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Regular Brides Up North reader Victoria sent me her stately Real Wedding at Wynard Hall in the North East of England to share with you lovely lot this afternoon. What I love about Victoria and Jonathan’s big day is how they make the most of this beautiful, grand venue whilst still managing to keep their celebration personal and unique to them. With images by Dave Yates Photography.
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Victoria says: Jon took me to Kielder Forest (a place close to Jon’s heart) and we stayed at the lovely Riverside Hall Hotel (a bit of a gem in the middle of nowhere) on the 26th January 2011. We went for a lovely walk round the lake and Jon got down on one knee right next to the lake – it was beautiful.
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We were married on 26th July 2012 at Wynyard Hall. Wynyard Hall is a beautiful place with lots of character – great for photos whatever the weather!
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Charlotte McLean from Darlington did my hair and Martez Grey from Redcar did the bridesmaids.
Stacey Taylor from Darwen, Lancs did my makeup and nails and the bridesmaids nails too. Stacey whisked me off in to another room for a bit of R&R whilst she did my makeup this was a really good idea.
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Stacey’s husband John Taylor, a photographer from Darwen, Lancs, took photos of the bridal preparations whilst Dave Yates Photography took photos of the groom and groomsmen preparations at Wynyard Hall.
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Dave and his wife were absolutely fabulous. We had some great giggles with them both. Dave took wonderful pictures without being obtrusive at all. I really don’t like having my picture taken and this was one of the areas that I was worried about when planning our wedding but Dave really put me at ease.
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I ended up with a Trudy Lee number quite the princess dress which isn’t what I was planning to wear at all. I wanted something quite small and simple but when I agreed to ‘humour’ my maid of honour and try on a big dress I fell in love with it straight away!
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I found the dress in a small bridal shop in Darlington called Grace The Weddings Company – an absolutely beautiful shop and really nice staff would definitely recommend a visit to any bride looking for a dress. A couple of other bridal shops worth a visit are Miranda Marie in Yarm and Truly Beautiful in Guisborough. These three shops made the dress shopping experience for me.
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My sister (one of my bridesmaids) and I wore my Nanna’s brooches in our hair (something old). My something borrowed was a sixpence for in my shoe which belonged to my Grandad but is now my sister’s and my something blue was my Irregular Choice shoes.
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With the journey from Redcar to Wynyard being a fairly long drive I decided I wanted to travel with my bridesmaids and family. So we started looking at the double decker buses but we thought this doesn’t really have any link to us as a couple or our heritage. Then we remembered the Moors Bus and we had to have it!
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My favourite part of the day was seeing Jon’s face when I walked down the aisle.
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I chose a colour scheme of pink, green and blue. My bridesmaids wore Forever Yours full length dresses – two in dusty pink, two in light blue and two in olive with one shoulder strap with flower detail. The groomsmen wore a grey three piece suit with tails.
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I carried a bouquet of double headed chrysanthemums (my Nanna’s favourite flower), hydrangeas, veronica and wax flower. My bridesmaids carried a single hydrangea head striped right down – very simple. The buttonholes were wax flower and double headed chrysanthemums. We used Secret Garden Florist of Hartlepool who were wonderful and very reasonable.
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During the day we booked Michael Mulroy a fabulous pianist with lots of character. He played through the ceremony, drinks reception and wedding breakfast. When our usher was finishing off someone else’s dessert he started to play Food, Glorious Food! – the room erupted with laughter!
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After the ceremony guests were met by Paul Slattery, caricaturist who kept them entertained whilst Jon and I headed off for photos. We also had giant garden games to keep them entertained.
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Along with the help of my bridesmaids and a few family members we made all the decorations ourselves.
We had chocolate fish and chips as our favours – I wrote the article, my maid of honour moulded the milk chocolate fish and we all put them together. We put together party bags for the 4 children which they loved but it also kept them busy (and quiet!) during the speeches – would recommend this to other bride and grooms!
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We used wicker hearts as name places hanging on the backs of the chairs which my maid of honour and I put together.
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Living in Redcar we wanted to somehow incorporate the seaside – we decided to have a Lobster pot as our card box. The wonderful coast guard sourced it for us and in return we made a donation to them. Then we decorated the table around it with some seaside ornaments from The Range.
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During the day we had a very small intimate wedding with only 28 guests (4 of which were children). We decided rather than having separate tables we would have one long table which worked really well with the numbers we had. In the evening we changed the table decorations and again these were DIY decorations – willow tree branches with jewels (all hand threaded by us!) hanging from them in tall vases, filled with sand, on round mirrors surrounded by tea lights. On each table we had sweet trees – again handmade! We also made our own photo booth – which went down a treat!
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In the evening guests were wowed by Magician Paul Lytton – even the cynical were impressed!
We also had an amazing local band Johnny and the Moondogs along with a disco playing throughout the night.
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Our cake was three tier (fruit, chocolate and lemon Madeira) each tier in one of the three wedding colours. It was made by a family member. The cake knife set was an engagement present from a close friend.
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Honeymoon wise, We are heading to New York later in the year!
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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to take time to take it all in. The day goes so fast every now and then just take a moment to stand back and look around and take in what is happening.
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Congratulations Victoria & Jonathan! 
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Are you a newlywed? Contact me to share your Real Wedding with Brides Up North!
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2012 Dave Yates Photography
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