Welcome back for Part 2 of this Purple themed country style wedding with a fresh and modern feel plus some gorgeous photography from Emily Quinton.

Reigning Queen Photographer

Emily Quinton photographed our wedding. We met Emily at the Wedding Show, NEC Birmingham. Her work is amazing – she photographed our best friends wedding and we fell in love with her photographs straight away and knew we had to go with her no matter what.

Pure Purple

We both wanted something a little different than just a fruit cake so we opted for a three tiered cake from the Funky Cake Co local to our venue – chocolate, carrot and fruit – it went down well with everyone. It was iced in pure white with purple ribbon and a beautiful brooch – very elegant!

Dancing and Decor…

The staff at Dodmoor House were brilliant in everyway. They helped make the venue look stunning. It didn’t exactly need much help though as the place is just lovely on it’s own but with the flowers and the beautiful weather everything looked beautiful.

Words of Wisdom

We both had in own minds what we wanted everything to look like but our advice would be to put your trust in those people who are helping to make your day so special. They are the professionals and they know what they’re doing. We were very lucky to have such lovely people who all made our day so perfect.

Thank you so much to Ben and Claire for letting us share their wedding day here on Rock my Wedding and also to Emily Quinton for providing us with all of the very pretty images.

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

Welcome to the first of our weddings to be featured on Real Weddings Week. Photographed by one of our favourite photographers, Emily Quinton, Ben and Claire had a country style wedding in Northamptonshire, with a strong purple theme. Read on for some gorgeous flower eye candy…

We got married on 12th June 2009 at Dodmoor House, Northamptonshire.

Westenius Wonder

I bought my dress from a little wedding boutique store in Loughborough, Leicestershire called ‘Grace Couture’. It was designed by Ritva Westenius. I’d tried on loads of dresses, all shapes and styles but knew I wanted a fishtail dress as soon as I put the Ritva Westenius dress on. I loved it the second I tried it on – so did my mum! I felt so elegant. It was simple but had lovely lace detail.

I wanted shoes with a bit of height but they had to be comfortable! I love heels but hate them if I’m constantly thinking I’m in agony. I shopped around lots of wedding stores but couldn’t find anything I really liked so I went to Kurt Geiger and found the perfect peeped toe ivory pair which matched the colour of my dress perfectly. I love them and they were definitely dancing shoes by the end of the night!!!

Beautiful Bun

I wasn’t sure on whether I wanted a veil or not – I tried on a few, some short and some long but I wasn’t comfortable in any of them so decided I would keep it simple and elegant like my dress by having my hair in a side swept bun.

I had a make up trial about 6 weeks before the wedding and wasn’t happy with it, even after trying lots of different styles so I went with what I knew best….I kept it simple and did my own make up. I went for the natural look and was totally happy on the day.

Country Florals

Both Ben and I knew from the start that we wanted a country garden type of feel to the day to match the gorgeous venue. We went with a lady called Sophia Pugh at The Green Room who was excellent. She captured exactly the look we wanted….actually she exceeded our expectations. We went for a colour scheme of purples for the ceremony to match the bridesmaids and for the reception we wanted a whole raft of bright colours. We were so happy with them, they were gorgeous!!!

We both knew we wanted a purple theme – a vivid purple so we looked around to see whether we could find bridemaid dresses first. We were so lucky as I happened to stumble across the exact colour dresses I had in my head in Karen Millen. We opted for knee length bridemaid dresses with a square neckline and a beautiful bow on the back. Dresses the girls can definitely wear again. For the dad’s we opted for light grey suits (a slightly darker shade to the groom and best man) with a beautiful purple striped tie which matched our scheme brilliantly.

Ben wore a light grey suit, 2 buttoned, with matching tie to the best man and the Dad’s. I saw the suit before the big day but not having a surprise didn’t spoil it- he still looked gorgeous!

Loving the chic Karen Millen Bridesmaids dresses with such a striking colour palette, – giving a really fresh modern feel to a country style wedding.

Pop back tomorrow afternoon for more reception style and the Brides glowing opinion on Emily Quinton, the fabulous photographer behind these images.

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo.

I have saved the REALLY knock-em-dead they are so delicious images for part 2, I am actually IN LOVE with some of these shots that feature all of the wild blooms – a huge benefit of holding your reception smack bang in the middle of a meadow in the British summertime…..

