Today we’re joining our couple on the outskirts of York, at the grand Sandburn Hall, with its stunning views of the surrounding golf course and serene lakes providing that luxe feel.
We’re introducing some autumn tones with berry red, maroon and navy, and incorporating rustic wooden styling. There’s even a homemade red velvet cake (or twenty) to fit in with the colour scheme. Our clever bride DIY-ed herself some lovely bits and pieces out of pallets, to tie in with the oak-framed Grand Function Hall at Sandburn, and we’ve got the scoop on how Bryony fell for another man on her wedding day – Jeremy the turquoise blue VW campervan! And we don’t blame her! He’s exceptionally handsome!
Now, brides-to-be, you might be getting yourself in a tizz before the big day, worrying that something won’t go according to your plan, but today on the blog we hear how bride Bethany’s top tip would be to try not to sweat the small stuff and prepare yourself for things going wrong, as they often do. The day will be over before you know it and you’ll want to make sure you enjoy every second. Of course it really helps if, once the wedding is over, you can jet off on a once in a lifetime honeymoon, to really let go of all that wedding planning stress!
With photography by Brides Up North Sponsor Lloyd-Clarke Photography
Proposal
Bryony says
: We got engaged on the 3rd of July 2018, after being together for 10 years, 10 months and 10 days and Tim asked at 10:10 in the morning. We were staying in a treehouse for a few nights in Kent when he popped the question. (Fun Fact – it was also the same day that England finally won on penalties against Columbia, in the World Cup!)Setting
We got married on the 3rd August 2019, after being together 11 years, 11 months and 11 days. Tim choose the date so it would follow a similar theme to the engagement date.
We got married at Sandburn Hall. They are amazing and really went above and beyond to make our day perfect. We choose the venue due to its stunning views, wooden beams and location.
Theme
We had a rustic and wooden theme, with navy, raspberry and maroon as a colour scheme.
Dress
My dress was from Bridal Apparel in Rawdon. I actually said “yes to the dress” on my birthday! My dress was warm ivory with an embellished fitted bodice, with a deep v neckline to the front and an open back. It had a full A-line skirt with train. On the back of the dress, from the waist down to the end of the train, there were tiny silk covered buttons. I had a long veil that was the full length of the dress and train. I removed it after the meal and pinned up my dress for the evening.
Groomsmen
Tim wore a smart navy blue suit from Top Mark suit hire in Pontefract. He wore a checked grey waistcoat so that it was different from the other suits, and everyone wore brown shoes. The Best Man, two brothers and my step-dad wore full navy blue suits that were also from Top Mark suit hire.
Bridesmaids
My two lovely bridesmaids wore berry coloured Little Mistress dresses from ASOS.
Travel
We both arrived in style (separately) in a turquoise campervan called Jeremy. Jeremy was my ‘something blue’! We hired him from Dubtrips.
Photographer
Bethany Lloyd-Clarke was our photographer and we would absolutely recommend her to future brides and grooms. Bethany is a documentary style photographer and captures stunning candid photos, which we loved.
Styling
With our rustic theme in mind, I made a few things out of pallets and tried to compliment the wooden beams at Sandburn Hall. We love films and TV shows so named our tables after our favourite character couples.
We hired large Mr & Mrs Wilson letters from Marvellous Glow. These looked particularly good on the evening, lighting up our dance floor, and made a great backdrop for our first dance.
Favours
We gave all of our guests miniature bottles of whiskey in memory of Tim’s dad, who died in March. His nickname was Whiskey Wilson from his DJ-ing days. We also had ‘mint to be’ packages of mint imperials that I put together myself.
Cake
We had a red velvet semi-naked wedding cake made by my Auntie Claire. She practiced and practiced it for months, to the point that my cousins were sick of red velvet cake and she had to feed the practice bakes to the chickens!
Dining
All of our food was amazing! We served canapés that were mini fish and chips, mini roast beef Yorkshire puds and stuffed mushrooms.
Then, for the wedding breakfast, our starter was deep fried mozzarella with a spicy tomato dip, the main was garlic & herb mascarpone stuffed chicken wrapped in Parma ham with pine nut and chorizo risotto, served with roast baby vine tomatoes and a mustard and tarragon sauce. Dessert was a lime and lemon cheesecake, raspberry compote and white chocolate chunk ice cream. We had BBQ food buffet in the evening and a donut wall that I made myself.
Entertainment
We had a DJ for the evening from PA Entertainment. They were great and they always knew what songs to play to keep people dancing!
We also hired a photobooth from A&C Photobooth, because it just wouldn’t be a wedding without a photobooth! A copy of each photo was stuck into a guestbook and our guests left us a message next to their photos.
We hired wedding mini golf, which started during the welcome drinks and canapés. It was a great ice-breaker and kept everyone entertained before the wedding breakfast, while we had some photographs taken. Lancashire Crazy Golf is the company and we would definitely recommend them. They added great personal touches to the course!
Thanks to
I would 100% recommend Sandburn Hall! Not only was the venue perfect inside and out, but our wedding coordinator, Beth Pryal, and the whole team at Sandburn went the extra mile to make sure we had the best day ever.
Best bit
Tim says his favourite part of the day was seeing me walk down the aisle. We both loved dancing all night and seeing all the happy people in one room. I wish we could do it again!
Honeymoon
We had four nights in Rome, four nights in Venice and eight nights in the Maldives. The Maldives has always been our dream honeymoon destination but we also wanted to see a few tourist attractions too. It was our first time visiting Italy and we really wanted to visit Rome and Venice so we thought why not do both for our honeymoon! We really needed the relaxation of the Maldives by the time we got there though! Italy was amazing but it was red hot in August and we did a lot of walking!
Advice
My advice would be, when your big day arrives, just enjoy every minute and don’t worry about things that might go wrong. Tell yourself beforehand that it’s likely something will not go to plan so, if and when something happens, you can deal with it. And then focus on all the things that have turned out perfectly!
