (Barber) which was also worn by his brother (best man). Mike wore a Rado watch which was purchased for the day. By the time we came to buy the Ushers suits the Reiss suits had sold out but we found a close match from Next. The ties were from Reiss (bargain sale ties) and Mikes mum made the pocket squares to match.

The Venue



As we live so far away from our friends and family we wanted a venue that would allow us to have a few days away with them. We also needed a venue that would take care of the catering and the essential things that would just be too hard to organise from abroad. Peterstone Court is absolutely beautiful, set in the Brecon Beacons the Georgian charm suited the glamour puss in me. The views were spectacular and it was awesome hanging out on the terrace overlooking Penyfan. With a small church just walking distance away the venue was a natural choice for us.

The Décor



We didn’t really have a theme or colour scheme it was more just things we liked. It was all quite natural with colours coming from the greenery and seasonal flowers. The girls wore white and the guys ties were a sort of off cream with a grey/silver stripe. I had seen the giant balloons and had really wanted them to line the entrance drive, nothing says party like a balloon! they were forgotten about until the morning of the wedding when somebody from the venue managed to drive into Brecon to get them blown up. They ended up being a big feature in the wedding we used them as props in our photos and later in the evening they were taken inside to hover about the dance floor – unplanned magic.

The Flowers

My mum was originally a botanist so I’ve grown up being dragged around gardens and staring at wild flowers. This has resulted in a love of all things floral so I knew flowers would be a big part of my day. 

Emma understood the brief from the get go and I have to say she took my vision and made it a reality.

 I’m way to messy to have something really structured but I still wanted the flowers to have a sense of glamour. What she achieved with her team was amazing from the bouquet to the fireplaces it was incredible. 

I was adamant I wanted ferns as my centerpieces as I love the colonial feel that ferns have. They are glamorous yet subtle. But really they just remind me of my family home. Honestly one of my favourite things on the day.

The Wedding Party



Before my hens, my bridesmaids had never been in the same country, let alone room together so finding a dress was a challenge. I had a budget of around £200 per bridesmaid but was restricted to looking online. I was quite laid back about what the girls wanted to wear but I knew I wanted full length. I found that the girls really wanted to be led by me so in the end I just had to make a decision for them. I walked in to zara and spotted a long white dresses with delicate beading (£40) and thought that white suits everyone. In the end there was red wine spilt down my sisters before she even made her speech and she still looked amazing. They were my little angels in the lead up and on the day so I’m pleased they were dressed accordingly.



The Ceremony




When I lost my dad at 21 I was terrified that there would be a gaping hole in my wedding day. As the day drew closer I realised that not one person could fill that hole so it was best not to try. I decided the best way was to split the role up. My uncle walked me down the aisle, when the reverend asked who was giving me away my mum said I do and my sister delivered the father of the bride speech.

 On the walk from the venue to the church my uncle (who walked me down the aisle) told me that he had been so nervous on his wedding day he didn’t remember any of it. As we were about to walk in he squeezed my hand and told me to calm down and remember it. From that moment it was like all the nervous energy disappeared and the importance of the day – promising to share my life with the person I love – was all that mattered. I walked in to what I had imagined to be a scary situation and saw a room filled with the people we love and the man I love waiting to marry me and I remember it clearly.

Entertainment



We hired a band for the evening. We did our first dance relatively early and then it was like everybody just filtered outside for a few hours. I was having a great time but did feel like we should be dancing, we needn’t have worried around 9.30 everybody decided it was time for a dance and the party went off. I would say don’t worry if people aren’t dancing straight away, the fun will take care of itself, you can’t force it. 

Amazing moment: On a whim a guest who plays the piano decided that once the band was finished he would start a sing-along and we all stood around the piano singing everything from oasis to queen until the early hours. These were the moments that no matter how much we’d planned we could never have scripted and it highlighted it was the people we love who really made our wedding special.




The Food

I Can’t remember what the canapés were but my Mum organised them and I think they were well needed as it’s a long day and people really needed to eat especially those who have travelled. We spent our money on the best wine we could afford, we knew the food would be good as it is seasonal and comes from the venues farm so the wine was a worthwhile investment for us.



The Photographers

What can I say about our wonderful photographers – how can you thank the people who produce an image you will feel happy to look at for the next 50 years? We’d never met Owen and Charis before the big day and due to time differences had struggled to find a time to Skype. We’d been pretty naughty and not gotten back to them with a shot list etc. so I am sure we were every photographer’s nightmare but we really weren’t sure what we were looking for. All we knew was how little we see our loved ones and that we didn’t want the day to be a photo shoot. Charis was great when I was getting ready; she guided the shots but wasn’t invasive and didn’t interrupt what was naturally happening. Owen had the same approach and they interacted really well with the wedding party. Really well, so people chilled out and didn’t even notice they were having their pictures taken.