And Beccie and Ian will have these stunning images courtesy of the very talented Aneta Mak to cherish for ever.

Va Va Bloom

I was fortunate enough to have an incredibly talented Aunt, Sarah Marsh, who single-handedly created all of our flowers, both in the Church and in the marquee. I chose warm, cream roses and lilies in the Church with a touch of lilac to blend in with the bridesmaid dresses. For the marquee, we opted for a simple, modern look for the table centres. My Aunt created a modern design using pink gerberas, green chrysanthemums and contorted willow. My bridesmaids held small posies of cream roses. We also used roses for the men’s button holes. We did use a florist for my bouquet. I opted for a small cascade consisting of white/cream roses and lilies.

Swapping Sweet For Savoury

Neither Ian nor I are great cake fans so when our fantastic caterer suggested a cheese cake (a cake created from layers of gorgeous cheese), we knew it was the only option. It was simply decorated with ivy and grapes. Our caterer was David Oglesby at Arabis Catering

DJ’s And Dancing

We had a relatively late Wedding – 4pm – and so chose to have a DJ and disco for the evening. We had contemplated having live music but due to the time constraint decided to have a DJ. A very good friend of ours compiled the play list as he knew exactly the type of music that we all loved and would get everyone on the dance floor. We were struggling to get people off the dance floor by the end of the evening.

Unfortunately we don’t know what our first dance was. We had opted for Young Folk by Peter, Bjorn & John but our DJ managed to lose the track! We had to chose something quickly to play because there of the rather inopportune delay and now we can’t remember what we actually danced to!

Choosing Our Photographer

We were fortunate enough to have the most wonderful photographer, Aneta Mak, who captured every detail of our wedding day. She was highly professional, incredibly friendly and enthusiastic throughout the whole day. I have never been keen on having my photo taken and the very thought of having so many photos taken was daunting. Yet, Aneta managed to put me at ease, especially in the lead up to the Wedding ceremony when I really was quite nervous. I can honestly say that by the end of the day I was actually enjoying the experience! .Aneta’s photography style is quite simply unique and stunning. We had so many compliments on her photos.

Memorable Moments

We let off white lanterns into the sky at midnight, which was exquisite. It was a perfect end to our Wedding.

A good best man speech is absolute essential. Ian’s best man adapted the lyrics to ‘My Song’ by Elton John and played the keyboard and sung his speech. It was truly hilarious, unique and incredibly memorable!

And if you don’t happen to have a meadow as your reception location but love the whole wild bloom look then how about investigating options for your own W-day – RMW is a HUGE fan of the whole rustic/jam jar/thrown together flower style.

With big thanks to Beccie, Ian and Aneta Mak for sharing their Big Day with us.

Big Wild Blooming Love

Charlotte xxx

As much as we love a Big Day with lots of fancy detail and decor we also love a wedding that shines because of the natural surroundings, sometimes using what’s right there on offer can make for just as much pretty as the expert floristry.

Beccie and Ian were married in June 2009 at ST Mary’s The Virgin in the village of Great Shelford, Cambridge, they held their reception in a marquee in a meadow at Beccie’s Dad’s home in Follmere…….

Think wild poppies and tons of gorgeous couple shots folks.

All of the beautiful imagery was captured by Aneta Mak.

Heels And Pearls

I opted for very little jewellery as I didn’t want anything to detract from the dress. I decided against a necklace and instead wore simple pearl strand bracelets and drop pearl earrings. I think I bought the earrings the day before the wedding as I had left my jewellery to the last minute! I wore a very long, simple veil to complement the dress. I also wore a tiara, but only for the wedding ceremony. It didn’t make it to the reception!

Given my somewhat short stature, I knew that I simply had to wear the highest shoes I could find…and I didn’t disappoint myself. Other than my trainers, I do not own a pair of flat shoes. I tried on so many different designs but in the end opted for a pair of 6” platforms from Faith. They were so comfortable…and I managed to wear them through out day into the evening, even onto the dance floor.

Classic Pretty

Naturally you want to feel confident on your Wedding day about how you look. Yet I was determined that I should look like me. I tried a number of styles with my hairdresser Nicky in Cambridge but decided on wearing my hair up in a classic loose style. I had a wonderful make-up artist, Nicola Johnson, who helped me decide on a wonderful look for the day.  

