We just love a bride that embraces her inner princess on her wedding day! This afternoon’s bride Emma did just that, picking a sparkling, full skirted dress and full length veil for her attire, whilst adding many more
regal touches
to her and Adam’s special day, during the planning process.Taking place at the gorgeous Black Swan hotel in Helmsley, we were immediately impressed when this beautiful wedding landed in the Brides Up North inbox, but what made it all the more impressive was that Emma and Adam had organised their big day in little over two months! Perhaps they’ve missed their calling as wedding planners?!
With images by Photography34.
emma says:
We got engaged on 12th March 2015. Adam brought me breakfast in bed – complete with a ring and a note saying “Marry Me”.We set the date for 16th May 2015, giving us just over nine weeks to organise it all! I was really keen to have our photographer and he only had two available Saturdays in the year. It also just so happened that our chosen venues were both available on 16th May too – like it was meant to be!
Our ceremony was held at Stockton-on-the-Forest Church – a church with strong connections with my family and I also grew up in a nearby village and went to school there too. We then went on to The Black Swan, in Helmsley, for the reception. Again, I had connections to Helmsley through a family friend and often went there as a child. The Black Swan is a gorgeous hotel in a beautiful, picturesque town – what’s not to love?!
We decided not to have a theme and instead settled on a simple and elegant colour scheme of navy and ivory.
I chose a full length ivory gown, with a full skirt and crystal bodice – very princess/fairy-tale! I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it, it was exactly what I wanted! I wore it with a full length ivory veil, Swarovski crystal earrings borrowed from a friend, diamante tiara and diamante bracelet, from Confetti, in Rillington. My ivory shoes were from BHS, in which I placed a sixpence from 1957 – the year my grandparents married (they were married 55 years).
Newton’s Hairdressers in Heworth, York, did my hair on the wedding day. It’s a salon my family have been going to for years and I would always recommend them for their outstanding service. Special thanks to Maria and Giorgio.
Mine and my mum’s makeup was taken care of by Jo Clayton (Counter Manager of Bobbi Brown in Brown’s in York) while Hayley Parker did the make up for my bridesmaids. I’d be more than happy to have them do my make up every morning!
Adam and his groomsmen wore a grey morning suits with silver waistcoat and white shirt along with a navy cravat and handkerchief, all from Debenhams.
My bridesmaids looked beautiful in a navy maxi dress with rose detailing on the bodice from BHS and their own silver shoes. The flower girls meanwhile wore ivory dresses, again with flower detailing on the bodice, from Debenhams. They also wore ivory cardigans from H&M, ivory shoes with flower detail from BHS and ivory headbands from Monsoon.
On the wedding day me, my dad and the bridesmaids travelled to the church in a 1961 Austin Princess in Olde English White. I chose this vehicle as Austin was my grandad’s middle name, 1961 was the year my Dad was born and Princess has long been an associated name for me!). Between the church and The Black Swan, we travelled in a Silver S-Class Mercedes. The cars were hired from The Yorkshire Wedding Car Company.
Tony Wilson of Photography34 captured our wedding day for us. We would 100% recommend Tony! We’d previously seen some of his work and loved his style of photography and the ability to capture moments you didn’t even know were happening.
When it came to the flowers I chose ivory roses and eucalyptus for my bouquet. My bridesmaids carried bouquets of ivory roses, ivory gerberas and eucalyptus, while the flower girls carried three single stem gerberas in ivory. These were all provided by our friend Katie Marley.
In terms of decoration we had candelabras on the tables, wrapped in ivy and ivory roses, supplied by The Topiary Tree Florist, in Helmsley. In addition, on the top table, Katie created a lovely arrangement of ivory roses, freesias, eucalyptus and gerberas.
We also had white osteospermum plants wrapped in hessian and black lanterns on the windowsills, both of which were from Dean’s Garden Centre.
Propose to Invite, in Norton, Malton, supplied our stationery. The designs they produced were stunning and they worked so hard to get our items ready in such a short timeframe!
As favours we had miniature bottles of Baileys (as Bailey is our surname) and navy chocolate hearts.
Our wedding cake was a three tier creation (top and bottom layer fruit and middle layer lemon) iced in ivory. There was a navy ribbon with a diamante strand wrapped around each tier. The design, created by Celebrate Country Cake Design, in Helmsley, was based on our invitations, with the addition of ivory butterflies.
Upon arriving at The Black Swan our guests were treated to Bellini cocktails and canapes of sundried tomato and buffalo mozzerella tartlets, mini pizzas and chicken satay.
For the wedding breakfast we chose roasted tomato and basil soup to start, local breast of chicken in Parma ham with a creamed leek and tarragon sauce or gnocchi with tomato, rocket, asparagus and parmesan for main, and lemon tart served with fresh strawberries and sorbet for dessert.
For the evening entertainment we had The Black Swan’s resident DJ, George Loggie.
We would definitely recommend The Black Swan to other brides and groom. The service we received was second to none, from my very first enquiry to us checking out the day after our wedding, they went above and beyond! It’s a gorgeous venue in a beautiful setting, with the best staff you could hope for. Nicola, their fabulous wedding planner, was there every step of the way helping pull everything together. Grant, our Master of Ceremonies, ensured everything ran smoothly on the day – he felt like part of the family! We can’t wait to go back for our anniversary!
We went on honeymoon to Mauritius for a fortnight in June. Chosen for its gorgeous white beaches and crystal clear waters, it did not disappoint! We stayed at the Sugar Beach Resort, in Flic en Flac, the hotel was gorgeous, everyone was so friendly and helpful, and the food was out of this world! We did a fabulous excursion of the island, which included the Black River Gorges, Chamarel Waterfall and the Seven Coloured Earth. We also went to Casela, a wildlife and adventure park, where we got to interact with lions and some gorgeous tiger and lion cubs. We did a Big Cat Safari and, for Adam, a zip wire experience over some pretty scary looking canyons!
My top tip for other Brides Up North would be simply to enjoy the wedding – it will be the best day of your life. Also, don’t stress about the little things, no one will notice them!
