Happy Friday WWWers, i hope you are gearing up for the weekend :-) To get your Friday off to the perfect start i have the loveliest celebration to share with you.

WWW readers Rebecca and Neil tied the knot back in June at High House Farm and Brewery, Northumberland. Their ceremony and reception were held in an open barn, which Rebecca and Neil decorated with many gorgeous DIY touches.

I just love Rebecca’s lace dress which she wore with a feather cape, while Neil went for a grey Moss Bros suit. They decided to have no bridesmaids or best man, stayed together the night before, had a touching first look and their own wedding table.  How fantastic?

Thanks so much to the brilliant Katie Byram for sharing her photographs with us today.

 

The Proposal… January 2012. We were in New Zealand on holiday and it was the day before my birthday. We had planned to walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, near Taupo. The day trek, although beautiful, isn’t for the faint hearted and truthfully, I perhaps wasn’t as fit as I should have been! After setting off at 6am and walking for about 4 hours I threw the towel in. Although I didn’t want to continue, I was devastated that I had ruined this walk for Neil (who had always wanted to do this yet wouldn’t leave me), and we were pretty sombre on the drive back towards Taupo.

Neil suggested we stop near Mission Bay on Lake Taupo and eat our packed lunch. We were lakeside, watching the ducks and I was generally not paying attention when Neil gave me a hug and asked if I would be his wife. I wasn’t really taking him seriously until he says with vigour: ‘and I brought the ring!’ and fishes it out of his backpack. I couldn’t stop staring at it. He’d bought it in Newcastle and carried it across the world! It so transpires that he had planned to propose on top of the crossing, but we obviously hadn’t got there. It may not have happened in the way he had hoped, but it was still intimate and memorable and we were so happy (I, of course, said yes!). Our families and friends were quite shocked but overjoyed. It was a lovely time.

The Vision for the Day… We really wanted a low key, inexpensive affair – perhaps slightly quirky, but really just a lovely day to share with family and friends. We decided from the outset that we didn’t want a wedding that was too traditional, so no best man or bridesmaids. Everyone we know and love would share our day with us anyway, this way they got to pick their own attire! We also decided to stay together the night before (shock!) and have a ‘first look’, where Neil and I could have photos taken of us before the actual wedding, meaning it was really intimate for us, and less waiting around for everyone else! I’d seen other real wedding first looks on wedding blogs, and thought it could really work for us.

Once we secured the barn at High House Farm & Brewery as the venue for the wedding that really set the décor and detail for the day – rustic with a focus on good food, flowers and fun. Ironically, a fear for me was that by just choosing things that we liked (as opposed to a colour or theme) it could look a little bit mismatched, but actually on the day it just looked wonderful – to my surprise as much as everyone else’s!

The Planning Process… We had quite a relaxed attitude towards the planning initially.  High House Farm was the first and only venue we saw and we booked it within a week. Katie Byram was the only photographer we met and we liked her immediately – I just loved her style at photography – booked! Through a recommendation from High House Farm we found Kelly and the Sensations and decided to book them after seeing them play.

Once we had the majority of big things sorted, we really didn’t do much for a good part of a year. From Christmas to the wedding though, things definitely picked up. Invites were first, deciding on favours, adornments for the wedding dress, Neil’s attire etc.

I made the invites myself. A wedding blog www.weddingchicks.com has free invitation suites and I really loved the one with a flowered monogram. That became the basis for the invites, menu cards and the wedding program. A watch out though – I thought I would save money by doing it myself. But after buying the printer, a ridiculous amount of ink cartridges and a large number of prototypes later, I’m not sure I actually saved any money. It was rewarding seeing everyone’s reaction to my hard work though!

Budget… Initially our budget was £8500. We did have some unforeseen additional costs, but overall I think we managed to do everything for less than £9500 (not including the honeymoon). We didn’t want to spend a fortune; we wanted it to be affordable for us. Our wedding party was 50 people for the day, with an additional 20 in the evening. I do think you can have a really lovely wedding and not break the bank – our day was absolutely perfect for us.

The Venue… High House Farm and Brewery isn’t new to weddings but we were new to the venue. I had found it on the internet, and had realised they were just about to be granted a licence to allow them to have the ceremonies in the barn itself. Neil really loved that idea. On our first visit (in a cold March, while dark) we couldn’t even see the barn! On our second visit during the day, we fell in love with the simplicity of the venue, and the surrounding Northumberland countryside – it’s really in the middle of nowhere. Heather, who runs High House, gave us such great vibes as she said she could be totally flexible with what food and drink we wanted. The team could not have done more for us on the day, and the food was divine.

The Dress + Accessories… The dress: Truly, Madly, Deeply in Monkseaton. It was a beautiful lace/beaded dress (narrow A line, I believe) with scalloped edging. Originally strapless, with a straight neckline, Debbie (Truly Madly Deeply) suggested using the satin belt as a halter neck, and from there I decided I also wanted the gown to be sweetheart neckline. Debbie put me in touch with Dressmaking by Kaylean. Kaylean was an absolute wizard. She took my vision and made the changes necessary. The dress looked beautiful.

I did decide I still wanted a belt, and had seen beaded belts online – including the high cost! My aunt (who manages the Wedding Dress Outlet Store, Burbage, Leics) was so very kind to organise a beaded belt for me as a gift. It really complimented the dress.

As the wedding was practically outside I also decided I wanted a cover up. This took me months to decide on! I finally purchased an ivory feather shrug from Debenhams (No. 1 Jenny Packham) which I wore as the day got a bit cooler.

Hair & make up: By pure chance a Vintage Fair was coming to Newcastle in March and I saw on Facebook that you could get hair and make up done for a reasonable price. That is how I met Melanie from LeKeux Cosmetics. On the day of the Vintage Fair I wasn’t sure how to have my hair done – Melanie gave me a book of vintage hair styles over the decades. I saw the rolls a la 1940’s style and I have pictures of my late Nan with the exact same style. On a whim I asked Melanie to do my hair and make up like that. I absolutely loved it – fate! Following the make over I contacted Le Keux and asked if they would mind doing my hair and make up for my wedding. I was thrilled when they said yes, especially as it would require Melanie coming from Leeds to Northumberland! I just had a few pearl pins added into a couple of curls. Make up was kept fairly simple with red lips and black flick on the eyes. I loved the make up and it lasted even after exuberant dancing!

My jewellery was made by one of my best friends – Sharon Campbell. Sharon had made the jewellery for most of my friends weddings including her own! Bless her, I wasn’t even sure what I wanted even a week before the wedding. Sharon made me a beautiful and delicate pearl necklace and earring set which was absolutely perfect.

My shoes were bought at Debenhams – very plain. I was initially going to spend quite a lot of money on shoes, and I’m now so very glad I didn’t. No one saw them, and I had to kick them off straight after the first dance as they were hurting my feet. My friend Cheryl McMahon had bought me some flat shoes in case this happened, and I happily wore those for the rest of the night!

Finding the Dress… When I started to search online, and in magazines for dress inspiration, I originally thought I would go for a short dress, in perhaps 1950’s style. However when I tried some of these on I felt like they just made me look like I had a big bum! I visited my aunts dress outlet store with family and got some great inspiration for longer dresses, though as the dresses could only be supplied in the sizes available in store, that limited choice.

I decided to go shopping back in the North East. I ultimately choose the last but one dress I tried on in the first store! To my shock I fell in love with a long lace dress with a strapless design, which I knew I could make perfect for me.

Groom’s Attire… About a month before the wedding Neil and I went shopping for his suit. We found a really lovely grey suit in Moss Bros. To accompany the suit he bought a blue shirt and a floral tie (my touch!), and brown shoes. As a wedding present I bought some cuff links for Neil, one cuff link has the co-ordinates of the place of our engagement, and the other of our wedding – he wore those on the day.

The Readings + Music… We only went with one reading. We found a verse online (‘What is a Marriage’ by Bespoke Verse) which we adapted to suit us. Our friend Joanne Watts read it for us on the day, and it was personal, sentimental and amusing, we loved it.

We used the High House Farms docking system to play Ipod music prior and during the wedding ceremony, and during the wedding breakfast. We used Elbow’s ‘On a Day Like This’ to walk in to. Florence and the Machines ‘Cosmic Love’, Avalanche City ‘You and I’ while signing the register and The Lumineers ‘Hey Ho’ upon leaving the ceremony.

One of the traditional elements of the day we did keep was a first dance. While travelling in New Zealand we discovered Avalanche City. Our first dance was to their ‘Love, Love, Love’.

In the evening we had the lovely Kelly and the Sensations play a couple of sets. They definitely got everyone up and dancing to numerous soul songs, and even had a sneaky go in the photobooth!

The Flowers… There’s a florists opposite the shop from which I purchased my wedding dress. On the day I found my dress, I wandered over to have a look at the flowers. Little did we know it was their opening day! A glass of champagne and a chat later and I had decided on a florist! I absolutely love flowers and felt quite strongly about what I wanted. I can’t sing the praises of Scentiment enough. My initial plan for flowers changed slightly over the year and they just went with it. With about a month to go, I sent through a few pictures via email so that they had a rough idea of what I was wanting. When I saw my bouquet for the first time I almost cried. It was unquestionably what I wanted, and it looked so gorgeous. Ultimately I had settled on a bouquet of peonies, roses, lisianthus, September daisies, craspedia and rosemary. The buttonholes were white lisianthus and craspedia.

The Cake… The cake was made for us by a family friend. The cake looked really lovely on the day, and tasted good too!

We didn’t want to do the traditional cutting of the cake, and thanks to a suggestion from Katie, Party Forever gave us sparkling candles instead to make a wish for our married life, it wasn’t quite successful as we couldn’t get the candles to stick in the cake – but we did try!

Your Photographer… I saw Katie’s photos on a wedding blog, and decided almost immediately that she would be right for us. Upon meeting her, it was a given. Katie is an all-round beautiful person, who could not have done more for us. I would have been happy if we just had one lovely photo of Neil and I on our wedding day, but thanks to Katie we have many! Her photos are just full of colour and clarity, and some of the candid shots of people laughing and having fun are just lovely. She was so brilliant with our family and friends, everyone commented on how good she was.

