As soon as Rob and I decided we’d quite like to get married, there was one thing we both knew – it wouldn’t be a formal affair. As a couple, we’re pretty relaxed and laidback (although I have my drama queen moments) and a structured day wouldn’t have been very ‘us’. We wanted our day to be carefree and fun, and there were two things that represented our vision perfectly – the flowers and the food.

I adore flowers, but I don’t know much about them. I’m not into flower arranging or colour coordination or big displays – I just love beautiful blooms. I wanted our wedding flowers to look as natural as possible, no intricate displays or diamanté accessories.

I posted about my wedding planning here on the blog and mentioned my search for a suitable florist. A few days later, I got an email from Rebecca, who told me her lovely mum Rachel ran a flower growing company called Hollow Meadows, and might be able to help. I visited Rachel at her farm in Sheffield and instantly fell in love with her relaxed, ‘English Country Garden’ style. Rachel described exactly what I wanted in one sentence – ‘like you ran your hand through wild flowers and grabbed a bunch’.

Rachel was my absolute superstar on the day before the wedding – she and my mum spent hours arranging gorgeous wild flowers into beautiful bouquets, buttonholes and bunches. Everything was tied with loose ribbons and placed into mismatched jugs to create the undone look I’d always imagined. Every petal was perfect. If you’re getting married in Yorkshire, I insist you speak to Rachel at Hollow Meadows immediately.

Ok, shall we talk food? Prepare yourself – there may be drooling.

Another thing we were set on from the very start of the wedding was the style of the food. Neither Rob nor I could picture ourselves sitting down to eat a 3-course meal – it didn’t work with our outdoor venue or vintage theme and we just weren’t keen on the formality of it all. So it was finger food all the way!

Our wedding catering was provided by the absolutely fabulous Silver Apples. Sarah and Kate are a true dream team, based in Manchester. As soon as I saw their gorgeously decadent vintage afternoon teas, I knew they’d create just the spread to suit our tea party style.

We went for the Afternoon Tea menu but completely customised it to suit our tastes – cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, mini sausage rolls and steak pies, freshly baked scones and pea and feta tarts were served to the tables along with other tiny treats, followed by the most spectacular cake table ever…

Brownies, macarons and sponges, oh my! The girls also concocted a refreshing Gin Fizz to welcome our guests, served in adorable milk bottles with the blogger’s favourite – a stripy straw. How very Instagrammable.

Alongside our amazing helpers for the day, Silver Apples served up an absolute feast and kept everyone fed and watered all day long. They topped up tea pots and whisked away empty plates despite it being a tight squeeze in the marquee – total troopers and a service I’ll be calling on again, for sure.

If I’m honest, the wedding cake was pretty far down my list of priorities. I was adamant I didn’t want a ‘traditional’ cake, so after a bit of Pinterest research I decided a cheese cake was the way to go. Then I got swept up in other planning things and promptly forgot about the cake. Luckily my mum and grandma were on hand to take over…

The sourced cheese rounds in a range of flavours, including an incredible heart-shaped Brie for the top tier. My mum scoured TK Maxx for wicker baskets and collected berries and flowers from the garden. She arranged and decorated the whole thing on the morning of the wedding, sitting fresh figs around the cheese and topping it all off with some adorable bunting. It was one of the highlights of the whole day.

Of course, they didn’t stop there – just as I was adamant I didn’t want a traditional wedding cake, my grandma was adamant I would have one. Months before the wedding, she baked a classic fruit cake and fed it with brandy until a few days before. Then she iced and decorated it, even including this amazing VW camper ribbon in the same colour as our actual wedding car. Bowled over (and that’s not a cricket pun).

The food was such a huge success – it was bountiful, delicious and had that picnic-style I wanted so much. Looking at these photos makes me want to eat it all over again!

Wedding Week continues tomorrow when I’ll share snaps from our evening celebrations. 
All photography by Phil Drinkwater.

Although the wedding as a whole was a massive planning task, it was planning the reception that almost killed Team Wedding (my nickname for our hardworking team of family and friends, who planned this thing from the very beginning).

In a good way, of course.

The reception was held at the cricket club that Rob’s childhood home backs on to. His dad is the groundsman and Rob played in the local team until he was 18. In summer, there’s a game every week and we often pop over to watch. The cricket grounds and surrounding community have played a huge part in our 11-year relationship… yet I still have no idea what happens in a game!

We used the cricket pavilion as a bar, chill-out area and for the toilets. It was brilliant to have that base, which was lovingly decorated by my Sister-in-Law Jen, and allowed people to step away from the main event and have a quiet moment.

The main event being the marquee…

Finding a wedding marquee wasn’t hard. But finding the ‘right’ wedding marquee was so hard. I didn’t want PVC windows or laminate flooring. But I also didn’t want to pay £7,000 for a tipi. There aren’t a great deal of options in between and I was starting to despair… until I found Will’s Marquees.

Based in York, Will’s Marquees hire vintage-inspired, natural-style marquees for all sorts of events. As soon as I saw the photos on their website, I was sold – I love the Big Top shape, the exposed wooden poles and the parquet dance floor. Will’s Marquees are also the most lovely, lovely people. Ever. They drew up floor plans and did site visits and were generally fantastic to work with. And they’re brilliantly priced to boot.

