Eternal Flame: A Real Wedding – Kait & Mark

Posted on: 09/11/2011

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I’m back in the UK today after a girly break visiting a friend who lives over in the UAE.  We had a blast and it was lovely to get some winter sun, although there really is no place like home, even if the welcome at Newcastle Airport yesterday morning was a little on the dark, dank and dreary side!

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So, on with the show – and I’ve brought a little bit of sunshine back with me!  Today on the wedding blog we have a Real Wedding with a distinctly gothic twist, sent in by Andy Pickard of Peacock Pix.  Andy says: When Kait and Mark chose 30th September for their wedding in the Victorian gothic splendour of Bestwood Lodge in Nottinghamshire they probably didn’t expect it to be the hottest day of the year, but despite the sultry weather this English rose & her dashing groom had the most fabulous wedding day, flourishing in the baking heat.

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Kait and Mark are both Live Action Role Play enthusiasts along with many of their friends and they made this wedding a ceremony to remember with a vintage feel.  After the ceremony a party atmosphere with impromptu song and dance routines from the guests added extra pizazz!

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They wanted me to record the day as it unfolded and what I captured was a love affair, hot as the weather and the bride’s flame red hair.  When it came to taking the wedding portraits you could see the obvious passion that these two have for each other.  The evening party had a distinctly gothic feel with a DJ sporting a magnificent Mohawk and good old fashioned loud rock music, my kind of wedding.  

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Let’s catch up with the bride herself!  It’s over to Kait: We got engaged a little spontaneously, having crawled into our tent when a thunderstorm hit absolutely covered in mud. I was cold and a bit grumpy and Mark just wrapped his arms around me and proposed.  We married on 30^th September 2011 at Bestwood Lodge Country Park, Nottingham  – we were very lucky having believed we would get a rainy day to end up with a heat wave!  We were both blown away by the venue’s gorgeous Victorian features, huge green grounds and lovely staff. 

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Most people expected me to be in a black dress, red or purple at a push. So I decided to surprise them and went for a simple ivory fishtail dress from Karolanne in Nottingham.  I chose a red, white and black colour scheme and my two bridesmaids wore lovely 50’s style black dresses from Collectif Clothing.

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I carried a tear drop bouquet of red roses, red carnations and long ivy trails from Roma Flowers in Beeston. 

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Click through to see more. 

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The boys rented their suits from Pronuptia in Nottingham.  I stayed in the hotel the night before while Mark drove himself to the venue with his members of the wedding party to save on expenses.

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For our wedding cake, we went for red velvet cupcakes toped with buttercream and decided to have one extra large cupcake made so that we could keep the tradition of cutting the cake.

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My favourite part of the day was the wedding reception.  Getting to see all our friends and family having a fabulous time on our day was wonderful.

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Two friends of ours who run a few local goth and alternative club nights in Nottingham graciously agreed to DJ the evening for us. They played a great combination of alternative music for us and our friends to enjoy and plenty of 80’s cheese that got even the oldies up and dancing!

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After the wedding, we honeymooned in a tiny cottage just outside the village of Grassmere in the Lake District.

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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to delegate! It’s very easy to become wound up with all the tiny details and wanting everything to be absolutely perfect. On the day no-one will be paying attention to those little things.

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Congratulations Kait & Mark!

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Newlyweds – send your Real Wedding memories to feature on the wedding blog.  Contact me today. 

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2011 Peacock Pix

Peacock Pix is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier, but this is not a sponsored post

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