Their wedding photographer Natasha Thompson submitted this wedding for the blog many weeks ago, and Matthew and Debbie (I think mainly Matthew) sent their wedding report back to me this week, along with the sweetest note: “Sorry this has taken so long, we have just had a baby!” So first of all let me say a huge Congratulations to you both, and I’ll hand over to you and to Natasha with her beautiful photographs of your intimate wedding.
Who proposed, and how?
Matthew did, after a long time, many years, by hiding a ring in a new children’s toy for our son, Noah, who was three at the time. It was a ‘Happyland’ Church wedding set from the Early learning Centre.
The wedding venue
St Peter’s and St Paul’s C.E. Church in Newport Pagnell. It was the church that many of Debbie’s family have all been married, baptised and so on in.
Wedding photographer
Natasha Thompson. http://www.natashathompson.co.uk/ As we live in Brighton, and the wedding was in Buckinghamshire, we had to do our research on the internet. We came across Natasha’s website and really loved the style of her pictures. We were looking for pictures where details were important, capturing the feel of a place and a day, and the special moments. She had a lovely style that we were looking for, nothing seemed to be too posed and they seemed timeless. She was so very kind, and she even came down to Brighton to do an engagement shoot. It was nerve wracking, but she made us feel at ease, as much as we could, because we both despise having our photographs taken. We think so highly of her that we have agreed to do this for her! She was certainly our best decision when it came to our wedding.
How would you describe your wedding style?
A bit of a mis-match. We wanted a bit of a vintage style, but mainly wanted to use bits and pieces that we had picked up from shops that we liked!
The wedding dress: …
We had a very small budget and arranging was very tricky, especially as Debbie had to travel across the country for fittings. Debbie accessorised her dress with flowers and fluff. The dress came from Stony Stratford, Once in a Lifetime. Debbie did not go with any preconceived ideas about a dress, apart from wanting to hide her hips! She fell in love with Tulle material, which helped her decide.
Accessories: …
The necklace was bought in a panic a week before, when the hair accessories did not turn out as planned! Debbie was not sure if it would be too much flowerage with the dress accessories, but she went for it anyway!
Groom’s outfit: …
This was hired from a place on the coast, called Dickies. I wanted something that was not too smart, but tied in with the creams and duck eggs, so opted for a brown sort of corderory-ish affair. I was not sure whether to go for a tails or straight jacket, so hired both, hoping for a costume change, but that never happened!
Bridesmaids: …
They wore a duck-eggish color called ‘Celadon’. They also had a big flower in their hair to coordinate with their sashes.
The wedding ceremony:
Religious or civil? … Religious. It was an extremely small ceremony with just close family. We did not tell anyone apart from family that we were getting married, it was a secret one! We both work at the same school, and lots of other people were getting married or had been engaged for ages, and we did not want to take the limelight, so kept it to ourselves and left it as a little surprise.
What readings did you choose? … John 15 9–17, which contained the bit about my commandment is this ‘Love each other as I have loved you’, this linked in with one of our hymns, ‘a New Commandment’.
The wedding reception
What were your highlights?
Handpicking the menu.
Seeing the cake, which we had described over the internet and with collages of bits and pieces of other cakes!
Matthew actually getting the tables decorated in time! Seeing the bits and pieces we had bought come together, scattered across the tables, such as petals, and nicknacks.
Venue styling and details: …
A shabby-chic hotel ‘The Swan’, the colourings, and distressed wooden panelling and orchids of the room matched our ideas for decoration.
Music and entertainment: …
We were on a very small budget, so music played on an iPod chosen by us, favorite music from the years we have known each other.
Memorable moments: …
It poured with rain, but it meant that we got to use the pretty umbrella we had bought just in case. Also, the vicar not saying that the groom could kiss the bride, but sweeping in himself! Also, seeing our son, Noah, help out as page boy, he was very well behaved and looked very sweet to us.
Wedding day advice: …
If you want peonies, get married in the summer! However, we were really pleased with the Amnesia roses that we chose in the end.
Recommended wedding suppliers: …
Once in a lifetime were helpful with the dress and flower advice. Most of the decorations and bits came from Velvet http://www.velvetstore.co.uk/ and the Lavender Room http://www.lavender-room.co.uk/ in Brighton are lovely places to pick up knickknacks and things that went with the vintage shabby chic style we wanted. We also bought a few bits and pieces from http://www.melodymaison.co.uk/ on the computer.
http://www.cakelife.co.uk/ were very patient with our cake demands. http://www.shropshirepetals.com/ provided us with beautiful confetti, and you get a lovely selection and keepsake box that it comes in, which we still use to keep wedding bits and pieces in.
http://www.simply-elegance.co.uk/ had an unusual selection of bombonieres, which fitted in with what we wanted.
Of course, also http://www.natashathompson.co.uk/ as we have written before, our best choice. She was patient, thoughtful and took fantastic pictures. She is lovely and has kept in contact and we still browse her website to see her pictures of other weddings. Everyone who has seen the photographs, has commented upon the quality of her work. She will no doubt go on to big things!
See more photos from Debbie and Matthew’s winter wedding on Natasha Thompson’s own blog post here: http://www.natashathompson.co.uk/2012/03/06/winter-vintage-wedding-in-buckinghamshire-debbie-matthew/
Natasha Thompson is based in London and Buckinghamshire, and shoots weddings across the country. She’s been featured on English Wedding blog before… did you see her luxury Syon Park wedding with Kateryna and Prakash?