Dress
Yasmin the Bride: I initially wanted to try dresses on from a city boutique however, being based on the edge of the Lake District and having 4 bridesmaids I decided to try a couple on at a more local bridal shop in Kendal –
Marrime Bridalwear. This was not only to make the dress fitting an exciting experience for me but I also wanted to make memories with my Mam and bridesmaids.
I always thought I would go for a floaty bohemian style dress but after trying a couple on I relised they really didn't suit me... being baby faced doesn't always work out well, I literally looked like I had my nana's dress on.
My Mum and sister's picked out a couple they thought I liked... but me being me I spotted something a little different that I couldn't take my eyes off, the
Pronovias Taciana gown. After trying it on I couldn't stop thinking about it... it was SOLD. I also decided to go with a simple long veil to compliment the dress and not take anything away from the dress details.
I actually made my hair accessories using copper wire we had left from our invitations and nail varnish believe it or not!
My shoes were actually the second pair I bought for the wedding. The ones I previously purchased were just too traditional for me and after my mum confirmed they weren't very me I was on the hunt for new ones. I ended up purchasing mine from
ASOS.
The Grooms Fashion
Michael the Groom: I never really liked the traditional wedding suits and wanted something different to them. I have always liked tweed suits, having previously owned tweeds suits before it was the only choice for me. I searched online for numerous months running up to the wedding I then came across a
Noose & Monkey Harris Tweed Suit from ASOS. We paired the suit with a copper coloured bowtie to bring the look together.
The Venue
Yasmin the Bride: My eldest sister Amie actually came across the wedding venue and suggested it to us -
The Villa, Levens. The venue had only been open a couple of months before went for our initial appointment. It was still like a building site when we looked around the grounds yet, we knew it definitely had potential and was accessible for all of our family members. The Pavillion really give us the blank canvas we were after and gave us the freedom to style everything to our hearts content.
Colour Scheme/Decor
After previously working as photography stylist I always knew that I want to keep the wedding quite neutral ensuring that it would never date. My dad is a self-employed plumber as well as 2 generations before him this is why I really wanted to use the copper not only to highlight the colour scheme but because it truly meant something to me.
We really wanted a statement piece at the wedding that could also act as a backdrop for photos. After searching the web at different rental hires we could find anything we liked or at the quality we wanted... This is where my fantastic Dad came in. My Dad was our hero though the wedding, he not only created the most dreamy backdrop (with added bench) with help from a family friend but he also created our flower stands, table plan and 'welcome' sign tripod.
We defiantly saved money by creating the majority of our wedding ourselves.
Mike the Groom: With Yasmin background in styling, ideas and creativeness I knew she would pull it out of the bag! And I wasn't wrong... everything looked perfect and we can't thank our family enough for the help and support to make everything come together. Yasmin did a fantastic job creating all the small details such as the individual menus, table plan, welcome sign and even the stamp on the confetti pouches... I couldn't be prouder!
Flowers/Florist
Yasmin the Bride: Our flowers were created by the lovely
Brackens of Bowness, Kevin took all of our ideas on board and defiantly didn't fail to impress. They were amazing! They brought everything together at the venue! My bridal bouquet looked and smelt spectacular, I think having paring with
Lancaster & Cornish ribbon it really softened the bouquet as a whole giving it that fine art feel.
The Wedding Party Fashion
The bridesmaid dresses were defiantly the most difficult to find. I think we actually 5/6 different dresses before finding one that would suit all of them.
ASOS came to the rescue once again with the fantastic slate grey pleated dresses!
The flower girls were easy, we wanted cute and relaxed –
John Rocha Debenhams.
The groomsmen wore grey tweed suits purchased from
Next paired with green knitted bow ties to match the grooms suit and link everything together.
Our page boy wore a tweed herringbone suit from children special occasion wear. It was quite difficult to match the children's suits to the groomsmen's but I think we pulled it off. His suit was paired with a knitted tie in the same colour as the grooms.
Ceremony
We always agreed the we wanted a church ceremony as it really meant something to the both of us. We decided on the same church where my parents got married 34 years ago. In the ceremony both of our mums lit separate candles and then joined them together to light the one candles. This was to symbolize both families leaving the church together as one.
Entertainment
Michael the Groom: Drinks ceremony we had a laid back acoustic guitarist called
Johnny Baldwin who was excellent. He performed a brilliant acoustic version of the Courteener's - take over the world as we were announced into the wedding breakfast as Mr & Mrs Platt. In the evening we had a band called
Dance Detectives and they got everyone up on the dancefloor with the modern and indie hits. They even looked part of wedding party with their bow ties on. Our first dance was Jason Walker - Kiss Me. Ordinarily song by Sixpence None The Richer.
Food
Our cake was perfect for us, simple but with our stamp on.
Bakery at no4 knocked it out of the park! We knew we wanted the shape to be a little different with hints of hand painted greenery... I was the wonderful Melissa from the bakery that suggested to style it on our invites. It looked & tasted amazing!
Photographer
We found our photographers through Instagram after searching #fineartweddingphotography. They made us feel at ease from the first point of contact, we honestly couldn't recommend
Samantha & Thomas enough. They are THE most kind hearted people we have ever come across and can't thank them enough.