WHERE WAS IT?
St Michaels Church -Woolverstone, with the reception at Woolverstone Hall. We have a lot of family connections to that church. My parents, grandparents, auntie and uncle, and great grandparents were all married there and I was christened there. It is a beautiful church, in beautiful surroundings - such a peaceful and pretty place. Also, Craig's nanna was from Shotley, one of the nearby villages. It was the only place we ever wanted to get married!THE THEME/STYLE:I have lived in the area/countryside all my life..I really wanted to try and make things have a rustic and hand-made feel where possible and fit in with the countryside surroundingsBRIDE’S DRESS:I love my dress! It is called Paola, by Ronald Joyce and I bought it from The Wedding Shop in Colchester.BRIDE’S SHOES:Never been a shoe girl! My best friend/bridesmaid got married earlier in the year and she found us some lovely shoes by Nina. They were really comfy and the right height heel. So when I found the ivory version on amazon for a sale price of £26 i was sold!JEWELLERY/ACCESSORIES:I wore a vintage headband by Donna Crain- The band is set with rhinestones and there is a vintage marcasite at the side.HAIR:My school friend Emma Wearing did my hair. She is a freelance hairdresser and amazing at what she does. She put up with me being as indecisive as I ever was at school (thanks Emma!) and did a few trials until we found the right style.MAKEUP:Another Emma! - from the MAC store in Colchester, came to my mums to do our make up.. again, amazing at what she does!BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES:Adult bridesmaid - CoastFlowergirl - John LewisWEDDING RINGS (SUPPLIER DETAILS ONLY):Riley and Riley - IpswichGROOM/GROOMSMEN’S ATTIRE/COLOURS:Cameron Ross at The Wedding Shop in ColchesterFLOWERS:My former boss kindly agreed to do them as she knew me from quite a young age. I was hoping for a countryside/hand-picked feel and Sonja did such an amazing job with them all. The flowers were perfect and I really think they made the whole day and feel of the wedding - and they really pop out in the photos!RECEPTION DÉCOR DETAILS:I designed all the stationary and signage myself, using Adobe InDesign to create designs that were made as rubber stamps to use. I then used an overhead projector to create the larger signs. My lovely friends helped me make the tissue paper poms that we hung from the ceiling and then mum and I made the paper garlands - I punched, she sewed! The farmer my grandad had worked for in the same village kindly brought us some straw bales to decorate the lawn outside, along with the festoon lighting we hired from Dreamwave Events.WEDDING PLANNER:Erm. me? - and Craig does a mean spreadsheet.CAKE:My cousin Julie made our cake. She was a chef in the RAF and is an amazing cook and has often made cakes for family. She did a beautiful job of ours!! (it was really boozy too!)FOOD & DRINKS:We had canapes and a hog roast, followed by a buffet in the evening. Lyndsay at Anglia Hog Roasts is a really friendly and helpful person to deal with and the food was absolutely fantastic. No silly portion sizes!!! Lots of people were impressed by the food! Our desert in the evening was Alder Tree ice cream. we hired their vintage ice cream van 'Audrey' and had 6 flavours of icecream -unlimited for 3 hours. This put us in everyone's good books - especially as the weather was great!WEDDING FAVORS:We donated money to Cancer Research and gave everyone Cancer Research UK pins.HONEYMOON:We went to Kuramathi Island in the Maldives for 10 days of pure sun and relaxation... (and amazing food!)WEDDING SONGS/FIRST DANCE:Tyler James - Higher Lovefollowed by Stevie Wonder - Signed Sealed Delivered, to get everyone dancing!!SOURCES OF INSPIRATION:Rock My Wedding, various wedding magazines..A MEMORABLE MOMENT:My brother gave me away.. and as we turned at the bottom of the aisle I looked up and saw Craig look at me and mouth the word WOW... and then my brother whispered.. 'I think he likes me...' made me chuckle.. still does.