Today’s real wedding couple love nothing more than
escaping to the beach
with their daughter for some quality family time. It was little surprise then that when a wedding venue by the sea was suggested, they booked it straight away.Taking inspiration from the season, Philip and Amanda’s wedding day featured elegant autumnal touches including some rather unusual white pumpkins that are apparently only available for a few days of the year. Shame, they would suit our office perfectly!
With images by Danny Birrell Photography.
amanda says:
We got engaged on 7th December 2013, during a weekend away to York where we met at university (we now live in Whitley Bay). We went for a nice lunch and a few glasses of wine, and got all wrapped up to go for a walk around York. We were in the York Minster Gardens when Phil got down on one knee and popped the question, just as the minster bells began to chime. Everyone around us cheered and it was all very romantic. After seven years together of course I said yes.
We were married on Sunday 18th October 2015. We knew we wanted an autumnal wedding, in October, as that was the month we met nine years previously.
We went for a look around As You Like It in Jesmond, Newcastle, and had a chat with them about their venue. They mentioned a sister venue, Newton Hall in Northumberland, were having an open day soon after, so we went there for a look around, fell in love and reserved the date that day! Newton Hall had a formal, yet relaxed atmosphere that we just loved! All of the little eccentricities just added to the character of the venue, and when we walked into the garden suite, we just knew it was perfect. It was an added bonus it has its very own beach close by!
We then had the job of finding a church close by that would marry us before hand as it was important to me and my family that I received that sacrament. We were thankful to St. Pauls Church in Alnwick, who agreed to marry us after we attended church there on a number of occasions.
Our wedding theme was very autumnal. The flowers for the centrepieces were all in white pumpkins, surrounded by munch-kin pumpkins and pine cones. The only other theme, as such, was family! Pictures of loved ones no longer with us, pictures of friends for the table plan and very lovely family-orientated speeches. We have a four-year-old daughter as well as godchildren and nieces and nephews, so of course the children were a big part of our day too.
We took the colour scheme from the tartan of the kilt that Phil decided he would like to wear a kilt for the wedding and went from there. It was the Modern Douglas tartan which features navy, dark green and a splash of purple. We then shopped for bridesmaid dresses and settled on navy. It then went on to influence the choice of flowers – especially the white and navy anemones in the bouquets which stood out lovely against the dresses. We were also able to get white pumpkins.
I had a bit of a hard time choosing a dress! I shopped for months and visited many shops, and tried on what felt like 100 dresses! I originally had thought I would like a dress with sleeves, but after trying many on, it just wasn’t right for me. I went to House of Bella’s Bridal in Newcastle city centre one Saturday by chance and explained my exasperation from unsuccessful dress shopping. The girls there were amazing and having explained a few features I liked from this type of dress, and a few bits from that type of dress, they picked one off the rail and told me to try it and see – and that was that! It was a Sophia Tolli dress called Mirri and it was absolutely perfect! It was a slim A-line/slight fish tail style with a sheer bateau neckline over a sweetheart bodice, and a low back, deep v neckline.
We topped the outfit off with a chapel length train, a small beaded hair band, and some beaded Jenny Packham shoes. Bought and paid for there and then! I’m so glad I went in Bella’s Bridal and will recommend it to anyone and everyone!
The kilts worn by Phil, the best man, ushers and two page boys, were all hired from Slaters Menswear in Newcastle. Nothing was too much trouble for them, they provided a fantastic service.
The bridesmaids’ dresses were an amazing spot from my youngest bridesmaid Ellie, who had seen them in John Lewis and loved them, got them for the other girls and they loved them too. The three girls requested flat shoes, so they each got a pair of nude Kurt Geiger pumps for the ceremony and some navy Converse for afterwards if they wanted them. The flower girls both had dresses bought from a boutique in the Metrocentre, and also navy Converse.
To transport us on the wedding day we hired cars from Brooklands Wedding Cars in Durham. We had a white vintage Volkswagen Beetle convertible for me and my dad to travel to the church in, and for Phil and myself to travel back in. We also had a white Volkswagen campervan for the bridesmaids and our little one to travel together in.
Our photographer was Danny Birrell, and I would absolutely, without a doubt, recommend to anyone looking for a wedding photographer. He literally made our day! We went for a pre-wedding shoot on South Shields beach in the summer, which was part of the package, and it immediately put our minds at ease, as we loved the photographs, and couldn’t wait for similar wedding pictures.
Danny knew that we did not want too many posed photographs, that the candid shots were our favourite, and so that’s exactly what happened. He was on hand with answers to any questions we had leading up to the big day, and nothing was too much trouble for him.
On the day, Danny arrived at Newton Hall to capture the fun of getting ready, and stayed until well after our first dance, and done everything in between! He knew we loved the beach, and just as we arrived to Newton Hall after the church ceremony, the sun came out, and Danny just said “we can’t not go – it will be amazing!” We took Maggie with us and it was actually a fantastic half hour/45 minutes, with just the three of us enjoying the time away, having a little down time after all the excitement and nervousness of the morning. Looking back at the pictures of us at the beach, I am so thankful to him that he suggested it, and that the turned out the way they did.
