I love autumn. It’s all about bonfires, new boots, the return of TV worth watching, fireworks, Halloween parties (!) and sticky toffee pudding. It’s the time of year that my husband and I chose to say “I do”. It’s a time for new terms, fresh starts and (in my opinion) some of the most beautiful weddings going.
There’s almost always freakishly good weather, clear blue skies and crisp golden leaves, just like on Saturday 28th September 2013, when Brides Up North reader Goldie married her love, Matt. Let’s join them.
With images by Jim Poyner Photography.
Goldie says: Matt proposed outside the York Minster in York in March this year. We were out shopping and he made a detour which he said was a short cut and I kept asking where we were going. Little did I know!
We were married on 28th September 2013. The ceremony was at York Register Office and the reception was held as The National Centre for Early Music in York. We knew it was perfect for us as soon as we saw it. We loved it’s character and space and it suited the relaxed, rustic, country feel I wanted. The gardens are really pretty and I could imagine our two year old son running around on the day. I loved that it was blank space to do whatever we liked with and as its a music centre, it has great acoustics for music entertainment plus it has a piano!
We chose a colour palette of coral, ivory, green and brown. I wanted a summery look with coral and yellow but as it was late September the brown and greens toned down the coral and made it more autumnal.
I walked the five minute walk from my hotel to York Register office with my Dad, bridesmaids and flower girl. We got a lot of attention especially from the football fans on their way to York v Portsmouth match! The guests walked the scenic route through York centre together from York register office to reception venue but we got a taxi and the driver gave us a freebie!
My Raimon Bundo dress was from Love Bridal Boutique in Altrincham, Cheshire. My sister knew it was ‘the one’ before I’d even finished putting it on. I wanted a simple, vintage style dress with some lace and sleeves. It felt fantastic on, floaty and whimsical and the most important thing for me – comfortable!
My three bridesmaids are my sisters and they wore coral dresses from Vicky Martin bought new on ebay. I had seen a still from a Hollyoaks wedding of the bridesmaids wearing the same dresses and loved the colour.
The groomsmen wore brown gold ties from Tie Rack with their own suits.
I had a bouquet of roses in white and peach (called Miss Piggy). I asked Garden of Eden in York for a fresh, country, freshly picked flowers look and they got it spot on. the bouquets were tied with lace ribbon.
The men’s buttonholes were tied with brown twine to match their ties and compliment the rustic country theme.
My main aim for the theme was relaxed and informal, I didn’t want any stuffiness and I wanted guests to feel relaxed. I aimed for DIY style with a rustic, country feel and as the NCEM is a grade II listed church converted in to a music centre, I incorporated a church fete feel with hundreds of metres of bunting strewn between trees and in the arches of the inside, a cake table full of homemade cupcakes and sponge cakes with flags, and I also injected a bit of music theme with confetti cones made from old music sheets.
We used Bradshaws of York for the catering – a hog roast with baby new roast potatoes, salads and chocolate fondant for dessert.
We had a ‘cheese’ cake supplied by Matt’s mum’s friend at York Beer and Wine Shop.
We had three huge cakes from Made by Jane who I found on Facebook.
We are both not fans on fruit cake and icing so knew we didn’t want a traditional wedding cake. We wanted a choice of cakes with big yummy flavours and found Jane in Leeds who suggested three huge cakes – Lemon Drizzle, Sticky toffee pudding with Salted caramel Buttercream and Chocolate Orange. We served the cake in the evening along with evening snacks and encouraged guests to take some home in doggie bags. I got a few texts the days afterwards saying how amazing the cake was! My mum also made 48 cupcakes in various flavours. We decorated the cakes with small flags made with cocktail sticks and paper flags.
We had a pianist play during the meal. Our reception venue has most fantastic piano on site so it would’ve been a shame not to use it! He played a mix of jazz, ballads and took requests on the day. In the evening we had a local York band The Players.
They played rock and pop from 60s to now with some really fun songs that I wouldn’t think of choosing myself including Girls Aloud’s Love Machine. Everyone thought they were brilliant. We found them through this blog.
After the wedding we honeymooned at a gorgeous boutique called Fazenda Nova in Portugal.
My top tip for other Brides Up North is don’t be swayed by what you think a wedding should be, go with what you want your day to be. And get a decent photographer – worth every penny!
Congratulations Goldie & Matt!
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2013 Jim Poyner Photography
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