Relaxed Fun Wedding with a Touch of Hollywood Glamour

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WWW readers Hollie and Mark married on the 18 ^th August 2013 holding their reception at The Villa, Lancashire. They wanted a relaxed, fun wedding with a touch of Hollywood glamour.

There were so many lovely moments, from Hollie's school class visiting the Church to a surprise flash dance and glow stick packed dance floor in the evening.

Hollie looked super glam in her Justin Alexander dress and Lily Bella veil while Mark donned traditional tails. Oh and look out for the super pretty pink Astilbe bouquet, gorgeous!

Thanks goes to the marvellous Paul Joseph Photography for sharing these images today.

THE PROPOSAL | It was nearing the end of the School term in December 2011 and in the midst of running around like a maniac getting my class ready for their roles in the Christmas Nativity, I received a letter from Santa telling me that as I had been especially good this year, I was being taken away on a surprise weekend! The letter also told me what to pack and what to expect in terms of activities! Like an excited little girl, I did what I was told and rushed straight home after the end of term to find out more about our adventure! As we got into the car Mark gave me what appeared to be a "ring" shaped box and I remember my heart beating so fast I thought it was going to explode. As I nervously opened the gift box it revealed that our destination was no other than Center Parcs. This might seem a strange destination to some but, having spent most of our relationship at Center Parcs it held a very special place in my heart and I couldn't wait to arrive and begin our Christmas holidays.

Shortly after our arrival at Center Parcs, Mark and I headed out for dinner and then took a starlight stroll along the lake. When we arrived at our lodge I remember feeling totally exhausted and wanted nothing more than a candlelit bath and a cosy night in by the log fire. As Mark is such a romantic he filled the whole lodge with candles and rose petals and we spent the evening chatting about our future. I remember Mark being intent that we had a glass of champagne and after hours of persuasion, I finally agreed! It was at this moment when I turned around to look for Mark that I found him patiently waiting on one knee, holding a small perfect size silver box in his hand at which point he asked the question every girl dreams of hearing. Despite Mark and I being together for 9 years at this point, I can honestly say I have never felt so nervous, excited and overwhelmed in all of my life. The whole proposal and venue choice was extremely personal, intimate and a truly magical moment that I will cherish forever.

THE VISION | Mark and I did not have a theme for our wedding however, it was extremely important to us that our wedding day was centered around fun, love and laughter. We wanted our wedding day to be relaxed, and have an understated 50's elegance with a twist of Hollywood glamour.

THE PLANNING PROCESS | From the moment we were engaged everything was focussed upon planning the big day. We made sure that we looked at a variety of venues and kept a spreadsheet of every potential cost so that we could gather up an idea of the overall expense. We also wanted to involve as much as our family and friends as possible as they are full of many hidden talents and we wanted our special day to have lots of personal touches.

Like many couples we wanted to secure our venue and Church first so everything was focussed upon this. Once we were happy with our choice of venue we then began looking at photographers, cars, rings, and bridesmaid dresses etc and to be honest everything just fell naturally into place. Giving ourselves just over 18months, being organised, relaxed and having a clear sense of direction meant that we the planning process was relatively calm and straightforward.

THE VENUE | Mark and I knew what we wanted and only looked at venues where we knew exclusivity was available, the use of outdoor grounds and a reputation for good food (as we are both massive foodies ). After looking at a few venues, we instantly fell in LOVE with our visit to The Villa at Wrea Green and despite the venue undergoing extensive building renovations and being told that the potential room that would hold our wedding breakfast/evening reception would not be fully complete until May 2013 we were immediately smitten with the picturesque grounds, the plans, the traditional feel of an "old English pub" and the breath-taking marquee.

THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | Justin Alexander tulle tea length dress with Venice lace and beading on the bodice. The dress also had a silk dupioni sash that clinched in at the waist. Fitting with my dress I wore an ivory birdcage veil. As my dress was tea length and being 5ft11" tall, finding the perfect shoe was majorly important. In the end I wore Perfect Flo ivory lace vintage wedding shoes during the day and white sparkly converse at night! I accessorised my dress with jewellery I borrowed from my Nanna and a beautiful ivory lace umbrella that my Mum had on her wedding day which is now 30 years old.

FINDING THE DRESS | Finding my dream dress was harder than I ever expected. I have always been extremely clear on my sense of style and my outlook on fashion but this decision haunted me for months. I originally wanted a fishtail dress but, unfortunately when I put this style of dress on I did not get the "wow" factor as I felt too willowy so I went back to the drawing board and tried on every possible style of dress in a variety of materials which in hindsight was the best possible thing I could do. I was eventually persuaded by my Mum and Mother-in-law to try a tea-length dress at I Do Bridal in Cockermouth and the moment I put it on I felt fun, flirty and unique. I knew this was "the dress" in which I could dance the night away.

