Real Weddings

Maggie Sottero for a Chic City Wedding at King Street Townhouse – Sarah & Nick

Sarah Symonds

We’re heading into Manchester centre today for Sarah and Nick’s city-based celebration at King Street Townhouse.

Planning your own slick, simple and modern wedding? Check out the dramatic photography of Sarah and Nick’s big day, emphasising the beautiful contrast created by the white, burgundy and navy, paired with the green foliage in the bouquets. Just perfect for a winter wedding! And, as an alternative to wedding cake, towers of fudgy chocolate brownies look and sound good to us!

Sarah absolutely glows in her mermaid-style Maggie Sottero gown, pretty in lace and encrusted with beading and pearls, and we’re obsessed with her ‘maids, matching in burgundy but making use of the different Rewritten dress styles to suit each individual. That’s certainly one way to keep your whole bride tribe happy!

With photography by Kate McCarthy Photography

Proposal

Sarah says: We got engaged in September 2018 while hiking on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

Setting

We got married on the 23rd of November 2019. We chose this date as we liked the idea of getting married in winter but we didn’t want it to be too close to Christmas.

Our ceremony and reception were both held at the King Street Townhouse in Manchester city centre. At first, we looked at a couple of different types of location and venue, but we always came back to the idea of getting married in the city and the King Street Townhouse is a venue we have always loved.

Theme

There was no particular theme or style for our wedding but we liked the idea of keeping things simple and modern. Our colour scheme was navy and burgundy. We chose this colour scheme by looking for inspiration on Pinterest. Nick wanted to wear navy and we knew that the bridesmaids would all look beautiful in burgundy.

Dress

I wore a Maggie Sottero ‘Imani’ gown from Maria Modes in Macclesfield. I wanted something sparkly that suited my shape, which the Imani dress did perfectly. The team at Maria Modes were wonderful and so helpful when choosing my dress.

Groomsmen

Nick wore a navy blue suit with a contrasting grey checked waistcoat which he purchased from the Moss Bros’ ‘Tailor Me’ service. The ‘Tailor Me’ service was fantastic and Nick was able to get a suit which fit him perfectly.

The groomsmen supplied their own suits but we gifted them matching ties to bring the look together.

Bridesmaids

The bridesmaids wore Rewritten dresses in the colour ‘Chianti’ purchased from Rock the Frock in Bramhall.

Beauty

Our hair was done by Tyson Hair Design in Didsbury. The bridesmaids and I did our own makeup.

Photographer

Our photographer was Kate McCarthy. Kate was fabulous, from the first video call to receiving our final photos, the service was impeccable. She was also a useful person to have around on the wedding day, as she helped everything to run smoothly and gave much needed support.

Styling

I visited the Brides Up North website and spent time reading up on the real weddings to get inspiration for my day. It was great to see how other couples had organised their day and what worked for them.

The bridesmaids and I carried bouquets of burgundy and dusky pink flowers along with foliage and blue berries for contrast. The flowers were provided by Blossom Flowers Chorlton. The flowers were absolutely incredible, I couldn’t have imagined them to be any more beautiful.

The decorations for the wedding reception were all supplied by Blossom Flowers too. They included long table garlands down the centre of the three long tables, punctuated with tea lights, and a display on the top table. Each person’s menu card was laid with a sprig to match the floral arrangement. Small floral arrangements were also set on the balcony and the cake table.

We tried to keep it all as simple as possible, so the only other real special touch was our Jenga guestbook, supplied by Nick’s Mum. We now bring the Jenga out at family parties so we can all read the messages and reminisce on the day.

Favours

We gave each guest a small linen bag with a chocolate bar and a small bottle of alcohol which they could swap with other guests if it wasn’t to their liking. My father wrote a little poem to put in the bags to encourage the guests to chat and swap their gifts with their tablemates.

Cake

Instead of a traditional cake we had towers of brownies and trays of millionaires shortcake and lemon drizzle from Bowl and Whisk. The brownies were absolutely wonderful. Some guests were hiding brownies in their handbags to take home with them for later, they were so good!

Dining

We had two drinks receptions, one for the day guests and one for the evening guests which included the wines we had paired with our meal and a wheelbarrow of beer.

For the meal, we started with pork belly, then duck for mains and finally a double chocolate Sticky Toffee Pudding, which is Nick’s absolute favourite.

Entertainment

We decided to have both a DJ and a band, as we love to dance. The DJ, Lee Stone, was brilliant and the band, Retrospekt, are personal favourites of ours. They have played at several parties for our friends and family and have always been superb.

Thanks to

We would definitely recommend the King Street Townhouse to other couples, as the hotel is beautiful inside and out, and it’s a great city centre base for guests. Also the team at the venue were second to none and could not do enough to make sure our special day was perfect.

Best bit

My favourite part of the day was later in the evening when Nick and I went to have our picture taken on the roof. It was a lovely quiet moment on a very busy day and the views of the city were amazing.

Honeymoon

We went to Costa Rica in February this year and it was a trip of a lifetime. We saw so much amazing wildlife and scenery, we would definitely recommend a visit to anyone.

Advice

This is a top tip that I have stolen from one of my work colleagues, but I would say the most important thing is to make sure that you and your partner take a moment during the day to pause and take in what’s going on around you, as otherwise everything can fly by in a flash!

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