So here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for!

And if your connection is slow just let the film load first – press the black square and wait until you see the white line at the bottom of the screen almost reach the end……then press play and enjoy!

With huge thanks to Lydia, Andrew, Rachael Connerton and Jo and Simon at Shoot for sharing this A.mazing Big Day with Rock My Wedding.

Big hankies at the ready girls Love

Charlotte xxx

Shoot Lifestyle are Rock My Wedding Sponsors, however all real wedding submissions are chosen on individual merit and no part of this wedding has been sponsored.

Not only did Lydia and Andrew chose the most gorgeous fashion, flowers and venue but they also filled their Big Day with a whole heap of personal touches, divine decor and what might be the prettiest cupcakes I have ever seen.

I guess being the editor of Wedding magazine Save The Date helps on the inspiration front – Lydia is surrounded by daily delicious!

Enjoy part 3 lovelies, film highlights coming right up later this afternoon ( ’tis well worth the wait. Promise)

Second Time Lucky

We had initially booked another photographer and decided to cancel him, lose our deposit and book Rachael Connerton instead . We just couldn’t not have Rachael having seen some of her work. She and her husband Ian do an incredible job and I really cannot give them enough credit. They were amazing on the day, managing to capture all the most important bits without me even realizing they were there and, when it came to deciding which pictures went into the album, we were totally spoilt for choice.

We were 100% pleased we decided to go with our instinct and cancel our original photographer, even though it did mean losing our deposit as, although the old photographer seemed great, Rachael was just what we’d been looking for. Contemporary, cool and a really lovely person. With hindsight, we probably should have done a bit more research before confirming our original photographer but there you go.

Cotton And Crumbs

To be honest, I left this job with my mum as I’m not really a big ‘cake’ person. My only request was cupcakes. So, my mum organized for a range of different flavour cupcakes, in a variation of cute cases to be put together, along with a small sponge cake on top. A fantastic baker, my mum was going to make them herself but decided against it as was worried about it being too much on the lead up to the big day and so Cotton and Crumbs did it for us and were brilliant.

We had a lot of people comment on how fabulous the cupcakes looked and tasted.

All Day Music

During the drinks reception, we had Paul Hollis, a saxophonist to entertain guests. He was fabulous and went down really well outside in the sunshine whilst everyone enjoyed their pimms and canapés.

The dancing part was actually one of my favourite times of the entire day – so much fun with amazing entertainment and, for the last song, all the men lifted me right up in the air – a bit scary but oh what a great way to finish the night, on a real high!

A Sweet Tooth

I ummed and aahed over favours for quite some time as most weddings I’ve been to, I’ve ended up leaving my favour behind, however I wanted to do something. So, I ended up buying pink and white striped sweet bags and filling them with an assortment of mine and Andrew’s favourite sweets. They were then tied with raffia and each guest had a bag placed at their table setting. It looked so effective in the marquee and really set the room off, something I hadn’t really expected them to do. My uncle wore a shirt which was the exact same stripe as the sweet bags – hilarious!….Needless to say, he tried to keep his jacket on most of the time!

Stay With You

Something which wasn’t really that important to us turned out to be one of both of our loveliest points of the day. Our first dance was to ‘Stay with you’ by John Legend, purely because the lyrics were very fitting for the two of us (we’d been together for 10 years and 10 days when we married!) We danced on our own for the first verse and then I gave my sister the nod and she and her boyfriend joined then so did everyone else! It was really lovely.

We then had a second ‘first dance’ which the DJ announced and he asked for everyone to get on the dancefloor. He then played ‘I gotta feeling’ by Black Eyed Peas – perhaps a bit of a cheesy thing to do but I’ve never seen so many people pile on a dancefloor at one time. It was brilliant and was a sign of how the night was going to be – everyone just letting their hair down and having a good boogey!

Making It About YOU

Without too much extra effort and with inspiration from other people’s weddings, you can really bring your wedding to life and make it stand out. Little bits that we did like the hearts hanging on the back of the chairs with the name of the person written on and the date as an alternative place card was just a small thing but everyone loved them and took them home to remind them of the day.

Bijou Woo and Lucy Ledger did me so proud when it came to my stationery, table plan, table names and beer labels (!) – they understood totally where I was coming from and ensured that they produced something which was totally unique to me and Andrew.

Advice from The Bride ( and W-day magazine editor) …

Don’t worry too much about the little hiccups you have along the way – we had a few dramas such as canceling the photographer and losing our deposit, Andrew ordering a tailored suit online and him not liking it when it arrived and therefore having to buy another and my nana (not the one who made the bunting!) fainting during the wedding breakfast. Don’t worry, she was fine (turns out she didn’t realize pimms and lemonade was alcoholic and therefore had 3 before eating!) All things you have to take in your stride and believe me, everything will turn out fine and you will have the most amazing day.

And finally, have a relaxing night before your wedding (me, mum, dad and Grace watched my favourite film, Father of the Bride!) try to get plenty of sleep the night before and relax and chill out on the morning and enjoy being pampered. It’s not every day you have someone there to do your hair, make up and pour you glasses of champagne! The morning of my big day, getting ready with my favourite girls (plus my dad) was so lovely and something to treasure so don’t get flustered and make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to get ready (and this is coming from someone who is NEVER on time and always in a fluster getting ready!)

I would do anything to have my day all over again so cherish every second.

I am actually a little sad this is nearly over…..

But not quite yet lovelies!

And if you are concerned about a marquee not looking as spectacular as a country house/chic city restaurant/boutique hotel then you really have got to see the fantastic job Lydia and her suppliers made of hers.

Father Of The Bride? Lydia – you knocked the socks off their efforts Pet.

Really.

Big I love weddings on film Love

Charlotte xxx

Well Then.

I’m not entirely sure what to say.

Except that the super pretty Big Day of Lydia and Andrew literally makes me swoon……..

Prepare yourself for a fancy floral bonanza folks.

All images courtesy of Rachael Connerton

The Perfect Location

Our wedding was on 28th May 2010 at St Patricks Church, Nuthall, Nottingham, followed by our reception held at Thrumpton Hall, Nottinghamshire.

So, when I came across Thrumpton Hall with their semi permanent marquee (courtesy of Bond Marquees) I thought I’d go and take a look. And even though it was mid January and we were in the depths of miserable weather and grey skies (plus, the fact that the marquee wasn’t set up inside due to it being out of season) I could immediately visualise my ‘Father of the Bride’ dream.

The historic hall which was bursting with character is where we held the drinks reception (with fab views across the lake, complete with swans!) and then a cute lantern lined path led you to the marquee for our wedding reception. I have to admit, Andrew probably didn’t have the same ‘I have to have a marquee’ mantra as me, but he was blown away by how fabulous it looked on the day with its decking area and contemporary interiors (complete with posh ‘in built’ loos!). Plus, the hall itself which we had for a couple of hours for the drinks reception was so interesting and full of lots of hidden coves and rooms, the guests loved it! However, we were so lucky with the weather that most people spent the drinks reception outside in the rose garden which I was so pleased about.

With Thrumpton Hall, we had the perfect blend of old meets new and with fantastic service from the venue from start to finish, it was just perfect.

Sorbet Shaded Chic

I’ve never been very much into flowers but can tell you, I am now! My local florist who my mum has been to for years did my wedding flowers. A tiny little shop in my home village, Bee’s Flowers manage to do over 50 weddings per year and come highly recommended in my area. Shaun, the owner, is a real flower enthusiast and taught me all I need to know about blooms!

Having deliberated for a while, I decided to go with flowers which would match in with my colour scheme; sage green and dusky pink. My bouquet was therefore made up of pink peonies, green hydrangeas and green, vintage roses whilst the bridesmaids were the same, minus the peonies. The men’s buttonholes were the green vintage roses and although a little big (Andrew struggled with his on the morning, probably down to the nerves!) they looked fantastic.

When the flowers arrived on the morning of the wedding, I was so excited. They looked gorgeous and smelt amazing. My 5 year old flowergirl, Leila had a single peony which she didn’t let go off all day!

The centrepieces were a similar design to the bouquets and really set the room off – we bought tall glass vases from a local hardware store for a pretty cheap price and filled the vases with cute crystals from IKEA.

Birds Of Paradise

My invitation design by Bijou Woo had birds flying around and so did the rest of my stationery, therefore, I purchased lots of cute hanging birds which I placed all over – on the ladies toilet doors, marquee doors, DJ box etc! We also had boxes of matches placed on the tables with bird motifs, from Cox and Cox.

We used lettering from Posh Grafitti spelling out ‘JOY’ and ‘LOVE’ dotted around the marquee. Being a total blank canvas, we tried not to go too overboard with décor but it was important to make the venue look warm and inviting and I felt that our choice of décor did just that.

We Love Lydia’s Nana!

My nana, bless her, made lots and lots of bunting out of old fabric she had at home so we had bunting literally everywhere! All on the trees and along the decking area outside the marquee, it looked fab.

We also hired birdcages and wicker hearts from My Vintage Party – we filled the birdcages with artificial flowers in pinks and greens and placed them on the tables on the decking and at the bar. They looked fab too!.

