Jim and Katie had the sweetest day. They chose to marry at the hotel they got engaged at, The Priory Bay Hotel, Isle of Wight. They wanted a small, calm family wedding and wanted to keep to a £2000 budget.

They kept their decorations simple opting for beautiful natural flowers in an array of colours. They also looked super gorgeous in their wedding attire, Katie in lace and Jim in sharp Topman.

I just adore these intimate happy portraits. Thanks so much to the wonderful Joanna Brown for sharing her photographs with us today.

 

The Proposal… Jim: I Proposed on the beach that features in the pictures. I had carried the ring around with me for a month at least before actually asking Katie. On the night I finally did, katie was messing around and got down on one knee as a joke… I saw an opportunity and got down on one knee too..” I will see that bluff Currie” was how the proposal started… the rest is a bit of a blur.

The Vision for the Day… Jim: We had a clear goal from the start… a Simple, calm ,small, family wedding.

The Planning Process… Katie: after originally looking at a ruin of a country house for the day we soon realised what we really wanted was a small family wedding. We decided the hotel where we had got engaged would be perfect. We booked the hotel about 12 months before and I slowly planned everything with Jim and the help of our mum’s.

Budget… We really didn’t have a fixed budget, but didn’t want to spend more than about £2k.

The Venue… Katie: The Priory Bay Hotel, is a country house by the sea, located between Seaview and Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, with gardens and woodland running down to the bay. This is where we had got engaged and spent many happy times.

The Dress + Accessories… Katie: I was looking for a classically beautiful dress, with an old Hollywood feel and choose a handmade lace from a local bridal boutique who design and make all their dresses.

Shoes from EBay for £12!!

Diamanté drop earrings bought in the US on a work trip.

Pearl broach that was my Grandma’s.

Finding the Dress… Katie: I looked everywhere for dresses; the high street, bridal shops, wedding fairs, eBay and then ended up going to a bridal boutique in my local town 3 months before the big day! I had tried on so many dresses and just found that no one really helped me find a dress to suit my shape. This all changed when I visited ‘Forget me not designs’ and I knew instantly I would find my perfect dress as I walked in. As soon as I tried on my dress I knew it was the one!

Groom’s Attire… Jim: Topman suit, Vintage brogues, Grandad’s pocket watch.

The Readings + Music… A friend played a piece of music he had written on the hotels grand piano for us.

Beautiful bridesmaids… Katie: my niece Thirza was my flower girl. I got her dress from the Pearl Lowe children’s collection from Peacocks. It had a beautiful whimsical, vintage feel. She also wore a pair of silk ballet pumps.

The Flowers… Katie: I really wanted the flowers to look like they had just been picked from a county garden. I didn’t want the flowers to look stiff, just lots of colour and texture everything from hydrengeas, to roses and gypsophila.

My very clever mother in law did all the flowers. These were sourced from lots of friends and family’s gardens (and the odd stranger who had a nice hydrangea bush!).

The Cake… Katie: my mum baked the cake (as her mother had done for her) and my mother in law decorated it. She hand made all the beautiful flowers.

Your Photographer… Katie: Joanna Brown did our photo’s on the day. As soon as we saw her website and style we knew she was the person to capture our day. The photo’s are really wonderful and make us smile every time we look at them.

The Details + Decor… Katie: we were very lucky that the Priory Bay hotel had retained it’s original charm from yesteryear so we really did not need to do too much to any of the rooms.

I spent a lot of time scouring charity shops and collecting vases for the wedding breakfast table. I also used my Grandma’s cranberry glass vase on the table for the ceremony and both our grandma’s table linen on the wedding breakfast table.

We used luggage tags with each guests name handwritten, with lavender sprigs and ribbon for the name places.

The Honeymoon… Katie: this was something we had always wanted to do, a California road trip! Vegas (we had a blessing at the Graceland Chapel with
Elvis!) LA, Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach, Monterey, Santa Cruz and finally San Francisco. We hired a convertible Mustang and stayed in some amazing places from the Queen Mary in Long Beach to the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood!

Memorable Moments… All of it!!

Advice for Other Couples… Katie: It is one of the most wonderful days you’ll ever have, but don’t let the cost spiral out of control. It’s one day. Remember why
you’re doing it and what’s important to you.

Jim: Try to remember that it is your special day, very quickly it can become about everyone else. Stop and take a min to lookaround you… its very easy to remember the detail for ever.

Credit Where Credit is Due…

Dress: Forget me not designs, www.forgetmenotdesigns.co.uk

Photographer: Joanna Brown Photography, www.joannabrownphotography.com

 

Just so lovely. I so love how meaningful and fuss free their day was. Thanks so much to Jim and Katie for sharing their beautiful wedding with us today XOXO Lou