Owning a wedding dress shop no doubt helped this Bride pick her dress in no time—a gorgeous full-lace Charlie Brear creation! Add in the quirky charm of Newton Hall, fitting perfectly with the couple’s personal touches (dinosaur centerpiece planters!) and we have a beautifully captured celebration, thanks to Sarah-Jane Ethan. Get whisked away with the full gallery right here!
From the beautiful Bride… We met during Christmas 2012 after two mutual friends set us up on a blind date!! Apparently, we would ‘get on really well… turns out they were right!
Ten months later, on a trip to beautiful Lake Garda in Italy, Dave proposed at the feet of the Madonna statue, on a hill overlooking the town of Malcesine, at sunset. We were the only two there and I was completely swept off my feet!!! And so the planning began….
We knew we wanted a relaxed wedding with lots of natural touches. I had seen an image of some flower centerpieces that used natural logs as vases – it was the first picture I saved and the theme took a natural course from there.
Having owned a wedding dress shop for over 5 years (I’ve since sold on the business), choosing my dress was probably the easiest bit – believe it or not! Over the years I had found out what shapes suited me and what didn’t, so could narrow styles down quite quickly. I wanted something with a vintage feel but that would still flatter my 5’2″ frame. My full-lace, Charlie Brear dress ticked every box! I also bought two separate tops to wear with it that would give me three slightly different looks for throughout the day! I had always wanted to wear a veil so I knew that was also a must but I kept the veil quite simple so that it didn’t over power the dress. My headpiece was a Richard Designs side tiara that added some vintage sparkle to the over all look.
We hadn’t been looking for too long until we stumbled upon Newton Hall, on the beautiful coastline of Northumberland. The North East being Dave’s home and both of my parents birthplace – it seemed the most natural choice. It had the rustic charm we were looking for, coupled with quirky, fantastical decoration – we booked it over the phone before we had even been for a visit!!
Both being Beatles fans, we had a piano version of ‘Let It Be’ for me and my brothers to walk down the aisle too. We walked out to ‘All You Need Is Love’ and Dave gave each of the groomsmen a guitar brooch to wear in tribute to his love of all things music!! We stuck with tradition for the vows but Dave’s usher read a poem called ‘The Lovely Other Dinosaur’ by Edward Monkton that seemed to sum us both up perfectly!! The poem also complemented the handmade dinosaur planters used along with the centerpieces, that I spent far too much time on!!!
As tribute to my Dad, my mum gave me a vintage brooch with a picture of him inside to attach to my bouquet, so I still felt like he was there in spirit.
We struggled to find the groomsmen ties to match the bridesmaid dresses so my amazing mum took it upon herself to hand crochet individual ties for them all! They loved them and have all worn them since! She also handmade button bouquets for all my flower girls, that they could also keep as mementos of the day.
All of the logs for the table centers were provided by close family friends and we stenciled the plinths for them to sit on ourselves.
It would be very hard to pin down just one thing we were pleased about- the whole day was a dream from start to finish!! Seeing all the individual elements come together is something that you can’t quite believe will work until you see it!! From seeing the room set up with all the flowers for the first time to watching all our close family and friends smiling and dancing to our amazing live band – to us, it was perfect!
To anybody still planning their big day – try to enjoy it! Try to make it personal to you and don’t just follow the crowd and do what you think people want you to do. If you want to add Star Wars figures into your centerpieces instead of flowers – do it!! (I wish I had!) It will show off your personalities and put a smile on other peoples faces!
For our photographer we chose SJ, the reasons will be hard to sum up in a few words!! She was amazing!! We wanted photographs that would capture the spirit of the day, were very natural and above all, weren’t ‘set-up’. We fell in love with the natural light images she produces. She captures moments in the day that you may not have even noticed – a happy tear, a loving glance, a far-away thought. Add to that the fact that she is the happiest, smiliest person ever put on this planet and you have the best photographer!! Her photos are as genuine and full of joy as she is and we couldn’t have asked for more – the photos speak for themselves.
Photography: Sarah-Jane Ethan Photography | Floral Design: Katherine Florists | Wedding Dress: Charlie Brear | Cake: Baked Cupcakery | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Two Birds | Make-up : KF Make-up | Hair: Lisa Cameron | Band: Grooveallstars | Groom's Attire: Victor Valentine | Wedding Venue: Newton Hall | Chair Covers: The Finishing Touch Company | Flower Girls : Monsoon | Luminated Letters: Coco Luminaire | Ushers: Next | Veil & Tiara: Richard Designs | Wedding Acessories: Lola Bridal