The very lovely Kate got in touch with me a few weeks back to tell me about her wedding day. She told me, “We got married on 29th June and having read your blog everyday in the run up I would really like to feature on your site… We got married at iconic, art deco hotel The Midland in Morecambe and made the day as personal as possible.” I also got to have a peek at Kate and John’s wedding website – a key part of their day, which I think is fab! and when John’s wedding reading brought tears to my eyes I knew I had to share their sunsets and sunflowers wedding blog with you all.
So we have lots of wonderful images courtesy of wedding photographer Nick Walker (and a big thanks to Nick for sharing these! Check out his website at http://nickwphotography.com) and a brilliant wedding report from today’s amazing, gorgeous, and inspiring bride and groom. Everyone – enjoy! Claire xxx
Kate and John – a stunning, personal, sunsets and sunflowers wedding blog!
Wedding venue:
The Midland Hotel, Morecambe
Wedding photographer:
Nick Walker Photography. Nick is a close friend and did a fab job!
Your wedding style and theme:
Sunflowers & sunsets (John proposed at sunset on holiday in France last summer so we planned a lot of the details driving round the countryside, past fields of sunflowers and cornflower blue painted shutters).
We wanted to be less traditional and quite informal so we had afternoon tea followed by a BBQ later on, the hotel were very accommodating and everyone loved the food. The table names spelt out ‘Sunflower Fields’ with each letter telling a detail personal to us – for example ‘I is for Illuminations and our first date’.
How long did you spend planning your wedding?
Just under 12 months, John proposed on 16th July 2012 and the wedding was 29th June 2013.
Best bit of budget advice?
Focus on the things that matter to you most and budget accordingly, the little details just come together. Try and pay for things as you go so you don’t get hit by a massive bill at the end.
Invitations and stationery:
Kate (trained as a Graphic Designer) designed and printed the invites, table plan, table names etc and John (IT Manager/computer geek) built the website.
Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?
It was the first one I tried on, I was obsessed with the back being ‘different’, we walked in and my Mum picked it out straight away! It was Ellis 11129 from Timeless Bride in Poynton – Michelle at the shop is wonderful!
Glitz and sparkle: the bride’s accessories:
Blue shoes were from Faith, and I had blue Converse to dance in in the evening! Earrings were bought online, veil was my something borrowed.
The groom wore:
John bought a 3 piece gray suit in Slaters menswear as he wanted something he could keep.
The wedding party had cornflower blue ties and John had a yellow tie from Tie Rack to stand out. My step sister made the blue pocket squares.
Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?
I have been bridesmaid 5 times recently so it was a case of 1 bridesmaid or 9!! We chose to have one (my step sister) who wore a cornflower blue dress from Impressions and I asked 8 close friends and relatives to be my ‘Bluebelles’ (they named themselves!). They all wore blue dresses and we got them corsages, it worked really well and the photos look great!
Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?
I used a mobile hairdresser who set up in my suite and did all the wedding party. My make up was done by the spa within the hotel as I didn’t want to have to worry about it.
Wedding flowers:
Sunflowers were the main one with blue hydrangea, they worked perfectly with the scheme. They were from local shop Designer flowers by Chris, they are used by the hotel who included the ceremony flowers and single stems (sunflowers!) for the tables so we decided to use them for the bouquets for consistency – the flowers were beautiful!
The ceremony:
We used a celebrant, Jenny Worrall, to give us a really personal ceremony, we would recommend this to everyone as we really got involved in the ceremony and Jenny got to know us and did a great job. We were able to write our own vows that were a mixture of funny and sentimental.
Wedding readings?
We each picked a friend who chose the readings as a suprise, Phil read The Mayonnaise Jar and our friend Jen wrote her own version of ‘Love Is’ for us! John also wrote a poem that he read which was a little risky but went down a storm! http://johnandkategetmarried.co.uk/index.php/reading-and-vows/
General styling – did your venue need much decoration?
The Midland is an amazing art deco building with beautiful architecture and features, we didn’t need to do much! We chose it because if the weather wasn’t kind to us we’d still get stunning photos. The weather wasn’t great and we didn’t get our sunset but it didn’t matter at all!
The wedding cake: traditional or quirky?
Traditional chocolate cake made by our friend Steph Barrow, with quirky cake toppers to reflect John’s love of technology (Android figures, one with a veil!)
Entertainment:
We had a playlist during the day in the background and got a friend to DJ, he did a great job and the dance floor was packed. As we’re into our dance music (we honeymooned in Ibiza!) we had put glo-sticks on all the tables and these went down very well! John also created a Twitter wall, people could send their tweets of congratulations and pictures of the day (and stag do!) using a hashtag and they came up on the projector screen – this was great fun!!
On the day tips and advice:
Make sure your photographer knows the photos you want to get and has a schedule for the day – it really helps. Get some comfy shoes for dancing in – you’ll really appreciate them about 8pm!
John says: Grooms have to be involved, otherwise the bride to be will get carried away!
Quick supplier list for other brides and grooms:
- Nick Walker Photography http://nickwphotography.com/
- Jenny Worrall Celebrant (North West based) http://laughlovelivedceremonies.co.uk/
- Timeless Bride, Poynton, Cheshire http://www.timelessbride.co.uk/
- Designer Flowers by Chris (Carnforth) http://designerflowersbychris.co.uk/
- My Friend Ruth (beautiful papercuts, we had family trees done for the parents and they all cried!) http://www.myfriendruth.com/
- The Midland Hotel http://englishlakes.co.uk/hotels/lancashire-hotels/the-midland-hotel-morecambe/