Shooting The Film

We also had a videographer, Shoot (recommended by RMW’s very own Charlotte O’Shea). Having seen the ‘Sunshine on a rainy day’ film on here, I just knew they were fantastic. Quirky, stylish and creative, I loved their work and, once I’d met with Jo and Simon (the husband and wife team), I knew we had to have them doing our film on the day. Such lovely people and a joy to have with us on the day, I feel so lucky to have a great film to look back on in years to come and reminisce.

Um Hello? Did you see how Andrew was looking at Lydia? pure unadulterated L.O.V.E captured on camera that is.

Oh and the 3 part thing? Well I lied. It’s actually 4 parts ( and that’s an additional post this week for you too not an instead of)……we have the film. It is perfection.

So much more to share with you lovelies SO much more!!!!

Big I can’t wait until tomorrow Love

Charlotte xxx

I often wonder now that Rebecca and I have been blogging all things W-day for a wee while – how given the opportunity…..we would chose to plan the Big Day if we had to do it all over again. The answer is I really haven’t got a clue, so much pretty to choose from and so many spectacular gowns I think we would have to plan 20 weddings each just to fit everything in!

With this in mind I was really REALLY looking forward to seeing what was going to be the truly spectacular affair of Lydia the editor of Save The Date magazine. How on earth does a wedding magazine editor plan their perfect W-day?! I would be changing my mind every bloomin’ five minutes!

Well folks the answer was clear – Lydia created one of the loveliest soiree’s I have ever seen. Dress Perfection, sorbet shaded colour palette perfection…… so many beautiful details and special moments in fact that I had to make it 3 parts.

Honestly lovelies – you are in for a tremendous treat.

All of the gorgeous photography is courtesy of Rachael Connerton.

Timeless Grace

My dress is by David Fielden and called ‘Grace Kelly’ – something which made my nana cry when she heard about it (Grace Kelly was her hero and the Monaco wedding she had was my nana’s big day fantasy!)
I always knew I wanted a lace dress, ever since I can remember. I’m not really sure why but lace was always a must for me. I also knew that I definitely wanted a dress with sleeves as I seem to have a strange hang up about my arms and worry about ‘bingo wings’…..

With two quite specific ‘must haves’, I must admit, finding ‘the one’ was quite tricky. The dress I finally decided upon, I initially didn’t really like. In fact, the lady in the shop insisted I try it on as she felt it could be tweaked to fit my seemingly quite unusual request of sleeves. So, once I put the dress on and switched on my imagination, I pictured the dress with sleeves and instead of the tulle skirt, a satin skirt and instead of just a zip, pearl buttons. The way I imagined it was just perfect and, after what turned out to be quite a lot of hassle with all the tweaking and changing, I must say that on the day, it looked exactly how I hoped it would look….. Plus, my nana insisted I was ‘her’ Grace Kelly

Make-up And My Sister

I began having make up trials quite early on in the wedding planning journey. I really wanted to look pretty and feminine and not one for wearing foundation anyway, I didn’t want to look ‘caked’ in make up. I tried various places such as Bobbi Brown and MAC and also a local make up artist came to see me and although they all did great jobs, there was something not quite clicking. So, when my sister, Grace, offered to give it a go, I was a little hesitant. Don’t get me wrong, Grace does her own make up amazing but this was big day make up … shouldn’t I go for a professional? Someone who does this for a living?

My big day inspiration hair was Carly Zucker who married Joe Cole last year, a French twist at the back with lots of volume on top, ready for my tiara to be slid into the front. James worked wonders and, coming from a person who ALWAYS wears their hair down, I loved having my hair up that day and felt really glamorous. I also liked how it wasn’t too ‘done’ and throughout the day, I had the odd little curl coming down to make it look more natural and relaxed.

Made To Measure

With my dress being quite intricate and detailed, I decided that too many accessories and jewellery would look a little overkill so I decided to go for delicate pearl drop earrings (which matched the pearls on the back of the dress) and a very last minute purchase of a pearl cuff, courtesy of Dotty P’s.

My tiara – I fell in love with it at a wedding fayre I attended. Just perfect for the hair style I had in mind and as I had no intention of wearing my veil for the entire day, I thought the tiara would make my ‘look’ more finished without the veil. The tiara was handmade for me by Rosie Priestley and I even had my head measured! I worried that it might dig in slightly during the day but I have to say, it felt really nice all day and I didn’t even realise it was there. Unlike the veil (which my sister had to take off for me straight after the service) as it was causing quite a bit of discomfort! No pain, no gain though as they say and the veil looks fab in the pictures in church so I’m really pleased I stuck with it during the service and then took it off.

