Hannah and Elliot’s Relaxed Fun Wedding all Planned in 4 Months. By Toast Photography

Yes it’s Friday! And the end of January, a double celebration today! Now it is February we can look forward to Spring, longer days and hopeful some warmer weather (yes I know I live in hope!) I hope you have something exciting planned for the weekend, I’m off to the cinema to see Les Miserables tomorrow and then a spot of food. But as for today I have a wonderful wedding for you from my very good friend Shelly from Toast photography. The wedding was planned in only 4 months which goes to show with a bit of help these things can be done!

‘The day was relaxed and fun…Just what we wanted but didn’t know quite how we’d achieve it!’

The lovely couple are Hannah and Elliot who were married on 20th October 2012. ‘The ceremony took place in Bury and then everyone made their way to the fabulous Bashall Barn, near Clitheroe in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire. We are both born and bred in Lancashire and despite looking all over for the perfect location, you can’t beat the Lancashire countryside! We both love the Ribble Valley and Simon and Henk at Bashall Barn were able to provide us with the perfect venue. We had around 90 guests including children. We got engaged in the July and married in October, so it didn’t take long to plan!’

How they met
We were together for 2 ½ years before getting engaged but have known each other for a long time. Our love of skiing holidays was the thing that brought us together, hence the skiing themed table names!

The proposal
Elliot ‘plotted’ his proposal very careful so that I didn’t have a clue! We were at one of our favourite pubs in the Ribble Valley and Elliot was asking me how he would ever ask my dad for his permission to marry me. Turns out, he’d already asked my dad weeks earlier and had the ring with him. Very sneaky!

How did you choose your photographer?
It wasn’t a great start as neither of us are keen on photos, especially formal ones! We found Shelly from Toast of Leeds online and arranged to meet up. As we didn’t have much time before the big day, we met for our pre-wedding shoot in the Northern Quarter in Manchester. We liked the look of Shelly straight away, she was relaxed and fun – just what we wanted our wedding to be. She even managed to win Elliot over to the idea of having a photographer which is no mean feat!

The dress by
My dress was by British designer Alan Hannah. As time was tight, the ladies at Bellissima Bridal in Holcombe Brook, Bury ensured it was ready in time for the big day. I tried on lots of dresses and loved them all but this is the only one that stood out. It was perfect. Accessories were purchased online and shoes were by Dune. Hair was by the extremely talented Natalie at Salon Unique in Whitefield and makeup was by the fabulous Louise Hall Makeup.

The suit and bridesmaids
Elliot’s suit was Hugo Boss and his shirt was by Gibson and Smyth. The groomsmen’s suits were hired from Slaters in Bolton and the shirts and ties were from TM Lewin. The bridesmaid dresses were made by a very talented family friend.

Theme or colour scheme
We didn’t really have a theme, we just wanted a relaxed day with little touches that would mean something to our family and friends. The colour scheme was teal and grey.

Food
We ate lots, perhaps too much as we couldn’t even manage a homemade ice cream! We had champagne and canapés on arrival. The meal started with antipasto followed by beef bourginon with dauphinoise potatoes and seasonal vegetables. The dessert was provided by Hannah’s auntie, Sally – a selection of the most amazing mini cakes you have ever seen!

Entertainment
On arrival, guests were treated to entertainment from guitarist Ben Marron and then later in the evening, Liverpool based band The Sonics had guests on the floor all night.

Flowers
Flowers were gypsophilia, a variety of roses and hypericum berries.

Decoration
Henk at Bashall Barn kindly loaned us some bunting which looked gorgeous. Every table was decorated with gorgeous flower displays created by Linda Hardman and her team at The Flower Shop in Clitheroe.

Personal/DIY touches
• Our gorgeous invitations and ice cream vouchers for guests were designed by a friend with considerable assistance from his extremely talented wife (yes, that’s you Laura!)
• Our table plan was Elliot’s creation using the empty champagne boxes (and a lot of patience!) – the tables were then named after our favourite ski holiday haunts.
• The table plan was however overshadowed by the post box created by Jonah, Charley, Gil and Ted (all aged 3 and under and big fans of Postman Pat!)

Special moments
There were lots of special moments – the weather, the guests, the musicians, the food, the champagne, the list goes on but one moment I won’t forget is the slight “wardrobe malfunction” as I arrived at the ceremony – thankfully photographer extraordinaire Shelly was on hand to resolve the problem! Not many weddings can boast spider man on the dance floor either (courtesy of 3 year old cousin, Jonah, and his super cool pyjamas!)

Biggest surprise
That I actually had a wedding ring- it didn’t arrive until 11am on the day of wedding!

Advice
Forget your normal “control freak” ways and let people help you and rely on the fact that they actually know what they are doing! Oh and weddings can be planned in a short time frame, you just have to make decisions quickly.

Supplier Shout Outs

• Venue – www.bashallbarn.co.uk
• The Flower Shop, Clitheroe – www.theflower-shop.co.uk
• Bellisimma Bridal, Bury – www.bellissimabridalgowns.co.uk
• Bashall Barn – http://bashallbarn.co.uk/
• Toast photography – www.toastofleeds.co.uk
• Diddybox, Bolton – www.diddybox.co.uk
• Louise Hall Makeup – www.louise-hall.co.uk
• The band- www.functioncentral.co.uk/acts/the_sonics
• Ben Marron (guitarist)

• Cakes – Sally Laird [email protected]

For more info on Shelly’s work go to:

www.toastofleeds.co.uk
http://toastofleeds.com
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[email protected]
0113 3560157