Inspiration

The flowers, the flowers the FLOWERS!.... and the blue. It's fast becoming one of my favourite W-day hues. Katie and Matt found a whole host of brilliant suppliers via our hand-picked directory, The List including photographer Matt Ethan. It makes us beam with pride when we find out our personal recommendations have helped to create such a beautiful affair. Think wild flower meadow-esque styling but with a quirky fashion twist, we're in love with all of the pretty details!

The Dress

Katie The Bride: After visiting about 8 bridal boutiques and trying on pretty much every possible style of wedding dress, I ended up buying a Johanna Hehir dress from The Case of The Curious Bride in Manchester which I had pictured at the outset - high neck, low back with lace at the top and then a simple long 2 layered skirt of silk and chiffon. It was so perfect for me, Matt said it was exactly what he guessed I would wear! I was really glad I chose a dress that was comfortable and I could move around and dance in - anything too big/fitted/structured wouldn’t have worked given the barn setting. I also wore a veil (as we were getting married in a church I wanted to go for a fairly traditional look) and then finished off the look with sparkly shoes which matched the diamante detail at the waist of my dress. Jules and Natalie (my make up artist and hairdresser) did a fantastic job of advising me on what would go best with my bridal look, whilst allowing me to still feel like me. 

The Grooms Attire

Matt The Groom: I thought the mix of sharp blue suit mixed with a bit of tweed country styling would give an eccentric look that would match my personality, taking inspiration also from the wedding colours. The suit and shirt was Ted Baker. Waist Coat from Be Tweedy (handmade in Scotland from Etsy), shoes Clarkes. Accessories, Etsy and eBay, topped off with Persol sunglasses (since the sun came out).

The Venue

Katie The Bride: Although we live in Manchester, we were both brought up in the countryside and wanted a slightly more rustic feel for our wedding rather than a city centre affair. We decided to hold the ceremony at St Jude’s Church in Halifax as Matt would be the 4th generation of his family to get married there and so looked for reception venues in  West Yorkshire. East Riddlesden Hall was perfect as it had a lovely country feel with a nice outside space, plus the beautiful formal gardens were great for photos. The events team were also really friendly and helpful and we knew they would help our day run smoothly!

Colour Scheme/Decor

Our colour scheme (cornflower blue and yellow) was inspired by the provencal fabric I remember from childhood summers spent staying with my aunt and uncle who live in the south of France. Rachel at Simply Vintage then did a fantastic job of decorating our reception venue (a huge barn) both inside and out with some lovely touches which incorporated our ideas for the overall look. 

Flowers

Whilst we both love flowers, we’re not particularly knowledgable about them so luckily our excellent florist, Lynn, guided us through the process. We had a great meeting with her where we explained the look we were going for (basically we just wanted the bouquets and centrepieces to look as though we’d picked them from a meadow that morning - without having to actually do that!) and Lynn made some great suggestions that tied in with our colour scheme perfectly. 

The Wedding Party Fashion

I really wanted my bridesmaids to be comfortable and to buy high street dresses for them that they could easily be worn again. Unfortunately that was easier said than done given that I had a very specific colour in mind (cornflower blue). After pounding the streets on Manchester unsuccessfully for about 6 hours one Saturday, Celebration Village came to our rescue with some great Alfred Angelo gowns which could be ordered in the perfect colour.   Matt The Groom: The Groomsmen wore their own blue suits (I thought they would be more comfortable in these than in rented suits) and then I brought the look together with spotted pocket squares from Reiss and slim knitted ties from French Connection

Ceremony

Katie and I first met at a Halloween Party where I was dressed as Alan Partridge's Zombie Vampire, complete with shower curtain cape, kettle flex tail, biscuit scab and tungsten tipped screw claws. As a homage to the most special of occasions I decided to dress up during my speech and at the climax, present Katie with a commemorative shower curtain cape. It seemed to go down well, well people were certainly laughing 'at' me...

Entertainment

We knew our guests would be able to entertain themselves (particularly after a glass or two) so decided not to be too prescriptive with our entertainment and simply booked a band to help everyone get dancing!

Food

Ged from the Hog and Apple created a delicious informal menu for us which suited the style of the venue. Our guests nibbled on Asian canapés with their fizz during the reception and that was followed by a BBQ for the main course - which went down really well with our guests! Eton mess for pudding and then cheese, biscuits and pork pies in the evening. 

Photographer

We loved Matt Ethan’s use of light and the unposed, narrative style of his photography - his photos really capture the essence of our day. Many of our guests commented on the fact that he took great shots in a really unobtrusive way - and the fact that we found him via RMW’s suppliers directory The List obviously speaks very highly of him!
Charlotte O'Shea

Written by Charlotte O'Shea

Dress Designer: Johanna Hehir - Mae | Bridal Boutique: The Case of The Curious Bride | Veil: Poirier | Bridal Shoes: Russell & Bromley | Bridesmaid Dresses: Alfred Angelo at Celebration Village | Grooms Suit: Ted Baker | Pocket Squares: Reiss | Ties: French Connection | Venue: East Riddlesden Hall | Stylist: Simply Village | Florist: Stems Design | Catering: Hog and Apple | Black Cadillac Sister Band: Warble Entertainment | Rolls Royce Silver Shadow: The Yorkshire Wedding Car Company | Vintage Bus: Yorkshire Heritage Bus | Hairdresser: Natalie Willingham | Makeup Artist: Jules Daniels MUA

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