Amy & Tom

If you are anything like me the moment you see the bridesmaids' tassel skirts you are going to wonder what it would be like to wear one so you came shimmy your way around this gorgeous wedding at Healey Barn. I should probably also prepare you for the epicness of Bride Amy's gorgeous gown from Mirror Mirror Bridal too. The layers of lace are exquisite and the spaghetti strap back detail is super sexy. Amy and Tom were so lucky to get not just one of New York ‘Rangefinder’s Rising Star of Wedding Photography’ to photograph their wedding, but two! Both super talented and with an eye for a stunning shoot, Paulo Santos and Caroline from The Twins Weddings photographed their big day. They took Amy & Tom in the deepest forests of Northumberland for some jaw-dropping portraits amongst nature. They look super stylish standing between the statuesque trees. What a day.

The Dress

Amy the Bride: I visited a few boutiques in London over a couple of days with my mum and sister. I had no idea what kind of dress I wanted & really enjoyed trying on lots of different styles.  I loved almost every dress I tried on however it was the slim fitting, strapless/camisole style dresses that I felt my best in. I found THE dress in Mirror Mirror in Islington. I loved the unusual layered lace, low back & that I felt bridal but still me. As my dress was very detailed I went for simple, copper coloured strappy sandals from Steve Madden and a beautiful, gold Oscar De La Renta hairband my sister spotted in Matches.  My beautiful veil was my something borrowed from a very special family friend.  I didn’t want to take it off! I always knew I wanted a second party dress & after lots of hunting, I found the dream dress from Elizabeth and James on Net a Porter.  I teamed this with a fun pair of fluffy Topshop Boutique silver mules.

The Grooms Attire

Tom’s suit was from Walker Slater in Covent Garden.  We have shopped here before & were impressed with the service and attention to detail when it comes to tailoring. Tom chose a light weight tweed 3 piece and teamed this with dark brown brogues from Russell and Bromely.  He also wore a vintage pocket watch I bought him for his 30th.  We bought the ushers the same waistcoat and tie as Tom which they wore with their own blue suits.  We didn’t want the look to be overly matchy or formal so this combination was the perfect balance.

The Venue

The initial plan was to get married in London however after a visit back home to the North East we fell in love with Healey Barn.  I had never envisaged a remote, rustic, barn wedding as we are as far removed from country bumpkins as they come however the food – locally sourced meat BBQ-ed & served in abundance and the 1 am last orders meant we knew it was for us.  The team at Healey are also fab. We liked that Healey isn’t overly rustic.  It’s elegant, stylish with plenty of opportunities for us to put our stamp on it. I didn’t have a theme but I knew I wanted to fill the space with flowers and greenery to create a clean, fresh look to compliment the beautiful surroundings.   

Flowers

I worked with Harriet from Flowers Unlimited NE for both the venue and the church.  I chose white and green seasonal flowers and foliage to fill the venue – from ceilings and beams to tables & mantle pieces – we were overwhelmed when we saw the finished result. The space looked full, relaxed & contemporary thanks to the addition of some scandi inspired succulents and ferns.  Flowers Unlimited are creative, flexible and incredibly knowledgeable.

Photographer

I started following The Twins on Instagram for general wedding inspiration & one day spotted they had photographed a wedding at Healey.  Unfortunately, both twins couldn’t make our date however we arranged it so Caroline teamed up with Paulo Santos.  They are both so incredibly talented.  Their style is exactly how we wanted our wedding day to be documented - taking pictures of real moments rather than staged lineups and as such we barely knew they were there.  Our photos are like works of art and we will treasure them forever. 

Videographer

Booking a videographer was a last-minute expense but I would highly recommend it. The day goes by so quickly despite treasuring every moment. Having a video to look back on is wonderful.  Richard Leng is very gifted. The way he edits his work is stylish, professional and I must have watched my trailer 100 times!

Music

We always knew we wanted live music as well as a DJ. My Dad knew of Manchester-based band Groovy Revolution who I can't recommend enough.  Our initial DJ let us down at the last minute so we booked Healey’s recommended DJ AM DJ services.   We debated quite a lot over how much live music we should have vs DJ eventually settling on 2 live sets with the DJ taking us into the early hours.  The band learnt & performed our first dance “You Got the Love” which was such a special moment (not least as we armed the best men with confetti cannons – one of my favourite moments of the day!)

Bridesmaids Dresses

I had 5 bridesmaids, my sister and 4 best friends. They all know each other really well already which meant wedding day morning was like a mini hen do in itself! I wanted their look to be young, pretty and fun like they all are.  After an unsuccessful personal shopping trip to Topshop, I found the girls some really fun tasselled skirts from The Finery teaming them with a plain off white cami from Topshop.  They looked FAB and I've been asked so many times where their outfits were from. The skirts also made for a great Boomerang on Instagram! The little bridesmaids wore Gilly Grey made to order dresses who I would highly recommend as the quality was great.

Advice

It is easy to become overwhelmed by wedding props, themes and styling but we quickly decided to use the talents of those around us and surround ourselves with things that mean something to us and our guests. I stamped all the wedding stationery with a gold bee as Tom’s first gift to me was a gold, Alex Monroe's bumblebee necklace. Each guest had a personalised message at their place setting. As soon as we stopped being overly sentimental, these were super quick & enjoyable to do & went down really well.  Tom’s mum is a very talented artist and kindly drew all 100 guests a personalised illustrated name place using inspiration from guests’ hobbies, pets, home towns etc.  They looked incredible and were a real talking point. We also had personalised cake toppers made from Pegit Dolls on Etsy.  This meant Alfie the cat could make “an appearance” on our big day.  These were unbelievably detailed & one of the few wedding purchases that you actually keep after the event and now sit proudly on our bookshelves at home.