Happy Monday WWWers, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I thought it would be perfect to start the week with a colour explosion of loveliness.

WWW readers Kristine and Stefanie married on the 28 ^th September 2013 at Trafford Hall, Cheshire.

With a budget of £6000 they got super crafty and creative. They home-made bunting, origami, pebble place names and the invitations to name a few. The venue looked amazing in the blue, teal and orange colour scheme.

The brides were stunning in their high street dresses clutching bountiful orange Gerbera bouquets. So much love.

Thanks goes to Matt Bowen for providing the wonderful photographs.

THE PROPOSAL | Stef proposed to Kris in July 2012 at their home in Swinton, Manchester, with a little help from Blake (the cat). A week before the wedding Kris surprised Stef with an engagement ring she had designed herself.

THE VISION | Personal and lots of little details. We knew our day would be full of close friends and wanted to ensure it was a personal day for everyone. Stef's artistic flair had to be involved in some way! We also know we wanted it to be a relaxing day, no stress for anyone.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | Kris did the practical side - spreadsheets for budget, guest lists, accommodation, savings etc. Stef planned all the little touches - and then Kris made them! There were 200 origami birds, 200 metres of bunting, consisting of 600 triangles (all cut out by hand), hundreds of metres of ribbon, pebbles with everyone's names on, candles, sweets, orders of service, home-made invitations, vinyls as a guest book.... and this all meant a huge amount of ebay action!

The first 3 months of our engagement was spent booking the big things. Then we had a few months of and just did little bits here and there - made it very calm.

BUDGET | We had a budget of around £6000

THE VENUE | Trafford Hall, Wimbolds Trafford, Chester

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | 3 dresses! Kris had two, Stef had one. Kris bought hers around a year in advance. Stef left it until around a month in advance! Both were ivory, Stef's was long, Kris' was knee length. Kris' shoes had to be statement shoes as the dress was short, and she was delighted with what she found. We both wore pearls donated by family as well.

FINDING THE DRESS | All dresses were off the high street. Neither of us enjoyed the usual method of finding a dress, being dragged around boutiques with dresses costing half of our whole budget. Stef did go to 4 bridal shops with her pals one day - but by the fourth refused to try any more on.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | Our reading was the lyrics to 'Love Never Dies', the sequel to Phantom of the Opera. It was the first theatre trip we went on together. Our first dance was 'The Luckiest' by Ben Folds, and we walked down the aisle to Elbow's 'One day like this'. Johnny Cash, A Thing called Love, played as we exited the ceremony.

Worth mentioning here as well that our registrar was amazing - everyone commented on how lovely she was and how personal the service was.

We wrote our own vows - promises we made to each other - from remembering to clean the cat litter and not being too talky early in a morning, to loving and looking after one another for years to come.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | Stef had 4 - Becki and Marie (friends from school) and Jacqui and Natalie (friends from Uni). Kris had 2 - Karolina and Danielle. They all wore beautiful navy dresses with orange flowers.

We also both had a best man - Richard and Matt.

THE FLOWERS | Stef's dad made all the bouquets. 6 bridesmaids and 2 larger for the brides. The only request we had was orange, and then he chose all the flowers and arranged them for us. I think the main flowers were called Gerberas!!

THE CAKE | A cake of cheese! A cheddar on the bottom layer, Shropshire blue in the middle and Brie on top. This was then used for part of the evening buffet.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Matt was great - we spent ages looking on line for a photographer but struggled to find someone who had photos that were just so natural and relaxed. As soon as we met Matt we were really put at ease as well - and then the engagement shoot just emphasised that we made the right choice. The photos were perfect capturing all the little details perfectly.

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | We decorated the whole venue ourselves. Trafford Hall was brilliant as the setting has natural beauty but is then also a blank canvas for your own decoration and all of our DIY was set up the day before. Our colour scheme was blue, teal and orange. We had origami swans hanging on fishing wire, tissue pompoms, ribbon for the chairs (all individually tied), flowers, photos, easels, pebbles, sweet jars, jam jars with candles, old antique vases with dried flowers, old bound books, wooden plinths..... the list goes on and on. Our cars were packed to the rafters!

Our welcome drinks were served in small milk bottles with blue straws. Our favours were blue and orange macaroons, all handmade by our friend Lucy - who was still making them at 2am that morning.

We had photos of people who couldn't be there, a slide show with photos of everyone who was there, and an album of our DIY evidence and the various stages involved.

THE HONEYMOON | We had 11 day in Sri Lanka where we travelled around independently to Ella, Kandy, Marissa and Unawatuna and then 5 days in the Maldives.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | All of it! It was the most perfect day ever with everyone there who we wanted - there were lots of tears too. The speeches would be a real highlight though.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | It's your day and remember that - don't do anything for other people if it isn't what you want. Also, don't get stressed. It will be perfect whatever happens. There are no rules so create the day you want.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Photography | Matt Bowen Photography

Venue | Trafford Hall

Ahhh so gorgeous. Those crafty touches looked amazing.

Thanks so so much to Kristine and Stefanie for sharing their wedding story with us XOXO Lou