Flying by the seat of our skinny jeans this morning to bring you this rather late first instalment of the day! What can I say, this week in the Brides Up North office is Hectic. With that capital H. We’re in the middle of an event sandwich: four beautiful Brides Up North wedding exhibitions over four adjacent weekends, with our biggest show of this season this weekend – but then you know all about that don’t you? Throw in playtime with a (nearly) one year old, an appearance as official blogger at The North West Wedding Fair over in Manchester this Friday (I can’t wait), goody bag stuffing, floor plan drawing, sign writing and a husband who thinks its cool* to head off skiing with his mates during our busiest week yet… and you can see why we’re winging it a little.
*It’s so not cool Alan.
We’re not skimping on the pretty though, because Louisa and John’s gorgeous Real Wedding at the always stunning Adlington Hall in Cheshire has real wow factor! And that, Brides Up North, is exactly what we like around these parts. Enjoy.
With images by Jo Bradbury.
Louisa says: We got engaged on 23 December 2011 at Tatton Park, Knutsford. John got down on one knee by the lake in the pouring rain!
We were married on 8th December 2013 at Adlington Hall, Macclesfield, Cheshire. We had a civil ceremony in the Great Hall and the wedding breakfast and reception in the Hunting Lodge.
We wanted to have a venue where we could have a civil service and the wedding breakfast in one place. We were looking for a venue that had a room for the service that was a bit special, particularly given the time of year with the expectation that most of the day would be spent inside. We fell in love with Adlington Hall as soon as we looked round. It had the wow factor whilst still feeling really intimate. An added bonus is that the whole place is exclusively yours for the day and the staff were excellent, very professional but also extremely down to earth.
A lace theme ran through the day, from my dress, to the invitations and table plan, to the detail on our wedding cake. We thought this helped to create a bit of a “winter wonderland” feel.
I wore an Enzoani dress from The Wedding Shop in Alderley Edge with a lace bolero. It was totally different and much bigger than I thought I would go for but I loved it as soon as I tried it on. I also had pair of sparkly Jimmy Choos.
John, his best men and ushers hired navy morning suits from Savoy Tailors Guild (Moss Bros) in Manchester.
My three bridesmaids wore navy Dessy dresses from Alison Burgess in Stockport with silver jewellery from Glitzy Secrets. My four year old flower girl wore a dress from John Lewis.
I carried a hand tied bouquet of cream roses with blue thistles from The Wild Bunch Florist in Macclesfield.
The moment after our vows, when we were signing the register and could look at all of our family and friends, was very special. Other favourite moments include looking round at everyone you care about having a great time during the meal and the dancing into the early hours, wedding shoes off!
We had a pianist, Guy Porteous, playing during the reception drinks and meal. We involved family as much as possible, and had John’s dad’s folk bank, Redmayne, singing after the meal. John’s aunt made our cake.
We had some local real ale from the Irwell Works Brewery in Ramsbottom (John is from Bury).
We made our own save the date cards, invitations, table plan and favours (Christmas baubles which doubled up as place-cards) and a photo collage featuring photos of all of our guests.
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After the wedding we enjoyed a fabulous week in St Lucia, and back home for Christmas.
My top tip for Brides Up North is not to stress too much about the small details and make sure you enjoy every minute. The most important thing is everyone you care about being in one place – amazing!
Congratulations Louisa & John!
If you’d like to see your own Real Wedding on Brides Up North, here’s how. I’d love to hear from you.
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog Images © 2014 Jo Bradbury
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