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This afternoon’s Real Wedding, sent to me by Sara and Jimi and Brides Up North Featured Supplier Sarah Mason Photography is all about doing things your way and thinking local. Sentiments that you know we would endorse heartily here at Brides Up North HQ.
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And isn’t the result – planned in just 12 weeks – something very sweet and special indeed?
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Sara says: We didn’t really get engaged. We just decided to get married last Christmas. We planned the wedding in just three months!
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We tied the knot on 6 April 2013 at Hebden Bridge Town Hall in the old Council Chambers. We had thought of April and asked Sarah (our photographer) which Saturday she was free!
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We live in Hebden Bridge so this was the perfect venue in addition to being very beautiful and full of history.
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We themed the wedding around the Vintage Tea Party that we had planned for the reception. We accidentally also had a mini theme of thistles (flowers & earrings) which fitted nicely as we live in an area called Thistle Bottom.
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Our colour scheme was loosely based around the colour of my shoes (cerise/purple) but they turned out to be a shade of purple that didn’t exist anywhere else on the planet so we ended up with Fifty Shades of Purple!
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We got rid of all the traditional parts of weddings that neither of us liked and had a really chilled day. We arrived at the Town Hall almost an hour early so all had chance to mingle on the terrace drinking tea and lemonade in the glorious sunshine.
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After trawling around several bridal stores I worked out that I didn’t like wedding dresses! Big and flouncy and covered with sparkles just isn’t me. I’d also decided on tea-length which most bridal shops don’t seem to stock. Eventually went to see Julie at From This Day Forward (Greengates, Bradford) and she made it all SO easy. She had dress samples with four different styles of tops and bottoms so we just had to work out which suited me best then pick the length and fabric. At the second fitting (three weeks before the wedding) it was snowing heavily. I started to panic that I’d get hypothermia at the wedding so she quickly whipped up a jacket to match.
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Jimi wore a vintage mod/retro suit with black piping on collars and pockets. He also wore black winklepickers with purple laces.
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Claudette at Fleur De Lys did all the flowers. She did the amazing ‘pimping’ of the shoes with silk flowers in addition to the Town Hall flowers, the bouquet, reception flowers, button holes and hair flowers.
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We chartered a vintage 1959 double-decker bus in black and ivory from Yorkshire Heritage Bus Company. This took guests from the wedding reception venue to the ceremony and back to the reception venue. The bus journeys were great. They had a real ‘Summer Holiday’ feel to them but luckily no Cliff Richard! We see these buses go past the house all the time and stare at them. It was really weird being on the bus with everyone staring at us.
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We tried to keep everything as local as possible. The rings were hand-made in Hebden Bridge at The Workshop. We used the Yorkshire Heritage Bus Company (just down the road in Luddenden Foot). Truly Scrumptious is a local tea party caterer. Our florist (Fleur de Lys) is also based in Hebden Bridge. The reception was held at The Fielden Centre in Todmorden – a large Victorian Hall.
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We hired the bandstand in the park behind the Fielden Centre to have some ‘glamorous’ photos taken. We also borrowed some bowls to have some ‘action’ shots on the Bowling Green just behind the Fielden Centre.
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We had three cakes made by Jimi’s niece and sister. We don’t like fruit cake so had Lemon Drizzle, Chocolate and Carrot all covered in matching butter icing. Jimi’s sister also made the cake toppers of us. My curly hair was made with a garlic press!
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We didn’t have any evening entertainment. We just had the Vintage Tea Party at The Fielden Centre. Neither of us wanted any kind of disco.
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After the wedding we honeymooned in Ambleside in the Lakes. It’s a great town for cinema-loving vegetarians!
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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be don’t get carried away with all the things that everyone expects you to have in a wedding. Think about what you actually want and just leave the rest out.
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Congratulations Sara & Jimi!
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Fancy sharing your own Real Wedding with Brides Up North? Here’s how.
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2013 Sarah Mason Photography
Sarah Mason Photography is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier, but this is not a sponsored post
Contact Brides Up North to submit your business as a Featured Supplier
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