Lee and Lisa were married in July at Hereford Town Hall followed by a reception in a beautiful Yurt from Cheltenham Yurt Hire. They wanted their wedding to colourful and fun whist staying within their £7000 budget.

They got crafty, kitting their gorgeous yurt out with coloured ribbon, mismatched natural blooms, bunting and cute stripey bags. The result is just so beautiful, and so much FUN!

Lisa looks so beautiful in Vivien of Holloway with her bright bouquet and colour pop shoes, i love the shots of her twirling around.

Thanks so much to the fabulous Gemma Williams Photography for sharing her amazing images with us today.

Names…. Lee and Lisa

Wedding Date…. Saturday 14 July 2012

The Proposal…. The proposal happened on our 3rd anniversary of being together (17 November 2010) at Oundle Mill in Peterborough ( www.oundlemill.co.uk ).  It was a complete surprise to me (the bride!). Lee had arranged everything down to the last detail and had even called my dad in advance to ask permission! He had my friends give their opinions of the ring he had chosen and all this time I knew nothing of it. The hotel was stunning as was the village of Oundle. We had an amazing weekend there and it will always be a special place for us.

The Vision for the day…. As is the case for many couples, we were on a budget. We wanted a day that would be pretty, laid back, colourful, fun and wouldn’t cost the earth! I am one for breaking with tradition wherever possible and so we looked for unique and different ways of doing things. We didn’t want a religious ceremony and looked into the possibility of a humanist ceremony but settled on the Hereford Town Hall – our hometown.

The Planning process…. The planning of the wedding was stressful, exciting and nerve racking all at once! Having a DIY wedding meant thinking of things I never imagined needing to know about. Generators for example – I am now an expert of generators! It was a wonderful process though, especially when everything started coming together. It felt like a real team effort and even more special to us for that.

Budget….  The whole wedding came in at around £7,000

The Venue… We started at Hereford Town Hall and the reception was held in gorgeous Yurts (provided by Cheltenham Yurt Hire: www.cheltenhamyurthire.co.uk ) situated at my mum and stepdad’s house in Bromyard, Herefordshire.

The Dress + Accessories….. The dress was a bargain!! It came from the amazing Vivien of Holloway ( www.vivienofholloway.com ). It is a gorgeous 1950s lace halterneck circle dress which I teamed with a VoH petticoat (white) and some stunning hot pink heels which I got for a bargain price from Debenhams. I also found a pair of hot pink flats for the evening, after all the dancing!

My birdcage veil was handmade by a very talented friend Gemma Summerfield: MAZINGAZINGA-Fascinators-Accessories. The stunning rings were from Hereford based jewellers – Pleasance and Harper ( www.pleasanceandharper.co.uk )

Finding the dress…. Finding the dress wasn’t too stressful for me. I tried on a couple of dresses in wedding boutiques and whilst I did feel amazing in a couple of them, there was no way I could justify that kind of money. A friend of mine suggested I check out the VoH website and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was THE one.

Groom’s attire… Lee’s suit was a gorgeous light grey, lightweight suit from Next. I made him wear a hot pink tie with it (although he had no idea why I was being so adamant about him having to wear it until the day I walked in with those shoes on…).

The Readings + Music…. We had one reading during the ceremony. My brother read the following:

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
And that a loving atmosphere in your home
is the foundation for your life.

Be gentle with one another.
When disagreements come
remember always to protect the spirit of your union.

When you realize you’ve made a mistake,
take immediate steps to correct it.

Remember that the best relationship is one
in which your love for each other
exceeds your need for each other.

So love yourselves, love one another,
love all that is your life together
and all else will follow.

- Dalai Lama

The music for the day was as follows: Bride’s entrance music: Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Eva Cassidy, Signing the Register: These Are The Day by Jamie Cullum and Anyone Else But You by Moldy Peaches. Exit music: I Luv U by The Ordinary Boys
First Dance: Marry Me by Bruno Mars.

Beautiful bridesmaids….. I have many amazing friends and as we were having a small(ish) wedding I just couldn’t pick between them! We had Lee’s gorgeous niece Ella as our flower girl, dressed in a hot pink dress from Monsoon and my close friends Sami, Alexa, Jess and Sophia all wore wrist corsages and helped us run the day!

The Flowers… The flowers were superbly done by a friend of ours, Lucy May, who used to work as a florist. She did the most amazing job and I’m sure I didn’t make it easy as I know next to nothing about flowers. I just pointed out colours I liked and she made it happen. They really were stunning. As another cost saver, we had family members collecting glass jars for months before the wedding. The table flowers were scattered in these with a drop of brightly dyed flower water.

The Cake… Our cutting cake was designed and made by Lee’s sister – Michelle. It was so beautiful and really reflected the colour and fun of the day. We also had a cupcake tower made by a local Bromyard baker. Everyone commented of how tasty the cakes were!

Your Photographer…. The story of Gemma as our photographer is quite a funny one… I first approached Gemma back in the early stages of the wedding planning. She was already getting pretty booked up but still had our date free. After doing sums with Lee we decided something had to give and so, we sadly had to say no to any sort of professional photos. A lot later on in the planning process, about 2 months before the wedding itself we relooked at the budget and realised we had saved more money than we originally thought. I emailed Gemma straight away and I couldn’t believe my luck when she replied to say that ours was the one weekend she was planning on taking off for herself but that she would love to shoot our wedding! Not only had we managed at the last minute to get a professional photographer but, in my opinion, we had managed to get one of the very best wedding photographers in the region – so lucky! Gemma’s skills were such a good investment in our day – we are both so happy she was able to be there.

The Details + Decor…. We looked at all sorts of small ways to make the day different, colourful and fun. We wrapped the yurt’s poles with brightly coloured ribbons, we used wooden cutlery and crockery which were thrown on the bonfire at the end of the night, we had a gorgeous Vintage Ice Cream Trike serving endless Ice Cream to our guests, we had karaoke a disco and fireworks which mum had bought from Lidl!! It was simply perfect.

The Honeymoon…. After our wedding night at the Verzons Hotel ( www.verzonhouse.com – another surprise I knew nothing of, arranged by Lee’s work colleagues!) our honeymoon itself comprised of 10 glorious days at The Island Hotel in Crete (www.theislandhotel.gr ). This stunning resort is adults only and very romantic. Quiet, peaceful and relaxing – just what we needed!

Memorable moments… It was all memorable!! Moments that stick out in my head include; being stuck under the hairdryer and not being able to hear the chaos around me the morning of the wedding, my mum, aunty and best friends making trays and trays of canapés, seeing my dad’s face when I came down the stairs for the first time, holding hands with Lee in the registry office, crying as my brother did his reading, twirling on the dance floor and all over the place in my dress, having a quiet moment with Lee as the sun went down by the pond, fearing for my life as my stepdad set off the fireworks and hoping they didn’t go in the wrong direction, singing karaoke with the girls and, basically, having the best day of my life!

Advice for other couples… Take your time with the planning. Don’t do things just because it’s tradition or because you feel like you have to – do things because it’s what you both want. Take a step back every now and again to congratulate yourself on all the hard work you have put in. Take time out on the day itself, just the two of you, to take it all in. And lastly … get a photographer!

Credit where credit is due…

Cheltenham Yurt Hire: www.cheltenhamyurthire.co.uk
Vivien of Holloway dress: www.vivienofholloway.com
Pleasance and Harper jewellers: www.pleasanceandharper.co.uk
Gemma Williams Photography: www.gemmawilliamsphotography.co.uk
Herefordshire Premiere Hog Roast Company: www.herefordshirespremierhogroastcompany.co.uk
NSA Event Bars: www.eventbars.co.uk
Saxtys Wines: www.saxtyswines.co.uk
5 Fish Entertainment: www.5-fish.co.uk
Allstar Toilet Hire: www.allstartoilethire.co.uk
Bird Cage Veil: https://www.facebook.com/pages/MAZINGAZINGA-Fascinators-Accessories-Costumes-Bespoke/379611196513
Hampton Hire (tables chairs etc): www.hamptonhire.com
Icecream Tricycle: www.turnerstraditional.co.uk
Convertible VW Beetle:  www.lovebusweddings

Thanks so so much to Lisa and Lee for sharing their gorgeous wedding with us today, boy am i pleased they booked Gemma Williams, what a lovely set of images :-) XOXO Lou

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