Your Wedding Day Dream Team
Photographer: Matt Brown (www.mattbrownphotography.co.uk @photomattbrown )
Florist: Tineke Floral Designs www.tinekefloraldesigns.co.uk @tinekefloral
Band/DJ: Mansfield Avenue (www.mansfieldavenueband.com )
Hairstylist: Jenn Edwards www.jennedwards.com @jennedwardsandco
Make Up: Bryony Dalton www.bryonydalton.com @bryonydaltonmakeupartist
Photobooth: Old School Booth ( https://www.oldschoolbooth.co.uk/ )
Cupcakes: Cake Origin ( https://www.cakeorigin.com/ @cakeorigin )
Tell Us About Your Incredible Outfits What and who did you wear?
I wore Lyn Ashworth dress which I bought from Maisie Darling Bridal in Lutterworth (@maisiedarlingbridal). I’m not a very decisive person but pretty much as soon as I put it on, I knew it was my dress – it suited my shape so well.
Accessories: I love a slightly crazy shoe so bought crushed glitter pom pom sling-backs from Charlotte Mills. I wore them all day and they were incredibly comfortable. I kept the jewellery simple and just wore pearl drop earrings from a small Australian brand called John and Luna.
What and who did your partner wear? Gav wore a hired grey tweed suit with a pink tie
What and who did your wedding party wear? My two bridesmaids looked beautiful in the Camilla dress from TH&TH Bridesmaid which we bought from Confetti Bridesmaid. The groomsmen wore the same suits as Gav.
Your Love Story How did you meet, was it love at first sight? Tell us about the proposal!
We met back in 2010 through some mutual friends and clicked straight away, so our wedding has been a long time coming. We got engaged in 2016 when Gav proposed in Central Park in New York, and while he insists he made a very romantic speech I missed it as I was distracted by the scenery until he got down on one knee and I realised what was happening! To be fair we had literally just got into Central Park as he wanted to get it over with, but I was too excited looking around! We were originally due to get married in December 2020, but Covid put paid to that. It was definitely worth the wait!
Your Wedding Day Vision & Inspiration What was your inspiration and vision for your day?
We wanted something relaxed and informal and that was “us”. We dispensed with certain traditions (long speeches, cake cutting etc) that didn’t really appeal to us and focused on making the day effectively a big party that we and our guests would all enjoy.
Why did you choose The West Mill Venue?
We looked at a number of different venues, but we knew The West Mill was definitely ‘the one’ within 5 or 10 minutes of our first viewing. The fact it was an all in one venue with a lot of indoor space (as it was a winter wedding) was great, we loved the unique rustic feel of the place, and with me being something of a history buff the fact that the building had some history to it and a lot of its original details sealed the deal.
Did you do any DIY projects?
Not much as we are not great diy-ers (Etsy did very well out of our wedding!) but we did make our own table signs which were based on places that we’d visited together. Each table was named after a city we’d been to, and on the reverse we had the menu along with a picture of our dog!
Tell us about the details – Flowers, Cake, Decor, Stationary….
As it was a December wedding, we wanted it to be wintery bit not too “Christmassy” so we had lots of fairy lights and candles everywhere. In keeping with the rustic feel of the venue, I bought a mish mash of different glass candle holders with tealights for the table decorations.
I initially wasn’t sure about a colour theme but as our planning went on it evolved to jewel colours after I picked emerald green for the bridesmaid dresses. Our florist, Kerry, was brilliant and worked out exactly what I wanted from my terrible explanation. We had lots of wintery flowers in purples and reds with peach roses and greenery and she made a beautiful display over the ceremony table. I went for thistle in the buttonholes as Gav is half Scottish.
Gav is a big fan of cake and decided on cupcakes. We had a variety of flavours; black forest, white chocolate and passion fruit and lemon and raspberry – all equally delicious. We’re also big fans of travelling so our table plan was a map of the world with each table named after a city we’d visited together which we ordered from a company on Etsy.
Alcohol. Because No Great Story Started With A Salad (…or did it?) What was on your food & drinks menu?
We went with a seafood risotto to start, pork belly with mash and black pudding for the main and then sticky toffee pudding for dessert. We had lots of compliments about the food. We also had toasties and fries for the evening food which was well received!
Our reception drinks were a choice of Estrella lager, prosecco and blackberry gin with a winter fruit garnish which as well as being really nice also went with the colour theme!
The Hangover Only Lasts A Day But The Memories Last A Lifetime Can you sum up your wedding day in 3 words?
Didn’t stop smiling
What are your favourite memories or highlights of your day?
There are great memories from the whole day, but generally it was great just to have our friends and family in one place enjoying themselves and having fun. Gav has said that his highlight will always be the first time he saw me walking down the aisle, and that he’s proud of himself for not immediately blubbing!
Do you have any advice for future Brides & Grooms?
Try and take it all in as the day will really fly by. While you want to make it a nice wedding for everyone, remember that the most important people are the two of you. If you enjoy it, that’s really all that matters. Don’t be afraid to add in details that really reflect you as a couple. I also spent a lot of time faffing about where each candle should go but didn’t really even notice on the day!