To get your week off to a pretty start, we’re sharing with you Elizabeth and Rory’s elegant wedding day that took place in Yorkshire.
Deciding to stick with tradition for their ceremony, Elizabeth and Rory picked the church connected to their son’s school in which to say their ‘I dos’. Once wed the bride, groom and their guests then all enjoyed a marquee reception in a rural location which boasted beautiful countryside views.
With images by Sarah Brabbin Photography.
elizabeth says:
We got engaged in October 2014. We’d been over visiting Rory’s friend in Cheshire for the weekend and we went out to Peckforton Castle. We were in the great hall when Rory said ‘look at that over there’ and pointed at some coats of arms on the wall. When I turned back around he was on one knee! Our little boy who was five at the time got down on one knee with him too, totally unrehearsed and unprompted. Rory proposed with his mum’s engagement ring. Sadly she’d lost a two year battle with cancer a month earlier so it was pretty emotional.
We were married on 26th September 2015, at Hoylandswaine Church and then had our reception in a marquee supplied by Black Cherry Events, at Smallshaw Farm Cottages in Millhouse Green, near Sheffield. I always wanted to get married in a church and we chose Hoylandswaine as it’s the church connected to our son’s school. It meant a lot as it’s where we go for his harvest festival, carol concert etc. It’s not our parish church but I went to services regularly to ensure we were eligible.
We chose Smallshaw for our reception because it allowed us to have a totally unique and personal day, all in an outstanding setting. With so many children at the wedding, the location meant there was lots of space for them to run around a play, while the adults could relax in the sun and enjoy the view.
We wanted our wedding to have a really homely, relaxed atmosphere throughout the day and just wanted to have a lovely time surrounded by friends and family.
When it came to picking my wedding dress I had a bit of a nightmare! I went to so many shops and tried so many on before I finally found ‘the one’. I knew I wanted something fitted but I couldn’t find anything that made me feel ‘wow.’ When I put the Juliet dress on by Enzoani, I loved it. And when my mum suddenly said ‘that’s it, that’s the one!’ after being pretty underwhelmed by everything else I’d tried on, I knew I had to have it. My dress was from Emily Bridal Wear in Sheffield.
Rory’s suit was handmade by Carl Stuart Tailors in Ossett. We wanted a rich, dark teal colour to match the colour scheme. Luckily our neighbour’s brother-in-law owns a mill so he was able to help with sourcing the perfect fabric. The groomsmen had their suits from Moss Bros, although we sourced ties separately from Ties Planet. They were fantastic at getting us exactly the right colour.
The bridesmaid dresses caused us a real headache unfortunately, as we couldn’t find anything we liked in the right colour. We eventually got them from ChiChi at House of Fraser. I don’t think there’s any need to spend tons of money on proper bridesmaid dresses which aren’t that fantastic. You can get much nicer dresses on the high street. The shoes my bridesmaids wore were Pink Paradox.
Mine and my bridesmaids’ beautiful bouquets, made up of pretty pale coloured flowers, were created by Tracey Campbell of Campbell’s Flowers. Tracey also provided our top table arrangement.
Elsewhere we used flowers in varying sized pots to decorate the venue and each of the tables were named after places which mean something to Rory and I – from Mount Snowden to Wharncliffe Woods!
As favours we gave out amazing handmade macaroons, which were salted caramel and vanilla flavour. They were made by FP Macaroons in York. Florian there is a Master Patissier. We tried his macaroons at a wedding fair and knew then we had to have them at our wedding.
Other treats included a table full of sweets – each with a special reason why chose them – and for the adults, a ‘Pimp Your Proscecco’ stand, which went down a storm later in the day.
Our four tier wedding cake was made by Jade’s Heavenly Buns, and we also had a cheese ‘wedding cake’ which was from The Cheeseboard of Harrogate.
For entertainment during the day we hired signer Leon Pashley and saxophonist Cat Miles to perform. In the evening we had a disco courtesy of Club Class DJs.
Looking back I have so many favourite bits from our wedding day. I loved the morning, getting ready with my mum and bridesmaids, and the evening party was fantastic fun – but I think if I had to choose any one bit it would be the ceremony. Our vicar did a fabulous job of making a traditional church service which we’ve all been to lots of times seem totally personal and unique. Walking in and seeing my husband-to-be and our little boy together was really special too.
After the wedding we jetted off on honeymoon to the beautiful Greek island of Santorini.
My top tip to other Brides Up North would be – try not to put too much pressure on yourself, give yourself much more time than you think you’ll need for everything (it always takes longer) and don’t worry about everything being perfect. Little things will go wrong – but they won’t have any real impact on the day. Oh, and perhaps hold back on the drinks a bit! As soon as your hand is empty someone will put a glass of something in it. Try not to drink them all! It’s a long day and you need to pace yourself.
