I thought this wedding would be the perfect way to start a Friday :-)

Nichola and Jason had the wedding on their farm, it was a floral, chintzy affair inspired by Cath Kidston…. check out those amazing bridesmaid dresses. They filled their recption marquee full of pretty, cups, bunting, cakes and flowers…. and how stunning does Nichola look? She makes just the most gorgeous bride.

Thanks so much to the brilliant North West based wedding photographer, Mark Tettersall Photography for sharing his gorgeous images today, here is what he had to say about the day;

“Nichola and Jason’s story is soo lovely. Nichola used to say when she was a little girl that one day she would marry a farmer in green wellies. Some years later there she was, in a field on a farm, in her wedding dress holding hands with her farmer in green wellies. Awww. Their reception was held on the farm. Jason had been mowing his flattest field for weeks in preparation which had brilliant views in to the Ribble Valley.  The marquee was beautifully decorated with a country fete feel and the caterers served Jason’s own produce for the wedding breakfast! Many guests camped in the adjacent field which made for an almost festival feel.”

Names... Jason and Nichola

Date… 5th August 2011

The proposal… Jason drove me to our favourite picnic spot just outside of Malham in the Yorkshire Dales. The plan was, I believe to propose whilst enjoying a romantic picnic but instead it was pouring with rain and we were enjoying a flask of tea in the car! It was the perfect proposal for me!

The vision for the day… I love Cath Kidston and anything vintage so I had a clear vision in my mind of chintzy bunting and teacups and saucers. I wanted a country fete style theme. We viewed lots of hotels in our local area but didn’t feel we could add my theme and ideas to their venue. Jason had the idea of holding the wedding in one of the fields on the farm (The Old Meadow). We decided on a marquee so that we could have exactly what we wanted on our special day.

The planning process… The marquee did bring with it a lot of planning and preparation. We booked the marquee but then had to organise a caterer, generator, toilets and all of the other essentials which would usually be included when booking a hotel wedding venue. It was definitely worth it though to have exactly what we wanted. My favourite part of the planning process was bringing everything together the week before and decorating the marquee with all the exciting things I had been collecting throughout the year.
Our caterer Matt Hunter helped us a lot with the planning and organised the kitchens, bar and liscences etc. for us. He also gave us lots of ideas and loved the idea of eating Jason’s home-reared lamb at the wedding – he even had himself a tie made out of the same fabrics as our bunting!

The venue… We hired our marquee from Evans Marquee Hire in Lancaster. We chose the traditional style marquee with the poles and guy ropes and had an ivory lining and carpet. Jason chose ‘The Old Meadow’ because of the beautiful views of pendle hill (and because it was flat and dry!)

The Dress and Accessories… My dress was from the 2011 Ronald Joyce collection. It’s called Destiny in ivory. It took me ages to find my perfect dress because I was convinced I wanted lace. Unfortunately if the style you like doesn’t suit you you have to start looking at other options! I loved my dress as soon as I put it on – I think it was the sparkly belt! My tiara was hand made by Annie Parkinson (www.apjewellery.co.uk) It was created exactly to my specifications and I loved it!

Readings + Music… We got married in our local Catholic church St Hubert’s in Dunsop Bridge. It’s a beautiful, small church with a really interesting history. We had a traditional marriage ceremony with our favourite hymns and readings. The readers were my sister’s partner Keith Wells and one of our closest friends Rachel Horton. The bidding prayers were written and read by Jason’s cousins Lauren and Robyn Constantine. Another of our close friends (a talented musician) Lucy played the violin for us during the signing of the register.

Bridesmaids… My bridesmaids were my two sisters Lisa and Laura, Jason’s sister Anne and my best friend Hayley. Hayley’s daughter Isla was a mini bridesmaid wearing the same dress – she looked gorgeous!I wanted the dresses to fit with the vintage/ Cath Kidston theme and definitely wanted something a little different.  My friend Sue Tidswell made the dresses using Cath Kidston bedding! We loved the fabric as soon as we saw it and Sue didn’t seem fazed by making dresses from a duvet cover! She used an original vintage vogue pattern but added her own details. She did a wonderful job . . especially when my eldest sister told her she would be 6 months pregnant on the wedding day!

The Flowers… The flowers were really important in making the marquee have the country/ chintzy feel. I wanted them to look almost as if they had been collected in the meadows the day before the wedding. I spoke to the florist Lizzie Coar (www.lilybetsflowers.com) about my ideas and she knew exactly what I wanted. She came up with fabulous ideas such as the different jars on the top table and the rose bushes at the entrance. The night before the wedding I was very happy with how the marquee looked but when we arrived back in the morning after the ceremony and I saw the flowers I was blown away! They were amazing and really made the marquee look beautiful.

The cake… We were really lucky to have Jason’s Auntie Winifred make our wedding cake. We looked at lots of pictures in wedding magazines and decided on the spots and stripes to fit in with the rest of the theme. It looked great and tasted amazing. Instead of having chocolates with the tea and coffee after the meal we wanted mini cupcakes. Jason’s sister Anne worked hard and made these for us as a wedding gift and they looked perfect on the vintage cake stands.

The Photographer… We chose Mark Tattersall (www.mark-tattersall.co.uk) as our photographer after looking at a number of different websites. We wanted our photos to be a bit different and not just the standard formal shots which many other photographers seemed to specialise. We love our photos as they capture the whole day perfectly. We asked for certain shots to be taken like the ‘welly’ ones but we also loved the informal shots. Mark talked to us before the wedding and also came to see the field so that he knew exactly what we wanted.

The Car… The Rolls Royce Silver Raith was hired from Magnolia Classics at Southport (www.magnoliaclassics.co.uk)

The details…. When planning the wedding Jason did the important jobs like organising a generator and mowing the field, whilst I preferred to buy teacups and saucers and make decorations! He he! It became quite addictive looking for bargains at car boot sales etc – I think the whole family was hooked. Even now I stop and look if I see a tea-set in a charity shop window.
We looked into the price of buying and hiring bunting but these were both very expensive options. Instead I had a bunting making ‘party’ where lots of my girl friends drew, cut and stapled bunting for a whole afternoon!! It was great because I got to choose the exact fabric I wanted. We decided to save time by stapling the bunting but you would never have known, on the day, that it wasn’t sewn.
For our favours we decided to fill jars with different old fashioned sweets. I made flowery jam jar style lids out of the same fabric as the bunting and tied the name labels around them with raffia – they added to the country fete idea.

The detail which all of the guests at the wedding commented on were . . the toilets!! – they were v.posh and even had T.V.s showing comedy reruns! (www.chambersloos.co.uk)

The Honeymoon… With everything else to organise before the wedding we found it difficult to organise the honeymoon and decide on a location for us both. My Mum suggested we rang our local Travel Councillor. She was fantastic. We told her our ideas and she would call or email us with suggestions – it took the pressure off us.  We decided on three days in Rome followed by another seven days in Sorrento on the Italian coast. It was great to have a few days busy sightseeing followed by a relaxing week in the sun.

Memorable moments:… It’s unbelievable how quickly the day goes by but we have many memorable moments! The church service was most memorable. Father Challoner made it very special and the ceremony meant a lot to us.

The journey in the car was fantastic because it was a little section of the day where it was just the two of us. (The church is my family church – but 12 miles away from the farm) When we arrived at the marquee I remember being absolutely wowed by the flowers. .  and then I remember eating a mini shepherds pie and dribbling gravy down my dress! It was all ok though because my best friend and bridesmaid Hayley kept me calm as she pulled out a baby wipe and sorted it before I had time to panic! The speeches were brilliant! We both enjoyed seeing our guests having a good time especially as they could relax outside in the sunshine . . or play outdoor games like croquet!  At the end of the night I didn’t want the wedding to be over and was really pleased we weren’t just going home to the farm. We had booked into a lovely hotel (The Plough at Wigglesworth) along with my parents and sisters.

Advice for other couples… Choose a good photographer! The day goes so quickly it was great to look at all of the photos and relive the day again. The day is over in a flash but you have your photos forever. We asked my cousin to video the wedding – when we watched it back we saw details that we hadn’t been able to take in on the day.

Thanks so much to Jason and Nichola for sharing their uber pretty wedding with us today… isn’t it just lovely?! ;-)) xoxo

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