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So, yes, I know we’re not officially back to business here on the wedding blog until tomorrow morning, but I’ve returned from my (much needed) break (in the sun, thank you very much!) to an inbox absolutely bursting with beautiful Real Wedding submissions, exclusive interviews and some much anticipated dates for your diary that I couldn’t resist popping in this weekend to share some of the lovely a little early.
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As I’d hoped, I’ve returned revitalised, full of ideas and itching to get started on the second half of what is already shaping up to be a rather wonderful year here at Brides Up North HQ. Our third whirlwind year is truly our best yet. I’ll be sharing some exciting news, concepts and beautiful new features on these pages soon, but as I get set to clear that inbox (bear with me people, this could take a while) and immerse myself back into my beloved World of all things wedding, I’ll leave you with Katie, Phil and their gorgeous Summer celebration at South Causey Inn with images by Phil Smith Photography.
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Katie says: We got engaged on 5th August 2011 at a gig in Leeds during one of our favourites songs “The Music” by The People.
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We got married on 31st May 2013 at South Causey Inn in Stanley, County Durham. The venue is nice and homely. We aren’t really flashy people and although we enjoy going to grand weddings we didn’t really see it as us. We wanted something cosy and liked that they also have a farm attached. We had been for food a few times and really loved it. That also played a big part as we love good food!
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We used a lot of florals and pastel colours to keep in with our vintage theme.
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My dress was Gaia by Jenny Packham. It was the first dress I really liked after trawling the internet. I ordered it from Poppy Bridal in Darlington who had it sent up from London to try. Although I tried on about six other dresses, I knew that was ‘the one’ and ordered it the same day! I had a Jenny Packham headband too.
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I had eight bridesmaids so it was quite hard to cater for them all: my chief bridesmaid was pregnant at the time of our wedding and one had just had a baby too. I looked all over for bridesmaid dresses and ended up with mine in the sale from H&M for £7 each! Their shoes were from Next and some had belts for the dresses which my chief bridesmaid, Helen made.
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I never thought I would say it but my favourite part of the day was actually walking down the aisle. I chose the song which Phil didn’t know about so that was a nice surprise for him. I really enjoyed seeing everyone as I walked down the aisle and made sure I took it all in. Seeing Phil was my favourite part, he is quite hard normally however when I got to the bottom, he had tears in his eyes (which he is still denying)!
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Our flowers were from Oasis in Washington who did a brilliant job of creating vintage looking flowers. I didn’t want any sparkle or bling so they kept them simple with brown raffia tying them together. They were roses with some greenery.
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We decided to ask Phil Smith Photography to do our photos, we loved the work he had done and especially liked the fact that there is something unusual about his photography. The idea of having twenty minutes away after the ceremony for some shots in a nearby forest was a fantastic idea from him and we both love those ones in particular. We couldn’t be happier with the results and think he has captured how special our day was. He captured every last detail without being intrusive, we would recommend him to any couple looking for a photographer.
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Our invitations, table plan and name cards were made by a friend, Mick Hall who did a fantastic job.
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We had birdcages as centrepieces with vintage flowers around them, we also had some bunting made by a friend, Gillie Marshall which had ‘Mr and Mrs Clarke’ stitched into it. This was on the top table and looked fab
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Our favours were port or Jagermeister for the men and a small candle for the ladies, both had different ribbon around them with a home-made tag saying, ‘With Love, Phil and Katie’, these were also made by Helen. We had vintage style a sweetie cart for the kids although it seemed that the adults took to it most!
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We had a prop box with various fancy dress items, a frame and chalk board for people to write messages on and a load of disposable cameras to take photos with.
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We choose our own playlists, one for the day and one for the evening. We asked our guests to give us some song choices and incorporated them into the lists. We had a DJ on the evening supplied by the South Causey Inn and we emailed him our playlist and asked him to bear these songs in mind when playing. We had classics from The Libertines, Stevie Wonder, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, The Style Council…
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We went to Berlin for a few days after the wedding and are due to go to Cuba at the end of July, we are doing four nights in Havana and ten nights in Varadero which we can’t wait for!
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My top tip for other Brides Up North is to relax and take it all in, I know it is a cliché and everyone I spoke to before the wedding gave me the same advice but it is really true. I had been really stressed leading up to the wedding and I woke up on the wedding morning like a totally different person, I was calm and really relaxed. I really enjoyed the whole day from start to finish, from having breakfast with my bridesmaids, mum and mother in law to be until dancing all night with our friends and family.
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Congratulations Kate & Phil!
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Fancy seeing your own Real Wedding on these pretty pages? Here’s how.
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2013 Phil Smith Photography
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