Styling the marquee was my own personal Waterloo. It was an absolutely mammoth job that took about 10 hours on the day before the wedding – no spa or relaxation for this bride!

With the couldn’t-have-done-it-without-you help of Team Wedding, I created a vintage tea party. I used lots of the things I’ve collected from car boots over the years – old books, antique cameras and framed prints – combined with crafty bits bought from Etsy and props hired from the fantastic Add Vintage.

My Sister-in-Law and I made the table plan a week before the wedding. After seeing a photo of something similar on Pinterest, we found an MDF board in the garage and covered it with vintage sheet music I bought from eBay. Details of the tables were hung in mismatched frames I sourced from Wilko’s, Dunelm Mill and the Pound Shop. The R & J letters were one of the first things I bought for the wedding about a year ago, from Joy.

I tried to keep collecting props as the wedding drew closer, but it was impossible to find time to go hunting for vintage goodies. At a chance visit to a wedding fair in Leeds just a couple of months before the big day I met Emily from Add Vintage and immediately hired almost everything she owns. Add Vintage is a truly brilliant business offering vintage props, crockery and glassware along with outdoor games and deck chairs. The prices are beyond reasonable and Emily was a joy to work with, delivering everything the day before the wedding and collecting it afterwards.

When it came to table decoration, I wanted something that looked quite ‘undone’. I sat vintage books and flowers in milk bottles and old tins on top of a few pages of sheet music and declared it done. Later we added candles, table names and a pot of stick-on moustaches which went down an absolute treat (and were one of the best buys of the wedding at £1 for 6 from the Pound Shop).

My mum made the favours – jars of honey and heart-shaped beeswax candles, all from the bees she keeps in the garden. In her speech she told us the favours represented ‘sweetness and light’ for a happy marriage, at which point I lost it completely and had a little cry!

One last photo – you’ve already met Fanny, the vintage VW and our transport for the day. But when a family friend spotted her on the morning of the wedding, she called her son and asked him to bring Bertie along – a vintage VW Bug. It was that kind of generous community spirit that truly made our wedding special.

Wedding Week continues tomorrow when I’ll tell you all about the food and flowers. 
All photography by Phil Drinkwater.

All this week I’m sharing snippets from my wedding with tips and advice for planning, finding suppliers, setting up and creating a day you’ll remember forever.

One of the most fun parts of planning the wedding was creating our ‘look’. From the very start, I had a really strong idea of how I would look on my wedding day – I’m not very ‘bridal’ and had no desire to be a princess for the day. I wanted something chic, classic and subtly sexy. No netting, no pink gloss and definitely no fake tan.

My dress and the bridesmaids’ dresses were the easiest finds of the wedding. I got my dress exactly 12 months (to the day!) before the wedding, from Brides of Harrogate. I went along for my initial appointment with my mum and was looked after by Lauren. She knew right from the start what I wanted – she took in my personal style, what I said about the vintage theme and wanting to wear my glasses, then left me to pick out 5 dresses I liked. I tried them on and although lovely, none quite worked. Then Lauren produced this Alfred Angelo creation and my mum burst into tears. Result! At less than £800 it was an absolute dream find, and so many people at the wedding gushed over it and asked if it was ‘real’ vintage.

For my bridesmaids, I was determined not to dictate what they wore too much. I wanted them to be comfortable and happy, to look like themselves and to have the opportunity to wear their dresses afterwards. My friends all have very different styles and tastes, and I considered different dresses in the same general colour for a while, but when I saw the Victoria Lace Dress in Whistles it was a done deal. The lace detail worked wonderfully with the vintage style and the sky blue colour was universally flattering. They looked gorgeous (as they always do and as I knew they would)!

Shoes were a no-brainer for me – Louboutins all the way, baby! I wanted a pair I could wear again but that didn’t distract from my dress and the Simple Pumps in Glitter were perfect, but sold out across the country. I eventually tracked them down in Dublin and had them shipped over – possibly the best package I’ve ever received!

I went for the lower 85mm heel and wore then until around 8pm when I switched to metallic flats c/o Sarenza. I could’ve gone on as they weren’t uncomfortable, but I wanted to give the dance floor my all!

The bridesmaids wore simple nude patent heels from M&S and Next, although my sister Rachel eventually switched to these Georgia Rose silver heels c/o Sarenza which looked amazing.

Rob wore a navy 3-piece suit from Reiss which we got a week before the wedding after a bit of a disaster with his original Paul Smith suit. The staff at Reiss in Leeds were beyond amazing and tailored the whole thing in just one day, relieving my bridal stress significantly! Rob’s tie and pocket square came from T.M. Lewin and his amazing brown brogues (which got lots of compliments on the day!) were by Finsbury c/o Sarenza.

The best man (Rob’s lovely dad, Mike!) and groomsmen wore suits and ties from Next, which were amazing value at £99 a pop.

The bridal party hair and makeup was a big decision for me. I really, really didn’t want to look like a ‘bride’ – pink lip gloss and French Tip nails are so not my thing. I love bold lipstick, matte skin and painted nails… why not represent that on my wedding day?

