Martine and James’ Chester Tipi Wedding By Nicola Thompson Photography

Happy Wednesday everyone and welcome along to the halfway point in the week. I hope you are having a fab week so far. Today we have this gorgeous wedding from Nicola Thompson Photography that takes place at Trafford Hall in Chester with a wonderful tipi reception. It’s a wedding full of DIY and handmade details and decorations, as well as personally written vows.

‘I think the day really represented both of us; it was fun, relaxed with good food and music. It had all the people we cared about together, and was one big party!’

Martine and James were married on 5th September 2015 at Trafford Hall in Chester. ‘We really wanted somewhere where we could have the freedom to do it our way. We both fell in love with Trafford Hall, it was so relaxed and the staff were amazing! We really liked how it is a charity and its Eco-friendly approach. We also were very keen on finding a place where all our guests could stay without having to travel; Trafford Hall was perfect for us in every way. We had 80 guests at the ceremony and 120 in total for the food/ reception. It was 18 months from getting engaged to the wedding, but other than booking the venue we probably didn’t do much planning until about 6 months before.’

How they met
We met when we were both working at Manchester United FC and have been together for over 9 years.

The Proposal
We went to New York City for James’ 30th birthday in March. It was an amazing holiday, which included a helicopter ride over the city. James probably was acting funny thinking about it now, but I had also planned my own surprise for him – getting some of our friends to meet us at the top of the Empire State building on his birthday so I think I was too focused on that to realise his suspicious behaviour. We went for cocktails on a roof terrace and then walked through Washington Square Park on the way to dinner, we stopped at a bench and that’s when he got on one knee. A very kind stranger walking past took a photograph of it happening so now we have that to remember it by, which is good because I was so excited that it was all a bit of a blur to me!

How did you allocate your budget
I was pretty strict with my wedding spreadsheet so we didn’t go over budget. We decided what was most important to us (the tipi, photographer, good food/ wine) and then allocated the remaining from there.

Where did you splurge and where did you save
James had his heart set on a Tipi from the beginning so that was our BIG splurge. We saved by getting friends and family to help out, one of my lovely bridesmaids potted all the herbs for the tables. A cousin made the invites, another family member made the cake and we decorated jam jars for the tables.

How did you choose your photographer
Someone that I knew had used Nicola when he got married, I really liked the style of his wedding photographs so sought Nicola out. Her style is natural, and she was amazing on the day helping out with things and making sure it all ran smoothly. We are so happy with the photographs, and we have already had lots of people asking for her details when they see them.

The Dress
Is it bad to say I don’t know who my dress was by?… I wanted to keep it really simple and easy to wear, Nicola at Pearl Boutique was so lovely and helpful and the whole experience was very relaxed.
My shoes were Kurt Geiger and were gold and glittery. My bridesmaids and I changed in the evening in to pumps which had our names and dates in sequins on.
I loved my headband that was handmade by the ‘case of the curious bride’, and my make up/ hair stylist Andrea was absolutely amazing we got on really well and she styled my bridesmaids and I perfectly, I just wish she could do my hair and makeup everyday!
I wore my late-Aunties earrings, which meant something to me and had a blue pearl in them as my something blue.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
The suit was a three piece blue suit by Ted Baker.
I had 5 bridesmaids, and a flower girl. The adult bridesmaid dresses were from Phase Eight.

Theme or Colour Scheme
We wanted it to be a bit rustic, relaxed and not too ‘wedding’ like.

Flowers
Wildflowers- Sunflowers, gypsophila and pale blue hydrangea tied with string.

Decoration
My bridesmaids and I spent a full day making bunting out of old material and clothes for the main room, which was great as there was a piece made out of one of my old dresses, and one of the pieces was even made out of my bridesmaids PJs!
We hired bay trees from a local nursey, and used the gypsophila to tie around the chairs.
The tipi didn’t need much decoration, although we did get a glitter ball for the dance floor. We had jam jars with gypsophila, candles and potted herbs on the tables, with handmade table numbers.

Food
We had a hog roast/ BBQ, where people could help themselves. There was cheese and biscuits available in the evening, which we have been told was fantastic but we were both too busy dancing to get any!

Wedding Cake
We had lots of lovely little different flavoured cupcakes with a top tier decorated in sunflowers. It was made by my very talented and fabulous Aunty Sarah.

Entertainment
We kept it simple creating our own playlists on Spotify with songs that we both loved, and knew would keep the dance floor full. We just hired a good soundsystem and plugged in our iPad. There was also table football, ping-pong and giant connect four. In the tipi we had a chill out area, with beanbags and a fire pit to roast marshmallows.

The Stationery
James’ cousin Gemma made our invitations; they were film/ New York themed and very special to us.
We got chalkboard hearts from amazon for place settings, which people ended up wearing as badges in the evening.

Personal or Handmade Touches
We did a lot ourselves with the help of friends and family and James wrote our vows which made them very special.

Advice to other couples
Do it your way! Everyone seems to have an opinion when it comes to weddings but it’s your day, you want to look back on it and feel that it represented you both.
On the day take some time to yourselves to soak it all in, Nicola took us away for half an hour for photos and that was the first time we actually got to speak to each other. And most importantly have fun, you have spent so long planning it just relax and enjoy the day.

Special Moments
We loved how most people came to join us the night before the wedding, at a local pub; it made a weekend out of it.
One of our friends read out the lyrics to ‘Nothing Else Matters’ by Metallica, during the service, he put so much effort into it we couldn’t help but laugh, it was lovely.
Also our 2 year old niece was our flower girl. We weren’t sure if she would walk down the aisle by herself but she did – she didn’t throw the petals though, instead she waited until she got to her seat where she scattered them on the floor all around her. Very funny!
And just having all our friends and family together was amazing!

Biggest surprise
My only real worry before the day was about the weather (I was constantly checking the weather app on my phone), but the sun was shining on us, and ended up being a beautiful day. And just how amazing the tipi looked, we loved it!

Supplier Shout Outs

• Venue – www.traffordhall.com
• Photographer – www.nicolathompsonphotography.co.uk
• Tipi – www.marqueesandevents.com
• Sound System – www.studiocare.com
• Flowers – www.jasmine-designerflorist.com
• Trees – www.springfieldstopiary.co.uk
• Dress – www.pearlbridalboutique.co.uk
• Hair & Make-Up – www.andreapickfordmakeupandbeauty.com
• Headband – www.thecaseofthecuriousbride.com

For more information on Nicola’s work please go to:

www.nicolathompsonphotography.co.uk / FACEBOOK / PINTEREST / @nicthomphoto / I:nicola_thompson_photography