Today’s featured wedding is classy country casual, understated and natural across the board. Sarah and hubby Dom have kept things relaxed and unfussy, and we’re big fans.
The beauty of a marquee wedding is the blank canvas you have to play with, and when the groom’s family owns the field you pitch your tent in, you can pretty much do whatever you fancy. Sarah and Dom have certainly worked wonders for their natural and elegant August wedding.
It’s also peony season and we’re excited about it! So it seems was our bride and her florist, Fiona, as we’ve spotted the pops of pretty pink stealing the show here and there. Classic peony perfection alongside plenty of fresh, tumbling foliage giving us those ideal summer, al-fresco vibes. Especially with the authentic hay bales dotted around for seating! A nice touch, we think you’ll agree. And these two certainly look pretty chuffed with themselves, all loved up and ready to start their forever. Let’s find out more about how it all came together…
With photography by Hayley Baxter Photography
Proposal
Sarah says: We got engaged on 31st July 2017 while in Mexico. One evening Dom told me that he had a special evening planned for us. It was only a few days before my birthday so I thought he was just doing something for that.
We went down to the beach and walked along the sand. Dom got down on one knee and then asked me to marry him. He’d organised for a photographer to be there, hiding in a bush, to capture the moment. It was magical. That evening, we had the whole of a roof terrace looking over the beach and had a candlelit meal with our own personal waiter.
Dom had been planning it for months and both of our families kept it a secret so I am so happy that it worked out perfectly for him.
Setting
We were married on 3rd August 2019 as I’m a primary school teacher and I wanted to get married in the summer holidays.
The ceremony was at St Bartholomew’s Church in Ripponden. We were welcomed by the beautiful church bells.
Then, the reception was in Dom’s family’s field in the countryside, in Norland, West Yorkshire. Dom’s family put in a lot of effort to make sure that the field was ready and it looked perfect. They were delighted that we had picked their field as our venue! It had stunning views of the Yorkshire countryside.
Theme
We went for a neutral tone to match the scenery, with green leaves on the invites and stationery. We had hay bales to sit on outside the marquee, keeping in with the country theme. The colour scheme looked classy and elegant.
Dress
My dress was a Stella York. I went for a timeless dress which had no lace on it. I wanted something classy and fairly plain but still beautiful. I purchased it from Ava Rose Hamilton in Silsden.
I went dress shopping with my mum and sister. I said that they were allowed to pick a dress each for me to try on, one which they thought I would look nice in. They picked this dress out. Before putting it on, I thought that I wouldn’t like it but once I was wearing it, I absolutely loved it. I couldn’t believe it! I said yes to their dress! Shoes were from LK Bennett.
Groomsmen
Dom wore a slim fitting three piece suit which we purchased from Haworth Menswear. He wore some brown shoes from Oliver Sweeney. The groomsmen wore the same three piece suit as the groom and brown Oliver Sweeney shoes.
The page boys wore matching shorts, shirts and waistcoats from Marks & Spencer. They also wore tan sandals from Jojo Maman Bebe.
Bridesmaids
The bridesmaids wore a Maya dress which we ended up buying from Next! It was beautiful and flattering on all of the girls. Mother of the Bride wore a John Charles dress from Snooty Frox.
Beauty
Hair was done by Katie Hamilton. Makeup was by Nina Walker and Jodie Michele.
Transport
Horsfields of Halifax provided two vintage Rolls Royces.
Photographer
My photographer was Hayley Baxter. She was amazing! I couldn’t recommend her more! She really got to know Dom and I during our pre wedding shoot and made us feel at ease. On the day, we trusted that she would capture the day beautifully and she certainly did just that! She didn’t take just photos – she took memories.
Styling
Fiona Pickles from Firenza Flowers provided all of the flowers for the day. I worked part time for Fiona whilst at university and I always admired the effort and time that she put into creating beautiful flower arrangements for weddings. I always knew that she would do my wedding flowers one day. There’s nobody else that I would have trusted to do them.
Stationery was all created by my best friend Poppy Barratt at Poppies Stationery. I told her a theme and she created everything that I wanted. There was nobody else that I would have ever picked to do my stationery.
Our photo booth was from Volkswagen Wedding Company, and the marquee was James Dabbs Marquees. Couldn’t recommend them enough. Lighting was by Festoon Lighting.
Favours
My gran and Dom’s grandma both had dementia and recently passed away. Rather than giving out favours, we donated money to Dementia UK.
Cake
My cake was from The Frostery at Uppermill. There was nobody else in the running when it came to where I was getting my cake from. Suzanne has made a few cakes for my family, including my sister’s wedding cake and my two nephews’ christening cakes. They’re fabulous so I knew that what I was going to get would be perfect. Plus, Suzanne is so friendly and helped turn the idea in my head into a real cake. The top tier was fruit and the two lower tiers were lemon sponge with limoncello buttercream.
Dining
Our Caterer, Amanda Guest from Guest Dining, did all of the food, canapés, welcome drinks, wine for the day and bar drinks. Amanda was recommended to us and she did a sterling job. Her staff (special mention to Kelly!) were with us every step of the way, navigating the arrangements, from liaising with the marquee company to organising the drinks and evening bar to give us exactly what we wanted.
Canapés included a filo basket of oak smoked salmon, spinach roulade, peppered boursin, beef and Roquefort croute, onion marmalade, red pepper, mint and goats cheese tarts, and honey and mustard glazed sausages.
Starter was a duck liver pate with blueberry jelly and the main course was breast of chicken with red pepper and tomato sauce and all the trimmings. Then we had a trio of desserts; lemon posset, chocolate brownie and raspberry cheesecake.
Entertainment
Martin Little, a Saxophonist, was AMAZING! He played throughout the wedding breakfast until the evening DJ arrived and it was wonderful! Everyone has commented on how good he was.
We had a DJ in the evening, Ben Bottomley. The best Dj we could have ever imagined! Our first dance was to Westlife’s Hello My Love.
Thanks to
We can’t really recommend the venue as it was on our land but big thanks to Dom’s family! The church was stunning though and I can definitely recommend having a marquee wedding! You can do everything to your taste and it makes your wedding so unique!
Best bit
The best bit was seeing that all of the hard work we’d put in (mainly by my mum) had all been worth it! The sun shone, everyone was smiling, we were surrounded by our loved ones, Dom and I were married! We absolutely loved every second of it.
Honeymoon
We went to Antigua and stayed at a Sandals resort. The pure white sand beaches and crystal clear waters were breathtaking.
Advice
Our top tip is to make time for each other. The day flies by! Enjoy every minute of it!
