We’re giddy to be welcoming you to the pretty wedding of Ashley and Andy! With a simple and lovely palette of white and pastels, boho touches in the tablescapes and a nod to the festivals they’ve been to together, this one is full of ideas to personalise your big day.
We don’t know about you but we’re feeling baby blue! The soft colour scheme of this summery big day has captured our hearts and we’re loving the addition of the subtle festival theme, as our die-hard Glastonbury goers tie the knot. Just check out that cake!
Ashley and Andy’s unconventional but gorgeous wedding journey down the aisle began with the bride proposing to the groom – in leap year tradition, natch – and continued with taking a chance on a £50 dress from an online shop. Ashley looks stunning in her gown and, with a few little bespoke tweaks here and there, has really made the look her own.
With photography by Claire Louise Photography
Proposal
Ashley says: We were going to get engaged at Glastonbury in 2020, but I ended up proposing to Andy during the leap year of 2020 when I found out the festival was very likely to be cancelled due to Covid. I asked for a microphone at a party in a pub and asked him in front of all the guests.
Setting
We chose the 18th of June 2021, so we could honeymoon at Glastonbury festival straight after. Unfortunately the festival was cancelled for another year due to the pandemic, so we will now be going in 2022.
We got married at The Bridge Hotel and Spa, Walshford, near Wetherby. We fell in love with the beautiful grounds and the stunning ceremony room.
Theme
We had a rustic, festival theme to the wedding because I’m obsessed with Glastonbury, having been eleven times. I chose baby blue for the colour scheme because it’s one of my favourite colours and I thought it would be nice for a summer wedding. I loved reading the Brides Up North real life weddings and seeing the photos for inspiration for the type of wedding I wanted.
Dress
I ordered my dress from SHEIN for under £50. It was decorated with floral lace with flutter sleeves. I ordered it online during the pandemic and it was great that I could try it on at home, whilst all the other bridal boutiques were closed. I got a dressmaker to add some lace to the neckline and back and added a beautiful silver belt.
My shoes were from Irregular Choice and flashed when I walked. I changed into silver Converse to dance in later on in the day.
Groomsmen
Andy wore a dark grey suit from Suit Direct and the baby blue tie was from Ties R Us. The groomsman wore the same as the groom.
Bridesmaids
My sister’s bridesmaid dress was from Quiz and our daughters’ flower girls dresses were from John Lewis.
Beauty
Our hair and makeup artist was Marci Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist.
Photographer
We used Claire Louise Photography, Scholes in Leeds. We lost the original photographer through illness and had to find Claire quickly. From the moment we met her at the venue, we knew she was going to do a great job. She really listened to what we wanted, was unobtrusive and her photos are amazing.
Videographer
Our videographer was Sakura Productions. I really wasn’t sure whether I wanted a videographer or not, as I didn’t like the idea of being filmed all day, I thought it would make me nervous. I needn’t have worried, Rach was amazing. I barely noticed her there and her video struck the perfect balance between romance and a few of the more humorous aspects of the day, like me jumping out of my skin when the confetti cannon went off!
Styling
My flowers were by Lottie Roberts Flowers, York. They were white roses with gypsophila and oxypetalum with silver ribbon and pearl pins.
They also provided the flowers for the table centrepieces. I added a wooden log slice, glass jar with hessian and a wooden heart candle holder with a candle. We named the tables after festivals we had both been to and had activity packs to keep the children entertained during the wedding breakfast. We added fairy lights to the courtyard outside.
Favours
We decided to do a candy cart and provided pre-bagged sweets for the guests, so that it would be covid safe. We still displayed the jars with haribo sweets and had a marshmallow tree though. We also lit it with fairy lights and artificial flowers.
Cake
We had a three tier Glastonbury themed cake in chocolate and Victoria sponge by Amazing Cakes by Amanda. The pyramid stage part actually lit up!
Dining
We had assorted canapés during the drinks reception. The wedding breakfast was prawn cocktail, chicken with button mushrooms, bacon lardons and tarragon, then warm chocolate chip brownie with ice cream. We had prosecco and Peroni for the welcome drink, house wine with the meal and champagne for the toast.
Entertainment
The Acoustic Wedding Singer, Huddersfield played all our favourite songs during the drinks reception and wedding breakfast. He then played our Spotify playlist for us in the evening as we weren’t allowed to have a proper DJ at the time due to restrictions.
Special touches
We decided to try out some smoke bombs during the photos. I was apprehensive as to how good they would be and if they would stain my dress, but they worked really well and created some truly stunning photos.
We also had my cockapoo, Georgie, arrive in a convertible with a wedding chaperone, so we could include him in our special day. The guests welcomed him arriving and we got some lovely pics with him and the guests. The dog chaperone was Throw A Dog A Bone Pet Services.
We hired a bouncy castle for the children, which proved to be a big hit. This was provided by Acomb Bouncy Castles.
Thanks to
I would recommend all of our suppliers, they were all fantastic and were excellent at communicating with me.
I also wouldn’t hesitate to recommend our venue to other couples. The staff are fabulous and I can’t thank the Wedding Co-ordinator, Becky Childs enough. She was superb from start to finish in ensuring that the day went off without a hitch. The hotel and grounds are really beautiful and we are looking forward to booking another short break there soon.
Best bit
The favourite part of my day had to be when I saw my dog Georgie drive up with the dog chaperone in the convertible! He looked so excited and happy to see us and it was a special moment to have all our guests outside to greet him with us.
Honeymoon
We couldn’t really go abroad because of the pandemic, so we spent three nights relaxing at The Carden Park Hotel and Spa in Cheshire, three nights in the Boathouse in Chester and, finally, three nights in the Beatles themed Hard Day’s Night Hotel in the John Lennon Suite, which was amazing and even contained a baby white grand piano.
Advice
Our advice would be to do your research when choosing suppliers and look for recommendations and reviews. I was delighted with everybody we chose and it helps make the whole process so much less stressful. Also, leave yourself longer than you think to get ready before the wedding. The time goes by really quickly!