You know the whole “Shall I wear my hair up or down?!” debate for W-day? well, you could always do exactly what Amy-Jean did and have the best of both worlds….I like this idea VERY much….especially when it involves an over-sized floral accessory.
I also like the “After Eight face climb challenge” (no idea what I’m on about? well you’ll just have to take a peek at the images then…) and the obvious good time all of the guests had on the dance floor.
There is also cake. Lots and LOTS of cake.
The Angel Cave
The Bride Amy-Jean: My dream location would have been New York! We are such a ‘city’ couple, but unfortunately NYC was soon crossed off the list. It was important to us that everyone we loved was with us and this wouldn’t have been possible if we’d have gone stateside! My parents live in Skipton, North Yorkshire. Dave’s immediate family live in The Canary Islands, the rest live in Liverpool and we live in London, so Skipton seemed as good a place as any, and it’s a beautiful part of the world. So with that decided, the search began.
Our ceremony was held at The Wine Cave at The Angel in Hetton. We wanted a place that was small, cosy and romantic, a perfect venue if that’s what you are looking for, it was absolutely stunning. The ceremony was beautiful and intimate and we really couldn’t have asked for anything more! We then moved on to eat, drink and party the night away at Utopia, in the grounds of Broughton Hall. With its huge glass facades and wooden structure, this award winning building is a stark contrast to The Wine Cave. This building looks even more impressive at night, so by the time our guests arrived it looked awesome. We loved walking together up the candle lit pathway to our waiting guests, which was one of our most cherished memories from the day.
Envy
The whole look came together quite organically really, I didn’t really know what ‘look’ I was going for. I was very conscious to make sure I still felt like me and looked like me. I like to stay up to date with the latest trends, so having a classic look just wouldn’t have been right. My make-up was done by one of my good friends Jess who, lucky for me, was a make-up artist in her previous job! We spent a bit of time searching for products and make-up that I liked. One of my favourite finds was Airbrush by Dior, an amazing foundation and a must for every bride!! We practiced a few times over a bottle of wine to create the look I wanted. I’m not shy when applying my make-up, but I didn’t want it to look like it was caked on. I went for a more evening look as we got married quite late in the day.
My hair was done by Curtis & Bell in Bingley. They were my previous local hairdressers before I moved to London . I’ve know them for years so was very comfortable when telling them what I liked etc. I found taking pictures was the best way of showing them my favourite styles. My hair was created on the morning of the wedding, I did have a trial but decided I wanted something else In the end. I was very happy with the results!
As for fragrance, I choose to wear an old favourite, Gucci Envy. It was the perfume I used to wear when I first met Dave, it had actually been discontinued, but I’d worn it for 10 years so trawled the Internet until I found it.
Luckily for me my friend Sam has a beauty salon in Yeadon. I was very fortunate to have her do my nails and eyelashes. I had a Jessica manicure with gel polish which I would recommend for any bride, my nails lasted right through my honeymoon!!
Old Hollywood
I think as a bride you always have an idea of what you want your dress to be like, my problem was that I fell in love with a Vera Wang, typical! It goes without saying that it was way out of my budget range. There is no middle ground with me, I am type of girl who knows what she likes, and even more what she doesn’t like. I tried loads of dresses on but I struggled to find the perfect one. I simply could not get the Vera Wang dress out of my head. The more I tried on the more I wanted to take a bit from that dress and a bit from this dress.
One of my friends Gail, who was also a bridesmaid, said from the start that I should have one made for me (she knows what I’m like ha!). So, that’s what I did! I found Scarlet Poppy in Pudsey and made an appointment. When me and my mum arrived we were met by Kate who was so lovely and we started talking ideas straight away! After we’d had a long chat and a glass of champers she knocked up some sketches of our ideas. It was a very collaborative affair. Each appointment we had together we developed the dress more and more. I don’t think she’s ever made one quite like this before.
I guess you could call the style old Hollywood but with a modern twist. It was fitted down to the knee with a sweetheart neckline and was a mixture of tulle and lace, absolutely beautiful!! I think Kate loved it just as much as me and was very sad for it to leave her shop. I felt amazing on my wedding day and loved the fact my dress was one of a kind. I simply couldn’t recommend Kate and her team highly enough, they did a fantastic job and I really could not imagine getting married in anything else and I will cherish the dress forever!
Cute Clutch
Accessories wise, I was hell bent on getting a cute clutch bag to go with my outfit which I got from Coast and I love it. As my dress was strapless I really wanted a statement necklace with a vintage touch, I found mine on a website. It was handmade, and not too expensive, but still absolutely beautiful. I will treasure it forever. We were getting married on a cold November day, so to complete the look I decided on mink coloured feather shrug from Hope and Grace, this rocked my world! I received so many compliments about it on the day!
Very Dapper
If you looked through my wardrobe you would see a sea of creams, pinks and mink colours with a lot of lace thrown in! For me, it had to be light colours for the wedding, even though we were having a winter do. So pale pinks, creams and taupes became my focus. The bridesmaids all wanted long dresses, so we went on the hunt and I have to say it wasn’t easy. Trying to please one woman is difficult, when you’ve got three of them in the changing room it becomes a whole different ball game. It became clear that I was never going to get them to all agree on anything I was suggesting and I the last thing I wanted was for them to feel uncomfortable. After a long search (just Dave and I, easier that way ha!) We managed to find a lovely floor length, one shoulder strap dress in pale pink. The dress came from Miss London on Kensington High St. It looked amazing on all of them. They were extremely happy and looked beautiful.
