Debbie and Dave were married in July at the Larchfield Estate, Northern Ireland. They wanted their wedding to be relaxed and fun. They planned their wedding from Aberdeen and headed to Northern Ireland for weekend visits to get their wedding organised.

They had a classically beautiful day, with touches of green and pink. DIY details decorated the reception, with pretty flowers. I so love the 6 gorgeous bridesmaids and the wonderful bouquets they clutched. Debbie looks so beautiful in her Mori Lee dress, with her plaited hair. Oh so elegant.

Thanks so much to the fabulous Lauren Rutherford for sharing her images with us today, here is what she had to say about the day;

“Debbie and Dave’s wedding was a total dream to photograph. Larchfield Estate is one of my favourite venues, so I knew that the wedding there would be beautiful. When I arrived at Debbie’s parents’ house, the preparations were already in full wing (6 bridesmaids means an early start!) and the sun was splitting the sky. For a brief while we thought that we might even be able to have an outdoor ceremony, but with showers forecast it was just a bit too risky. Having the ceremony inside turned out to be an inspired decision because the heavens opened just as Debbie arrived at Larchfield – I don’t think the guests would have appreciated sitting in the gardens in a torrential downpour! The rest of the afternoon was spent dodging the rain, but nothing could put a dampener on the celebrations. Debbie and Dave both love the outdoors (hence the mountain-shaped cake and tables named after Scottish mountains) so I knew they wouldn’t mind getting out into the gardens with an umbrella! Debbie looked absolutely gorgeous, her dress was stunning, and there were wall-to-wall smiles all day. It doesn’t get much better than that!”

Names…. Dave & Debbie

Wedding Date…. Sat 28^th July 2012

The Proposal…. Dave proposed on our hotel balcony in the quaint backstreets of Paris, on the first night of a romantic weekend break. We spent the rest of the weekend soaking up the sights of Paris and indulging in some celebratory wining and dining!

The Vision for the day…. We wanted a really relaxed day whereby everyone could really have fun and enjoy themselves.

The Planning process…. Had to be efficient! We live in Aberdeen and so were planning the wedding ‘remotely’. We made the most of weekend visits back to Northern Ireland, often having back-to-back appointments and made use of lots of online research!

The Venue… Larchfield Estate – we absolutely loved it as soon as we saw the miniature donkeys in the driveway!! It just got better from there. It was perfect for us because there was lots of space and absolutely beautiful both inside and out which was a great help due to the unpredictable weather! The staff at Larchfield were absolutely amazingly helpful throughout the whole planning process, nothing was too much hassle, and one the wedding day itself extremely professional.

The Dress + Accessories….. Bought from A Perfect Day, Lurgan, designer is Mori Lee.

Finding the dress…. Was emotional!! I spent a day trying on lots of dresses during one of my trips back to Belfast but didn’t find anything I liked. I was lucky to get a cancellation appointment with A Perfect Day. There, one of the staff spend some time talking with you about what styles you like and dislike and then they pick dresses for you to try on, but you don’t see their full range yourself. The first one that they picked for me was the one I ended up falling in love with! I cried when I first tried it on which I never thought that I’d do!!!

Groom’s attire… From Red in Carrickfergus.

The Readings + Music… Our reading was a poem called Love by Roy Croft, read by Jennie Lee. During the ceremony Dave’s guitar teacher played a recital for us. The entrance music was a piece called Il Giorni by a composer called Einuadi and the exit music was a piece called Canon Rock (a rock version of Pachalbels Canon).

Beautiful bridesmaids….. All stunning! There were 6 bridesmaids, Jennie (Debbie’s sister), Jenny (Dave’s sister), Susan, Jill, Sarah & Alison – all friends who I grew up with.

The Flowers… By Hazel & Mary – Mary did a great job with the bouquets, incorporating lots of beautiful colours and different shapes & styles of flowers. She even gave them a little Scottish touch with the purple thistles.

The Cake… Handmade  by my mum (Anne Lee) and it was delicious! We also had cupcakes which were served as dessert, made by Emma Robinson.

Your Photographer…. Lauren Rutherford…was absolutely fantastic! We spotted her blog online last year and knew immediately that her style of photography was exactly what we were looking for. Despite this we were blown away by just how brilliant the photos were! Her photos captured the feel of the day so perfectly. As well as the arranged shots, she managed to catch lots of moments, facial expressions and small details that can so easily be forgotten and are such a lovely reminder of what a great day we had!

The Details + Decor…. Mostly homemade by my mum – handstiched hearts in the marquee area – my dad & Dave – tableplan & me – table centrepieces!

The Honeymoon…. 2.5 weeks in Japan. It was brilliant, a great mix of snorkelling on coral reef beaches, hiking up Mount Fuji, sightseeing in Tokyo, soaking up culture in Kyoto and of course enjoying lots of tasty Japanese cuisine!

Memorable moments… All of it!! The day passes by so quickly but it was literally the best, happiest day of our lives (I think I can speak for both of us here!!)

Advice for other couples… Decide early on what aspects of the day are most important to you and focus your time / effort and money on those. Overall, enjoy yourself!!

Credit where credit is due…

Food – Fatted Calf

Cars – Star Car Hire

Bar – Balmoral Bar

Band – Platinum (from Glen Houston Entertainment)

DJ – Phil Gaw (from Glen Houston Entertainment)

Make Up – Julie Ferguson

Hair – Laura Rodgers

Thanks so much to Debbie and Dave for sharing their beautiful wedding with us today XOXO Lou

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