Brides Up North reader Lois chose a stately pile I know very well for her beautiful wedding celebration this summer: the location for three Brides Up North Luxury Wedding exhibitions in 2012 and 2013 and Ms. Sarah Beeny’s country home – Rise Hall. Good choice Lois!
Photography by Inspire By Kelly.
Lois says: We got engaged soon after we moved into our first home together in February 2012. We were just at home – it was so cute. We were married on 30th August 2013 at Rise Hall, East Yorkshire.
We had looked round several lovely venues in East Riding. I first visited Rise Hall with my mum, because Alex was busy preparing to compete in the London 2012 Olympic Games – so time away from training was difficult to find. We drove down the drive and the view was truly amazing – from that moment, I knew I was going to get married there. We booked it straight away, even without Alex seeing it!
We just wanted as many people as we could to come and celebrate the day with us, have fun, socialise, drink beer and dance the night away. Dine looked after our catering and wedding co-ordination and the day was exactly as we wanted it to be!
I wore a Sottero and Midgley gown from Deborah Moore Bridal in Hessle, Hull. The dress was called Adorae Louise. It was a fishtail gown – so beautiful. I knew I didn’t want a lace dress and I knew I wanted the dress to have straps… I was surprised that there were not too many dresses with straps around at the time when I was looking, so it was a good job I came across the dress I did. It was the fourth wedding gown I had ever tried on and I knew it was the one I wanted to walk down the aisle in. It made me feel amazing I couldn’t stop smiling!
Theme wise, I didn’t really have any colours in mind – I was a very laid back bride – so I let my two bridesmaids (my sisters, Sophie and Anna) choose their dress and choose the colour they liked the most. They chose Celedon Green and we added a touch of lilac to complete the colour scheme.
The bridesmaid dresses were from Abigail’s Bridal Boutique in Leeds. The were floor length Dessy dresses in that gorgeous Celedon Green colour.
The Groom and Groomsmen wore grey lounge suits from Slaters. All the groomsmen wore waistcoats with green swirls, the same colour as the bridesmaids, and Alex wore a waistcoat with lilac details.
Sarah at Floral Lounge was absolutely amazing! I’m not really a flower person so I told her the colours of the bridesmaid dresses and the style of my gown and I left it to her! The finished product was so beautiful.
I had a tear drop bouquet which was filled with Orchids, Cala Lillies and some other beautiful flowers.
During the day we had a pianist, Nick, who is an old friend of mine. He played when people were arriving in the morning.
Our amazing photographer was Kelly at Inspire By Kelly and Brides Up North Featured Supplier Emma from Story of Your Day captured our wedding on film.
When it comes to my favourite part of the day, where do I start? It was all amazing! I loved spending time with my bridesmaids and mum in the morning. I loved it when Dad first saw me in my dress. I loved making my vows to Alex. I loved the photos, the company, the venue, the food, the speeches, the wine, the first dance, the party… the list goes on! I can’t choose!
We donated some money to charity as my Grandma and Granddad could not be there to celebrate with us. McMillan Cancer Care kindly sent us lovebird pin badges which were put on the guests name cards.
We chose a three tier square cake which was presented on a stand. We had a 12” lemon cake at the bottom, a 10” coffee cake in the middle and an 8” fruit cake on top. The top of the cake had a fresh flower posy on which looked fantastic (an idea from the cake designer, Natalie of Sweet The Cake Company). Each layer had white sparkly icing with a small plain ribbon around the bottom and a bow in the middle. It looked amazing and tasted even better!
In the evening, we had a band called The Ordinary Men. They played from 7.30 – 11pm and were absolutely amazing! They said they had never seen so many people dancing – we loved it. We had flip flops for guests to change into when their feet started hurting from all the dancing. Even the men wore them!
After the wedding we went on holiday to Mauritius. It was like paradise! We had the most fantastic time.
My top tip for other Brides Up North readers would be to stay calm, enjoy every moment of it (as it goes so quickly) and party hard!
Congratulations Lois & Alex!
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © Inspire By Kelly
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