Clare & James

We've got another beautifully styled wedding for you this afternoon - from gorgeous North East venue Lartington Hall. Clare and James embraced an all white colour scheme complete with metallic pops, lots of candles and foliage and oh my goodness IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL. I think the table plan is one of the loveliest, most delicate I've ever seen, make sure you look out for it. Their favours are adorable too. This gorgeous day has been captured by one of our absolute favourite photographers, Sarah Jane Ethan, who always gets incredible images of both the detail AND the emotional moments, that will both bring tears to your eyes and a smile to your face. Happy Friday everyone and apologies (again) for the overdose of pretty...it's been another fabulous week!

The Bride

Clare The Bride: After searching online, through magazine and a few hours on pinterest, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted- something very boho, relaxed and comfortable. But, after trying on a few different styles couldn’t resist a the more formal style I eventually went for. I loved the shape, way the fabric fell and the beautiful deep ‘V’ at the back. The veil made it for me, it wasn’t until then that I felt like a proper bride!

The Groom

James knew that he wanted to wear navy and wanted a slim fitting style so the Ted Baker suit at Moss Bros was perfect. The neck scarfs were also a must for James - he hates wearing a tie and loved the more relaxed look that the neck scarf gave. His pocket watch was a 21st birthday present. James went for tan brogues, which looked perfect with the navy suits.

The Venue

This was a very easy decision, we saw Lartington Hall in a magazine and was drawn to the page by THAT hallway. So after reading the small print that the venue was in one of my favourite North East towns we booked a visit and I think after about 5 minutes there knew that it was perfect for us. The decor was amazing and all of the little touches and finishes made us very confident that the day would be as flawless. And after spending some time chatting to John, the co-owner about all things wedding we couldn’t wait to book the venue!

The Decor

This changed a few times thanks to over-searching and trying to find a colour that suited all of my bridesmaids. We finally decided on a very neutral/botanical colour scheme, navy bridesmaid dresses to compliment the boys and lots of white flowers and green foliage. I left the choice of flowers totally up to the florist and just gave her a few pictures of things that I had seen and liked. The girls all loved the colour and we hoped the fresh/ crisp colours would be good contrast.

The Favours

These were all sorted by our amazingly talented sister-in-law Kat Fox. James proposed to me by putting ‘marry me’ at the end of a cup of tea so our homemade tea and biscuit favours were a little memory of that! To go with the botanical theme we got inspiration from pinterest and made a table plan and table numbers with real flowers and foliage.

The Wedding Party

We had lots of trips to different shops but couldn’t find anything that all the girls felt great in so I ordered loads of different styles and colours from ASOS and voilà a Saturday morning well spent because they all felt great, loved it and could get petite and tall versions of the dress too.

The Ceremony

Our readings were chosen because they were ‘real life’ and felt honest for us a couple. The wooden ‘here come’s your bride Uncle James’ banner was made the day before the wedding by Laser Cut Outs - we were let down by another online merchant so they stepped up to the plate with a reasonable price - we’re really grateful.

The Entertainment

My sister Jen has got a fantastic voice so any opportunity that we can get her up on the mic is a must; she played with a good friend and long time music buddy Joe who created a personalised playlist for us.

The Photography

This was one one of the most important decisions we made. We were looking for a fine art photographer who would take more relaxed, reportage, pictures and found exactly what we were looking for in Sarah-Jane Ethan. After a few emails it was obvious how friendly and personable SJ was so we knew she would be a great addition to the day. 


Advice

Accept all the help from family and friends you won’t realise until then how many talented, generous and fantastic people you have around you. Try and take a few random days off work before the wedding to give time to stay in for deliveries, collect suits and finish any other little jobs. You might want to have personalised presents for groomsmen, bridesmaid and parents - try and personalise them yourself. For the Dads James did digital drawings of their 5 favourite cars of the past and then printed and framed them. Each one took around 4 hours to make.