Catherine and Martin’s Treehouse Wedding. By Andy Hudson Photography

Wow it’s Thursday already, this week has just flown by, I have had  a bit of a mixed up week this week so all my day are jumbled up which means the week seems to have flown by even faster than normal, Friday tomorrow and I am so ready for the weekend, what about you?
Today I have a wedding with the most amazing treehouse venue which has been sent into me by Andy Hudson Photography.  This truly unique venue speaks for itself when it comes to this wedding. There is minimal fuss and decoration as it just doesn’t need it.  I’d like to dedicate this post to the memory of Catherine’s Father who unfortunately passed away a few weeks after the wedding.

‘It was a wonderfully relaxed day surrounded by our families and closest friends. There were so many fantastic moments which will provide happy memories for many years to come.’

Catherine and Martin were married on 27th February 2015 at The Treehouse, The Alnwick Garden, Alnwick, Northumberland. ‘We’ve always loved the Treehouse – it’s a magical place particularly in the winter and at night. And knowing our family and friends, we knew the fantastic food would go down a treat! Northumberland has a very special place in our hearts, and we thought this was a great way of sharing this part of the country with our family and friends. We had 56 friends and family, plus Edith our baby niece and Kaspar the dog! We started planning the wedding in early October – and to be honest, the main elements all came together within a few weeks. We were starting to worry that we’d missed something, as the whole wedding came together really easily!’

How they met
We lived just 1/2 mile away in the same village for more than 7 years, but don’t think we ever bumped into each other… Ironically it took a dating website to bring us together, and even then, we weren’t matched! Martin proposed on our one year anniversary.

The Proposal
We were on holiday in the French Pyrenees last September, and Martin proposed on our one year anniversary. He’d spent a couple of months working with a jewellery designer on the most perfect engagement ring (extra brownie points!). We celebrated with a 3 euro bottle of red wine!

How did you allocate your budget
We wanted to focus on the things that were going to be important to us and our guests – wonderful food in a magical setting. We also didn’t scrimp on the things that were going to last a lifetime – our rings and the wedding photos. But to be perfectly honest, because the Treehouse is already a beautiful backdrop, we didn’t need to spend money on decorations and other bits and pieces, so we managed to keep it quite simple

How did you choose your photographer
We did quite a bit of research online – we knew that getting married at 5pm in February in a wooden room lit by fairy lights could prove tricky to even the most accomplished photographer! We saw some photos of a wedding at the Treehouse Andy had previously taken, and after just one phone call, knew we’d found the perfect photographer. As one of our guests said to him, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but we didn’t even know you were there!”

The Dress
Mark Lesley, from Cheshire Bridal Wear. Accessories and shoes were from good old next and M&S!

The Suit and Bridesmaids
Ted Baker, no bridesmaids, just a Best Woman who was my sister Naomi

Theme or Colour Scheme
We knew that the Treehouse didn’t really need much at all – so there just a few touches of purple here and there.

Flowers
Simply Flowers in Alnwick did a fantastic job – I didn’t want anything too formal, and we ended up with lots of lisianthus, curly willow in the bouquets. The only request was to have freesia in there which my Gran, Mum and sister have all had in their wedding flowers.

Decoration
That the wonderful thing about the Treehouse – we didn’t need anything apart from some flowers for each table.

Food
We gave our guests a choice of three starters, mains and deserts. Not surprisingly knowing our family and friends, the roast beef and sticky toffee pudding were clear winners on the nights!

Wedding Cake
The cheese tower was something we had talked about constantly in the run up to the wedding! We had a wonderful tasting session at Morpeth Cheese Shop, and the cheese tower provided the perfect chance to refuel during the dancing

Entertainment
Simon from Marvellous Disco provided a perfect mix of the cheesiest 80s and 90s music just as we’d requested.

Buy or DIY your Stationery
We kept things simple and ordered the invites off the internet. We used one of the photos Andy had taken on our pre-wedding shoot as our thank you card.

Personal or Handmade Touches
Although Kaspar the dog was there, we knew that our cat Louis was going to be missed. So an artist friend, James, did a spookily realistic painting of Louis who took pride of place by the cheese tower!

Special Moments
There are too many mention! But there are two special moments – for Catherine, it was the journey to the Treehouse with my dad in the yellow taxi. Just a few weeks later, he passed away and the photos and memories are even more poignant now. for Martin – tiptoeing around Kaspar who’d fallen asleep right by my feet when we were saying our vows together with baby Edith hiccupping in the background!

Advice to other couples
Stick to what you want to do! The more you can plan and sort out in advance, the better but don’t get hung on minor details – you really won’t notice on the day. And plenty of people will tell you that the day goes by incredibly quickly – they were so right! Plan into the day, some time where the two of you can just stop to take it all in.

Biggest surprise
How long we’d have to sit there pretending to sign the register with massive grins on our faces! We couldn’t believe how many photos our friends and family wanted to take…

Supplier Shout Outs

• Photographer – www.andyhudsonphotography.co.uk
• Venue and Reception – www.alnwickgarden.com/wedding-venue/treehouse
• Engagement and Wedding ring designers – www.hkjewellery.co.uk
• Wedding Dress – www.cheshirebridalwear.co.uk
• Bridal Car – www.theyellowtaxi.co.uk
• Cheese Tower – www.thecheeseshopmorpeth.co.uk
• Hair Design – www.capellahairdesign.co.uk
• Flowers – www.simply-flowers.co.uk
• Accommodation – www.hogsheadinnalnwick.co.uk
• Transport for guests – www.rothburymotors.co.uk

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

www.andyhudsonphotography.co.uk
[email protected]
07980 272737
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I’m based in Newcastle upon Tyne and shoot all over the North East, my style is extremely relaxed, romantic and absolutely no cheese at all. I believe weddings are one of the most romantic occasions in life and as such I want to capture the closeness and emotion in all its natural glory, I don’t set up shots and almost everything is shot candidly and as it really happened. I try and focus on things through the eyes of a guest, I’m not voyeuristic in my approach, I want guests, family and the couple to look back on the images and relive the experience they actually had, not view them as if looking through the eyes of an outsider.