Yes, there are gorgeous details. But this wedding isn’t all about styling and decor. It’s a very personal celebration; very Yorkshire! Chris told me for him the personal touches really made the day sparkle, and also Louise’s words about her wedding dress — which she never loved — bring everything into perspective.
Of course she looked absolutely stunning in her Augusta Jones dress, but for today when we talk about ‘The One’ in the context of a wedding blog… it’s especially nice that it means the groom.
I would heartily recommend a cup of Yorkshire tea with today’s real wedding, and in your best china. You’ll see why… Enjoy!
A vintage country wedding in Yorkshire (with teacups)
We had Corinthians 13 as our religious reading and then an excerpt from the Velveteen Rabbit. This was my favorite book as a child and was read beautifully by my Mum on the day.
Who proposed, and how?
Chris proposed. I had just got back from a weekend away visiting a friend in Copenhagen; we were also trying to buy a house at the time. Having got back from the weekend Chris was keen to talk about putting in another offer and I wasn’t so sure. This might have ended up in a minor disagreement and me stomping off to bed!
We made up later in the evening and I explained that I just wanted the perfect house for us, our cat and any future mini-us. At this moment Chris produced a ring! Was completely out of the blue, he had apparently been out and bought the ring and asked my Dad that weekend but hadn’t yet quite decided how to propose. I was so shocked that it took me a little while to say yes but Chris always laughs at my indecisiveness – so he should have expected it!
The perfect Yorkshire wedding venue:
We got married at Southwell Minster and then had a marquee in my Dad’s garden; it was very important that our wedding location meant something to us and this couldn’t have been more perfect.
A Sheffield contemporary wedding photographer:
We really liked Mark Tierney’s modern approach to wedding photography. His photos were stunning, creative and capture much more than is within the frame. He listens to what you want and makes everyone feel relaxed. Many of the guests commented on how they hardly noticed he was there.
What did you wear?
Chris and the rest of the wedding party wore navy morning suits hired from Pronuptia in Sheffield – he looked very dashing.
I wore Kelly by Augusta Jones, I probably never loved my dress although it is always a running joke amongst my friends that I have never managed to like a dress I bought for more than 10 minutes! On the day though it all seemed so unimportant compared to the immenseness of getting married.
A vintage country wedding style — over 200 sets of china!
Early on I mentioned to Chris’s mum, Linda, that I quite liked the idea of afternoon tea; she offered to collect some china for us and a theme of vintage country was set (although Chris still denies that we had a theme!). Linda did a sterling job and nine months later had over 200 sets of china for our one hundred guests which meant that we could also have a cuppa at canapé time which turned out to be very fortunate as it was a rather chilly day and a cup of tea went down very well!
The vintage country wedding styling and details
As mentioned above Linda collected vintage china, which was used both at the mealtime and for a cuppa during afternoon tea style canapés. The teapots were used as flower vases for the tables. My Mum also made metres and metres of bunting and there ended up not just being enough to decorate the marquee but also most of Dad’s garden. My Dad and I also spent a lot of time making signs to direct guests to the wedding and blackboards for the menu and table plan.
We wanted to try and ensure that the whole day felt fun and relaxed. We wanted to ensure that our guests were entertained during the drinks reception so we arranged some games. We borrowed some ‘frogs’ from a friend. My Dad and I made a ‘Splat the Rat’ as a surprise for Chris and one of our best men Sandy made the most amazing coconut shy that I have ever seen. He even made us our own personalised balls. The style ended up as vintage meets country fete and we were helped by family and friends to make it so special.
We also had big shepherds pies to share as our main meal to try and keep the day relaxed. We nominated a person on each table as the server and provided them with an apron to wear. Some people in particular took this job very seriously!
Memorable moments:
Clichéd as it sounds but walking down the aisle to marry my best friend was the best feeling in the world and having all of our friends there with us made it just perfect. Dancing on a dance floor surrounded by all our friends was pretty good too!
Wedding day advice:
Don’t sweat the little details. I stressed about my dress and hair before the day and then all day I didn’t think twice about what I looked like I was having far too much fun.
Chris: I would say all the little details were worth all the effort, I spent a lot of time trying to keep things simple, however what really made the day sparkle (apart from my wife) were the personal touches. It’s your wedding, make it about you, it’ll be much more memorable.
Music and entertainment:
We had a band called the Money that we found on the internet. This was a bit of a risk as we had only heard two short audioclips but they were truly and utterly immense. We had the best time dancing and the dance floor was completely packed from the first to the last song.
Recommended suppliers:
- Band The money
- Caterers Hazels catering www.hazelscatering.co.uk
- Marquee Mansfield marquees www.mansfieldmarquees.co.uk
- Flowers Floral dreams www.floral-dreams.co.uk
More from Louise and Chris’s wedding day on Mark Tierney’s own photography blog. I had such a struggle choosing images for this blog post as Mark’s selection was fabulous. Speeches are noticeably missing here, and there are more fun and games over on Mark’s blog. I recommend you go and look. There’s a bigger smile waiting over there for you… Southwell Minster wedding blog…