Kimberley & Paul

There is nothing I don't love about this wedding. Exotic flowers, chic fashion, and a truly gorgeous country venue in North Yorkshire. Broughton Hall's beautiful gardens made the perfect backdrop for the couples adorable first look. Bride Kimberly looked absolutely breathtaking in a Charlie Brear Payton dress and Isere tassel skirt as she walked over to her soon to be husband Paul, who looked equally dashing in contrasting navy trousers and grey jacket from ASOS I might add. Together they are certainly a style force to be reckoned with. The nuptials culminated in a feast of pork pies, a marble wedding cake, and a fabulously styled botanical reception featuring even more of those show stopping protea blooms. It's hard not to swoon and sigh at all the delicious details captured by Paul Joseph Photography, so sit back relax and get ready take in all the pretty.

The Dress

Kimberley the Bride: I had an image in my head of the style of dress that I wanted. Modern, unique, something different, however, I could never translate this into a physical dress. I searched for the perfect dress for months and tried on well over 100 dresses, to no avail. I tried on the Charlie Brear Isere skirt as a bit of a curve ball, and I instantly fell in love. Every dress I tried on afterwards paled in comparison, when you know you know, or so they say. I chose to pair this with the Payton dress, its beautifully simple lines and low back complemented the detailed skirt perfectly. On a whim I also ordered a handmade bespoke belt from The Season, itʼs leather design with pearls added something unique and different to my dress that I didn't even know it needed until I tried it on. I was pretty certain that I didn't want to wear a veil, until last minute and thankfully the wonderful Kim at Eve and Ellis boutique had ordered me one ʻjust in caseʼ. The vintage super soft tulle added the perfect finishing touch. 


Groom

Going against our Scottish roots, we opted for suits instead of kilts. We did however have some guests wearing kilts and a piper, so we didnʼt completely abandon the Scottish wedding traditions. Paul pulls off a skinny suit, so this was an easy choice for him. The decision to go with a grey suit jacket to contrast with the groomsmen was very spur of the moment but we loved how it made Paul stand out from the all navy suits worn by his best men and ushers. The socks...well, lets just say that Paul did this all on his own as a surprise.

Venue

We started our search for a venue with no specific style in mind. We looked at barns, hotels, tipis in fields, you name it we looked at it! On a whim we went to look at Broughton Hall in Skipton, a venue which we had written off as we weren't looking for a manor house style wedding. However, Utopia is completely unique and sits proudly modern amongst the old estate buildings. The venue also had accommodation for all of our close family as well as a private Catholic chapel on site, everything clicked into place and we knew we had to go for it!

Colour Scheme/Decor

We took it step by step and allowed it all to come together organically. We knew that we wanted grey to feature in our wedding, so we opted for grey table linen to add a modern twist to the regular white table coverings. We also knew that we wanted a feature, something unique that people would remember, and so the ʻThe Crawfordsʼ sign was born. We made this completely from scratch and with a little help from friends and family, we hung it above the patio so it was the first thing our guest saw when approaching Utopia. It also made for some really great group photos!

Flowers

The flowers were chosen to complement the wild flower gardens surrounding Utopia, the Protea are my absolute favourite and I love how the eucalyptus makes everything soft and unstructured. Me and her mum did all the venue flowers on the morning of the wedding and Ivy Florist did a beautiful job on the bouquets and flower crowns for our flower girls.

Wedding Party

Bridesmaids dresses were perhaps the most difficult part of our wedding to plan. Both of the bridesmaids live miles away so we were never able to all be together to try on options. We knew that we wanted something less traditional and for both the dresses to be different and Needle and Thread had the perfect options. They were both beaded with the same pattern despite being completely different styles and colour. The blue tones really complemented the grey colour scheme and the navy suite worn by the groomsmen. Paulʼs party wore handmade grey pocket squares and bow ties to bring it all together.

Ceremony

Held in the tiny private chapel on Broughton Hall, our close friends, Rebecca and Alex did readings which were both a surprise for us on the day as were the bidding prayers which were read by Kimberley's Aunt and Grandfather and Paulʼs father and sister. This was such a special part of our wedding and we were really moved by the their kind words. Truly a memory that will stay with us forever.

Entertainment

After dinner to get everyone moving and ready for a party we kicked everything off with a Ceilidh. We both love Ceilidhs so this was an easy decision. It was loads of fun and even those who had never danced before gave it a go. Later into the evening we had a live 5 piece band who also did a DJ set afterwards. We love playing beer pong so naturally we made our own table and get everyone involved.

Photographer

Like all good things, we found our Photographer via a recommendation. For us, our photographs were one of the most important parts of our wedding. There are so many moments that you forget about your day and looking back through the photographs is so special.

Food

Once again going against the wedding grain we opted against canapes and went for a 9 tier cheese wheel cake from a 3rd generation family farm in Cheshire, a wedding pork pie with ʻThe Crawfordsʼ emblazoned on the top and macaroons flown over from France! Our caterer, GFS, were again a recommendation. We started things off with a light goats cheese and caramelized onion tart, followed by a choice of beef serve on the most beautiful wooden boards or pork done three ways. For pudding we tucked into an assiette of desserts which included prosecco jelly with edible flowers, raspberry cheesecake and lovely bite-size bakewell tarts. Weʼve received so many complements about our food, its so great to know everyone loved it as much as we did. For our evening buffet we knew that we wanted something that provided a bit of theater and entertainment for our guests and again as if by magic, a few months before our wedding we came across ʻThe Flip Sideʼ who provide the most incredible savory and sweet crepes. Our guests enjoyed three hours of unlimited made-to-order crepes. Not an empty tummy in the house!