Dave always wanted to wear a three piece suit. He originally planned to get a bespoke suit made but changed his mind when the tailor measuring him was wearing the worst fitting suit he’d ever seen! After searching around, he fell in love with a blue/grey pick and pick three piece from Duchamp. To finish the look he wore oxblood brogues made by Poste, a blue knitted tie from Ted Baker and a white silk pocket square from Reiss. He never really liked the traditional hat and tales look, it just didn’t suit our wedding, too old fashioned. He decided on simple blue suits for his guys with a light plain waistcoat and tie. They complemented his suit really well and I have to say they all looked very dapper, especially the groom!!
Rustic Romance
I guess our theme could be described as Rustic/Romantic. I was very keen to make sure the day felt very romantic. It sounds odd to say given the occasion, but a lot of weddings I have been to didn’t feel romantic at all! We really wanted light colours, creams, pinks, taupes with lace mixed in. We spent many hours scrolling through wedding blogs for inspiration and saved literally thousands of imagines that we liked. We eventually decided on a style, or language for the wedding and I think it came across with the end result. Attention to detail was key, we put a lot of effort into making things ourselves and trawling car boot sales and the Internet to find things we were after. I wanted the wedding to have a very relaxed atmosphere but still have an air of sophistication. I absolutely loved planning the wedding, I want to do it again ha!
David Austin
We are not very flowery people and for a bride I wasn’t too fussed at first. But as I started looking into flowers I fell in love with Peonies. I was heartbroken to find out I couldn’t get them in November. I researched the next best thing and ended up going for David Austin Roses which are very similar. We had a centre piece for each table, the flowers were arranged in rustic wooden boxes. Myself and the 3 bridesmaids had a bouquet and the groom and his men had button holes.
The Cherry On Top
The ceremony was so much better than we had thought possible. The venue was so much more intimate and romantic then we ever planned for. As the bride, walking into the room was one of my favourite memories. The room was so small that we had people standing at the back and it was just the best feeling in the world to have all your favourite people in one place. The room was candle lit and cosy, right up our street! I didn’t feel nervous at all, I remember talking to the registrar before the ceremony started and she couldn’t believe how calm I was but I was just so excited to do it. My friend also sang a beautiful song with the best man (Dave’s brother) playing the guitar which was the cherry on top!
On The Rocks
The entertainment was very important to us, by the time the food and speeches are done, it’s the only thing left. It had to be good and memorable, not easy when a large portion of your guest list is made up of professional musicians and West End performers! So, trying to find a band that could make an impression on such a crowd was always going to be a challenge. After trawling through endless sound clips on the internet, we had not found a band that even came close. Then one click later, the voice of Cherie Gears somehow managed to fill the room, even through the tiny speakers of our laptop. So, ‘Func On The Rocks’ became our band of choice. So good they had the dance floor full on their sound check! They also DJ after the live music, and bring all equipment and lights, so it’s one price for all of your wedding entertainment, we couldn’t recommend them highly enough.
We didn’t want a first dance, not really our style. We went to great lengths to find ‘our’ song, which proved way harder than we ever thought. In the end we arrived at the conclusion that we simply didn’t have a special song! Being together as long as we have we don’t have a certain song, it’s more like whole albums. What happened instead was wholly unexpected. Our first dance turned into an unplanned flash mob dancing to Tina Turner, everyone joined in, it was hilarious. This was definitely one of my favourite memories of all time, it was amazing!!
You know it’s been a good party when the dance floor is still packed when the lights are turned on. A friend of ours said “it went off like a frog in a sock”, what a testimonial.
A Good Burger
Dave always comments on my very basic food tastes, all I can say is I like what I like! Ha! I love a good Burger, who doesn’t? So that’s what we had! The day we got engaged we went to a fancy restaurant to celebrate. I ended up ordering a burger from their lunch menu, classy girl huh? I couldn’t think of anything better to have on our wedding day. Unconventional, but delicious.
As we live in London and I’m a massive fan of cake, we decided to get our wedding cake from my favourite cake shop, Hummingbirds. I’d always planned to do a sweet table, basically all my favourite things on one table! It went down a treat and I think I spent most of the evening stood by it talking and nibbling ha!
You Only Get One
I think the biggest advice I can offer is to be true to yourself, cheesy as it sounds! It’s your day and you really have to do it your way. So many people offer advice and opinion which is lovely but in the end if you want burger and chips for the meal, you have it regardless of what other people say (and they said a lot in my case ha!) We heard this a lot ‘oh you can’t do that’ or ‘you have to do that it’s a wedding’, yeah well it’s my wedding so I’ll do it how I want should be your reply! Ha!
Just enjoy the day, don’t get stressed, so what if your flowers aren’t right on the day or someone has the wrong size suit. At the end of the day it won’t change how amazing the day is, you only get one!
Click here & view all images from this wedding
Ceremony Venue – Angel Hetton
Reception Venue – Utopia at Broughton Hall
Brides Gown – Scarlett Poppy
Brides Shrug – Hope And Grace
Grooms Suit – Duchamp
Grooms Shoes – Office
Cake – The Hummingbird Bakery
Entertainment – Func On The Rocks
Photography – Paul Joseph Photography
Did you like the bed-bouncing portrait?! that was my favourite I think – definitely one for the wall.
Big Old Hollywood Love
Charlotte xxx