Its holiday season here on the blog, and as the editorial team take a break to redesign, review and recharge, we’ll be leaving you with a reduced blogging schedule so that you still get your daily dose of wedding lovely.
Usual service will recommence on Monday 7th July 2014, but in the meantime watch out for recaps of our favourite Real Weddings so far this year. Drop in every day for the very prettiest, most unique wedding inspiration and – if you are a Brides Up North bride – to see if your Real Wedding was one of our top picks.
Kat and Ben’s Real Wedding by Brides Up North Featured Supplier Jamie Penfold Photography is filled with sequins, sparkle and beautiful details. This chic couple chose a very modern landmark venue in the North East and filled it with pretty, for a personal and precious celebration.
We’ll be back tomorrow to start 2014 as we mean to go on – beautifully – but for now, enjoy the last day of your holiday!
Kat says: We got engaged in March, 2013 – Easter weekend. Ben had arranged a meal out with both of our families and just before they arrived at our home he blindfolded me (after much persuasion, I had just done my hair!) and gave me an Easter present, which was a box of chocolates spelling out ‘will you marry me’. We then all went out in Durham for tapas and bubbles.
We got married on 16th November 2013 at The Baltic Mill, in Gateshead.
Ben’s family all live in Whitley Bay and mine live in Chester-le-Street. We are both proud North-Easterners and fell in love with the views of the Tyne that can be seen from inside The Baltic. The staff from Fresh Element, who plan events at The Baltic, were fantastic. Mary-Jane and Tracy in particular, went above and beyond to give us everything we wanted, and more.
Our theme was ‘glamorous’, with a silver and ivory colour scheme.
My bridesmaid’s dresses were silver and charcoal sequins from Phase Eight. They all looked a little too beautiful for my liking, I should have gone with peach taffeta!
I wanted something in the style of Grace Kelly but with a modern twist. My dress is by Moreland and I got it from Wedding Essentials in Newcastle. I fell in love with the low back and simple style.
I used www.16braunton.com for our hair pieces. Kate is wonderful. I emailed her photos of the details on my dress and she sent me photos of what she thought would match. I was so happy with them.
Nick from ND Makeup did my makeup as well as two of my bridesmaids. We all loved it and it honestly lasted all day.
Rachelle Summerson-Wright, my best friend and bridesmaid did my hair on the day, as well as the other bridesmaids. She is a very talented hairdresser so I am extremely lucky to count her as my BFF.
A special touch personally was my shoes. I am obsessed with Carrie Bradshaw and was so lucky to be treated by my parents to the same pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes she wore for her wedding in the Sex and the City film. I also had a pair of personalised converse with diamantes and my married name and wedding date on to change into for dancing the night away.
Jamie Penfold Photography was our wedding photographer. The pictures speak for themselves. Jamie is not only a talented photographer, but also a lovely person who put us both at ease.
I had a large bouquet of baby’s breath. The bridesmaids had smaller posies and the buttonholes were made up of baby’s breath as well. I wanted to keep the flowers as simple as possible.
Our best man’s wife, Wendy Johnson, is a talented cake maker so she made our cake for us. We had one lemon, one chocolate and one spice tier and it was decorated in lace effect icing. We had a personalised cake topper from Miss Cake, which read ‘Cakey Kisses From The Mr & Mrs’.
We used mini-frames with photos of each guest in, instead of name cards on the tables.
Terri Hosler did all our wedding stationery. She let me decide exactly what I wanted, from scratch, and all our guests commented on how beautiful the invitations were. She covered everything in silver glitter, so I was very happy!
Timeless Table Venue Styling provided decorations like wedding wish trees, candles and lanterns, throughout the day.
I really enjoyed the speeches (despite crying throughout). My dad, Ben and his best man Andrew all did amazingly well and I’m so glad we have them all caught on camera, by the lovely Andrew and Gail from A&G Productions.
We used the cinema room in The Baltic and played a slideshow of family photos and childhood snaps for all our guests.
We hired a vintage sweet cart from www.bonbonssweetsshakes.co.uk, who are based in Chester-le-Street. They were so helpful and we couldn’t recommend them enough.
We had flip flops for the ladies to change into when their feet hurt from their heels, pashminas for those who wanted to sit on the terrace outside, to keep them warm and umbrellas in case it rained, for the guests to help themselves to.
Ben is friends with a few members of an 8-piece band called Bay6. They played at a wedding we were guests at on New Year’s Eve and I fell in love with them. They did not disappoint on the day, we were dancing all night.
We also used Limelight Photo Booth Hire. The girls were lovely and our guests loved all the props, especially the horses head!
We had a cheeky week away in Tenerife, at Costa Adeje, a week after we got married. We plan to honeymoon properly next year … Ben is currently trying to convince me to go to Brazil in June so he can go to a World Cup match!
I was so nervous in the lead up to our day. I was worried about walking down the aisle, speaking in front of everyone, our first dance and pretty much everything else. From the second I woke up on my wedding day the nerves disappeared. I felt so laidback and happy, so my top tip for other Brides Up North is please don’t fret, you’ll enjoy every second, even if you usually hate being the centre of attention.
Congratulations Ben & Kat!
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2013 Jamie Penfold Photography
Jamie Penfold Photography is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier, but this is not a sponsored post
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