Cherisse and Jack’s ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ DIY York Wedding by Ste Walker Photography

Yay for Friday! I hope you have all had a good week? I am SO looking forward to the weekend. It looks like Sheffield is next on the list for a local lockdown, so I am taking Dexter out both Saturday and Sunday just in case it’s the last time we can meet up with friends and leave Sheffield for a while. How are you coping with the news at the moment? I would love to hear how the current restrictions have impacted your wedding plans. You can come and join in some fab wedding talk over in our Facebook group. In the mean time I will carry on filling these Boho pages with gorgeous real weddings, styled shoots, helpful articles and inspiration. So on with today’s wedding and we are in York for this super fun rainbow inspired DIY wedding. Jack and Cherisse took inspiration from their favourite children’s books and films and filed their day with joy, colour and lots of fun. All of their friends and family pulled together to help with the DIY projects, really making the day a personal one. Ste Walker Photography was there to capture the day for us.

The day was us in every way; full of all the things we both love and that bring us joy. There wasn’t a dry eye on the day and not a bear minus a sore head and feet the next.

Jack and Cherisse were married on 14th September 2019 at Newburgh Priory in York. The ceremony was in the house in the Large Drawing Room and reception on the lawn in a marquee provided by Your Marquee. ‘Jack and I had been together for eight years by the time he decided to finally propose. I was waiting from around the two-year mark and decided it was best to be proactive in the planning process meticulously planning everything, at around the five year mark I started taking Jack to wedding venues and from the moment we went to look round Newburgh we fell in love. So after falling in love with the venue which only opens to the public a handful of days a year I started to take my friends and future bridesmaids on somewhat of a pilgrimage to the venue till Jack and I were finally engaged and able to plan the day for real! Another great thing about the venue is that don’t limit your options around catering and marquee hire and this gave us the ultimate freedom when considering vendors. We had 115 friends and family who  joined us for the entire day. We got engaged in May 2018 and were married in September 2019 so we got to planning straight away. We had already made a lot of the big decisions pre engagement so was just a case of booking everything. We would say we did the bulk of booking and planning within the first four months.’ 

How thy met
We met in Peterborough in 2009 when Cherisse was working as an Au Pair for a family and Jack was home from University for Christmas. We both went to our friends parents annual Christmas drinks party and met there after Cherisse had one too many of Joe’s infamous champagne cocktails and the four of us went to the cinema to watch Avatar in 3D, Cherisse was more in it for the pick and mix and was raging with Jack for stealing the best sweets. After this we both spoke over Facebook during the Christmas period and Jack took us on a romantic pizza date when Cherisse returned for work. After that we were inseparable seeing each other most weekends and moved in together in the summer of 2011 and have lived together ever since.

The proposal
We both love London and afternoon tea, what isn’t there to love about a six-foot something man with a tiny cake?!?! In May 2018 we took a spontaneous trip to London during one of the hottest summers ever recorded. The last minute trip was planned around a birthday for one of Jack’s friends turning 30 and the following day, dehydration making the heat even worse. Jack surprised me with a booking at The Berkley for Pret-a-porter afternoon tea. It was amazing despite the heat and Jack kept asking me if I was going to the bathroom which seemed really strange when I kept declining he suddenly got down on one knee and proposed, surprising me with the ring I’d stared at in a shop window since we moved to York in 2011. In total shock I cried, said yes. In true Jack style he had not prewarned the swanky restaurant with his plans sending a number of hospitality staff in to a frenzy, thrusting champagne and flowers at us which were gratefully received! Little did I know that poor Jack had actually tried to propose twice the previous month but I had accidentally ruined these, but everything happens for a reason and this was the most perfect surprise.

How did you allocate your budget?
Stress and wine were key components in budget allocation. We prioritised what was important to us and worked from there establishing what we or friends could do to save on the budget.
We knew the venue we wanted and the style of food so started here and from then planned the photographer and the band and these things were important to us as we wanted to have a fun day with our nearest and dearest.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We saved on the venue due to it’s DIY nature however the cost of a marquee was greater than we had expected. For us we love food and this forms a big part of our time with our friends and family so we happily spent here to get what we wanted. It was also really important to us to have as many people as possible around us that we knew, having a friend who is a make up artist there in the morning and the same for the hairdresser as this just helped everyone feel more relaxed.
A great band was also important to us. We also supported local businesses for wedding favour personalised coffee and this saved us some money. We are also fortunate to have some talented cake making and singing friends who gave us their services heavily discounted!
Flowers for the bridal party were seasonal from a local florist which helped to cut costs and button  holes where made by the mother of the bride.

How did you choose your photographer?
A great photographer was super important to us as we have been to so many weddings over the years we have see the good, the bad, the bossy and the barely there. I’m sure we trawled every photographer in the North before we were lucky enough to come across Stephen Walker after some hardcore Instagram stalking after finding photographs, we liked the style of. Ste was approachable, had photographs that were natural, happy and really captured the moment. In another weird twist it also turned out Ste was from the same town as my Mum and this absolutely sealed the deal for us.

The dress
My dress was by Martin Thornburg and was purchased from Along Came Eve in Chester. They are a great wedding dress shop who have got appointments spot on to make the most anxious bride to be feel stress free and confident.

The suit and bridesmaids
The suit for the groom was purchased form Marc Darcy in Manchester, a great and really attentive suit shop, and this was paired with some shoes from Loake and a liberty fabric tie from Van Buck England. Groomsmen in suits from Marks and Spencer and ties and matching pocket squares from amazon.
Bridesmaid dresses were from boohoo.com and shoes from Marks and Spencer with custom shoe bows made by brides mother.

Theme or colour scheme
As cheesy as it sounds we just wanted to capture all the things we love, in particular the fantasy and joy of children’s stories. For example our wedding invites were bars of Wonka chocolate complete with golden tickets as an invite.The actual ceremony was lightly…ok a lot…Wizard of Oz themed, bride with ruby red slippers, groom and bridal parties wore coordinating coloured accessories (ties, socks and
pocket squares for the groomsmen and sashes and shoe bows for the bridal party) to form a rainbow such is the reference to somewhere over the rainbow and the aisle was lined with large yellow balloons with sunflower garlands to represent the yellow brick road.

Flowers 
Flowers were a wild flower arrangement which were seasonal at the time of the wedding and went perfectly with the rainbow theme.

Decoration 
I made all the decorations with support of my maid of honour and the bridal party to save on cost and likewise for table decorations.
Our table names were our favourite films growing up such as Free Willy and the Breakfast Club, made by the Bride and Maid of Honour as framed papercuts.
We decorated the poles in the marquee with fake flowers, ribbon, pin wheels and battery fairy lights.
We brought the balloons from the aisle down to the marquee and also had the balloon supplier add giant balloons with hanging garlands in pastel colours as suspended table decorations.

Food
Our food was supplied by a local company The Hog and Apple, they really understood what we wanted which food for our guests to share and enjoy but with little fuss. We are also large fans of cheese. The Hog and Apple provided a great list of canapes and the main was giant sharing deli platters with our favourite cheeses, homemade bread, sausage rolls, scotch eggs, pate, the amazing list goes on but people never stop talking about it! Desserts were also sharing platters of mini desserts and something for everyone. In the evening they provided us with their signature hog roast which was great for giving people a second wave of energy for dancing.

Wedding cake
The cake was lovingly made by a friend who unbelievably only makes these painstakingly amazing cakes as a hobby. The cake was Wizard of Oz themed and while you might notice the red shoes on top of the cake the reason the wicked witch isn’t wearing them is because they were on the brides feet.

Entertainment
A recommendation by a friend led us to the band Truly Medley Deeply. Choosing a wedding band is a surreal experience because other than what you see online it’s hard to know what you are getting so the endorsement was definitely welcomed. Not a single guest had a bad word to say about the band and in fact one of the groomsmen is still fangirling over a photo of the saxophonist. The band were so present, accommodating and absolutely part of the party on the day that they felt like guests who just decided to take the lead on the mic.

Who supplied the stationery?
Wedding invites were provided from a small shop on Etsy called partystarking based in Plymouth. They helpfully shared with us proofs to check we were happy and the invites exceeded our expectations and included all venue and rsvp details for our guests. Place settings were made by the bridal party and were origami boats made from travel themed paper and flags for name tags.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We were lucky enough that our friends from Colorado joined us for our wedding and as our official travel buddies we spent a week exploring Dublin and Belfast with them the week after the wedding before jetting off on a trip to Norway in December to join Valhalla Orca Expedition in the hope of swimming with the Orca’s in the Fjord’s. After a slightly hairy and traumatic trip due to a horrific storm we made it to the tiny island, accessible only by boat and were lucky enough to see the Orca and Humpback’s. Unfortunately, weather was not on our side for swimming but we hope of returning to swim with these majestic creatures in 2020.

Personal touches
It’s hard to pick out specific personal touches as the whole day was focused around things that were personal to us. We were lucky to have so many talented friends and family to help us make the day so special and help with all the little touches that quickly add up in cost.
We made our own table names and this was definitely a bigger job than expected. Equally don’t underestimate how long it takes to cut to size and make 115 origami boats!

Special moments 
We both moved around a lot as kids and as such have friends and family all over the country and the world and that made walking in to a room of all the people we both loved so special and overwhelming as never again will we be likely to have all our friends and family together in such a way as they are all from such different parts of our lives. The love in that room was truly breathe taking and still feels unbelievable.

Advice for other couples
When people say to you enjoy it because it’s gone in the blink of an eye and you think yeah whatever, believe us it’s true!
Don’t sweat the small stuff, I meticulously planned lots of things like my perfume and my jacket, forgot both on the day, but it literally didn’t matter!
Finally be prepared to go through ALL the emotions when you get your photos back as you relive the day over and over.

Biggest surprise 
The vows. We kept these secret from each other until the day and by complete coincidence there were so many similarities that it had everyone in stitches.

Suppliers Shout Outs

Photographer: www.stewalkerphotography.com
Venue: www.newburghpriory.co.uk
Marquee: www.your-marquee.co.uk
Food/ Drink: www.thehogandapple.co.uk
Band: www.trulymedleydeeply.com
Dress: www.alongcameeve.com
Grooms Suit: www.marcdarcy.co.uk
Groomsmen suits: www.marksandspencer.com
Stationary: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/partystarking
Hair: The Lounge Hair Salon, Gillygate York
Make Up: amymc_makeup
Flowers: Little Bear and Bird Flower Co.
Wedding Favours: yorkemporium.co.uk
Balloons: www.littleballoonco.co.uk
Photobooth, Arcade Game and Giant Letters: www.partypicsphotobooths.co.uk

For more information on Ste Walker Photography

www.stewalkerphotography.com / www.stewalkerphotography.com/blog /[email protected] / 07730376364 / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / TWITTER

I’m a UK + Destination Wedding Photographer based in Liverpool. helping couples who want a less traditional and more candid approach to their wedding photography. Standing around for hours on end is not something i’m keen on at all. I love to get stuck into my weddings so you can feel the emotions in your images once the wedding day is over. I’m outgoing and although I may chat with a guest from time to time to make them feel comfortable around me. I take what I do very seriously and work as hard as i can to ensure you have the best photos possible.