The vintage theme has been popular with wedding couples of late and so we’re used to seeing wonderful weddings featuring this styling landing in the Brides Up North inbox. However, there was something about today’s couple’s wedding that made it stand out that bit more than others – it was pretty (oh so pretty) but it was also personal.
Rather than hiring all the décor from one company to achieve the desired kitsch look, bride Katie rolled up her sleeves (and also called upon those closest to her) to help create beautiful
handmade detailing
that made the day feel all the more special.Two stars of the show were Katie and Phil’s mums who sound like they could give Kirstie Allsopp a run for her money when it comes to crafting skills.
Enjoy the pretty…
With images by Katie Byram Photography.
katie says:
It was our three year anniversary and also the day we had our offer accepted to buy our first home in London when Phil proposed to me. We were at home having a celebratory meal. I was half way through my chocolate pudding when Philip said he had a surprise for me. When he got down on one knee I couldn’t stop laughing! But eventually managed to say “yes”. I didn’t suspect a thing so was definitely very surprised!
We set the date for 9th August 2014. No particular reason, but we chose August as we thought that it would be the least likely time of year to rain in the North East. It actually did still rain on the day, but definitely didn’t ruin anything.
We got married at St Mary’s Church in Morpeth. I went to this church when I was growing up so it meant a lot to me to get married there.
We chose Eshott Hall as our reception venue. We loved Eshott from the moment we walked in the door on our visit there. We knew from the start that we wanted a venue that could offer us exclusivity. The thing we loved about Eshott was that although it is a beautiful building in itself, it also offered us the opportunity to be really creative and to decorate it as we wanted. We would highly recommend the venue to other wedding couples, we absolutely loved it!
We had a vintage theme, but wanted to be able to add a personal touch. Both of our mums are very creative and helped to make lots of decorations for the venue. My mum sewed the beautiful floral and lace bunting, cushions with our initials on and lace chair sashes. Philip’s mum meanwhile was very busy making all of our vintage style stationery, including the invitations, place tags, table plan, table names, confetti cones and guestbook.
We chose pretty pastel colours and flowery patterns for the main reception room to accompany our theme.
After trying on about 50 dresses in all different styles, I knew what kind of dress I definitely didn’t want but still didn’t have a clear idea of what I did want! I visited YAP in Newcastle and instantly fell in love with the first dress I tried on. I loved the simplicity of the skirt and the lace detail. Once the decision had been made, Jo at YAP popped open a bottle of fizz so that I could celebrate with my mum, mother-in-law and auntie – a really special moment. I added a sash with a vintage flower which was made by Anne at Diva Designs and wore Rachel Simpson shoes in a design called Katie.
Philip and the groomsmen wore light grey suits from Slaters with Northumberland Tartan waistcoats from The Northumberland Tartan Company.
My bridesmaids were four of my best friends from school and they wore pale pink Button Belle dresses from YAP with floral sashes and shoe clips made by Anne at Diva Designs.
For transport we chose a silver Bentley hired from Sunderland Wedding Cars. The bridesmaids travelled in a mint green campervan from AllCool Classic VW Camper Hire. We also hired a vintage bus from Weardale Company for our guests to travel on from the church to the reception venue.
Katie Byram was our wedding photographer. She was amazing and photographed the day perfectly. She has a very natural style, capturing candid moments, which was exactly what we wanted. We would highly recommend her.
Lavenders Blue in Morpeth provided my bouquet and the bridesmaids’ bouquets too. We were keen for the flowers to look quite wild and natural, which Lavenders Blue achieved beautifully. I also had sprigs of feverfew (daisies) pushed into the plait in my hair.
Lavenders Blue provided flowers for the table decorations and we hired candelabras and vintage china teacups and saucers from Lavenders Blue too. We hired birdcages from The Finishing Touch Company and our vintage side plates were hired from Flawless Weddings & Events in Morpeth.
We added pink and mint green pom poms to the trees outside of the venue, made by Flawless Weddings & Events. They looked amazing and really magical. Flawless also provided jars and scoops for our sweetie table.
We went to auctions and charity shops in the local area to collect the beautiful lace and embroidered table clothes we used. My bridesmaids and I also spent an afternoon decorating small glass candle holders and jam jars with offcuts of material, old jewellery, buttons and hessian. I love that they added a really personal touch to the tables. On the day we used vintage photo frames as holders for our table names, which I love and will use to display our wedding photographs around our home.
For favours we gave out British Heart Foundation pin badges.
Dreamworld Cakes made our pretty cupcake cake in pastel colours while all the other food and drink was provided by Eshott Hall.
Colin Cook was a fantastic DJ on our wedding day, keeping all our guests entertained. We chose a mixture of our favourite tunes – mainly 90s pop! It was really important to us that the children we invited to our wedding were a special part of the day. To keep them entertained during the speeches we put together colouring books, soft toys and bubbles into canvas backpacks with their names on.
For some extra entertainment we hired a photo booth from Smiley Booth. I would definitely recommend this company. One strip of photographs was stuck into our guestbook so that our guests could write messages next to them and the guests could take the second strip home as a memento of the day. They’re hilarious and we love looking back over them to remind us of the day.
My favourite part of the day was walking into the church and seeing Philip’s face. Philip’s cousin is a professional musician and played Canon in D on the viola as I walked down the aisle. It was a beautiful moment, although I did cry most of way down!
For our honeymoon we went to Santorini and stayed at Absolute Bliss in Imerovigli, a small boutique hotel with a beautiful view over the sea and cliffs. It is a lovely island and we would definitely recommend it.
My top tip to other Brides Up North would be that making some of the venue decorations and wedding stationery yourself is a great way to add a personal touch to the day and to save a bit of money. Collect some pieces of pretty material, pop open the fizz and get creative!