Deepest Purple

My bridesmaids wore beautiful deep purple flowing silk dresses from LK Bennett. The dresses were the most wonderful colour and complimented all three of my bridesmaids – my younger cousins. I wanted to ensure that my Bridesmaids felt happy in their dresses! The Groomsmen’s morning suits were hired, and we tried to tie in their outfits with those of the bridesmaids and the creams of the flowers.

Petite Perfection

We didn’t set the date until February 2009 and decided to marry on 13 June 2009, which meant we had quite a lot to organise in little over 5 months…. I was nervous about wedding dress shopping. To be honest, it was the part I dreaded most about our wedding. I just didn’t think I would ever find a design that would suit me. I kept putting off shopping. I went to one shop in Cambridge and was quiet disheartened by the whole experience. Being only 5 ft 2” and a size 8, I knew I needed something fitted or else I would get lost in the dress. I also had three beautiful and gorgeously buxom bridesmaids. I finally decided upon a Ronald Joyce dress by Veni Infantino.

It was the most stunning dress I had seen; straight line with a drop waist, beautiful lace with intricate beading. It was not what I had envisaged myself wearing. I was initially looking for a simple, satin dress. In the end, I was persuaded that I needed a dress that would give me shape, a bust and, most importantly, stand me out on my wedding day! The dress had an incredible corset with built in support that actually enhanced my bust. It had a beautiful line and fantastic train.

Suited And Booted

Ian hired his morning suit and for some reason was keen to take out a damage waiver. In hindsight, this was a wise decision given that the state of the suit by the end of the evening! Ian looked incredible standing at the end of the isle. A man in a morning suit is quite a sight, especially when it is your future husband.

Anyone else have major hair/shoe/make-up envy?

Beccie looks just perfectly divine.

A whole lot more loveliness coming up tomorrow in part 2…

Big in-a-meadow Love

Charlotte xxx

We’re back for Part 2 of this gorgeous country casual outdoor wedding with a pretty as a picture Bride, Leanne, Barn ceremony and outdoor reception. I Love it, hope you all do too!

All images once again taken by the lovely Nicola of NGM Photographic.

Wobbles on the Day

On the morning of the wedding, all of a sudden I found myself alone at the B&B, not really realising that everyone had rushed off to get to the venue before me. I was struggling with my necklace when my dad arrived to collect me so I called him up to the room to help me on with my necklace. He came up the stairs and did a double take. We had a little ‘moment’ together while he helped me with the necklace (we both had a little tear in our eye) and then it was off to the beautiful vintage Alvis which took us to the venue. Dad kept a tight hold of my hand the whole time but I think it was for his nerves more than mine!

We had an amazing guitarist playing in the venue and as the chords of ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ by the Beatles started playing, we stepped up to the door of the barn. Walking in to the sea of faces was nerve-wracking – though possibly more for dad than myself as he zoomed along, dragging me with him! I had to try to hold him back as the guitarist had said it was around 15 seconds before the chorus when the tune really came in and I didn’t want my guests having no idea what the song was! The nerves and my dad’s race down the aisle struck me as being incredibly funny and as I got to the front Gavin clearly forgot we had nearly 100 people behind us as he gave my bum a reassuring grope! I was almost hysterical and fought very hard to stop myself from giggling stupidly. Instead I had a massive grin throughout the service. Most of the next 30 minutes is still a blur but as we walked back out to ‘You Do Something to Me’ by Paul Weller I can honestly say I know it was truly the most incredible 30 minutes of my life.

Pro Photography

The fabulous photographer we chose was Nicola Grimshaw-Mitchell of NGM Photographic. She wasn’t local but travelled to our venue from her base in Lincolnshire. I’d been searching photographers websites for weeks but hadn’t found anyone who’d captured the essence of the weddings with the informal air I wanted in keeping with our theme. She was brilliant at putting people at ease and she was invaluable in the final hour leading up to the wedding, even chipping in and helping out when things got a little chaotic towards the end when the cars turned up early for the rest of the bridal party and I was still in my PJs! Our photos were the ideal mix of posed shots and reportage style informal pictures which we really felt captured our day.

Picnic Perfection

The champagne reception ran whilst the photos were being taken and then everyone crowded round the patio area for the speeches. As we all know, these can sometimes be a little stilted but true to form and in keeping with the day, the speeches were a hilarious and somewhat raucous affair that had everyone howling! Dad and the best men did us proud and my heart near burst with happiness as Gavin talked about how we met and why he fell in love…

Cupcake Cute

We all crossed the lawn to the beautiful tables laid out on the lawn under the trees. The fold out chairs that were the only ones that could be used on the lawn were beautifully covered and with a big purple bow so it just looked like a picture! I couldn’t have been happier. We used gorgeous glass butterflies and dragonflies in various colours stuck to the flower vases to identify the tables, and the table plan cards were strung up between the trees. The food was amazing – again very informal – big bowls of succulent pork, rosemary roast potatoes and salad in the middle of each table for everyone to help themselves. It was important to us to keep our fun, informal theme running through, and what could be more fun and informal than cupcakes? A visit to a little cupcake shop – Angel Food Bakery – on the Lanes in Brighton introduced me to ‘the giant cupcake’! These huge cupcakes serve 12-14 people and I loved the idea of having one of these on top of a pile of little cupcakes so we could still do the traditional ‘cutting of the cake’. As we were on a budget, we ordered them plain iced and I made my own decorations! I bought coloured icing paste in purples and green and flower and ivy leaf cutters and made my own ‘sprinkles’ which looked very homemade but incredibly cute and they tasted amazing!

As the meal drew to a close the sounds of ‘Love Me Do’ filtered across the lawn from the Barn. Everyone raced across the lawn, threw bags, wraps and even shoes into the nearest corner and danced non-stop to hit after hit from our fabulous tribute band, The Complete Beatles. We’d managed to keep this a secret from everyone as it was actually intended as a little thank you to my Beatles mad family for all they had done to help us and they were suitably ecstatic! It was the perfect end to a truly perfect day and a memory we will both treasure for the rest of our lives.

If I could give one piece of advice to all of you brides to be out there, it would be to organise things early to avoid as many of the last minute little panics as possible. That said, there will undoubtedly be something that doesn’t run 100% smoothly; but whether it’s the weather forecast of a thunderstorm for your outdoor ceremony, or the caterers delivering the wrong canapés, you’ll look back in the months to come and laugh about it. So stay calm, let people look after you and do the stressing on your behalf, because on the day you need to remember that you are about to tell the man you love that you are going to spend the rest of your life with him. Nothing is going to be more important than that.

Exactly! Wise words indeed.

Thank you so much to Leanne and Gavin for sharing their day with us, and Nicola for having her work on the blog – It was a long time coming, but we got there in the end!

Yours Truly,

Rebecca.
xoxo

It seems there are rather a few fans of the outdoor wedding amongst our Rock My Wedding readers and so we have a corker for you all today. A wedding we have been trying to get to you for literally months, I am so pleased to be able to finally share all the lovely details and in fact the stunning photography by one of my favourite ladies, Nicola Grimshaw-Mitchell, of NGM Photographic.

Leanne and Gavin were married in July at Cripps Barn, near Bibury in The Cotswolds and I’ll hand you straight over to Leanne to tell you all about it!

Planning a Picnic Perfect day

At 32 and having been with Gavin for over 6 years, I‘ve had a few years to think about what my perfect wedding would entail. I’ve been to lots of lovely weddings over the years but like most brides, I wanted my wedding to be different and stand out – hopefully for the right reasons! The best weddings for me were the ones where everyone felt relaxed, and the worst – no matter how beautiful – were those with huge long gaps in the afternoon where no one knew quite what to do with themselves.

With this in mind, our goals were to have a relaxed, informal affair and one which flowed seamlessly from day to evening. And what could be more relaxed than a picnic! Well, that’s where my inspiration for an outdoor event began, with images of picnic baskets and guests sat on rugs by a river… But over the months this was honed to take into account of those guests over the age of 12 who wouldn’t want to spoil their lovely outfits and those who might not find it quite so easy to get up from the rug as they did getting down!

