Sorry to go all girl crush but I’m totally besotted by today’s bride Louise. Now here’s a lady that hasn’t conformed to the stereotypical bridal dress, hair or makeup. Instead Louise chose to stay true to her own personal taste and style with her fabulous blunt bob, red lippy and a gorgeous bespoke dress, complete with dreamy bell sleeves.
And Louise wasn’t the only one injecting personality into the big day. Groom David kept his wedding attire modern and relaxed opting for a blue Reiss suit, white shirt and no tie.
In fact the whole day is a perfect reflection of Louise and David, both individually and as a couple, from their stylish dress to the unusual venue and informal dining.
As Louise points out it’s important not to be swayed too much by other people’s opinions so that the bride and groom become detached from the celebrations – guys take note, you’ve got to
do it your way
.With images by Elisabeth Kurtis.
louise says:
We got engaged our four year anniversary, which is January 1st. We went out for a meal to celebrate and when we got back home Dave proposed in our kitchen. He thought it would be too cheesy if he did it in the restaurant, even though he did take the ring with him. He asked me what my New Year’s resolution was, then he said that his was to marry me and produced the ring!We set the date for 27th April 2013. We wanted to get married in spring when the weather could possibly be sunny but not too warm as I always knew I wanted a long sleeve dress. I also really like the flowers that are around in spring time. To determine the date we then checked all our close friends’ birthdays and picked a date that wouldn’t clash with anything.
We got married at Ordsall Hall in Salford and held our reception at Islington Mill. We knew we wanted our reception at The Mill because it suited our budget and we had enjoyed some great nights out there over the years. Plus it was quite an unusual venue where we would have a free reign on decorating the place how we wanted and was licensing until 3am!
There was no particular theme, it just all came together to represent us as a couple. We never wanted a colour scheme as such either and instead flowers and decorations were chosen simply because we liked them.
I tried on lots of dresses in various wedding shops around Manchester and hated all of them. I wanted something stylish, almost catwalk like and nothing off the shelf seemed to fit the bill. This was when I knew I would be best to design and have one made. I did lots of research on the internet and found the images of the style I wanted. I then took my pictures to a few wedding dress makers and that’s when I met Jean Jackson. As soon as I met her I knew she was on the same wave length, she just got me and knew exactly what I was after.
We wanted it to be a relaxed wedding, nothing too formal so Dave opted for a blue suit from Reiss and chose not to wear a tie.
I really didn’t want matching bridesmaids. Everyone is different and if you were a guest at a wedding you wouldn’t want to be seen wearing the same dress as another guest, so why should a bridesmaid be any different? Each of my bridesmaids have their own style, personality and shape so they both chose a dress they liked and would wear again.
Our venues we’re only five minute drive from each other so we didn’t feel the need to spend money on transport. Instead we ended up using our own car, which is Mark1 Golf GTI soft top.
We had two photographers. Our friend Ciara Leeming took photos of the ceremony which she offered to do as a wedding gift. Elisabeth Kurtis, who is a friend of friend, then took our portrait shots and covered our wedding reception. Both are such amazing photographers I would highly recommend both of them.
We bought our wedding flowers from a wholesaler at Smithfield Market and a family friend arranged them for us.
In the run up to the wedding we spent six months during our evenings and weekends making paper decorations to dress our venue. We bought ten sets of fairy lights and hundreds of jam jars were collected over a year for tea light and flower table decorations. The reception flowers were also from the wholesales which friends helped to arrange into jam jars and vases to spread around the venue. We hired tables and chairs from a company called Dale Event Hire which were great to deal with and good value for money.
As favours we had a bowl of sweets with candy coloured bags for guest to help themselves to on the dessert table. We didn’t have a traditional wedding cake. Instead our close friends made cakes and desserts which were displayed on a table for guest to help themselves.
We wanted a relaxed informal dinner so opted for a help yourself barbecue by Kro Catering. We had always heard good things about Kro Catering and they were so helpful and accommodating. Due to The Mill not really having kitchen facilities as such this was the perfect solution.
For entertainment, Dave organised playlists for different parts of the day, such as while guests were arriving and eating. Then after the speeches we then had various friends DJing into the early hours.
In addition we bought a Polaroid camera and set up our own photo booth area with props that related to each of us. Guests then hung the photos onto ribbons that were strung along a wall with small pegs. With the help of our friends we also made a ‘love’ sign out of rope light that was illuminated on the back wall. This seemed to attract lots of guests having their photograph taken with it has a background.
We would recommend both of venues to other couples. Ordsall Hall is a great alternative to the town hall and is still close to other venues in the city which you could then go onto for reception afterwards. We really liked the feel of it and liked that no one we knew had got married there. Everyone seems to always opt for the town hall. Islington Mill meanwhile is a great venue if you are looking for somewhere a bit different to the usual standard wedding venue. It does require a lot of effort on your part, but if you have a vision and are prepared to put lots of work into dressing the venue it is well worth it.
We thoroughly enjoyed the whole day, particularly when Dave’s best friend Niamh, who was his best man (lady), made her speech – it was excellent, everyone loved it!
We had two honeymoons. Straight after the wedding we went to a friend’s apartment in Ibiza for five days. A few months later after saving up some money we then went on a two week honeymoon to Santorini.
My top tips to other Brides Up North would be to make the wedding day about you and your groom as a couple and don’t get too bogged down with trying to please family members. Also, it doesn’t matter what your budget you can still make it the best day ever, even if you spend very little. Finally, plan in advance and be as organised as possible.