We spend most of our lives laughing and our wedding day was no different. Not only did they capture our laughter and love for each other, but they captured the love we share with our friends and family. Forever grateful.

A Word Of Advice

Only piece of advice I can give is spend your money on the bits that matter to you, for us flowers, photography and wine. Scrimp on the things you don’t notice at other people’s weddings because you won’t notice them at your own.

Nicola and Jamie celebrated their spring fresh wedding day in the New Forest, Hampshire. Mister Phil was their chosen photographer and he described the day as feeling like an extended fun family day out with games and loved ones taking turns to perform, topped off by a good old disco! Sounds pretty perfect to me.

I love all the little home made details, make sure you keep your eyes peeled for the pencil place settings, Nicola made these using yellow pencils, a white Letraset and then a varnish spray to fix in place. Genius. The yellow colour scheme really pops in these beautiful photographs.

Nicola The Bride: We got married in our local church, St Mark’s – just around the corner from where we first met, 11 years ago, at The Arts Institute at Bournemouth. It is a beautiful church with large stained glass windows and amazing chandeliers. Incidentally, Kieran, the organist, has been known to play an awesome version of the Doctor Who theme tune during Sunday service – although we didn’t choose to go with this on our wedding day!

We asked our friend Joe to write a reading for the ceremony as we wanted something that was personal to us. This was one of the highlights of the ceremony for me (not including the getting married part obviously!) Also when Jamie’s best man, Jeff, played guitar and sang while we signed the register.

The Planning

When starting to plan our wedding most important to us was that all our family and friends could be there to celebrate with us – we wanted the day to be informal, relaxed and enjoyable for all. The Eastclose Hotel was perfect for this. We had the whole hotel to ourselves including the gardens and a marquee for our wedding breakfast.

The Photographer

We met Mister Phill, our photographer, in our local pub through mutual friends, and even before we got engaged we would regularly read his blog and admire his work, so as soon as we got engaged there was only one person we wanted to ask. It was probably one of the easiest wedding related decisions we had to make. He always manages to perfectly capture the essence of the day in his natural and honest style. Phill worked tirelessly from start to finish which resulted in a set of photographs that allowed us to see moments that we missed and re-live the parts that just went too quickly.

The Groom

Jamie decided to buy his suit, rather than rent it, so that he could have it altered to fit him. After a long search, trying lots of different suits, he ended up choosing the first one that he put on!

The Dress

Meanwhile I was dreading looking for a dress – I am quite petite and I was worried that it might be impossible to find one that fit. When I found the dress it was in the sale but was a size 14! The bridal shop did a brilliant job of altering it to make it fit me perfectly. And because it started out as a size 14 the train ended up being ridiculously long. I love the delicate lace and the vintage style cluster of sequins and pearls on the front.

The Theme

We didn’t really have a specific theme for our wedding, just a colour, yellow, with the hope that the sun would shine on the day – which it did. After getting slightly addicted to Pinterest I quickly realised that all of the flower arrangements I liked looked rustic and wildflower-like. I liked the idea of yellow ranunculus as they look like buttercups but with lots more petals (I later found out they are actually related – they are part of the same genus). Jen Ponyter was our florist. She approached us as she was starting up her own business. She did a brilliant job and the flowers turned out better than I could have imagined. So many people commented on the flowers in my hair and the button holes were super-cute.

The Maids

My bridesmaids and flower girls live a long way away which made organising dresses for them a challenge. Katie, one of my bridesmaids, lives in Australia, so in the end she picked a dress online and e-mailed over her measurements. Luckily when she arrived her dress fit perfectly! My mum made dresses for my three flower girls – we found a really pretty fabric online – the girls looked lovely in their matching dresses on the day and especially enjoyed travelling in the VW camper that we had hired.

The Reception

On arrival at Eastclose Hotel we had a mojito drinks reception, delicious finger sized bacon sandwiches and plenty of ice cream – provided by Chilly White who serve ice cream from a vintage ice cream tricycle. We also brought along a garden game called Smite and the venue had a playground which kept the children (and adults!) entertained.

The DIY

We made a lot of the decorations ourselves. I made the bunting out of as many different yellow fabrics as I could find and Jamie made the log tea light holders out of our friends cherry tree which they kindly let us cut down!

When we sent out our invitations I asked people to write a fun fact about themselves. I used these to make a crossword so that people could get to know each other during the wedding breakfast. It was really fun to watch everyone trying to fill it in and swapping answers with each other. Instead of name cards I made pencils with each guest’s name on using white Letraset.

