Welcome back for Part 2 of this stunning wedding. One of the things that drew me to Francesca and Mike’s wedding was the attention to detail and the way Francesca successfully combined a really individual and striking look with quite classic pretty reception details.

Once again all the fun and modern images were taken by Morgan Photography and big thanks to them for all their help in making this post happen.

Where to commit a lifetime to each other?

Bardsey Church featured on Emmerdale just after we got married there. The big choice whether you have a civil service or church wedding is an individual choice but even though neither of us were particularly religious we felt that you didn’t need to be and a church, to us, represented a sacred place where people had been coming to worship for (in this church’s case) thousands of years. We really liked the idea of getting married in a place that had so much history, I guess it helped to make it all the more special.

Spectacular Blooms

Choosing the flowers were one of the most exciting parts of the planning for me, I love flowers so it wasn’t a chore at all. At first I had my mind set on masses of Bougainvillea for the table centres with no other flowers, which was also the colour for the bridesmaids dresses, but half thinking it wouldn’t be realistic (as it only grows as bushes and cuttings would soon die) I flicked through books, magazines etc for inspiration and picked out my favourite flowers with coordinating colours in mind and some foliage too. I found the perfect florist quite near the venue, a wonderful lady called Kate Mell, and she was absolutely brilliant at bringing my ideas to life and telling me realistically what flowers would die and what would withstand a summers day or that were out of season and so either impossible to get (like lily of the valley sadly) or very expensive . We had lots of conversations over the phone prior to ensure we were both had the same ideas and she chose some really nice vases that would really show them off. I wanted to be sure that they wouldn’t block people’s view of each other on the tables. She then crafted a garland from the same flowers for our top table which were just stunning.

Instead of the bridesmaids having bouquets we went for wrist corsages so Kate chose a delicate flower which I think were old dutch roses that were nice and small and matched the dresses really well. Two days later the flowers were still in such good condition so we gave them to a local hospice to enjoy.

My bouquet was mainly made up of white and pink peony’s – one of my favourite flowers. For the button holes all the men had the same as the bridesmaids but Mike had a white peony to match my bouquet. I let the ladies in the wedding party choose the colour of their buttonholes to match their outfits.

Bring on the Boys!

The guys wore morning suits with a cravat from Dessy which matched the bridesmaids dresses which was handy but our ushers were spread from Colombia, Spain, Ireland etc which could have been a potential nightmare to organise so we delegated the organisation of suit hire to one of the best men (yes we had two) which was such a good decision.

Mike also wore a morning suit but with a silver cravat. He knows I like him to wear nice aftershave, I can’t remember what it was but I loved it. He had a silver embroidered waistcoat his Grandfather had bought him some time ago which was lovely and had real sentimental value. Also his cufflinks were passed down through the family which was a lovely touch.

We loved their portfolio of shots Morgan Photography have online. I knew I wanted reportage photography. These guys are really creative in the shots they set up and just stood out as being a cut above the others we looked at.

Having a Ball with the Cake…

I found an amazing cake designer in a magazine called Maki – she’s Japanese and her cakes are like baubles and inspired by Japanese childrens toys. I loved them so much but when i came round to booking her her diary was full for the rest of the year! So i went about finding someone who could replicate them perfectly – not an easy task when they were such an unusual shape.

I came across an award winning cake maker called The Cake Room in Hessle, East Yorkshire and they were really excited by the design and set about practicing – they definitely were perfectionists and what’s more they tasted so divine too. We went for a vanilla sponge with a raspberry filling but you could go have an array of flavours.

Divine Decor

We skipped favours as they blew the budget and i’d been to weddings where they were left on the table unused so we had a few foil wrapped chocolates in champagne glasses instead. To add a bit more detail and interest to the tables we had delicate delphinium dried petals scattered either side of place settings and round the stem of the vase. They were from confetti.
We used black pebbles as place names for a touch of natural. Bought from Ikea.

Abigail Brown, a very good friend of mine, is a very talented illustrator and textile designer and is basically amazing at anything she puts her mind to (her chief love is making textile creatures, namely beautiful birds) designed the table names, invites, order of service and table plan.

We looked painstakingly hard for a wedding chauffeur with a VW Camper van. Our love of combi’s was partly what brought us together in the beginning so it was great to be able to tie this in to our big day. Personalising the day with as many of your shared passions will make it all the more memorable.

We lucked out and found Liberty Campers. John and Tracy, the lovely owners, were a real find and they have a number of different buses you can choose from, ours was called Dylan. We had champagne waiting for us in the back which took the edge off the nerves after the ceremony!

Little details that made my day

My friend Becky knew a designer called Anna Whitford who made amazing wedding ring pillows. It’s not an absolute must-have but it was so beautiful and for me it’s the small details….

Our Band, Bellissima, were recommended by one of my bridesmaids Kate who was an event planner and after hearing so many excerpts from cheesy bands (not our thing) we were really impressed by these guys. They’d played for Elton Johns live aid concert and some other big events so we really liked that they were still artists as opposed to just a wedding band but they also didn’t break the bank.

In between the band we just hooked up our ipod with a playlist of warm up to party then dance etc. Just don’t let any of your drunken friends switch your ipod with theirs mid flow – it might not be what you had in mind.

We choice a song we always played on our road trips when we first got together – Jack Johnson, Always better when we’re together.

I hope stumbling across these words helps take a bit of the strain out of researching ideas but not the fun of course!
Have the most amazing day.

Francesca

What a Wedding! Like Francesca, I really hope those of you reading this will be able to find a snippet of inspiration tucked away amongst Francesca’s words and the fab photos by Morgan Photography. Whether you are planning a classic with a twist or a more creative and individual wedding there should be something to inspire for everyone

Thanks so much to both of you for sharing your wedding with Rock My Wedding and Congratulations!

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

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