A second wedding today, what a treat :-) and i think the perfect way to end another week here at WWW :-)

WWW readers Joanna and James had a village fete feel wedding back in June in North Yorkshire. It was important to Joanna and James that their day was relaxed with a party to celebrate.

They home made and sourced much of their wedding locally. With family and friends contributing it feels like a really warm and meaningful day throughout. I so love retro feel bridesmaid dresses, the pretty florals and Joanna’s plaited hair style. Oh so lovely.

Thanks so much to the fantastic Diamonds and Doodles for sharing their images with us this afternoon.

 

The Proposal… We got a Groupon deal to the Red Lion in Burnsall near Skipton in March 2012. The weather was wonderful, with lambs skipping around everywhere. We had an afternoon out at Ingleton Falls  and James proposed on a grassy boulder in front of a waterfall. He got down on one knee and of course I said Yes! He told me later that he had been trying to propose all day but things kept getting in the way, a woman and dog interrupted one effort and a group of Scouts another. He had to use a Haribo ring as he had not been able to get the ring I had spotted

The Vision for the Day… We wanted a traditional village wedding without all the formality that can accompany weddings these days. We wanted a relaxed, party feel with all our friends and family there. We wanted to be able to invite everybody we wanted to be there.

The Planning Process… The planning started with finding out when was a good time weather wise to go on Safari and when the weather would be nice over here,  we settled on June. The vicar was amenable to any date so we settled on 8th June. The planning went very smoothly. I used local suppliers for hog roast, disco, chairs, table cloths, crockery etc. I didn’t really shop around, if I liked the price and the person, I used them. I seen the disco man in action at a charity village fete so booked him as he was a nice man and seemed good at his job. The hog roast man was from the next village along and recommended by a friend. We bought all the alcohol from supermarkets when we saw they had good deals on.

Budget… The budget was £10,000. We could have done it for less as I could have got a cheaper dress and we needn’t have put on a free bar. We were  lucky in that both sets of parents helped out.

The Venue… We married in the North Yorkshire village of Terrington, where my mum was born and my nana lived for 60 years. My parents and grandparents married in the same church. My sister and I had been going to the village in the holiday since we were children and I love the place. The venue for the reception was the village hall.

The Dress + Accessories… My dress was a Pronovias sample from Blushes in Sheffield. I wanted something a little different and considered a tea length dress. It was very floaty and was one shouldered. The material was tulle and chiffon, It had applique petals embroidered on the hem and train. It was very comfortable to wear and I loved it as soon as I tried it on. I wore a silk flower in my hair to one side and some simple cut glass earrings and a necklace that belonged to my nana. I bought my pink Jenny Packham  shoes from ebay. My hair and makeup was done by Nicola Hood. She was great and I loved how she did all of our hair and makeup.

Finding the Dress… This was the bit I loved! I did a lot of internet research to start with. I looked on pre-loved and ebay as I had considered second hand. When it came to trying on, I went to 4 places, the Pronovias store in London and 3 local stores. I tried a beautiful  dress on at Pronovias called the Diagonal  but it was over budget and living in Sheffield, would have been a pain to get to. I went to Blushes in Sheffield, briefly described what I was after, ‘nothing too structured and a little bit different’ and the lady brought out an almost identical dress to the London one and it was in the sample sale. I turned out that it was a previous season’s version of the Diagonal.

Groom’s Attire… We were not bothered about hiring suits or tailcoats, preferring instead that our wedding party wore their own lounge suits. We provided a pink and white spotty tie. James’s suit took more buying than my dress. At one point we had 5 grey suits at home so he could try them all one and pick his favourite. He opted for a mid grey Paul Costello  3 piece suit and it looked great!

The Readings + Music… The readings were Matthew chpt 5 v. 1-10 read by my sister, Emily and a poem by Hovis Priestly called ‘I rely on you.’ The music in the church was traditional organ music.

Beautiful Bridesmaids… My bridesmaids had a hand in choosing their own dresses and it was at times difficult to please them all. I wanted them to feel comfortable and was not concerned whether they wore matching dresses or different colours. We settled on these 50’s inspired tea length dresses. They are Hell Bunny dresses that I ordered on line, lots of suppliers sell them. They were £45 each and beautifully made. The petticoats were bought separately. .

The Flowers… The church flowers and reception flowers were done by my  nana’s close friend, Wendy Carr. Wendy travelled all the way from Troon to do them and come to the wedding. The bouquets were sweet avalanche cream and pink roses with greenery and gypsophela. For the reception I had collected loads of glass vases from charity shops and Wendy filled them with roses, carnations, gerbras and whatever else she had.

The Cake… My mum made the cake. It was a delicious 3 tier fruit cake. Mum had been going to sugar craft classes to do my sister’s wedding cake last year and she did a great job on ours too.

Your Photographer… My photographer was fate!  I booked the village hall through a chap called Ian who runs the village shop. He suggested I have a look at a particular photographers website, his daughters but he did not tell me this at the time. As it turned out,  Shelley Hughes, lived round the corner from me in Sheffield but had grown up in the village. It seemed too coincidental. Shelley’s style was informal and she was very flexible, just what we wanted. That was enough for us, we  booked her without any shopping around.

The Details + Decor… The theme was a bit village fete with floral bunting and pastel shades. My mum made some table runners from off cuts of material obtained by one of my bridesmaids, my mother in law made lavender stuffed hearts to go on the back of all the ladies chairs. The table plan,  place cards and lettered bunting was made by Steph a teaching assistant my mother in laws school. The one extravagancy were the hired chairs. They looked great but were very pricey. We had a dessert table and a sweet table. Some of the desserts were made by my mum. We decorated the hall ourselves with lots of help from friends and family.

The Honeymoon… A 4 day safari in the Masai Mara followed by 10 days on the Mombasa coast..

Memorable Moments… so many but highlights were looking out and seeing all our loved ones welly wanging or playing rounders on the green. I got the giggles during the vows and could not keep a straight face when we got to the richer for poorer bit as I am not the best with money. Right at the end of the night, everyone circled us and I remember seeing lots of happy faces (no doubt assisted byt the huge amount of booze we all got through.)

Advice for Other Couples… Relax and enjoy the planning. All that really matters is that you are marrying the man you love, you have somewhere to do that and your guests will be fed and watered. Don’t stress about the little things as they don’t matter.

Do what you want! Don’t feel you have to do anything. If you don’t want a first dance, traditional sit down meal, or whatever it is, you don’t have to.

Credit Where Credit is Due…

Strensall Hog Roast – Dave

Excel Events

Photography: Diamonds and Doodles

 

Just wonderful. Thanks so much to Joanna and James for sharing their gorgeous wedding with us today XOXO Lou