I searched long and hard for a makeup artist who had the style I wanted, and eventually found it in Bethany Jane Davies. Bethany was recommended by countless brides and photographers via Twitter, and just one look at her site had me convinced. She specialises in vintage-style hair and makeup that looks natural and subtle, not OTT or ‘fancy dress’.

Although I’m a fan of the vintage style my bridesmaids are more modern, so I wanted something that could be played up or down depending on their preference. I took two of them along to the trial and Bethany created a simply stunning look that suited absolutely everyone – a soft, curled up-do and subtle vintage-inspired makeup.

For me, it was all about the vintage glamour. Bethany gave me smooth, matte skin, flicky lined eyes and red statement lips using MAC, Nars and Illamasqua makeup. My hair was inspired by this literally divine shoot Coco Rocha did for Vogue Mexico and clipped into place with vintage-style slides from Accessorize. My nails were done by Russell Eaton in Leeds a few days before the wedding.

Bethany brought a team of stylists to make sure we were all primped and preened for 11.30am – they worked so hard and were so fantastic at creating a cohesive look that suited everyone. I recommend Bethany wholeheartedly for brides looking for an alternative to the dreaded pink gloss!

I couldn’t end this post without sharing these shots – my gift to the bridesmaids was a pair of Hunter wellies in their favourite colour. They were delighted with them and we had to have an official photo of us all, doing my signature ‘blog pose’ as we knew it’d end up here!

Wedding Week continues tomorrow when I’ll give you a peek at the reception.
All photography by Phil Drinkwater.

All this week I’m sharing snippets from my wedding with tips and advice for planning, finding suppliers, setting up and creating a day you’ll remember forever. 

On September 21st 2013, I got married. Woo hoo!

I thought quite a bit about sending the photos to a wedding blog, but in the end I decided I’d much rather share the day here, in my own way. Over the next week I’ll be posting about the key parts of the day – what we wore (naturally), the venue, the photography, the styling, the food and the entertainment, finishing off with a little look at our honeymoon. There are many special moments I’ll keep for myself, but after a year of serious planning, I think our hard work deserves a bit of fanfare.

To kick things off, we’re starting with The Ceremony.

When we started planning our wedding, the ceremony was never really a big part of it. As soon as we decided to get married, we knew where we’d do it – Rob grew up in the most picturesque village in North Yorkshire, and it’s a place so dear to us there was no other option. The reception venue was sorted (more on that later this week), and as we’re both non-religious there was really just one place we wanted for the ceremony – Monk Fryston Hall.

This beautiful building has been part of our lives for many years – my childhood home is 10 minutes away and this was the place we’d come for fancy meals and big celebrations. The former manor house dates back to the 12th Century, which fitted my vintage theme perfectly, and I knew the glorious grounds would make for stunning photos.

I was cosseted up at Monk Fryston Hall the night before the wedding, and was having my hair and makeup done when Rob and his groomsmen rolled up in this beauty. Her name is Fanny and she belongs to Rob’s parents’ next door neighbours and our wonderful friends, Julie and Steve. She was lovingly decorated for the event and eventually got going after a few false starts, some gear grinding and a couple of choice words.

The ceremony was held in the Hatton Room, which holds about 70 people. It’s a truly beautiful space – all dark wood, original beams and red velvet. I was so entirely consumed by the decoration of our reception venue that I didn’t give much thought to the ceremony – luckily all this room needed was some flowers, some candles and a cheeky bit of bunting.

I was really surprised by how beautiful and emotional the ceremony was. Rob and I have been together for 11 years so there was never any doubt that we’d do it, but standing up in front of all our loved ones and saying the actual words was bloody amazing. I had that Cheshire Cat grin the whole way through.

One of the best things about our wedding was the personal touch that ran through the whole thing. Not only did we host the whole day in a part of the world that means so much to us, but our family and friends were involved in each stage and all the people we love had a hand in making it so wonderful.

Take the confetti, for example – my mum and grandma spent an entire year collecting rose petals from their gardens and carefully drying them, ready for the big day. The final effect was absolutely beautiful, although I’m sure the sight of me fishing it out of my cleavage was not!

Everyone assures me the food at Monk Fryston Hall was delicious – with all the hugging and photo-taking I didn’t eat a single thing! After the ceremony we spent an hour or so outside in the grounds – after rain and chilly temperatures earlier in the week, the wedding day was sunny and warm. Perfect for wandering around with a mini Yorkshire pud!

We didn’t want too many posed photos, but the spectacular backdrop called for a least a few key shots. This is me and my mum, clearly loving life right there.

When the group shots were done, people started to drift off to the big vintage bus my mum hired, and were driven off to the ceremony venue. That gave Rob and I a bit of time on our own to relax, chat and take selfies.

A few shots on the amazing bridge and we were off, whisked away in Fanny to the next part of our wedding day with a bottle of champagne and some cheese and pickle sandwiches for the ride.

Wedding Week continues tomorrow when I’ll be sharing What We Wore. 
All photography by Phil Drinkwater.