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Well hello there Brides Up North! Welcome to another week. I hope you all have had a lovely weekend. This weekend I’ve been having a rather special “busman’s holiday” attending the gorgeous nuptials of our family friends Chris & Lisa. I’m such a sucker for a bit of romance, and I’ll never tire of a proper knees up! Lisa also surprised her guests with some unique styling that was out of this world pretty. I’m looking forward to sharing the details of their big day with you soon. But let’s let the newlyweds enjoy their honeymoon first…
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We are definitely in the thick of wedding season! My little family were invited to no less than three celebrations this weekend alone. Now, I’m good at multi-tasking – but not that good! Big love to Becky & James and Ellie & Alexei, who we couldn’t be with, but who we love very much. I can’t wait to see your photographs and hear all about your days.
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Today, we join another happy couple for their beautiful Real Wedding at Brides Up North dream venue and Featured Supplier Doxford Hall Hotel & Spa. With images by Matt Ethan and Sarah-Jane Ethan, Clare and Chris’ day is classy, intimate and really rather romantic, awash with pretty pink gowns and blousy roses. Enjoy!
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Clare says: Chris proposed to me on Newcastle Quayside on my birthday in January 2012, and we tied the knot on Friday 24th May, 2013 at Doxford Hall Hotel and Spa, near Chathill, Alnwick in Northumberland.
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I went to a wedding open day at the venue with my Dad and little sister and immediately fell in love with Doxford Hall and its beautiful surroundings so much so that I returned with Chris and my parents soon after. We booked our wedding there and then.
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We went for a classic, vintage feel and our colour scheme was soft rose, ivory and lime green.
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My dress was called "Tiffany" by Victoria Jane Collection for Ronald Joyce. It was in ivory lace, a mermaid style fishtail dress with a sweetheart neckline. I bought the dress from a lovely bridal shop from Newport in Wales called All About Eve. My headpiece was from the Jon Richard Luxe range at Debenhams and was a triple mixed crystal stone headband.
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My hair and makeup was done by Princess Hair and Beauty based in Greenside, Tyne and Wear.
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Chris wore a mid grey morning suit hired from Slaters in Newcastle and the bridesmaids wore Coast "Symphony" maxi dresses in Soft Rose.
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A lovely local lady called Lesley who runs her own business named Stem Ginger, based in Washington, Tyne and Wear made my flowers, my three bridesmaids’ bouquets, all the buttonholes and my flower girls’ fairy-tale wands and cake topper.
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My bouquet was a round hand tie with a mix of vintage ivory and vintage pink soft touch roses interspersed with small clusters of green, ivory wax flower and green anethum heads, the stems were partially exposed bound with ivory ribbon and secured with pearl pins.
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My bridesmaids’ bouquets were a smaller version of mine but with more vintage ivory flowers than pink.
The men’s buttonholes were a single semi open vintage rose with rose leaf foliage and Chris’s buttonhole had an extra touch with a cluster of green and ivory wax flower and green anethum similar to that in my bouquet.
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Although we had an absolutely brilliant day and night our favourite part of the day would have to be the ceremony itself which was conducted by Alnwick Registrars who were personal, sincere and added the correct amount of humour in the right place. For the ceremony itself we added our own personal touch by choosing our own ceremony music, vows, readings and we also designed our own ceremony pamphlet.
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We also had a fantastic local photographer on our wedding day called Matt Ethan who was assisted by his wife Sarah-Jane Ethan who is also an accomplished photographer in her own right. Both Matt and Sarah-Jane were professional and innovative, putting us and our guests at ease to get the perfect photographs.
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All the food and drink on the day was provided by Doxford Hall who use local produce from local suppliers.
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Apart from the main table flower arrangements (by Julie of Alnwick Florists) we decorated the tables ourselves with rose petals, coloured crystals and tea lights.
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We made the table place name cards, the favours and the table name cards which were named after Northumbrian Castles. The table name cards featured a picture of each castle on one side and information about the history throughout the ages on the other side.
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We also put together our own sweetie bar using different sized jars and a variety of popular retro sweets and lollipops decorated with labels, bows and stickers which we hand made.
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We went for a traditional three tier round wedding cake made by a local bakers who my family have used for nearly 30 years, James Ford and Son in Berwick upon Tweed. Two of our tiers were a traditional fruit cake and one tier was vanilla sponge. The cake was decorated in ivory and white icing with ivory ribbon and our cake topper was a smaller version of my bouquet.
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We decided to book an excellent local North East Singer, Tom Wyllie, who had come highly recommended. We also hired a local disco called Genetix who played a fantastic range of music and had a fantastic range of coloured lighting and shapes which really gave our evening that special touch we were looking for. Both Tom and Genetix disco did several spots each throughout the evening and kept our guests thoroughly entertained making it very memorable and enjoyable.
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After deliberation we decided to split our honeymoon into two periods. Straight after the wedding we had a four night break to Rome and in September we have booked for a two week trip to the Caribbean!
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Our top tip for any bride and groom to be would be to try and do as many of the small little touches yourself. This way it is personal to you both and will save you money in what can be an expensive event.
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Congratulations Clare & Chris!
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To see your own Real Wedding live on Brides Up North, contact me.
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2013 Sarah-Jane Ethan & Matt Ethan
Doxford Hall 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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