Danny also gave us a few sneaky peeks at some pictures in the days after the wedding, and we could not wait to see the rest, and we didn’t have to wait long. Not more than two weeks later Danny hand delivered a gorgeous bespoke made box with our pictures inside. With this he also brought us a bottle of champagne so we could celebrate again whilst we looked through the memories of our day!
All of our flowers were by Christine at Lavenders Blue Florist in Morpeth. She created a bouquet for me, and three smaller versions for the bridesmaids, ribbon wristbands for the flower girls, as well as all the buttonholes and corsages for the bridal party. Again, nothing was too much trouble for Christine, who we had regular meetings with to make sure we were happy with what we were receiving.
To decorate the venue Christine created the table centrepieces, the top table piece, as well as sorting the white pumpkins to put them in. She also collected the smaller munchkin pumpkins and spray painted them various colours. Christine arrived on the morning, made sure we were happy with everything, and also stayed to help dress the room, making sure it was what we had previously discussed. She was a real dream to work with!
Christine was also able to get a hold of more than 100 chocolate and candy apples for us, which we used as favours and place card holders. In addition, we had little bags full of toys and activities for each of the children to keep them entertained during the speeches.
I made our table plan for the venue myself, using photographs of all of our guests, and putting them around tables, which all had the name of streets which Phil or I had lived in – some together.
Luckily for us, Phil’s dad, Mike, is a chef and regularly makes wedding cakes. We had a few chats with him about what we were looking for and he was able to sort it all, with the help of Phil’s mum Dawn. We had three tiers, two of which were vanilla sponge and one chocolate. We also had a separate fruit cake, and a gluten free cake.
Other sweet treats on the wedding day included crispy cakes – Dawn’s secret recipe that everyone loves – as well as Krispy Kreme donuts, a selection of Tunnocks cakes and biscuits and a candy cart filled with our favourite sweets. We also had some toasting marshmallows outside on the terrace when the fire was lit on the evening, along with sparklers.
Even though it was October, we went for a barbecue breakfast wedding menu from Newton Hall, which turned out to be amazing! It was served with a selection of wines, which the guests could choose for themselves. We then went up to the main house where we had teas and coffees served with some wedding cakes!
We chose a live band for the evening entertainment as it is something Phil and I very much enjoy, and really gets the party going! We had looked into local bands, but after seeing Redwings, we knew we had to book them! We booked them through AMV Live Music, who also provided us with our Piper for the church and back at Newton Hall.
When it came to special touches on the day it was important to us to remember the people in our lives that were no longer with us and so we had a large frame that contained pictures of our loved ones who had passed away with a sign that read ‘We know that you would be here today if Heaven wasn’t so far away’.
Also, my bridesmaid Becky’s parents were guests at our wedding, which also happened to be their 40th wedding anniversary so we made a fuss of them and thanked them for sharing their day with us. We hope 18th October it is as lucky for us as it is for them.
My ‘something borrowed’ was also very special and came from my mum’s friend Pauline. My mum was talking to her the day before she travelled to the wedding and was saying I still didn’t have anything borrowed. My Nana (mum’s Mum) Teresa passed away when I was a teenager, and we miss her dearly. But Pauline had a favour from her own wedding – which my Nana had made for her more than 20 years ago! Almonds wrapped in tulle. So she took it apart and brought the tulle for me, which I wrapped inside my bouquet. It was very special to me, because it was not something on show, but I knew was there, as did my mum and Pauline – it was a little secret we shared. At the end of the night, before I threw my bouquet, I took the tulle out and gave it back to Pauline, so she could remake her wedding favour when she returned home.
Following our wedding day we would absolutely recommend Newton Hall to others! It was just what we were looking for, and on the day, the staff were fantastic! So helpful and considerate, especially Ian, the master of ceremonies, who was constantly checking if I needed anything or if there was anything I needed them to do. They are a popular venue and know what they are doing, and do it very well. Also, the rooms are amazing as well – didn’t want to leave!
Phil says his favourite part of our wedding was when I was walking down the aisle. My favourite part meanwhile was when the three of us had that little bit of time alone at the beach to reflect on what had happened and to take it all in. It’s important to find some time to talk to your new husband, and to appreciate the day and each other.
The bit I was not looking forward to was the speeches – public speaking kind of makes me cringe. But I’m so glad we did them in the end, the things that everyone said were just beautiful, especially my dad, Alan. It just filled the room with love and affection. Fantastic!
Our honeymoon was a surprise booked by Phil and it felt like he told everyone except me! The day after the wedding we drove to Manchester Airport and I did not know where we were going until we were boarding the plane. We ended up having a week in Marrakech, which was totally amazing. Phil also ordered a bottle of champagne for the flight, which the attendant brought us after take-off, and then announced to the entire plane we were newlyweds on our honeymoon! Everyone clapped and cheered and although I was a little red faced, it was actually very special and sweet. Our hotel was gorgeous, and we had a balcony with a hot tub too! They made a real fuss of us, bringing us cakes and champagne, and we just had the most wonderful week relaxing in the sun.
It’s cliché but my top tip for other Brides Up North would have to be to do what you both want to do, and what will make you happy. Don’t try to please everyone because that will never happen, just make your day about you! Also, take a few minutes during the day on your own if you can, to just be in each other’s’ company and appreciate that the day you have been working towards and looking forward to is finally here, and will be over all too soon!