Hot Pink And Perfect

My shoes were hot pink and a total bargain from Kurt Keiger. They are by Carvela and I found them during a shopping trip to Topshop on Oxford Street (I so wish we had a shoe department in our Topshop in Nottingham like the one there!)….. I was just browsing the shoes and saw these hot pink shoes just shouting out at me from the sale rail – so I went over and realised they were half price! Trying hard to contain my excitement (these shoes were exactly what I was looking for!) I looked at the size and they were a 5. Damn.

I asked the shop assistant if they had any size fours and received a definite ‘no’. Totally dejected, I left the store and called my mum to tell her about my ‘ordeal’ and she, being the saviour she is, went straight on to the Kurt Geiger website, found the shoes at the sale price (I’d sent her a picture of them on my phone!) and popped them in her basket! Two days later, they arrived. I was one happy bride to be that day, I can tell you.

Couture Maids

My bridesmaid dresses were a sage green with halter necks and finished just above the knee. With my lovely bridesmaids being different shapes and sizes, it was really important to me to ensure they felt comfortable and happy and they all loved their dress. They were made to measure at Couture Bridal Designs in Nottingham, by two sisters and I was so pleased with the result.

Their shoes (our first buy, about 18 months before the wedding!) were from Coast and looked fantastic on the day with their bronzed legs!

Two Million Dollar Men

The men wore hired suits from Moss Bros with the exception of Andrew and his best man, who bought matching royal blue suits from Reiss, which were swoon-worthy and totally worth the investment. Quite a slim fit and totally tailored to fit, it looked fantastic and Andrew said he felt a million dollars in it (and I thought he looked 2 million dollars in it)!

Grace Kelly eat your heart out pet.

I mean really – so much fabulousness and you haven’t even seen the half of it yet!

And because it’s Monday and because we love you ……part 2 coming up later.

Big this one’s going to be a corker Love

Charlotte xxx

Welcome back for Part 2 of this wedding with a relaxed but glamorous vibe and a whole heap of pretty. Rachel and Lawrence chose Ben Goode Photography to capture the day so a big thanks to him for submitting the images to Rock My Wedding.

A Unique venue

Our reception was held at The Larmer Tree Gardens which I would describe as totally unique, quirky and relaxed. We didn’t want a formal and stuffy affair or somewhere they move you from room to room while they roll back the carpet to make the dance floor. So we went for something totally different. The Larmer Tree Gardens offered exactly this – magical gardens, ornate buildings, peacocks roaming and a singing theatre. Our guest could dance along to the jazz band (The Lemon Grove) playing from the singing theatre, chill out in deck chairs or have a game of croquet or giant jenga all with flowing Champagne, Pimms and canapés.

I have to mention Gail, our coordinator at The Larmer Tree. Most people call Gail The Larmer Lady, she loves the gardens and you can see this in her work. Her and her team worked tirelessly throughout the day and ensured that every aspect was covered. I remember seeing her go out and light candles all down the path as dusk settled – it set the mood for the evening perfectly.

The Sweetest Blooms

Getting married in May we were lucky enough to have all the beautiful romantic spring flowers to choose from. We wanted country chic – beautiful, romantic, elegant hand tied flowers. I knew I wanted Fleur De Lys in Ashley Cross (Poole) to do the wedding flowers as Maria understood me and the vision from the start.

I could not have been happier when I saw the hand tied sweetpea posies and flowers in the Pavilion – they were one of my favourite details on the day.

Passionate Photography

We chose Ben Goode Photography to do our wedding photography. Ben is passionate and talented at taking natural and reportage style photography. He captured not only the moments perfectly but also the emotions of both us and our friends and family.

Getting the right photographer is vital as the day goes so fast you don’t have time to take it in, so we were so pleased that not only were the pictures amazing, Ben told a story of the day as well as capturing the details that I had worked so hard pull together and make it everything we dreamt of.

Sugar Spectacular

I was really lucky to be referred the details of a lady called Shirley Lush. She does cake making classes and agreed to make our cake for us. I knew she was a pro at sugar icing so I set out to find a cake design that would work with this.

We chose to have three deep tiers of sponge, chocolate and lemon cake. It was sugar iced with intricate detail, almost like the lace on my dress. By the time the flowers we added to the top it looked amazing. It tasted delicious too!

Entertaining the Masses

During our wedding service we had an opera singer sing Ave Maria which was beautiful. At the venue in the day we had The Lemon Grove, a local Jazz band play on the singing theatre. The sun was shining, champagne flowing and our guest were either dancing along with the music or playing croquet on the lawn or lounging in a deck chair.

