Happy Friday!! I have a pretty busy weekend ahead, so i shall be a busy bee preparing today for a secret project ;-) Anyway, I am here with another beauty of a wedding to share with you today.

Sarah and Matt were married in October, in stunning Northumberland. They wanted a relaxed day with an emphasis on good food, and a lot of fun.

Sarah looks super beautiful in a blue dress, that she made herself from a vintage dress pattern and her hat… wow!! And her shoes are Vivienne Westwood…. love!! This really was a family affair with Matt’s dad creating the gorgeous vintage esq wedding cake. I so love the fact they wanted a Christmas feel to their day,  with board games galore… what a fun idea.

Thanks so much to the fabulous Newcastle based wedding photographer, Katie Byram Photography for sharing her images with us today, here is what she had to say about the day;

“Sarah & Matt got married on 24th October 2011 at the Coquetvale Hotel in Rothbury, Northumberland.

Sarah is a designer/teacher & she made her own dress with a beautiful teal material, and also made her own headpiece. I’m told she didn’t design the dress but used a vintage pattern and made it herself.

Matt & Sarah were extremely fun to work with and were up for just about anything – we climbed down a hill and scrambled over rocks in the river to get some of the bride and groom shots – we also hopped across stepping stones.”

 Names…. Sarah and Matthew

Wedding Date…. 24th October 2011

The Proposal…. Matt cooked me a lovely Thai Curry and proposed to me at home.  An evening of good food, bubbly and slippers.  Perfection.

The Vision for the day….  We wanted a very relaxed day that involved lots of food, drink and laughter.  We based the day on our favourite family event, which is Christmas.  So we had an amazing four course meal followed by board games.  During the games we had cheese boards, port and wedding cake.  Later in the evening we had bacon roles.  We really do love our food.

The Planning process…. We were very relaxed and got a lot of help from our fantastic families.  I chose not to panic and stress over detail and had a very ‘we’ll have that one’ attitude.

Budget….  £5000 (I think)

The Venue… The amazing Coquetval Hotel in Rothbury.  The staff are so helpful and really made everyone feel at home.  The food was better than we could have imagined.  We had steak on the menu and everyone who ordered it got it exactly to their preference.  The groom and my mum even said she had never had a nicer steak.   I would defiantly recommend this venue to anyone and everyone.

The Dress + Accessories….. I made it from a beautiful silk bought cheap on ebay and I based the style on a vintage 1956 pattern found in my friend’s attic.  I also made the hat and that was based on a Vogue vintage hat patterns.  The shoes are Vivienne Westwood.  My gorgeous friend Sumana leant me her pearl necklace.

Finding the dress…. I always knew I would make it but do regret not trying a few on, just for the fun of it.

Groom’s attire… In Matt’s usual style it was bought a week before the wedding in Boundary Mill.  It is a Simon Carter suit and he looked smashing in it.  I made his and the best man’s ties out of the same fabric as the dress.

The Readings + Music…. We had a reading from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, read by the wonderful Victoria Young.  I walked down the isle to ‘oh happy day’ by Lawrence Welk.

The Flowers… By Flowers and Foliage in Rothbury.  The bouqet was made up of pink lisianthus, white roses and September flower.  They also did my sister’s wedding flowers  and on both occasions did a brilliant job.

The Cake… Made by Stuart the groom’s father.  I have never had a nicer fruit cake, I plan on getting a baking lesson from him in order to make next year’s Christmas cake.

Your Photographer…. Katie Byram. My mother found her and I am so glad she did.  Katie really put so much effort into making sure we got what we wanted.  Her planning before the day was thorough,  making sure she knew exactly where photos would be taken (come rain or shine) and memorising the names of the bridal party.   On the day it felt like having an extra friend there and even though it took a bit of muddy mountaineering to get to where we wanted photo’s taken she was happy to oblige (and muddy by the end of it).  Book her if you can.  She is great.

The Honeymoon…. We spent a lovely week in a cottage in Kirk Yetholm, Scotland.  We just relaxed with a glass of wine in front of the fire for most of it.  We also got a lovely painting commissions of the honeymoon spot by Lynda Taylor, Crown Studio Gallery, Rothbury.

Memorable moments… We had a brilliant puppet show later in the day for the kids , and adults, by the ‘Clydebuilt puppet theatre’.  All their puppet shows are designed to entertain both adults and children with plenty of laughs, with very clever use of everyday object to set a scene.

Board games were a brilliant way to get two families who are very different to interact, the sillier the better.  I recommend Cranium and Jenga as a must.

Advice for other couples… Just make sure you enjoy the day and don’t get hung up on silly details it’s about love not ice sculpture swans and oversized dresses.

Credit where credit’s due…

Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre – http://www.clydebuiltpuppet.co.uk/

Katie Byram – http://www.photographybykatie.co.uk/

Crown Studio Gallery – http://www.crownstudio.co.uk/

Coquetvale Hotel – http://www.coquetvale.co.uk/

Flowers and Foliage – http://www.flowersandfoliage.co.uk/

Thanks so much to Sarah and Matthew for sharing their gorgeous day with us today, will you be looking to make your own wedding dress? If so please do tell me all about it below :-) xoxo Lou

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT...