Amy & Michael

 Amy & Michael 

Michael tried to get me to go out for a dog walk on the beach one night after work, but I was tried so didn’t really want to go. He suggested a meal out but I was tired! We ended up getting pizza that night! Michael spent ages up stairs and suggested I went and got my PJ’s on ready to watch the Apprentice! I was up stairs, pottered about and got changed. He eventually went downstairs. When I came out the bathroom I noticed a ring in an open box on the end of the bed, to which I screamed. He replied “It’s about bloody time” The ring had been on the bed for several hours, I had sat next to it and been in the room with it but not noticed it!!! The ring is a 1920s vintage ring, a mixture of gold and white gold. It really is everything I could have ever wanted.

Michael found the venue and took me to see it before I got the ring, we had discussed getting married and just thought we’d do it. I’d always liked As you like it but wanted something more in the country. Newton Hall was perfect; the strange thing is the person who sold us our house was living in Newton Hall before it was sold. The venue was rustic which is what we wanted; we loved the outdoor spaces and the glass house.

I bought my dress from The Wedding Dress Company in Corbridge after seeing it on a mannequin at a wedding fair at As You Like It. I loved it so much, but wasn’t sure if it would look right on me, especially as when I stood gazing at the dress I was handed a weight loss leaflet!!!! It took a while to hunt down a shop that stocked the dress, luckily The Wedding Dress Company had the dress in and in my size. I also added a detailed belt to wear with the dress. The dress is a vintage inspired French lace gown with cap sleeves and V neckline edged with a soft satin and delicate beading. I didn’t wear a veil, a just had fresh flowers in my hair.

I decided to do my make-up myself on the day, I felt I would rather use the money on some lovely new products which I can keep, so I had a few free tutorial at Benefit which was excellent. My skin was great on the day, and I felt a looked nice! Lisa Cameron did my hair and my friend and families. When looking at photos all my friends have commented on my hair, a loved the soft up style and with the flowers in. Lisa was lovely to have around in the morning, she was calm and relaxed which helped me.

Myself and my husband are a little camera shy, and really don’t like posing for pictures. So we wanted a photographer to capture moments rather than group shots. I found Emily by chance on line, she was new to wedding photography when I met her but loved some of the other photos she had taken so was happy to hire her. She was there all day and took thousands of photos. She was lovely to have around on the day. My photographer turned out to be quite interesting. She is currently appearing on the BBC show Don’t tell the bride, so the BBC asked if they could film my wedding as part of her episode!

We wanted the style to be quite effortless, I love shabby chic and Michael doesn’t, but he let me go crazy with tea cups and cut glass. We wanted really neutral colour in the room; when I saw The Finishing Touch Company I knew I wanted them to sort everything. We met and I create a wish list with them, thinking it would all be far too expensive for me I was reluctant to open the quote! I was pleasantly surprised at the cost and was so pleased I could have everything I wanted. I felt I was an annoying bride constantly emailing Charlotte but she was fab and the room looked beautiful on the day.

We had two different style tables; some using cut glass vases with flowers, others using tea cups and tea pots with flowers in. We had a lovely flower display across the top table with hired Mr and Mrs signs in it which looked beautiful. One of my favorite things was the vintage white Royal Mail post box for all out cards to go in.

 

 

I met with Helen from bels florist, they had been recommended by Newton hall and had worked with The Finishing Touch Company in the past, so I knew it would work well. They fully understood the simple look I wanted, using lots of white stocks and hydrangeas. I really loved my bouquet and the flowers that were on the top table.

 

The cake had more photos taken of it then me!! I loved my cake so much. My hairdresser mentioned a guy who was doing her wedding cake and I had this design in my mind. Burnett 4 cakes did an unbelievable job, it was awesome. It was a little bigger than what we needed but Michael let me have my own way with this on!!

The food was really important to us; we really love our food and wanted the guest to enjoy it. We started with mozzarella wrapped in ham which was lovely, followed by lamb, and then the best sticky toffee pudding ever!! The food is still the thing people are talking about now, everyone loved the lamb dish and talked about the meal all night. For the evening we had a hog roast with all the trimmings, again this went down a treat with the guests. Newton Hall even put aside two buns for Michael and I to eat at 2am after all the guests had gone!!!

Our band was led by someone I used to work with, it was a 12 piece swing band called The Strictly Smokin’ Big Band. They were brilliant, I was worried that people wouldn’t dance but I was wrong, everyone loved them, young and old.

The main thing we wanted our wedding to be was ‘chilled’ that’s what we kept saying. We wanted guests to feel relaxed. The internet was main source of ideas and information, I loved the Etsy website and also Rock my wedding. I bought most things from Not On The Highstreet. By my main inspiration was my mum, she did so much for the wedding, made the confetti, favours, table plan, order or service, guest book boxes…so much.

One thing I really loved were my favours, my mum and I made them and they turned out great and matched out invites. We have lip and mustache chocolate lollies and all the guests couldn’t believe we had made them ourselves. We also made a fabric bouquet for my friend to carry and used all my great grandmothers old broachers to add a bit of sparkle.

I would say not to over think it all, we had everything booked in the first month of finding the venue, it’s only the last 3 weeks that it gets a bit stressful. But everything will be great on the day. The one thing I was so pleased about was how clam I was, I stayed so relaxed on the morning, I didn’t feel nervous once. Everyone say the days flies by but ours didn’t, Michael and I kept taking five minutes here and there to sit together and watch our guests.

 Supplier Directory:

Venue: Newton Hall

Photographer: Emily Hannah Photography

Florist : bels flowers

Dress: The Wedding Dress Company 

Cake: Burnett 4 Cakes

Hair: Lisa Cameron

Blog: Rock My Wedding

Band: The Strictly Smokin Big Band

 Wedding Styling & Decorations: The Finishing Touch Company