The Cake

We had two wedding cakes. A cake-cake made by our friend Louise – the first wedding cake she had ever made and it looked and tasted amazing. Each layer was a different type of cake – carrot cake, chocolate orange and lemon sponge. And a cheese‘cake’ from the Cheese Shed. They have a section on their website where you can choose the cheese you want and build a virtual cake, then order it. The cheese ‘cake’ was the thing that Jamie was most looking forward to!

We had the best wedding day ever and we were so pleased that all of our family and friends were there to share it with us. Quite a few of our family and friends had travelled a long way to be there on the day which we really appreciated. It was so nice to have everyone together in one place to celebrate.

Tips From The Bride

• I didn’t realise that Dessy bridesmaids dresses needed to be ordered 12 weeks in advance so accidentally left it very late!
• When my dress was taken in, the washing label was cut out which made it difficult to get it dry cleaned afterwards.
• Bunting takes soooo long to make!

Fiona Bickmore, senior travel consultant and honeymoon expert at Mr & Mrs Smith, has tested romantic getaways around the globe. We asked for her top picks for 2015, so you can book a honeymoon that’s bang-on-trend.

Fiona will be at her computer today between 9am and 1pm, ready to answer all of your 2015 honeymoon or holiday questions, so please use our comment box at the end of the post and ask away! But first, here are her top choices for 2015.

Essaouira

I think Essaouira is going to be the most-wanted destination in Morocco next year. It was once a bit of a hippie hangout, but these days it’s cool and chilled-out, and it’s a surfing hotspot. Beyond the beach, the bustling medina sits within solid ramparts, spilling out onto an 18th-century harbour. I recommend starting your trip outside the city at Le Jardin des Douars, with its rosy walls and jade-hued pools. This lo-fi yet high-end hotel is owned by a wonderful French couple, and the tumbling bougainvillea and elegant landscaping make it feel like your own secret garden. From there, head to Marrakech and check in to Dar Les Cigognes in the heart of the medina. This riad was once a Moroccan merchant’s house and has a beautiful courtyard. Finish up in Fez, exploring its vibrant art scene. Palais Armani is my favourite stay here, for its luxury linens and panoramic rooftop terrace. These hotels are the perfect trio, not least because they’re offering 20 per cent off itineraries booked by the end of December 2014 – if I was planning my honeymoon, I’d be sorely tempted to go!

Oman

Not everyone can check out of work for a long, lazy honeymoon, so if you only have a week – but you want a stand-out stay – Oman is a great choice, and it’s especially lovely from October through to April. Some jaw-dropping properties have made a big impact this year: sleek and stylish luxury hotel The Chedi was refurbished in June, and it has a pristine pool and a gasp-inducing spa. And Six Senses Zighy Bay is one of the most eye-catching hotels in the world-class Six Senses portfolio. It’s the ultimate luxury hotel: cradled by craggy mountains and laid out like a traditional Omani village, its individual stone-walled dwellings house standalone villas and suites, and you can arrive in James-Bond-style, by 4×4, speedboat or paraglider… It’s easily reached from Dubai, which is just a three-hour drive away, so it’s a great stopover if you’re flying on to Australasia.

Belize

I’m a huge fan of Central America; it’s a fantastic holiday destination and has only recently become a popular honeymoon spot. There’s so much to experience there, and some truly unique hotels. We’ve added several Belize stays to our collection this year, which I’ve fast become a fan of myself! If you’re visiting on honeymoon, start in Miami, where you’ll spend five nights. The city’s fantastic fusion food and quirky, retro style make it a lot of fun. Stay at The Metropolitan by Como or The Betsy South Beach – both of which are beach-side, contemporary and surprisingly good value. When you’ve salsa-danced your feet sore and drunk your fill in neon-coloured cocktails, Belize – the perfect Miami chaser – is just a short, direct flight away. I love the treehouses at Gaia Riverlodge, which earned a Smith stamp of approval in August this year. Alternatively, ultra-luxe Cayo Espanto resort, just a 15-minute hop from the main airport, is a Caribbean private island with naughtiness-inspiring hideaway villas and scenery to gaze at hand-in-hand. Heaven!

To get a honeymoon quote, email Fiona at fiona.bickmore@smithhotels.com, or submit an enquiry to Fiona or another of Mr & Mrs Smith’s honeymoon experts by answering some quick and easy questions on our Mr & Mrs Smith honeymoons page. You can also reach the well-informed Travel Team on 0330 100 3180.

And of course you can also leave your questions in our comment box below, Fiona will be at her computer answering your questions live all morning until 2:30pm