Thursday 12 December 2013

A Modern, Elegant Wedding with Quirky Vintage Details - The Reception

A little late-coming {I got horribly distracted with Christmas shopping}, but it's time for the delicious second half of this gorgeous wedding. Groom Adam set his bride the challenge of incorporating his football team, Manchester United, into their wedding. Laura managed it with aplomb, creating an incredible 3D table plan, complete with real grass. The red of their shirts proved a slight problem, as it didn't quite fit in with their cream, elegant wedding colour palette, but Adam compromised with cream shirts in the main dining room! There's plenty more stealworthy ideas to snaffle from the pictures - not least the personalised stamp made by BerinMade stationers. Laura used it to brand all their wedding stationery, and to create salt dough heart ornaments. Laura's mum even borrowed it to hand-stamp biscuits, in case any of the guests got peckish on the bus to the reception venue. I'm a huge fan of Laura's antique sapphire and diamond engagement ring as well! Huge thanks to Laura for filling in all her answers to the Before the Big Day Questionnaire, and to Lissa Alexandra Photography for her fantastic pictures. I've never seen such a fantastic array of wedding portrait shots!

We celebrated our wedding on Saturday 10th August, with a ceremony at St Mary’s Church in Nun Monkton near York, followed by a reception at The Old Deanery, Ripon.


Our wedding photographer was Lissa Alexandra Photography. Shortly after our engagement, I went to a wedding fair, and I fell instantly in love with her photography style. I knew I had to have her from that moment. I think she was the first thing I booked once our date was confirmed.



I wanted a venue which was a blank canvas and suited me. Bold green patterned carpets and massive drapes like you get in a traditional castle or stately home venue, just wouldn’t cut it. I chose The Old Deanery for its dark wooden floor boards and cream panelled walls.


Also I loved the fact it was all ours, and we didn't need to share it with anyone else on our wedding day. It was like we had opened up the doors to our own house {obviously it's not that big!}.



We had several DIY projects - mainly centred around a stamp we had made by BerinMade stationers, of our names entwined. We used this across all our stationary, and we made salt dough hanging love hearts which draped off the mantelpieces. I work in marketing so I am a sucker for branding. 


My mum even used the stamp to make personalised heart biscuits just in case anyone got peckish on the bus. A way to put our stamp on the celebrations {literally!}.


Also, Adam wanted to incorporate Man U into it, which is my idea of a nightmare! But as it was his day as well, I managed to put my twist on it. I made a 3D football field with a team sheet of his favourite Man U players with real grass. 


I allowed red football shirts when it was out of the main room, but the Man U players had to switch to cream in the main room to keep it fresh and elegant!



We didn't really have a particular theme in mind - but I followed my instinct and my typical style. I am a simple creature and if I had any theme at all, it was 'modern elegance' – think creams, muted metallics, simple shapes, clean lines and lots of non-tacky touches for wedding details. 



For our wedding favours, we had mini bottles of sloe gin – from Yorkshire of course. We actually thought this was a great way to give another free drink to our guests.



I really recommend our live wedding band - Hussy Band. They were amazing. Fantastic vocals, no cheese – guaranteed full dancefloor. Our first dance was to 'The One I Love' by David Gray {sang by Hussy}.



Our wedding florist was Leafy Couture – again I was very prescriptive. I wanted simple designs that matched my dress. For my bouquet, I chose David Austin roses as they are cream, bold, simple and elegant. For the table decorations, it was cream stocks and light pink hydrangeas.


When it came to choosing our wedding cake, I didn't want anything too extravagant, and I wanted to keep it simple and elegant. I found designs I like off Pinterest, and asked a local lady to create it for me.


I loved planning our wedding - the details more than anything! My advice to brides would be to make sure they put their own stamp on their wedding - details are what makes a wedding yours – make sure you have some!


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