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English Country Garden Meets Boho Elegance Wedding Inspiration
Today I am taking you back to the summer when the sun shone and we...
28
Jan
2014
Today’s wedding comes from one of my favourite photographers and good friends of mine Paul and Kelly from Paul Joseph Photography. Also one of my favourite Yorkshire venues Utopia at Broughton Hall, somewhere I had the pleasure of working a couple of years ago on another amazing wedding! This wedding is a true delight, full of bright colour and lots of fun and a whole heap of DIY projects. The couple Naomi and David have really made this wedding their own, with gorgeous decoration, a brass band, lots of dancing and a whole lot of fun!
Naomi and David were married on the 6th July at All Saints church, Broughton-in-Airedale, Utopia at Broughton Hall. ‘I’m from Yorkshire and wanted to get married in an area that showed off the of the beautiful landscape and country side of the Yorkshire dales. I also wanted to choose a venue that was a blank canvas so that we could make it truly unique. We had 103 guests for the day and and extra 15 for the ceremony and evening do. The wedding took 16 months on and off to plan.’
How they met
We met through a mutual friend on a night out in shepherds bush although it wasn’t until a few months later when we started dating. We have been together for over 5 Years and got engaged last April in Thailand.
The proposal
David proposed during a holiday in Thailand. He had decided before the holiday that he wanted to propose but didn’t have any ideas when on the holiday to ask. One evening before dinner he decided that it would be a good idea for us to take a walk down to the beach during a massive thunder storm and crawl over big rocks to get to a very beautiful part of the coast. We were the only people for miles (no one else was stupid enough to go for a walk during a massive storm). I love a good storm so it was not hard to convince me to for the walk. As we decided to turn back he got down on one knee and proposed with a £4.99 ring from Argos!! We went straight back the lodge to celebrate but as there was no champagne on the island we settled for Black Russians.
How did you allocate your budget?
We first made a list of what all the important things were that we didn’t want to compromise on and went from there. We decided quickly on the big things so we were able to easily budget for the smaller things. I like to make things which really helped when it came to saving money. All the save the dates, invites, decorations, favours were homemade. The most extravagant spend was on the band but I have to say that it was worth every penny. You can’t beat a live music, and these guys were AMAZING!
The dress
My dress was by Lusan Mandongus, shoes by Jimmy Choo, my earrings and necklace were from my local independent jeweller called Marmalade in Chiswick, they also made my engagement ring, and my bracelet was Swarovski.
The suit and bridesmaids
All suits were from Marks and Spencer including ties. Adult bridesmaid dresses were monsoon ( half price in the sale) and the little bridesmaid dress was also from monsoon and I added the sash myself to match back to the other dresses.
Theme or colour scheme
I made a mood board very early on which helped to get in line with the theme and colours. It really helped throughout out the planning as I could always refer back to ensure that everything would work together. I don’t thing I had a really theme, generally I just wanted to ensure that things were relaxed and chilled and to try and create a party atmosphere. Our colour theme was bright and fun, we hung home made pom poms from the ceiling and I bought scraps of fabric to decorate the back drop for the sweets table. For our favours we made homemade chutney and stacked them in a pyramid. We were so lucky with the weather so the outside seating/hay bales also worked really well.
Decoration
Homemade paper pom-poms and fairly lights in the main room. I also had a sweets table in the bar area and favours table outside on the decking. We’d had a last minute trip to ikea to buy matching blankets which was great on the day as the weather was so warm and everyone could sit out in the garden.
Flowers
I wanted to create a natural, country feeling so had a real mix of mainly seasonal flowers. I’d spent a lot of time discussing the type of look I wanted with the florist through meeting and sharing images on Pinterest. It paid off on the day as it was exactly how I wanted it to look and matched perfectly.
Food
We had canapés as soon as the guests arrived from the church, we then sat down for a BBQ and a trio of desserts. We used a great caterer who used all local produce where possible; they also set up a great bar with local ales. In the evening we had local cheese platters with chutney and bacon sandwiches.
Entertainment
Having a very musical family the music during the day was all provide through friends. We had cello, keyboard, violin and flute playing as guests arrived, one of my close friends from collage sang during the signing of the register. We then had a brass band for the procession to the venue ( band from the local music school where my dad works and I use to attend as a kid) they continued to play during drinks and canopies. We then had a live band for the evening. The first dance however was a combined performance by the band and my friends and family including my sister on violin and my dad on viola. It was very special.
Special moments or highlights
Apart from the ceremony itself I would say the walk down the country road after the wedding. Everyone was in such great spirits and it really got everyone in a fun, party mood.
Biggest surprise
The weather!! We planned to get married in Yorkshire knowing that it was more than likely to rain at least once or twice on our wedding day. Throughout the year we had always made backup plans assuming that the weather would be unpredictable. We never could have imagined having such a perfect day in every way!!
Advice for other couples
Start planning early so that it never feels like a massive task. I divided up jobs throughout the year (you can never start too early) so that it never became overwhelming. I also planned everything well with lots of lists and information for people involved. It meant that I could then relax on the day knowing that other people would be ready to help if needed.
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What a pretty wedding. I love the cake table especially. Lush. Beautiful work by Paul and Kelly too. That first shot is ace.
Bloomin brilliant stuff. Gorgeous wedding, gorgeous couple, gorgeous venue and ace work from Kelly and Paul.
Ahh, what beautiful images. I really loved the image of the bride with that lush light falling on her back / dress – gorgeous. Congratulations to the newly weds xx
What fab work! I am a total sucker for a colourful wedding! Gorgeous photos by Paul & Kelly as always!
Wow, such a beautiful dress, gorgeous venue and fabulous photographs! xx
What a beautiful day it looks to have been! :-)
All the best.
Love from the Pickerings x
Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful photos which will always bring you memories of a brilliant day. You look so happy – and thoroughly deserve to be so!!
These dresses both have such beautiful detailing on the back, which the photographs show of
really well.
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