Rebecca & Jon

Hello there super sexy Rebecca and Jon with your colour pop blooms. Don't they look absolutely blinking gorgeous! This beautiful duo said 'I do' at East Riddlesden Hall in Yorkshire against the backdrop of torrential rain in the middle of August. But the weather didn't dampen their spirits...anything but as the photos by the talented Joe clearly show. Instead the result is an outpouring of love and super bright colours and laughter. I adore the fact that Rebecca chose to wear her mum's frock for her wedding day - there's something so special about bridal gowns being passed down. And I couldn't not mention the atmospheric portrait shots on the moor. Amazing.

Venue

Rebecca The Bride: Although we had been living and working down in Devon, as northerners, we knew we wanted a wedding up here. We struggled to find what we wanted and toyed with a village hall wedding or a tipi but when we stumbled across East Riddlesden Hall and their stunning Airedale Barn, we were sold. The barn itself is an incredibly beautiful space but the grounds are equally stunning. We loved that we could get married in the barn and then have our whole day and evening there. As it happened, it poured in down torrentially all day (yes in mid August) so the barn was really cosy, lit with tiny lights and candles.

Brides Gown

I wore my mum’s 1970s gown which had been lovingly altered by Rebecca Lombard Earl of BexBrides in Darlington. A bit of a trek from Devon but she specialises in vintage dress alteration and remodelling and was brilliant. I did try on some other dresses, which were beautiful but I just knew I wanted to wear my mum’s dress as soon as I tried it on. It fitted me perfectly and felt comfortable on as well as super lovely and floaty. The lace belt was made from a very lucky find in my Devon school’s textiles department. Not very glamorous I know but it was a perfect match! My shoes were Rachel Simpson’s silver Ginger t-bars. They were pretty, super comfortable and easily withstood clambering over Ilkley Moor! Very practical!

Jewellery

Jon and I had simple wedding bands made by a local jeweller in Holmfirth. Jon’s band had belonged to his grandfather but was polished and resized to fit. Mark, the jeweller, also made my peridot earrings, a wedding gift from my mum, which I wore attached to my grandmother’s pretty diamond studs. Jon’s parents gave me a gorgeous lucky horseshoe on the morning of the wedding which was from a traditional ironmonger down in Devon; I loved walking down the aisle with it.

Headpiece

I didn’t wear a veil but loved my floral headpiece made by the talented Elizabeth Gales, a local milliner who also made hair flowers for our bridesmaids. The flowers were a mixture of dried and fabric blooms from Country Baskets. Louise from Yorkshire Bridal Hair and Carys Farrow from Carys Catherine MUA made us feel a million dollars before we left the Wheatley Arms on the morning of the wedding. We chose to get married at 3pm which gave us plenty of time to get ready and have a lovely time before we headed to the barn.

Florist

Our florist was the brilliant Emma from Emma’s Weddings and Events. We didn’t shop around at all for suppliers here; we knew we loved what Emma did from the minute we looked at her website. She is a super creative and very talented with flowers, full of ideas and knew exactly what we were after. Emma created beautiful bouquets, buttonholes, table decorations and dressed the barn for us on the morning of the wedding; no mean feat! The flowers were INCREDIBLE! We had collected an array of old window vases and small ceramic urns which Emma filled with an abundance of wild and colourful blooms. I could not stop looking at my bouquet and really didn’t want to put it down. Emma had sourced some really unusual out-of-season flowers which worked brilliantly. She is a real gem.

Decor

I am a self confessed eBay queen...Emma our florist did all the dressing and styling of the barn but I bought lots of things online over the two years before the wedding. Driving through deepest Cornwall to pick up milk crates, the Cotswolds for a wooden screen and mid Wales for 300 paper pompoms; it was certainly a mission! Emma also provided lots of her own gorgeous bits and pieces to make the barn look amazing, including ladders, apple crates and churns. The jars of flowers for the long tables were picked from a variety of family and relative’s gardens. Most were home grown by my lovely mum but the hydrangeas were from my grandmother’s garden, where they grow in abundance! Although I loved this part of the preparation, it was VERY stressful towards the end. We borrowed a van to get them over to Ilkley and the boys dropped them off at the barn in the morning. East Riddlesden does provide tables and chairs but we knew we wanted long wooden tables, which were tricky to find. We hired them from a company in Leeds and opted for more informal striped table runners rather than cloths, again sourced on eBay.

Cake Maker

Our cake was lovingly made by my grandmother, or Naggie as she is fondly known. It was a three tiered traditional fruit cake which was beautifully iced by local cake maker Jo and finished with fresh flowers. We also had a naked cake which was served as pudding by our caterer and a cheese cake for late night nibbles.

Caterer

We knew we wanted an informal feel so opted for casual canapés with drinks followed by lovely salads, bread and BBQ provided by Eat Me Drink Me. It was lovely to be able to share the various plates and dishes on our table and made for a really cosy reception. We sourced the wine ourselves which meant we were able to try out several bottles before the big day!

Bridesmaids Dresses

The bridesmaid dresses were a pale mint lace from BHS bridal. We nearly went for full length navy to match the boys but given the weather, we were so glad we didn’t! The dresses were pretty and summery and the colour looked great with their flowers. Our flower girl, Isabel, wore a beautiful white cotton dress made from two vintage pieces and brilliantly put together by a great local seamstress. We wanted her to feel gorgeous but really struggled to find something non shiny/glittery on the high street. I love a challenge and spent a long weekend with my mum scouring antique and vintage shops down in Devon, which was so worth the perseverance.

Groom/Groomsmen

Jon wore a grey wool suit from Topman and the boys wore navy trousers and waistcoats from Next. The floral shirts were all from Simon Carter; a brilliant TK Maxx find! Bow ties all from John Lewis.

Stationery

I watercoloured the initial designs for our stationery and we printed and put them together in our little seaside flat. We also hand made our favours, a selection of our favourite flower seeds made from original French flower packets and cigarette card place names.

Entertainment

Rock My Reception provided great entertainment all day. We had heard from a friend that they were brilliant, so booked them straight away. They played throughout the ceremony, reception and evening dancing, even learning the songs we got married to and for our first dance; Sea of Love, a Cat Power cover and Toothpaste Kisses, The Maccabees.

Transport

My dad and I arrived in my grandparents’ beautiful blue Triumph Stag which was dressed and driven by a lovely family friend. It felt really special to be able to use the car, which I have great childhood memories of. Although it would have been brilliant to be able to have dropped the roof, the weather did not allow, at least my hair stayed intact! The girls arrived in a jolly yellow camper van hired locally.

Photographer

Our photographer Joe was such a fortunate find. A brilliant twist of fate meant that we ended up booking his last free Friday of 2015! As soon as we met him we knew that although neither of us are great fans of having our photographs taken, he was going to be ace. Joe’s ninja like skills meant that most of the time we were not aware that he was snapping away and he definitely felt more like a guest than a supplier. One of our favourite parts of the day was an escape up the Ilkey Moor during a break in the downpours. Joe had already sussed out a great spot weeks beforehand, which was so unexpected and thoughtful. The skies were an absolute treat! Photography is such an important thing to get right, aside from the great memories you have, it is such a lasting part of the day and if it is worth doing, it is worth doing properly.