We’re spoiling those of you planning a festive wedding with another Christmas celebration – this time the stunning big day of Jonathan and Louise, which took place in Liverpool.
Deciding the festive season would be the perfect time to tie the knot with family and friends being in high spirits, Jonathan and Louise planned a stunning wedding around a cranberry red and tweed theme for a very classy day of romance.
We love the sensational seasonal blooms, elegant wedding transport and all the
twinkling fairy lights
!With images by Rachel Victoria Photography.
louise says:
We got engaged in Italy in a little town called Geta. We had been out for a meal and lovely wine. Jonathan suggested we went for a walk around the hotel grounds and then said “I have something to ask you…” I turned round and he had gotten down on one knee and produced a ring in a box and asked me “will you marry me”. Of course I said yes!We decided to set the date for 23rd of December, as we wanted a festive wedding. This day seemed a perfect choice as we knew that everyone would be excited and in the festive spirit in the lead up to Christmas.
Our ceremony was at Saint Peter’s Church in Woolton, Liverpool, as this has been Jonathan’s parish and church since he was a young boy. It is a beautiful church and Kip (the rector) and Graham are the most helpful and loveliest of people. My uncle gave me away as my father sadly passed away when I was young. We felt very lucky to have been married at this monumental and timelessly beautiful church. Our reception venue was The Racquet Club in Liverpool.
We chose to a theme of rustic Christmas. It fitted perfectly with the venue and the time of year as everyone was in the festive spirit already! Our colour scheme was cranberry red and tweed. We chose this again to fit the time of year and a Christmas wedding theme with a rustic twist.
My dress was an Augusta Jones design called Aline. It had an ivory satin bodice with a sleeveless jacket and an embroidered belt. I also had an ivory, full-length veil with a stain trim. I got all of these from a gorgeous boutique called Bethany Hannah Bridal, in Stockton Heath, Warrington.
Jonathan wore a green tweed suit with a cranberry red scrunch tie and brown shoes – perfect for our rustic Christmas theme. His suit was provided by Groom in Liverpool. The groomsmen had brown suits with the same waistcoat as Jonathan and the same cranberry red tie with brown shoes, also provided by Groom.
My bridesmaids all wore full-length cranberry red dresses with netted tops, which I got on the high street. They also had an ivory satin shawl.
As our wedding transport we had two beautiful cars for the day from silverladyliverpool.com, based in Liverpool. We hired a 1959 Bentley S1 and a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow in sand and sable, which went so well with the groom and groomsmen! We also arranged a double decker white bus to collect our guests from the Racquet Club in the morning of the wedding and take them to the church then back to the club again after the ceremony. The bus was decorated with cranberry red ribbons to tie in with our theme.
Rachel of Rachel Victoria Photography was our photographer on the day. We loved her photos and her enthusiasm about the wedding. She was helpful and produced amazing results!
For the wedding flowers my bridesmaids and I all had bouquets of deep red and white roses with holly and berries tucked in for decoration – once again tying in our rustic Christmas theme. These were provided by Ayten Doherty, a wonderful florist in Belle Vale.
We had the same types of flowers for the decorative arrangements too, though the candelabras on the tables were decorated with holly and ivy. We also had gyp in jam jars around the venue and, of course, some mistletoe – can’t have a Christmas themed wedding without some mistletoe!
We created our own pew ends with the amazing help of Ayten Doherty. These consisted of willow branches, Betty’s and soft light fairy lights. These were placed at the end of each pew and then we transferred them to the venue after the ceremony.
Our favours were small red stockings, each with personalised little jars containing hot chocolate mix and marshmallows, a candy cane and mini Yule log from Thorntons.
We had a three-tier gingerbread themed wedding cake to match our festive theme. The cake was ivory with gingerbread hearts on ribbons and two gingerbread ‘Mr and Mrs’ on the top. The flavour of each tier was different: Victoria sponge, orange chocolate sponge and carrot cake.
For the wedding breakfast we had ham hock to start, chicken with seasonal vegetables for main, and bread and butter pudding with clotted cream for dessert. We felt that the food really reflected the season.
As entertainment at the wedding we had a beautiful string quartet for the church ceremony and welcome drinks. They also played in the church when we signed the register. In the evening meanwhile, we had a DJ. We decided on a DJ as we felt this was a good way to get people up dancing and enjoying themselves.
Following our wedding we would definitely recommend the Racquet Club to other couples. The food was great, lots of guests commented on it, and Sue there was incredibly helpful and sympathetic to a stressed bride! She really did help make the day feel so special and the rooms provided were all so lovely.
The church ceremony was my favourite part of our day. The building is so beautiful and Kip, the vicar, made it feel very intimate and special. It wouldn’t have been the same without him and after the ceremony all the guest were singing his praises.
After spending Christmas Day with our family, we flew to New York for our honeymoon! We stayed there for the New Year too, in a beautiful hotel on Central Park. We did lots of sightseeing, eating and shopping. It was amazing!
My top tip for other Brides Up North would be simply to enjoy the day! It is the most perfect day no matter what your taste, but it goes incredibly fast! Also, in retrospect, hiring a videographer would have been perfect so we could see our day again and also from a guest’s perspective.