We had a favourite song but are a bit selfish and wanted to keep this for us, plus we thought we would both cry. We opted for the band to sing our first dance song – I need you love so bad. It was perfect – really romantic and personal as it was live and sung to us, not from a CD player.

Decor and Design Details…

The venue itself offered so much not least the beautiful peacocks that roamed the gardens.
We had an events order made up that included all of the details of the day – so our guests knew what was happening when. This was mounted on a blackboard and propped up against a tree on the lawn near the entrance.

Words of Advice
Choose what you like – not what you think would suit a wedding.
Don’t be afraid to break the mould from traditions.
Choose a location that reflects you as a couple and things you like doing together
Take time in the week before to spend time together and remember why you are getting married!
Have a back up pair of shoes in case your feet hurt!
Don’t get ripped off – do your research and find bargains!

I just love the garden shots and Pavillion – seriously what a venue!! And just W-O-W to that dress! Congratulations guys and thank you again to Ben Goode Photography.

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

There’s more than just a few things I love about todays wedding… (thats right you get the whole thing today!). The Brides dress has to be mentioned first – one of the first I’ve seen actually worn, of the trend sweeping bridal for embellishment. Stunning. That and the old fashioned Sweet Pea spectacular that this is, make it sentimental and sweet. Perfect for a mid-week pick me up

The bright and beautiful images are all courtesy of the lovely Ben Goode.

Rachel and Lawrence got married on Saturday 22nd May 2010 at St Hubert’s Church in Rachel’s parent’s local village. The reception was at The Larmer Tree Gardens in Tollard Royal.

A Creation called Constantina

I decided to keep the search for my dress local so not to confuse myself with too many options up in the big smoke. When I started my search I knew I wanted a lace dress and fishtail style. I was also pretty convinced that I wanted a Pronovias one. A couple of Pronovias dresses made my short list but then I went to Chameleon Bridal in Pokesdown and found ‘the one’. I loved it before I tired it on and my mum cried so I had to have this dress.

My dress was Constantina by Enzoani and was called Diana (a brand that I had not really come across in my research). The lace and detail was beautiful – it has a low backline, beautiful long train, intricate lace detailed straps and a corsage on the front which added a real impact. It was exactly what I wanted, pretty and girly but elegant and classic at the same time.

DIY Designs

I looked on hundreds of website for hair accessories but couldn’t find quite what I wanted to go with my dress so I decided to make my own. I went to a local Hobby Craft and brought up lots of crystals, rose buds and pretty things and set about putting it together. Surprisingly it didn’t take too long and ended up looking perfect with my dress.

They did a great job, all bridesmaids had their choice of hairstyle (I wanted them to feel comfortable) and we all had natural make up; just enough for the camera.

Shoe Solutions

I wanted shoes with a bit of height as I am only 5.2 but I didn’t want my feet to hurt in a pair of killer heels. I found a great pair of shoes from Bourne – a pretty peep toe sandal with open woven satin detail.

Cutting a Dash

Laurence has a suit made from Robert Old & Co. in Bournmouth. We didn’t go with something too ‘wedding-y’ so that he could wear it again. It’s a beautiful hand made suit in a steel grey colour with a very fine purple line running through it. He wore it with a crisp white shirt and the same pewter tie as the groomsmen.

Laurence has amazing blue eyes – it was the first thing I noticed when I looked up the aisle. And then I noticed his massive smile. He looked really smart, cool and trendy. Most importantly he looked comfortable in what he was wearing which suited the garden party vibe. He lost the cravat pretty quickly and just wore his shirt – it had a beautiful pattern detail within the collar.

Dressing the Bridal Party

We decided to buy the suits for the groomsmen. When we looked around at hire suits they all seemed pretty expensive for what you get. We chose to buy a mid grey suit (the Outstanding value one from M&S). The quality was great; they all fitted perfectly and only cost £50 each. We teamed this with shot silk pewter cravats, white shirts and tan/brown shoes.

For the bridesmaids we found some beautiful shot silk dresses from Coast. The colour was called amethyst – it was a purple/minx/pewter colour and took on different shades. Our little flower girl wore a beautiful little minx coloured dress that toned in really well. They all had heart necklaces as gifts which they wore on the day.

The church where we got married is where I was Christened and both my parents and grandparents were married at this church. They only open it on special request now and we were fortunate enough for them to open for us. It’s a beautiful little church and the friends of St Hubert’s did an amazing job with all the church flowers.

Super pretty right?

Pop back later on today for the second part with lots more pretty to peruse.

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo