Today’s story starts off with a proposal by the bride! That’s right, brave Christina seized a leap year as the perfect opportunity to pop the question to her partner Ross after five happy years together.
Upon receiving a ‘yes’, Christina quickly got to work planning her dream day in The Lake District which featured two of her favourite things; birds and
shabby chic
wedding styling.The result is an, oh so pretty big day, complete with elegant colour theme, stunning lace dress and a cute barn owl ring bearer. This one certainly sweeps us off our feet!
With images by Paul Swift Photography.
christina says:
Ross is in the RAF and he had been posted near Cambridge in 2010, I’d decided to continue living with my parents in the north. After being together for more than five years in 2012 and having a long distance relationship, I decided it was time for us to get married. I found a venue that was perfect for us and in leap year tradition, I proposed to Ross.Our wedding date was 13th July 2013. We always wanted a summer wedding and I had always dreamed of being married in the sunshine, outdoors and surrounded by nature.
We were married at the Broadoaks Country Hotel and initially booked the venue because of its location in Windermere, bridging the gaps between my husband’s family in Cumbria and my own family coming from Yorkshire and Lancashire. As the wedding planning began we realised there were many other qualities to the hotel which made us feel like it was made for us. The hotel itself is in a quiet area above Windermere, surrounded by trees and a babbling brook, which enabled our Labradors to be part of our wedding day too (they were a big part of the day and even wore their own doggy tuxedos).
Our ceremony took place in the pergola on the helipad surrounded by nature in 30 degree heat, everything I wanted. We paid for our guests to stay from Friday to Sunday. Friday night was Mexican night followed by drinks and dancing. Saturday morning was a full Cumbrian breakfast followed by clay pigeon shooting and cream tea and cakes for the bridal party.
I was 15 minutes late to my own wedding and got a telling off by the registrar but as I explained to her, trying to get a tiered dress and corset on in 30 degree heat is a very sticky job. It took ten minutes in an ice cold shower and then all three of my bridesmaids to help pull up and arrange my under skirts!
We had a shabby chic, bird theme, complete with lots of bird cages, salt and pepper bird favours, china tea sets and a sweetie table. I have always loved birds and rather than having my wedding look like I was an avid ‘twitcher’, the shabby chic look made it elegant and was definitely more me.
To complement the theme, our colour scheme was baby pinks, cream, turquoise and peach – pastel summer colours.
I wore Jessie by Augusta Jones with the Mantilla veil. An all lace, sweetheart neckline, slim dress. The pictures of the dress on the website do not do it justice. It wasn’t until I put it on that I knew this was the dress I wanted to wear for me and for my husband. I found a waist belt on Etsy decorated with crystals and pearls that I added to the dress. I had never felt more beautiful than I did on my wedding day and when I saw the look on my husband’s face as I walked down aisle, I knew it was the perfect choice.
Harriet Dickens of JGs, Northallerton, did my hair and makeup on the wedding day and then at the last minute managed to do almost everyone else’s makeup and hair too! She was amazing and made sure I’d started my beauty prep the week before sending me reminders of what I need to do when and how hot it was going to be so I would remember I was wearing a strapless dress and didn’t want any strap marks!
Ross wore the Help for Heroes kilt from Cameron Ross and so did the groomsmen. Being in the RAF, he chose this tartan so that a percentage of the hire price would go to the Help for Heroes charity.
All our bridesmaid and flower girl dresses were pink and were purchased from lightinthebox.com.
Paul Swift was our photographer on the wedding day. To those currently planning a wedding I would say if you’re going to pay for a professional photographer don’t skimp on the research. Look at what they have done before and remember that just because you’ve met them it doesn’t mean that you’re obliged to choose them. Go with your instinct and any photographer that cannot cater for your needs or that tries to pressurise you to choose them for your big day probably isn’t right for you.
Paul was the best and even catered for the doggies and just proves that if you’re passionate about what you do for your work it will always show in the end result. My photos are amazing and truly show the fun and excitement of the day. Everyone loves them and I have photographs that will forever be a reminder of my amazing day.
My flower bouquets and arrangements were all done by Valerie Ann’s Florist in Windermere. I wanted flowers and herbs that were highly scented so that I would have those scents as a memory of the day. I chose rosemary, lavender, dianthus, peonies, roses and carnations, wrapped in a ribbon with my late nana’s St. Christopher medallion attached (my something borrowed/blue). My bridesmaids had three large peonies and my three flowers girls had mini rose spheres.
I used birdcages, old tea sets, cake stands, loads of candles, hanging hearts, bunting, wreaths and cream rococo frames as décor.
For my sweetie table I had my favourite jelly belly beans with recipe cards. I had raided old charity shops for glass Bon Bon dishes, bowls and vases. I had my own pink striped paper sweetie bags with mini scoops and filled every container with as many different sweets as I could find.
As favours we gave out mini porcelain salt and pepper birds and chocolate hearts. For our gluten free guests we had macaroons.
I chose a white chocolate cake from Robineaus in Darlington. It was a three tiered cake with white chocolate roses. The top was a traditional fruit cake, the middle was lemon sponge (my favourite) and the bottom was dark chocolate cake.
The evening entertainment was a disco, put on by friends of ours.
As a special touch to our big day (and in keeping with the bird theme), we had an owl ring bearer called Olly the Barn Owl. It was an amazing experience and everyone got to hold him and have pictures.
Our guests also enjoyed clay pigeon shooting, croquet and golf on the lawn and paddling in the little brook in the grounds.
We would definitely recommend our wedding venue to others, it’s a magical, beautiful place perfect if you want a quiet family/friend orientated wedding. You book out the whole hotel so that you have every room and you don’t have anyone disturbing your celebrations for the whole weekend. The bridal suite is divine and the hotel is spacious enough so that if you want a break from it all there are plenty of hidden places you can regroup in. Every room has a different decoration theme, decorated to the highest standard with four poster beds and full amenities. During your planning stages the staff are there on hand and offer discounted rates if you are living further afield and need to stay over whilst arranging other services.
My favourite part of the wedding day has to be walking down the aisle with my dad and then as he handed me over to my husband he could barely whisper and then suddenly got his act together and stated to my husband ‘she’s yours now’.
We haven’t been on our honeymoon just yet but we have some exotic plans for when we do.
My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to enjoy it! Everyone told me it would be over in a flash- they were right! Enjoy every minute don’t worry about anyone else. The whole day is just for you two, don’t ponder whether everyone is enjoying themselves, they are there to watch you, laugh and cry your way through the day so cherish every minute and do exactly what you want to do when you want to do it! Also, become a delegation queen, you don’t have to do everything as people will be more than happy to do some things for you.
I’m forever grateful to all my guests as everyone did a little something either in preparation for or on the big day! I love my husband so much for giving me everything that I wanted.