GROOM'S ATTIRE | Mark found it extremely difficult when finding his outfit but in the end decided to go for a three piece light grey suit with tails, a white shirt and Ivory tie which he got from Groom Hire. He teamed this with a pair of burgundy and black brogues from Topman, a silver waistcoat chain and a pocket watch he received from his brother on the morning of the wedding.

THE READINGS & MUSIC | We had the ceremony at my Nanna's church in St Annes. It is a very grand church with a huge aisle that made me feel extra special when walking down it. We had two readings read by Mark's Father, Tom and his cousin Clare. The readings were Song of Solomon and I love you by Roy Croft. I walked down the aisle to Canon in D by J. Pachelbel and we exited the Church to the Wedding March by F. Mendelssohn. Being a primary school teacher I was very clear on our hymns and we chose Lord of the Dance, Bind us Together and Give me Joy in my Heart.

BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | Well we had quite a few of those. Six adult bridesmaids, one flower girl and a page boy! I had my three childhood best friends Gemma, Emma and Sherryl (we have been inseparable since we were 4) and my cousins Annie, Lucy and Ellie. Our flower girl was my gorgeous god-daughter Evie and our page boy was my gorgeous godson Lennon.

As I had quite a lot of bridesmaids I chose a nude 50's style dress that had the most beautiful cowl back to match my tea length wedding dress from Dessy. The girls matched this with metallic sparkly shoes from Next and pearl jewellery from Debenhams. All of the bridesmaids had their hair up in a 1940's style roll which looked beautiful with their dresses. Evie wore an ivory flower girl dress from Debenhams and jewelled Converse and Lennon wore a mini-version of Mark's suit with a nude bow-tie and a pair of grey Vans.

THE FLOWERS | We asked our friend, Maria to do our flowers and she literally blew us away with their beauty. They were simple yet extremely elegant. Our bridesmaids and groomsmen had button holes and bouquets of Gypsophilia and my bouquet and Mark's button hole was the most gorgeous pink Astilbe. Our table decorations were silver candelabras with a wreath of vintage Roses, Hydrangeas, green foliage and Gypsophilia. We also collected a variety of glass jars and bottles in all different shapes and sizes. Mark's Auntie Pauline decorated them with ribbon and lace and complemented them with some beautiful floral arrangements of Sweet Peas and Hydrangeas. They were scattered around our venue.

THE CAKE | Our wedding cake was made by Mark's Auntie's sister, Nettie. She is so incredibly talented and she has the patience of a saint. We decided to go for a very simple ivory two tier sponge wedding cake with lace detailing.

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Choosing our photographers was initially very difficult. We met with a couple of people and explored their websites but most of their work seemed very repetitive and traditional. We were determined to have something a little bit quirky and wanted to push our natural boundaries. We also wanted someone who was creative with a unique sense of style. We found Paul Joseph Photography on Facebook and we instantly knew they were the ones for us! Paul and Kelly were literally like a breath of fresh air. Their attention to detail and creativity are second to none and they really do go that extra mile. They are so relaxed, professional and have a clear vision! Their natural quirkiness blew us away and shooting our photographs always felt like we were hanging out with two friends! On the day they managed to capture all of the magical moments in an unobtrusive way. I loved all of the natural shots from the day - the photos of the bridal and groom preparations are some of my favourite shots! When we first saw our photos it was like reliving our wedding day all over again. We are sooo overwhelmed with our pictures and we would recommend them to anyone!

THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | I really loved planning all the little details of the wedding, they were an important part of our day and we wanted to keep things simple and personal. We tried to enlist the help of as many family members as possible!

Guest Book - I had actually spotted The Fingerprint Tree on Facebook and loved their designs. We didn't want a traditional tree and so decided upon a caricature of ourselves holding a handful of balloons. The balloons were made up of our friends and families fingerprints and they signed the outside of the caricature with words of marital wisdom!

Stationery - To me invitations are really important because they set the tone for the wedding and give people that first glimpse of what your wedding will be like. So in keeping with our vision, we didn't really want the traditional invite, we wanted something quirky and after seeing my friend, Leanne's designs I knew that she would be just the person do it. Leanne created us a bespoke design that introduced all of our wedding party by a photograph and their nickname! We thought that all of our wedding guest would then automatically feel like they knew someone when they arrived at our wedding! When I received the initial proof back I remember just thinking 'wow' Leanne really had managed to capture our vision and style in the invite. Not only did we love them, but everyone else did too - we had so many lovely comments about them! As we loved our stationery so much we ended up ordering our, menus, table plan, place cards and signs for the Church all of which were equally as amazing as the invites.

