Lizzie and Ollie's Home Spun Burgundy and Pink Derbyshire Wedding by Eternal Images Photography Ltd

Well hello Friday, am I pleased to see you! I hope you are all well and happy and looking forward to the weekend? How has your week been? Mine has been pretty up and down, I don’t know about you but I really miss the sunshine! Dexter goes back to school on Monday, so today is the last day of homeschooling (woo hoo!!!) I’m not going to lie, the whole experience has been tough, so I’m looking forward to next week and some normality for all of us! He is so excited to go back and is really looking forward to seeing his teachers! So on with today’s wedding and it’s the turn of Lizzie and Ollie who got married in the beautiful West Mill in Derbyshire. The whole day is so cute, filled with homemade crafts, sequined bridesmaids, amazing flower crowns and a whole lot of fun. Big thanks to Eternal Images Photography Ltd for the images.

Our wedding was a beautiful day, full of joy and laughter surrounded by the most wonderful people. The day was relaxed, we all looked amazing and our families truly embraced each other.

Lizzie and Ollie were married on 12^th September 2019 at The West Mill, Darley Abbey, Derby. ‘We went to view the venue together and completely fell in love; the venue is gorgeous as it is and wouldn’t need too many decorations; there was a lift which was ideal as we both have disabled family members; and we loved that each part of the wedding would be on a different floor so there would be no awkward waiting around.We had 50ish guests and it took 2 years to plan.’

How they met
We met at work when we were teenagers, and always stayed in touch before deciding to finally get together about a year before we got engaged. We’d known each other for about five years before we got together.

The proposal
Totally unexpected. One day after our 1st ‘anniversary’, I came home from work and Ollie got down on one knee straight as I came through the door. He was so nervous, he couldn’t wait! We both got into our pjs after and ordered pizza.

How did you allocate your budget?
We didn’t. We both decided the most important things were the venue, the photographer and the honeymoon so we booked those things first.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
My dress was about £400 from the high street and I wore Dr Martens (I fit into the kids ‘sizes so I saved on them too!), and we totally splurged on the honeymoon! Luckily our family was kind to us and gave us some extra spending money. I’m a designer and quite a crafty person so I made all the decorations myself too, the backdrop we used for the ceremony was made from eucalyptus vines and a branch we were given from a friend’s garden. We all did our own hair too.

How did you choose your photographer?
We met at a wedding fair; Neil has such a great personality, and he seemed really up for photographing the venue. I left with a great impression of him and booked him a couple of months later.

The dress
Dress was by Phase Eight, I had some small modifications by my aunt who is a brilliant dress-maker. My shoes were Dr Martens. My flowers and flower crown were made by Kochetova on Etsy who is a super talented lady from the Ukraine. My accessories were my grandma’s, she sadly passed away just after we got engaged (after years of telling me I was meant to be with Ollie), my grandad and I both wanted her to be a part of the day. Ollie’s mum also gave me her mum’s ring to wear for good luck.

The suit and bridesmaids
Bridesmaids dresses were just from Asos. The girls wore pompom earrings that I made myself. The suits were from a local shop in Chesterfield (The Gentlemen’s Finery)

Theme or colour scheme
I chose burgundy for the flowers, as my great nana always wore red nails and I wanted to bring her into the day.

Flowers
We had burgundy and pink flowers everything from Kochetova with a few small decorations I made with flowers from Country Baskets.

Decoration
We had a lot of eucalyptus as this was what we had at my grandma’s funeral. We also had terrariums and succulents, and the other decorations were trinkets brought back from holidays Ollie and I had been on together. Or things from around our house.

Food
We had a three course meal including paneer curry or traditional chicken and veg, in the evening we had vegan pizzas.

Wedding cake
I don’t like cake, so we had donuts, and vegan brownies from Rate Good Brownies in Chesterfield. We had a cake pinata instead filled with heart lollies which we smashed up in the evening.

Entertainment
We had an N64 and a Gamecube with a few games from Gaming4Weddings. We had so much fun! We had local DJ Catie Maxx in the evening, and a Photobooth which was also used as our guestbook and favours.

Who supplied the stationery?
I designed it myself, printed from Vistaprint. The table plan was hand-written by myself.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We went to Mauritius- it was stunning. We had a brilliant time, and drank so much island rum!

Personal touches
I pretty much made all the decorations by hand.

Special moments
Hearing the Neck Deep song starting before I walked down the aisle. Holding hands with Ollie when we were getting married. I felt so beautiful all day thanks to Leah!

Advice for other couples
Eat. Something. I was so nervous I couldn’t manage more than one bite, but I ended up so hammered. Also it doesn’t matter what happens on the day, you could rock up in a dressing gown with no make-up on, no guests and heavy rain, and your partner will be there at the end of the aisle. Don’t worry. Don’t stress about the small things. I slipped going up the aisle, but it made me less nervous! And remember when planning it’s yours and your partners day.

Biggest surprise
We got married in 7 minutes!