It’s a small, small World.
In today’s wedding feature, our bride Jude marries a man from the other side of the globe next to the green in the village where she grew up. There’s something
kinda special
about that, isn’t there?Now who has the Disney theme to “It’s A Small World” on loop in their head? Yes me too, so sorry about that.
Enjoy!
With images by Walker & Walker Photography.
Jude says:
We decided that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together and share our happiness with our friends and family. We began planning our wedding in 2013.We were married on Saturday 7th of June 2014 at 4pm. The ceremony was in Brandesburton Methodist Church. We had wedding photos taken on Brandesburton village green, with the the 12 century stone cross and my family home in the background. The reception was held at The Bell Hotel in nearby Driffield.
I wanted to get married in Brandesburton Methodist Church because I was christened there. It is a 1930’s Art Deco chapel. The Bell Hotel is an 18th century coaching inn and former corn exchange in Driffield, a few miles from Brandesburton. Brad is Australian; there are few buildings in Australia that particularly old, so he loves historic English places. The Bell, with its beautifully restored oak panelled bars and antiques in every corner, ticked that box. It was very good value for money, which was also a consideration.
My dress had a huge satin bow in around the middle which stretched along the length of my train. The pale green colour of the bow was echoed in the bridesmaids dresses, men’s cravats and ribbons on the decorations. The shade was also picked up in the flower arrangements, which featured eucalyptus leaves to remind Brad of the trees back home in Australia.
My dress was bright white: a strapless satin bodice with a tulle skirt. It was entirely plain apart from the long green bow. It was from TKMaxx Online. Brad wore a black tailcoat, grey striped trousers and a silver waistcoat with a pale green cravat. They were hired from an online outfitters, Formally Yours. He topped of the outfit with a traditional top hat.
My Maid of Honour, Helen, wore a pale green dress from BHS with matching bolero. Our little bridesmaid, Madeleine, wore a flower girl dress from an online outlet. The Best Man, Warren, wore a tailcoat that matched Brad’s.
I carried a bouquet of eucalyptus, gypsophila and white roses by Judith Tait Flowers.
During the service, a choir of four friends sang Bernstein’s ‘Make Our Garden Grow’ from the musical Candide, and ‘A Clare Benediction’ by John Rutter. They were accompanied by professional musical director Mark Warman. It was an ethereal sound, giving the ceremony a heavenly feel.
When we came out of the church we saw that some people from the village had come to wish us well, which was very touching. It meant a lot to me that so many of those who had watched me grow up came to watch me get married. This was my favourite part of the day.
Our cake was made by my Auntie Averil. It was three tiers of rich fruit cake with traditional royal icing, finished with ribbon to match the colour scheme and fresh flowers.
The stationery we used was all brown manila; it was easy to match and inexpensive. We used brown luggage tags for the ‘save the dates,’ place names and the seating plan.
For wedding favours, we had M&Ms printed with our names and a little photograph of us. We put them in little heart-shaped boxes.
I lived in Scotland for five years and whilst there I fell in love with ceilidh dancing. Hessle Ceilidh Band had an excellent caller to guide the English and Australian wedding guests through the dances. It encouraged people who didn’t know each other to mix together and the live music added to the party atmosphere.
We had a mini-moon at Redworth Hall Hotel in County Durham. We travelled to Australia to celebrate our marriage with Brad’s family in August, before going on to explore Borneo for two weeks.
My top tip for other Brides Up North is to practice mindfulness on your wedding day. It’s a way of focussing your attention on individual moments derived from Buddhism. Your wedding day is a packed 24 hours and passes so quickly – it’s easy for it to fly past in a blur. Every now and again, take a screen shot of your emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring at that moment. For example, I took a mental picture of exactly how I felt as I was stood in my parents’ front room in my wedding dress, about to leave for the church. It’s a memory I’ll treasure forever.
