18

Apr

2019

Sophie and Sam ‘Cheers ‘n’ Beers’ Super Laid back Sunny Yorkshire Wedding by Anoif Photography

Today’s wedding see’s us head over to North Yorkshire for the super laid back, sunny summer wedding of Sophie and Sam. This chilled out couple were keen on having a super relaxed wedding, with little fuss, cutting out the stuffy traditions and really making the day their own. By choosing an amazing barn venue that let them hold their ceremony outside in the grounds, while carrying on the party indoors,  they created an awesome fun filled wedding. They filled it with pizza, beer pong, beautiful hand-made decoration and a kick ass band. This is the kind of wedding you want to be at as a guest, I just love how relaxed the whole day is. As for Sophie’s Chantel Lauren Mae gown, I just adore it! Photos by Anoif Photography.

We wanted anything but a typical wedding. Our Cheers ‘n’ Beers was exactly how it sounds; very relaxed with no formality, surrounded by lots of lovely friends with wild dance moves, beer pong, a 15 foot dream catcher and a killer of a live band.

Sophie and Sam were married on 14th July 2018 at The Great Hall, Sinnington, North Yorkshire. ‘I grew up in Sinnington and dreamt of having my wedding in this barn since I was a little girl. You can see it from my old bedroom window sat on top of the hill in a quiet, sleepy village in North Yorkshire. Really was a dream when the owner said we could use his home, and barn for our ‘Cheers & Beers’ The place was full with around 250 people and it took about a year in total to plan.’

How they met  
We have been together 5 years now, feels like a life time (in a good way of course). We are both Mountain Bikers and work in the bike industry, so we met through our good friend Raul (Who was our vicar on the day in a £10 Ebay outfit!). We always said he would be our Vicar, so we had to make it happen somehow.

The proposal
We were in the Lake District doing a ride called the 4 passes, day one we were sat on top of the first mountain (top of Honistor Pass) looking down the valley to beautiful Buttermere having a brew on Sam’s little stove. The weather was a bit grim and we had another mountain to climb and ride down into Black Sail Pass Youth Hostel before the end of the day. So a cup of Yorkshire tea it was to warm us up, I was busy admiring the view and when I turned around Sam was down on one knee. Spent the rest of the ride crying with happiness and trying to navigate ourselves to the hostel before we looked like two complete drowned rats.

How did you allocate your budget?
Our wedding was done under 10K (not including my dress) which I think is pretty good going for two tight Yorkshire gits. We were certain we didn’t want to spend a load of money or be in debt from the day but equally we had everything we wanted so it worked out well. We also have great parents who helped us out to make it that extra bit lovely. I just didn’t get drawn into chair covers or the typical four course meal. We Kept it simple and relaxed.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
The food mainly, localy chap came with his pizza van and we have stone baked pizzas, and also the local chippy came up with his van. I would say food and entertainment is the most expensive part. We didn’t want to go cheap on the band, we used local chaps called the Epics: Mike and his fellas were top notch and had everyone on the dance floor all day and night long. They also played the acoustic guitar during the day but all in all they were very reasonable.
We saved money by keeping it informal and relaxed, there was no sit down meal and therefore for the blessing everyone stood up in the garden. We kept it short and simple and everyone was given a personalised Beer that our friend did for us from Kirkby Lonsdale Brewary, so everyone could have a ‘Cheers N Beer’ after the blessing, which meant we didn’t have wedding favours.
Main tip I would give to keep it cheaper, is to use local businesses, they always want to help and give the best prices – You are also helping them out so everyone is a winner.

How did you choose your photographer?
Fiona (Anoif Photography) was the only one I wanted from the start, I was told about her through a mutual friend and we met up one night and had a gin together to discuss the wedding. We clicked instantly and she made me feel so comfortable and knew exactly what we wanted. I didn’t even bother to chat to anyone else as I knew she was the one to capture the day just how we wanted, and she was local so it was great to support a local lass who was just starting out at the time – now she does it full time and my friend has also used her for her wedding and the shots were just lovely.

The dress 
I didn’t want an all-white dress, so I typed in ‘blue wedding dress’ into Pinterest and there was my dress, the beautiful and stunning Chantel Lauren Mae gown in Steel blue. Not many people stock it as they are hand made and hand painted in Salt Lake City, America. I found a lovely lass called Katie who had a sample at her shop – Ghost Orchid in Hessle. That is the only dress I tried on, I wasn’t interested in anything else. (This was probably the most costly part of the wedding but I wasn’t going to skimp on the dress!) I wore some glitter silver vans with “Mrs flange” spelt out on the laces with some letter beads.

The suit and bridesmaids
Sam and his fellas choose their own outfit, Sam just wanted them in the same kind of theme – some sort of blue short with a party shirt and vans. My chicks were all in their own picked white dresses with pale blue vans, except for my two maid of honours who wore Rewritten dress in Ink blue (paired with vans to match of course!). When they were all together they looked absolutely brill.

Theme or colour scheme
No theme. Instead of Save the Dates we had “Lob us in yer diaries”, that along with our website which was designed by myself and it was very multi coloured, those and the beers had the same pattern on to match but apart from that, a hint of blue for the chicks and fellas and that was about it.

Flowers 
I used the very talented and local lass Kymm from Queens Flower near Helmsley. She is the most talented florist I have met and knew exactly what I wanted. A huge wild hanging bouquet filled with a mixture of King Protea, Astilbe, Blue Palm, Butterfly Delphiniu, Hydranger, double white peonies, spray roses, amaranthus and Eryngium. The chicks had eucalyptus which looked amazing with their white dresses and the boys had button holes with some eucalyptus and a blue thistle.

Decoration 
We kept decoration simple as the venue was amazing. We cleaned it all out and my brother in law hung the festoon lighting up, my Mum and Dad made me a chandelier from bicycle wheels, my neighbou made me an amazing macramé wall hanging and my other friend made me a 15 foot dream catcher which hung at the end of the barn, it was all lit up with lights and she had also had it decorated with the same flowers which were in my bouquet. I also made some feather garlands which hung from the beams with some Ivy we got from the wood next to the bar. The outside was the chaps home and he let us use his magnificent huge rolling gardens which didn’t need anything adding to them as he looked after it so well.

Food
Local lady Alison from The Willows Catering Co made canapes for the afternoon: pork pies, bruschetta and meats. In the evening we had Stone Baked pizza from Andy at The Food Unit in Scarborough he came with his oven and the kids got to make their own pizzas, also Paul from Thornton le Dale Chippy came up with his chips. We had bowls of percy pigs knocking around and ice lollies I got from Asda in a bath outside.

Wedding cake
We got a Connie and Colin the Caterpilla cakes from M&S (they were very cute dressed up as a bride and groom)

Entertainment
The Yorkshire Wedding Band played acoustic  in the afternoon on his guitar then the rest of the band played in the evening, a mixture of stuff but they had people dancing on tables so they were doing something right! My friend also got up to sing as a surprise which was equally as amazing

Who supplied the stationery?
I got our “Lob us in Yer Diaries” from Geri Loves Emi and I chose the Kitty McCall design which was very bright and bold. I kept this similar theme throughout my wedding website and beer bottle lables which I did myself.

Personal touches
We did as much as we could ourselves, all the decoration was done by friends and family, I did all the website and graphic side of things and my husband did all the practical things, the most important one of building the beer pong table.

Special moments 
We all got ready at my Mum and Dads which was a minute walk from the venue and then travelled up to the Hall on motorbikes after a quick lap of the village green. That was very special, as I was on the back of my Dads motorbike, and then without doubt my Mum and Dad walking me down the Isle to the sound of James Bay – Wild Love playing on the guitar.

Advice for other couples
Keep it you, don’t listen to what other people think you should have or what they had. I can say our wedding was 100% Sam and I and we wouldn’t wish it another way. Try also to be as creative and imaginative as you can, don’t be afraid to ask for help and I am sure you will have the most love filled, magical day.

Biggest surprise 
Sam showing up. And my one of my best friends singing as a total surprise.

 

Supplier Shout Outs

 

For more information on Anoif’s Photography go to

www.anoifphotography.co.uk / www.anoifphotography.co.uk/blog [email protected] / 07770938295 | 01653 695567 / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM

I’m a documentary, story telling, wedding photographer, I love to capture the parts of the day that the bride and groom may not get to witness when they are tied up with their hundreds of guests, along with telling their story or their day. So many of my couples tell me that they didn’t know I was there, they didn’t see me snapping and they love that shot. This is what I like to hear. When it come to the portraits, again I like to keep these as natural as possible to avoid them awkward looks and smiles, the formals shots should be fun and all about the couple which is what I try to do. It’s their day, so it’s all about them and that is what I hope my photography portrays.

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