The venue for our outdoor event was our first concern and Gavin and I scoured the country for a venue that would deliver the informal feel with beautiful outdoor space. Eventually we found it at Cripps Barn near Bibury in the Cotswolds. The first time we viewed the venue was in torrential rain one April morning. The rain showed up the colours of the beautiful Cotswold stone of the barn and the lawn and wooded copse glistened the most vibrant green. It all looked so very English! The flagstone floor and chapel size and shape gave it the feeling of a quaint little village church and for the first time I began to picture myself walking down the aisle! They were clearing up from a wedding the day before and seeing the flower arrangements over the huge fireplace and picturing big white tables on the lawn under the trees, we just knew immediately it was perfect!

Bolero Beauty

The biggie – every bride’s most important purchase – is the dress and I searched the internet for months looking for mine. I must have seen thousands but not one was just right. I’ve always been a bit conscious about the tops of my arms (we all have ‘that bit’ don’t we?) so I didn’t want a strapless dress and unfortunately for me, that’s definitely what was ’in’ this year. I’d put off going to try dresses on until I’d found a style I liked but eventually mum gave me a bit of a nudge as there was less than 6 months to go so I booked to visit a local independent shop ‘Its All About the Dress’ near to where my mum lives in East Yorkshire. To be honest trying on a wedding dress was something I’d been dreading as I didn’t want to be pressured into choosing one just because it was getting close. The owner Sally was really lovely though and she made us feel very relaxed and under no pressure. Sally let me wander along the rails and the first dress I picked out was a stunning little number by Mori Lee which was quite fitted with beautiful lace over the top and a matching lace bolero. I took several others in to try but this one stood out and despite going to a number of other dress shops, it stuck in my mind as ‘the one’ and I of course went with the very first dress I tried.

The shoes I chose to go with my dress were beautiful vintage style 3 inch heels in off-white satin with a peep toe and a stylised flower on the front. They were just perfect and an absolute snip at £30 from Debenhams!

We’d booked the bridal party into a lovely boutique B&B and my aunty, Jan Allen, (jan_restorehealth@yahoo.com or 07739 489756) who is an incredibly talented hairdresser, was on hand to do my hair for me. My hair is so fine that I didn’t think she’d be able to do very much with it, but with a couple of hair extension pieces, lots of bendy rollers and an infinite amount of patience, she transformed my limp locks into the magazine picture of my dream wedding hair. And with her daughter – my cousin Annette – being a frustrated make-up artist inside the body of a mental health worker, who is always impeccably groomed, I was incredibly lucky to be able to relax in the knowledge that I was in very safe hands. She gave me a very natural look that still felt wonderfully special.

DIY Stationery and Relaxed Details…

Having finally found our perfect venue, we set out on the initially quite daunting task of choosing, ordering, booking and making all of the other elements that went towards making our day special. As with lots of couples who are getting married and financing a large proportion of the day themselves, we were working to quite a tight budget and wherever possible we tried to cut costs while trying to make it look as though no expense was spared… this is no mean feat! The bridesmaid dresses were the very first thing I bought in the whole wedding process and set the colour theme for the wedding. I was under strict instructions from my bridesmaids not to go for pastel colours and they were not on their ‘colour wheel’ (!) and to avoid this and that style, so when I saw these dresses with 70% off in the Monsoon sale after Christmas I was extremely brave and bought 5 in a variety of sizes! Two of my bridesmaids were my childhood best friend and her eleven year old daughter who had emigrated to New Zealand so I needed to send out a range of sizes for them to try. The dresses were a beautiful deep purple in a prom dress style, with gorgeous cut out flower patterns around the skirt. They were such a bargain that I kept the two spares and got a lovely local dressmaker to make matching wraps out of the material!

With the colour theme decided I was able to choose flowers and invites. As we were being mindful of cost and balking slightly at the price of wedding invitations, we decided to make our own. Gavin is a very talented computer artist so with me sat over his shoulder directing, he designed fantastically beautiful invites with matching inserts giving directions, accommodation lists, our gift list and an RSVP card. We really felt that they set the tone for the big day and absolutely everyone commented on them which felt great! In keeping with the informal garden party theme, the flowers by Charlotte Gabb at Super Flowers were very natural. The bouquets were to look like hand-picked posies and the displays in the venue were to look like wild flowers (with no big single flowers like roses, lilies or gerberas) in various shades of purple, lilac and white. The florist was tied to the venue so had decorated it many times before and knew what would look good.

I hope all the outdoors addicts out there are loving this – I know I am!

Pop back later to see Part 2 of this gorgeous relaxed country style wedding and more stunning images from NGM Photographic.

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo