Real Wedding: Tomi & Jules

A Spring wedding in a castle - who could ask for anything more? Tomi and Jules actually had two weddings - one bright and loud and Nigerian, and one English with a traditional church ceremony. As a contrast, Tomi chose green and black as her key colours, and a stunning princess-style white wedding dress, with a black sash. After the church ceremony the reception was held at the amazing Hazelwood Castle, which is my new favourite venue. My stealworthy details? I'm loving the little black dresses and green pashminas for the bridesmaids - such a cheap and chic way to create a 'together' look. Also the stunning but simple orchid button-holes and the pretty gauze bows on the menus. Best of all is the vintage car - I'm not usually a car person, but there's something about the pictures of Tomi and Jules drinking champagne with the top down that made me fall in love! Gorgeous photographs published with thanks to the hugely talented Anushe Low. Don't miss her website for more inspiration.

The Before the Big Day Bridal Q&A - Tomi was kind enough to fill in our questionnaire, aimed at helping other brides with their planning process. Feast your eyes on her answers for helpful hints and tips from someone on the other side of her big day!

Where and when did you get married?
On 16th May at Birkenshaw Methodist Church and then Bradford & Hazlewood Castle in Tadcaster.

What was your thinking behind choosing the venue?
Hazelwood Castle stole our hearts from the moment we saw it. Beautiful gardens, stunning architecture and fabulous décor. It was here or nowhere!

Did you have a theme in mind?
We decided on a black tie affair. The main colours were black, white and peppermint green.

Who made your wedding outfit and how did you come to that decision?
My dress was by Caroline Castigliano, and I bought it in her shop in Leeds. It was by appointment only and the shop was lush. The ladies in the store where lovely and all the dresses where beautiful. I had an idea in my head what my dress would look like and but when I got to the appointment that style did not really suit me. I wanted something simple and elegant. I tried on a few dresses which I thought I would like but unfortunately I didn’t. My mum suggested I try on a ‘Princess dress’ which I thought I would hate, and I fell in love with it immediately. The dress was called Beauty and it was a Beauty! I have never seen so much lace and silk.

My shoes where Kurt Geiger, white, leather, sling backs. I also had some gold LK Bennett pumps because I not great in heels. My veil, and lace bolero where also Caroline Castigliano. My jewellery was from my mum’s collection.

What about your husband’s outfit? Where was it from?
My husband wore a tailored suit from Michels Berg, which was the ultimate suit. He looked fantastic in it. The usher's suits were hired from Moss Bros.

And how about your bridesmaids’ outfits?
I asked my bridesmaids to wear their own black dress, and then I added peppermint green shawls. I felt it would be better if everyone could add their own style. My chief bridesmaid wore a peppermint green dress from the Dessy Collection.

Who was your florist, what flowers did you choose, and how did you come to that decision?
The flowers where by Bethan Tillotson. She did all the flowers for the church, the reception and the bouquet and button holes.

What type of cake did you go for, and how did you come to that decision?
Three tiered cake made by Cake Craft in 3 flavours, 6inc lemon, 9inc Chocolate, and 12inc vanilla with white chocolate ganache… we didn’t have any!

How about your stationery?
We did the stationery ourselves, and we named our tables after places we stayed in South Africa.

Did you have any favours? What were they?
Lavender plants in white pots, 2011 diaries (in 3 styles) and personalised pens with names and dates, plus a mix CD with special track choices of favourites songs.

Did you have any DIY projects?
Jules created the Mix CD himself. As a big fan of music we thought it was perfect reflection on both of us to create a list of tracks we both adore. He printed all the labels and the sleeve notes himself too. Working for a greeting card company, I had a friend help design the invites and Jules’ cousin printed them (as he owns a printing company). We then tied ribbon around them to finish. We source the lavender plants via our florist and potted them in Ikea pots.

Who was your photographer and how did you choose them?
Anushe Low, and she was fantastic!

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email, and click here for more castle weddings.

Real Wedding: Katy & Matt

Are you getting married in a church? It's still the choice of thousands of brides and grooms each year, although it's often teamed with a new-found religious interest! It's not surprising though, church weddings are wonderfully romantic, and they give a real sense of gravitas to the ceremony. Katy and Matt chose a church wedding, followed by their reception in the seriously grand and gorgeous Peckforton Castle. Katy got seriously creative with her details and colour palette, and you can really see the effect, with a stunning four-tier cake, birdcage table decorations and cute little favour buckets. I really love the addition of seed pearls and lace to her bouquet - just goes to show how you can add your own twist to everything. My favourite spot is the cones of sheet music filled with confetti - an easy and effective DIY project - even your groom could do it! Katy's been kind enough to fill in the Before the Big Day bridal questionnaire, so do check out all her advice below. Stunning photos published with thanks to Amy Turner from iMAG1NE, don't miss the last picture, it's like something from a play!

The Before the Big Day Bridal Q&A - Katy was kind enough to fill in our questionnaire, aimed at helping other brides with their planning process. Feast your eyes on her answers for helpful hints and tips from someone on the other side of her big day!

Where and when did you get married?
Friday 7th May 2010, at St Helen’s Church in Tarporley. The reception was held at Peckforton Castle.

What was your thinking behind choosing the venue and the decoration of the reception?
We wanted a church wedding, and we picked the Castle as our reception venue as it was so romantic and grand.

Did you have a theme, colour or motif in mind?
Our theme was romantic/vintage. Our colours were dusky rose, mocha and ivory.

Who made your wedding outfit and how did you come to that decision?
My mother and maid of honour came with me to multiple bridal shops in Cheshire and Sheffield until I found the perfect dress. I was always looking for a simple and elegant gown, and when I tried on the Suzanne Neville dress I knew it was the one! We bought it from Freya Bridal in Sheffield, and my veil came from Agape in Knutsford.

What about your husband’s outfit? Where was it from?
Hired from Debenhams to match colour scheme of mocha.

And how about your bridesmaids’ outfits
Mocha dresses to match the colour theme, made by Dessy and purchased from Avec Amour in Glossop.

What type of cake did you go for, and how did you come to that decision?
Four-layered tier sponge cake with flowers matching the wedding colours between each layer. Each layer of sponge was a different flavour. The cake was inspired by a cake I had seen in a bridal magazine.

Did you have any favours? What were they? Was there any particular reason why you picked them?
The mens’ favours were miniature bottles of spirit or whisky. The ladies favours were heart shaped chocolates and a tin of lip balm. All the favours were placed in miniature rose coloured buckets with either mocha or pink ribbons tied round. We wanted to pick favours which people could use and would actually appreciate!

Who was your florist, what flowers did you choose, and how did you come to that decision?
The florist I chose was Jacklyn Bagley from Precious Things Florist in Macclesfield. She was amazing! I described the colours and theme of the wedding and she worked her magic designing the bouquet and arrangements. We had lots of flowers to decorate the venue and they were a beautiful finishing touch to the venue.

Who was your photographer and how did you choose them?
Researching on the internet we noticed Amy from Imag1ne had photographed many weddings at Peckforton Castle. We looked at the example photo’s on the website and loved them!! We didn’t want staged or cheesy photo’s, we just wanted to capture the day with natural photo’s and thats exactly what Amy did!

Did you enjoy planning your wedding?
I loved planning the wedding. I spent many hours making save the dates, invitations, menus, order of services, etc but it was all worth it in the end. Also my husband and I spend many hours researching Dj's, string quartets, florists etc to find the best we could for our budget. All the effort that went into planning the wedding and all the personal touches made the day really special for both us and our families and friends.

What advice do you have for brides planning their big day?
Relax and enjoy every minute! Try to be organised but don’t worry if not everything goes to plan, the main thing is that your marrying the man of your dreams!


If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email, and click here for more castle weddings.

Real Wedding: Marguerite & Chris

This might be one of my favourite weddings of all time. It's not so much the details, although there are plenty of stealworthy ideas, it's more the mood of the all affair. You can tell all the guests are having a wonderful time, and photographer Annie Beedy has really captured the love and warmth of the day. Marguerite and Chris celebrated their big day at a friend's estate high in the hills of Santa Barbara. The wedding party all wore white, which made for some fabulous 'together' pictures, and the ushers wore matching red shoes. Other details to copy include the photo line, the bridesmaid's crown of roses, the simple white tableware teamed with bright florals, and Marguerite's heavenly Miu Miu shoes - yum! Plus my favourite aspect - instead of confetti, the guests all tossed paper airplanes through the air as they came down the aisle after saying their vows. Don't miss Annie Beedy's gorgeous website for more details of her work.

The Before the Big Day Bridal Q&A - Marguerite was kind enough to fill in our questionnaire, aimed at helping other brides with their planning process. Feast your eyes on her answers for helpful hints and tips from someone on the other side of her big day!

Where and when did you get married?
Santa Barbara in California on May 22nd, 2010

What was your thinking behind choosing the venue and the decoration of the reception?
We were inspired by our family and friends so we chose to get married at the beautiful home of a family friend. Decoration was inspired by the beauty of the venue. We wanted to add small touches, like our pots of lavender that lined the ceremony aisle. They were simple yet gorgeous and worked well with the garden. We were also inspired by pictures of Provence in France.

Did you have a theme, colour or motif in mind?
Our theme was participation. We very much felt that the people that we asked to join us on that day were people that taught us, laughed with us, learned with us and shared so much with us. Their involvement in our lives brought my husband and I to the place where we met and were ready for each other. We had help from all sides, both before and during. We had the groomsmen play in a band for pre-ceremony. We had the my aunt's and uncle's lemons and limes from their trees to make the pre-ceremony cocktails, and during the ceremony there was a whistling solo that everyone joined in on! Ha! that was fun....! The bridesmaids chose their own dresses...and we sent out an email to our guests encouraging them to wear clothes that made them happy. Also the words "dapper" for the men and "gloves and hats" for the ladies, were used. We wanted our guest to feel very much apart of our wedding and we were thankful that everyone wanted to join in and make the creation and execution of this day a group adventure. The colors were white, lavender and natural elements.

Who made your wedding outfit?
Dress - Carolina Herrera, veil - borrowed from friend, shoes - Miu Miu, wrap - Nordstrums, earrings and rings - Ara 24K in Santa Barbara.

What about your husband’s outfit? Where was it from?
Suit - Ted Baker, shirt - Thomas Pink, tie - Ben Sherman, cufflinks - recycled Toronto transit tokens (from the groom's home town), custom made by Zukerj, shoes - Calvin Klein.

And what about your bridesmaids dresses? Where did they come from and how did you choose them?
I chose white because I thought it was the most flattering and it read "typical bridesmaid dress". I wanted my girls/and guy to choose clothes for themselves that they loved and they would wear again. I found a few photos that were the inspiration, gave those to the maids and we all went from there. The process was an evolution from where we started and I love how it turned out. Some of the dresses were from BCBG, some were made to order, another I have no idea where it was from.

What type of cake did you go for, and how did you come to that decision? Who made it?
We chose a small token cake to cut because we wanted to have desserts for our guests that resembled our family holiday get-togethers so we had chocolate chip cookies, lemon bars, and a bunch of different pies and brownies. The small cake was from Crushcakes Cupcakery in Santa Barbara

Did you have any favours? What were they? Was there any particular reason why you picked them?
We had jelly beans in ice-cream favors for sweetness and for savory, we had bags of Ketchup Chips. Chris is Canadian and so we had one of his groomsmen bring them down, because you can't get them in the States and I love them! My idea was that as our guests went home a bit tipsy, I wanted them to enjoy a late night treat...we also had parasols for sun cover and a photobooth for...self expression!

What flowers did you choose, and how did you come to that decision?
I chose a palate of white for our bouquet flowers. I threw some yellow roses into my bouquet at the last moment because they have always inspired me and made me think of sunshine. For the men. we chose simple herb-a-licious boutionieres of rosemary and lavender.

Did you have any entertainment at your wedding (DJ / Band / Magician)?
Our four groomsmen rocked out the guests, pre-ceremony, as well as two of them who also sang/contributed during the ceremony. We had a terrific gypsy jazz quartet play during cocktails and dinner called the Gonzalo Bergara Quartet. For the 5 hours of dancing that ensued we found DJ Tony via Red Shoe LA. Chris, my husband, searched for months before coming to me, very serious, saying, "I found the man who has to DJ our wedding." Well, who can question that assuredness? And DJ Tony was fantastic. He encouraged our input, went above and beyond with his availability, he kept the crowd going and was overall fantastic to work with. We are a group of marathon dancers and he did not disappoint.

Who was your photographer and how did you choose them?
Chris found Annie Beedy online and we both fell in love with her style. We met with her, had a latte and that was that. Partnership formed. We love Annie.

Did you enjoy planning your wedding?
Sometimes yes and sometimes no. We very much enjoyed being able to make our own invitations, (which were printed by Flora and Fauna Press with in letterpress), website (via HeMetHer.com), save-the-dates, and thank you cards (printing by Gotham Press), as well as creating our own ceremony. Plus, the help from our families was amazing.

At the same time, there was so much work to be done that sometimes we had to just walk away from it for periods of time. That said I have a closer relationship to both his and my family for all the interaction the planning demanded of us. My mother and I had never done any sort of project together before so we had to keep reminding ourselves of that, as we worked to make this puppy happen.

What advice do you have for brides planning their big day?
One of the best pieces of advice I received was to not show anyone the seating chart. I listened to that and it made the whole process pretty stress free. Also, don't over think it - give it a few revisions, make sure the mothers are not facing a wall and move on. Also, everyone talks about the lead up to the wedding and there is not much out there on what to do just after. After the wedding, if you cannot go on your honeymoon right away, try to find some quiet time for yourself during the week after your wedding. Try not to do too many household chores... take some walks, or baths, where you can slowly unwind, where you can daydream about how it all felt. Savor it. Enjoy it. Otherwise you are liable to find yourself lost, unsure of what to do next and end up creating an insane project for yourself like scraping the paint off the window sills because you are having a hard time slowing down from going going going....

Real Wedding: Christine & Lee

Camellias are up there with my very favourite of flowers, not least because in the UK they bloom so early in the springtime, and remind us all that summer is coming. They also make for the most gorgeous backdrop to romantic wedding photographs, as you can see from these fab shots from Christine and Lee's big day. Their wedding was inspired by the marine elements, and they chose jeweled shades of green to complement the cobalt blue sea. Seagulls soared the skies, while lighthouses instilled the air with a colonial feel. The bride wore an elegant Enzoani gown while the bridesmaids looked dashing in J Crew (reasonable in price and totally glam). I'm seriously loving this super-well-designed event, with the subtle sea-side detailing and dramatic setting. Gorgeous photographs from the talented ladies at Simply Bloom.