Dami & Anthony

Dami and Anthony are the sweetest couple and so was their 'recycled materials’ themed big day at East Riddlesden Hall which is located in Anthony's home county, Yorkshire. I am in love with Dami's oh so delicately rustic wedding dress purchased from Spanish brand Otaduy which suits her down to the ground and which I'm secretly coveting along with The XX frock also from the label. Since the pair live in Switzerland they were keen to avoid purchasing lots of decor for the venue choosing instead to keep things simple with the occasional touch here and there. And it works perfectly. What a beautiful wedding day...come and take a look...

Dami The Bride: I am from South Korea and my husband is from England, but we are currently living in Switzerland. We decided to get married in England as we have a lot of family and friends there.

The Bride's Dress

For the wedding dress, I always wanted something very simple that was not just for one day, which I could reform and wear afterwards. So I looked at lots of French bohemian style dresses that fall down naturally from the body without any ‘puffiness’ or ‘tightness’. Otaduy, the only shop that I visited for my dress selection, is based in Barcelona, which is also a beautiful city to visit! I tried three different dresses, but it was immediately apparent which one I felt the most comfortable with. It was so simple and lovely that it felt like it was just made for me! 
The ladies in the small boutique, Carolina and Carlota were very kind to help me and to put their extra effort even in the late evening to carry out measurements before my flight the next morning. My friend, Jess, helped me out with the makeup and hair on the wedding day. Jess is always interested in beauty and I liked her style! When she said ‘YES’ to my question to help me out, I was so happy! She was not only the best makeup artist and hair stylist for me but also the best DJ while I was nervous in the morning. Dancing with Jess was fun with half makeup on! Without you, I could have not felt so beautiful! Thank you

The Groom's Fashion

Anthony The Groom:As a skinny bloke, I often struggle to find suits which fit well. Zara was the first port of call as I know from experience that they have a good range of modern, slim-fit clothing. I bought my suit and shirt there and accessorized it with a belt, shoes and tie from other high- street names. Of course, I had some tips from Dami along the way.

The Venue

Dami The Bride: We both wanted a venue where everyone could feel comfortable, informal and relaxed. We believed that a wedding is not only for us, but also for all our close families and friends and that they should enjoy the day without any stress! So we choose a relaxed environment- a barn wedding. East Riddlesden Hall is located in Anthony’s hometown. As soon as we saw the venue, we just fell in love with it. Our actual venue was the Airedale Barn, which is separated from the main Hall by a beautiful pond. The grounds and views were amazing; it was the kind of place that I always dreamed of having my wedding.

Décor

As we do not live in England, it did not make sense to buy a lot of things or objects to decorate the venue. We couldn’t take them back with us and didn’t want to create lots of unnecessary waste. So our concept was 'recycled materials’! Anthony’s aunties helped us a lot with ideas, collecting items and decorating the venue. We really couldn’t have managed it without them. We used jam and pickle jars as candle holders and vases for the flowers. We wrote the wedding day schedule on a wooden palette and propped it up outside the barn. We also used our own baby pictures in different ages for table numbers. It was perfectly cozy in our venue in the end!

Flowers

I love flowers in general. But I really love random unique small flowers that can be found in the field or in the forest. So I wanted lot of small yellow, white flowers, like daisies, chamomile and gypsophila. As we mentioned, we are from different countries, each with different traditions. I am from South Korea and my husband from England. We wanted to incorporate a small Korean traditional element into our ceremony. In Korea a pair of carved, wooden Mandarin ducks are often given as marriage gifts. Mandarin ducks are chosen because it is believed that, unlike other types of ducks, they mate for life. For Koreans, Mandarin ducks represent peace, fidelity, and plentiful offspring. We passed the wooden ducks around the guests, so our families and friends could warm them with their thoughts, prayers and blessings. After the wedding, as is traditional, we displayed these ducks prominently in our home. The thinking is that if there is harmony between us, then the ducks will face one another, bill to bill. If not- at a certain moment- we may turn one or both ducks so that they're facing away from each other.

Ceremony

In keeping with the informal décor and location, we opted for a relaxed, non- traditional ceremony. We also didn’t want to add to the stress of the day by adding long verses of text to memorize, so we kept our vows quite simple. Our celebrant, Val Turner, of the British Humanist Association was great, and really put us at ease. She delivered a personally tailored ceremony, incorporating both English and Korean elements into the service. A relative also read a traditional Irish blessing.

Entertainment

Here the major stress came in! Thirty minutes before the ceremony the classical guitarist that we had booked to play the entrance and exit music still wasn’t at the venue. Anthony called and called on his mobile, but with no luck. A no-show! Big thanks go to the staff at the venue here, in particular the young lad behind the bar, who had found all the songs we needed on Youtube and had hooked his phone up to the sound system within the space of five minutes. What a lifesaver! The evening music went much more smoothly, with plenty of 90s classics mixed in with a healthy dose of Motown.

Food

The catering exceeded our expectations, with great quality and excellent service throughout the day. We went for what might be described as rustic but sophisticated food, to fit the informal atmosphere and barn location. We didn’t want anything too fancy, just good, tasty food. The menus were varied throughout the day and we gave our guests options varying from traditional dishes like roast beef to more adventurous plates like Moroccan spiced lamb. We’d both been to a few weddings where everyone is so stuffed after the meal that nobody eats the wedding cake, so we decided to have a ‘naked wedding cake’ as our dessert. This light sponge went down really well and was beautifully served with fresh fruit and cream. Our generous French friends who attended the wedding brought amazing hand made chocolates, which were served with tea and coffee afterwards.

Photographer

Sarah and Suzi!! Even though we’d never met each other before, we felt like meeting our old friends from the first moment we had an introductory skype call. We already shared big smiles and laughs together! On the wedding day morning I suddenly became very nervous. But Sarah, Suzi and my friend Jess were there with me to be the best company to relax while preparing my makeup and hair. I was so relaxed we ended up dancing with loud music on! With Sarah and Suzi’s positive vibe, we could not stop laughing and smiling naturally in front of the camera the whole day. They made us so comfortable and relaxed. Thank you Sarah and Suzi for taking beautiful pictures and bringing big smiles for us! We have saved our lovely day in an eternity memory! You rock!

Stationery

My best friend from Korea, Parang Yoon who helped me to design our wedding invitations and thank you card. We are best friends from the age 13 years and she is currently a professional illustrator in Korea. She captured our both characters very well in the drawings even with a glimpse of the Korean wedding that we are planning to do next year with my relatives in Korea. All hand drawn, very unique and special, just made for us!