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14
May
2015
Yesterday I shared with you a stunning wedding from my home town of Sheffield, well today it s the turn of Nottingham. Before I lived in Sheffield I lived on Nottingham for around 10 years, so looking through this submission and the photos of the town hall and the city centre has brought back some great memories. Tim and Claire were lucky enough to have the Nottingham beach come to town for their wedding which makes for some fab photos. The beach bar and cocktails really add to the fun element of this wedding day. Thanks to Jack from Firsthand Photography for the images.
Tim and Claire were married on 24th August 2014 at Council House, Old Market Square in Nottingham. Reception in the Country Cottage Hotel, Ruddington. ‘The council house is such a beautiful, grand building and we liked the idea of stepping out onto Nottingham Beach after the ceremony and celebrating with a cocktail at the tiki shack! For the reception we wanted somewhere small enough to be intimate for our day guests but large enough to host a good party in the evening. The Country Cottage Hotel was perfect for a summer wedding as it had little courtyards and gardens for the guests to relax in, and the staff were so welcoming and helpful. 40 guests to the day reception and over 100 in the evening. It took 8 months to plan.’
How they met
We met through friends when we were 17 and both had weekend jobs in Sainsbury’s. We were together for 3 years, then split up, travelled the world a little then got back together 5 years before the wedding.
The Proposal
It was on a trip to Lausanne, Switzerland on New Year’s Eve. We went for a walk by Lake Geneva at sunset and Tim popped the question as we were sat on the rocks by the shore looking over the Lakes to the mountains. We then went to nearest bar to get a glass of Champagne to calm our nerves!
How did you allocate your budget
We didn’t have lots of money to spend but decided it was important to have a good photographer to document the memories and a good band to entertain the guests. Everything else was on a budget so we were lucky to have the help of our friends and family who helped us with hair, make up, flowers, cakes and decorations so we didn’t have to fork out a fortune.
How did you choose your photographer
We loved Firsthand photography’s informal style and attention to detail. As soon as we met Jack we knew she would fit in well with our day as she was so relaxed and friendly.
The Dress
Dress was secondhand online and shoes and accessories were bought in various shops around Nottingham.
The Suit and Bridesmaids
Reiss. Dresses were from Debut at Debenhams. Being big coffee fans (Tim runs coffee roasting company 200 Degrees) we ordered silver coffee bean necklaces for the bridesmaids from Etsy as wedding favours.
Theme or Colour Scheme
Not really, we just wanted lots of personal touches and an informal feel to the day. The bridesmaids choose the dresses themselves and we matched everything to the colour scheme of the hotel: lots of neutral shades, pale pinks, purples and greens.
Flowers
Claire and her friends went flower shopping the day before the wedding and did all the arrangements themselves, having saved jam jars for months to use as table vases. We used lots of gypsophilia and some lavender for the place setting. We kept some aside to use in Claire’s hair on the day itself. The table decorations and bouquet even included flowers and foliage from the garden of the parents of the bride.
Decoration
We borrowed some homemade bunting from a friend to hang in the main room. We also borrowed lots of fairy lights to add a bit of sparkle to the room in the evening!
Food
We had a three course meal for the day reception. We chose our favourite meal of Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puddings as the main, and had pate or soup starters and eton mess or profiteroles for desserts. In the evening we had cones of chips for the guests to soak up the drinks!
Wedding Cake
We had a tiered cake of cheese beautifully put together by Charlotte and Matt at Harrington’s Fine Foods. For those guests who have more of a sweet tooth we had amaretto cupcakes made by Katie, Jess and Tomoko, friends of Tim and Claire.
Entertainment
The guests were entertained by local Nottingham band, The Money.
Buy or DIY your Stationery
DIY
Personal or Handmade Touches
We have both worked in bars and enjoy making cocktails so we had his and hers cocktails for the guests (‘Tim’-spiced rum, ginger ale and lime, ‘Claire’- homemade rhubarb vodka, pomegranate juice and prosecco). We also made a timeline of photos of the couple, using polaroid style pictures. We made the place setting ourselves using scrabble pieces. We made various signs for around the venue to add a personal touch, including signs for virtual photo booth (we had an instagram hashtag for people to upload their photos taken by smart phones etc.), and a sign advertising dancing shoes (flip flops for the guests when the heels were starting to hurt)
Special Moments
Walking into the ceremony and seeing all our friends and family so happy and looking so lovely was a special moment. At the end of the night we took the party out to the garden and everyone lit sparklers to mark the end of the evening which was lovely.
Advice to other couples
Not to worry about spending a fortune on formalities as the guests don’t really care. Doing the flowers yourself is really fun and easy, if you have plenty of friends to help! We took 15 minutes in the middle of the evening to escape to our hotel room and have a glass of champagne and catch up- it is surprising how little time you actually spend together on the day!
Biggest surprise
The sister of the bride read a surprise poem which she had written, just before the band begun to play. It was completely unexpected but very sweet and funny, and was the one moment that the bride dropped her guard and let out a few tears!
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exellent inspirations! Blackboard with drinks is great!