Favours - One of my best friends and bridesmaid, Emma made our favours. She made retro sweetie cones in a variety of pastel colours in keeping with our wedding colours. They went down a treat with our wedding guests.

Chair Covers/Bows - Our chair covers and bows were supplied by Alexander Jones in St Annes. We decided on pastel pink and lace bows which complimented the room at The Villa beautifully.

Mark and his family decorated the venue in the morning and I had every confidence in them. They made sure the room looked amazing and their attention to detail was perfect. Mark's Auntie Pauline hung hearts and ribbon along the entrance to the room and the walkway was lit by huge lanterns and candles. Mark's Auntie also placed an assortment of jars and bottles in different shapes and sizes filled with flowers all around the venue. Mark's cousin, Jonathan also hung the most beautiful crystal chandeliers from the ceiling of the venue which added to the touch of Hollywood glamour.

Table Plan - we bought a white vintage mirror and added our beautiful stationery made by Leanne. Our table names were significant moments and dates in our relationship including the day we got engaged, the hours we spent planning our wedding, the number of days we had lived together, the number of pet names we have for each other and so on... Our wedding guests loved the personal information they were told and vowed to use this as ammunition against us in the future!

Candy Buffet - Mark's mum and myself collected so many jars and sweets during the build up to the wedding and my Godmother, Maureen made some beautiful retro cupcakes. My cousin, Louise also made some gorgeous bunting which read "Love is Sweet". They all fitted perfectly together and made the cutest retro candy buffet.

Flip-Flops - As I knew all of my family and friends would dance the night away, Mark's mum and I collected a variety of flip-flops in all different colours and sizes for our wedding guests. It allowed all of the fashionistas to change their footwear, be comfortable and most importantly continue dancing!

Cars - In keeping with our relaxed and fun theme we opted for a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud and a VW camper van called "Mary" as our transport from Broughton Wedding Cars. Lisa and Gary were amazing and the service we received from them was perfect and really made our day.

Music - Mark and I knew that live music during our wedding was a must. We had the truly amazing Afrika Fuentes playing during our wedding breakfast and The Deadbeats Band playing during our evening reception. The both created the perfect atmosphere for our wedding and had everyone singing and dancing. In the evening the dance floor was NEVER empty and to this day our friends and family talk about how the dance floor was always rocking!

We didn't really have a first dance as Mark and I were adamant we didn't want one however, we did ask The Deadbeats Band to learn and play "I will wait" by Mumford and Sons and me and Mark were busting some serious moves to the song!

THE HONEYMOON | Mark and I went to Mauritus for our honeymoon. We booked through Hayes and Jarvis and stayed at the Martim Resort for 12 magical days. The hotel staff and service were faultless and we literally had the time of our lives. We had the opportunity to explore the island, complete water sports on the sea and unwind in the Spa. We also had unlimited amounts of scrumptious food and drink. It was everything we could ever want!

MEMORABLE MOMENTS | Waking up to blue skies and gorgeous sunshine after being terrified it would rain like the day before. Getting ready in the morning with all of my bridesmaids and parents and feeling as if I was in a dream. Having 20minutes alone with my Dad in our wedding car and talking about childhood memories and the future. Arriving at Church and being welcomed by some of the children in my class wearing their school uniforms! Walking down the aisle with my Dad and seeing Mark for the very first time. Having our wedding pictures taken on South Pier in Blackpool and being surrounded by tourists! Performing a surprise flashdance to "Proud Mary" with 30+ of my amazing friends and family during our wedding breakfast. Spending the whole evening on the dance floor and rocking it out to Coldplay in my converse.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Give yourselves plenty of time for organising your magical day and make sure you obtain as many quotes as possible. Don't over think or stress yourself out about every minor detail as on the day you just won't care! Don't be persuaded by other people's opinions - go with your heart.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |

Wedding Dress | Justin Alexander at Ido Bridal in Cockermouth

Birdcage Veil | Lily Bella

Bridesmaid Dresses | Dessy at The Bridal Boutique by Dream Capture

Suits | Groom hire

Venue | The Villa, Wrea Green

Photography | Paul Joseph Photography

Flowers | were made by my friend Maria

Cake | made by Mark's Auntie Nettie.

Rings | made by my cousin Lyndsey at Brown and Newirth

Wedding Cars | Broughton Wedding Cars

Band | The Deadbeats