I realise we’re still in the middle of summer but I’m already super excited about Christmas! I love it all – the food, the drink, the presents and generally the fact that everyone is in such a good mood. I therefore easily understand why couples choose to tie the knot at this special time of year, giving their friends and family yet another reason to smile.
Getting the festivities underway nice and early (I’m all for extending
that holiday feeling
), today’s couple Karen and Mark, set the date of their Christmas themed wedding for late November, which allowed them time to fit in a honeymoon with their young daughter before Santa would come a calling.Cue the fairy lights, Christmas trees and baubles!
With images by Brides Up North Sponsor David Lawson Photography.
karen says:
Mark and I got engaged when we were on holiday in Mexico. We had an amazing hotel with balcony and a hot tub overlooking the ocean. We’d got ready to go out for dinner and sat on the balcony with a drink to watch the sun set. He asked me to put on my favourite music then went into the suitcase and produced a large box. Even then I didn’t think it was a ring because the box was too big! However, it was and I said yes straight away. We celebrated with a lovely meal in one of the hotel’s restaurants and I couldn’t take my eyes of the ring! Everyone bought us drinks all night – it was amazing.
We decided to get married on 28th Nov 2014 as we wanted a Christmas wedding – we both love the festive season!
Our chosen location was the Lake District because we both love it there and spent many happy weekends walking and camping in the area and so thought it would be perfect to invite all our loved ones to our favourite place! We decided on Armathwaite Hall, Keswick, as the venue due to its beautiful setting and the mix of modern and traditional.
The colour theme was set around deep and bright red roses, in keeping with the Christmas theme.
I tried several styles of dress but kind of knew I wanted a fishtail type design. I worked hard to lose my baby fat after giving birth to our precious bundle Orla, just under 12 months before, so I could have this style of dress! Three sessions a week of ‘Fit to Push’ (a local mums’ fitness group) certainly helped! I bought my dress from Wedding Belles & Beaus in York. It was a lovely Sophia Tolli dress called Stephanie.
Mark wore a hired suit from a bridal rental shop in York and the groomsmen wore the same, but with a different coloured tie.
My bridesmaids wore a Dessy dress from New York bought in Stokesley. I decided on black dresses as I thought they were timeless and the girls could wear them again.
David Lawson was our photographer on the day and I would certainly recommend him to others! He looks the part made us and our guests feel very comfortable. He takes a pretty good photo too!
Our flowers were provided by Floral Boutique in Cockermouth. I carried a mix of red roses, spray roses, berries, foliage and cones, which created a Christmassy feel.
For our centrepieces, our best man Jo kindly made tree trunk bases which we then stood lanterns on and filled them with a covering of black sand with an ivory candle inside. Around the wooden top the florist laid a spray of flowers the same as mine – they looked fab!
As favours we gave Grasmere gingerbread. Our cake lovely cake was made by a friend of a friend.
We both love music and so decided to have a live band for the reception. We hired The Sonics, who were fantastic. We also wanted some entertainment when we were having our photos taken so we booked an acoustic singer to perform as guests were welcomed to the arrival drinks.
We would most definitely recommend our wedding venue to other brides and grooms. The setting is amazing and the staff are great, ensuring the day runs smoothly.
Looking back I find it difficult to pick just one favourite part of the day as several moments were particularly special. Mark sent me some beautiful jewellery on the morning of the wedding that I’d seen weeks before but didn’t realise he knew about it! The sunrise on the morning was beautiful – Mark went for a run and sent me a picture from the top of a mountain and told me he loved me! I felt it was just me and him when I got that. Seeing our beautiful daughter in her little ivory dress and shoes and another lovely moment and Mark’s speech was beautiful. I knew he was so nervous, as was my dad but I’ve never felt more proud of both of them. I’ve also never cried so much!
Following the wedding we went to Prague for a cosy festive week’s honeymoon with our daughter. We chilled out, went for lovely walks around the Christmas markets all wrapped up, drank Vin Chaud and ate lovely food. We stayed in a gorgeous hotel called The Mark. The staff were amazing and the finishing touches, just perfect!
My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to treasure every minute and try to have just ten minutes as a couple on the day away from everyone to savour the moment together.