The funky photobooth was an almost last minute thing, and yet even now they always bring such a big smile to our faces. Everyone loved loved that touch.

The Details + Decor… Menu cards, programmes, madlibs and invites were all home made by using the free invitation suites found on the internet and we just altered these to meet our needs.

Table decorations again were homemade by using jam jars covered in hessian and lace. The table were covered in plain white table cloths enhanced by hessian runners. Both the jam jars and the hessian runners were a product of thoughtful friends from my craft club at work.  The barn and entrance to the brewery was decorated with paper and fabric bunting, which we picked up at various places over the months before the wedding.

Already having a home etc we decided not to bother with the traditional wedding gift list and set up an online account for gifts for our honey moon. We choose trips and restaurants we would like to go to while on honeymoon and guests could pledge towards these. We found this worked really well for us overall and would recommend it to anyone.

The Honeymoon… Well we left 6am on the Monday after the wedding, just giving us Sunday to recover. Flying to Cape town from Newcastle via Amsterdam.  We booked the whole thing ourselves. We choose high rated B&B’s rather than stopping at more touristy hotels. Our first port of call was Sun Cottage In Newlands village, Cape town for 5 days (http://www.suncottagecapetown.com/).  We set out to see as much of the town as possible. Kirstenbosch botanical gardens, table mountain, cape point, boulders beach, 2 oceans aquarium, v&a waterfront and city tour bus.  The gem we found was the afternoon tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel, which to say took it to a whole new level. We then spent 2 days then in the winelands at dieu donne guest farm.http://www.dieudonne.co.za/. taking in tours of the wineries capped off with a master tasting at Fairview, again something to behold. We then flew to Johannesburg to catch a connecting flight to inhambane in Mozambique for another week, stopping at an eco lodge called blue foot prints http://www.bluefootprints.com/.  After the fast pace of racing round cape town this was the complete opposite a place of tranquillity to just unwind off the grid with nothing but the ocean and watching the whales to amuse you.

Memorable Moments… Neil: Rebecca getting choked up when she tried to say a few words of thanks to our guests. I stepped in and asked the party to toast to us. I think a few people had tears in their eyes. Walking into the barn to our song by Elbow. We decided to do it together, and seeing all of our loved ones gathered together for us was very emotional. Rebecca being chased by the horse in a nearby field while Katie was trying to take photos. Katie mentioned the horse was very friendly, but I think that was over friendly!

Rebecca: The evening before our wedding my friend Jo gave us a big parcel to open that night. In it were beautiful touching gifts such as candles, chocolates, crisps, drinks, travel books, bride and groom bath ducks and a lovely card detailing how she loved us and was happy for us. The morning of the wedding, my other friend Cheryl arrived early with bags of food while I was getting ready, just in case we were peckish. The generosity of our friends was so overwhelming and touching, we’ll be forever grateful. Seeing the flowers for the first time. I was speechless and so over the moon with them. Neil seeing me for the first time. I know he had no idea what to expect, and I love that Katie caught that on camera.  I loved how we’d got the tables set out for the wedding breakfast. Two long tables full of our guests, and just Neil and I on our own table at the top. This meant when everyone took their seats, Neil and I had time to just talk to each other and be newly happily married, it was a lovely private time for us, without actually removing ourselves from the day.

Advice for Other Couples… It seems so silly, but just enjoy the day. Was everything perfect in the way I imagined on the day  –no. Honestly, it was better. Infinitely better. Everyone we love spent the day with us and everyone was so happy, and happy for us. We were over whelmed with everyone’s kindness, and pretty much never stopped laughing.

We found having the whole event at one venue worked really well for us and our guests, we especially enjoyed having the b&b being next door to the venue – easy to walk home.

Confirm costs on everything up front with every vendor you use, preferably with proof in writing. This then stops any little surprises when coming to pay.

Credit Where Credit is Due…

Venue  http://www.highhousefarmbrewery.co.uk/northumberland_wedding_venue.php

Flowers  http://www.scentiments.me/about-us.php

Balloons    https://www.partyforever.co.uk/

Wedding dress  http://www.trulymadlydeeply.org/

Ivory feather cover up http://www.debenhams.com

Groom suit  http://www.moss.co.uk/

Icecream  http://www.vallumfarm.co.uk/

Guest book http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TotallySalinda

Music/band  http://www.kellyandthesensations.com/

Photography http://photographybykatie.co.uk/

Hair & Make up  http://www.lekeuxcosmetics.com/

Wedding programs/invites www.weddingchicks.com

Favours  http://www.sweetsallycinnamon.co.uk/

& http://www.schoc.co.nz/

Sweetie jars (for the evening) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Party-Additions/111934419016047

Gift list http://www.honeyfund.co.uk/

Honeymoon:

Accommodation Capetown  http://www.suncottagecapetown.com/

Franshhoek http://www.dieudonne.co.za/

Mozambique  http://www.bluefootprints.com/

 

I just love how they made their day totally their own. Thanks so much to Rebecca and Neil for sharing their gorgeous wedding with us today XOXO Lou