The Good Life! A Real Wedding – Debs & Andy

Posted on: 14/11/2011

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Friend of the wedding blog, Nikki of I Do Designer Weddings and today’s bride, Debs, sent in Debs and Andy’s perfectly pretty Real Wedding photographs for me to share on the blog this afternoon. 

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To suit the country wedding vibe that their day has got going on, I just love how Debs has kept her colour scheme fresh and natural, teaming cornflower blue with zesty green leaves.  There must be something good in the water at Andy’s Dad’s house, where the wedding took place, because it’s all so darn beautiful! Add one stunning bride, three adorable bridesmaids and the cutest little pageboy you ever did see and this Real Wedding is straight from celluloid. 

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Over to Debs:  We got engaged in June 2010 at the Bracken Fox near Scarcroft, and married just over a year later on 9th July 2011.  We wed legally at the registry office with two good friends as witnesses a few days before and later said I do in front of friends and family in a blessing ceremony in Andy’s parents’ rather special back garden, with a country garden theme.  We chose blues and purples as our colour scheme as purple is Andy’s favourite colour and blue is mine. 

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I designed my dress, using a simple bridesmaid dress as inspiration, with the help of the wonderful Cathryn of Catwalk Classics. She made it up for me, in silk, for under £500! My three little bridesmaids wore a Tigerlily Butterfly dress from Debenhams. 

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I know very little about flowers so gave my florist (Flowers By Kate Mell) free rein – I just said I wanted something along the lines of a country meadow and free and ‘thrown together’ – she did a brilliant job and I think there were thistles and white roses in amongst the bouquet.

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We wanted a relaxed, fun day for our guests so tried to keep the day fairly informal, with a bouncy castle for the kids and ‘big kids’. We also made use of a Wedding Planner (I Do Designer Weddings) who took care of all the boring details and meant we and all our guests could relax and just enjoy ourselves.

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To add personal touches, we designed our own wedding rings that used ethically sourced gold (at Harriet Kelsall Jewellers) and we designed and handmade all our own stationery. 

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In addition, because we had a blessing we were also able to completely design our ceremony (with help from the minister) and used a commitment vow adapted from the Quaker tradition (in Quaker Faith and Practice 22.47).

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Click through to see more details from Andy and Deb’s big day and to hear more. 

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For our wedding cake, we chose chocolate and vanilla cupcakes topped off with a small fruitcake (made by a family friend).  Our catering was done by Friends For Dinner. 

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To entertain everyone, we had a ‘singer and strings’ (McWilliams Music) for music during the ceremony and whilst photos were taken, the bouncy castle from Partypieces York and then a ceilidh in the early evening (played and called by Blackbeard’s Tea Party).

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My favourite part of the day  was probably the blessing ceremony and saying our vows with our closest family and friends (also when the sun came out for us – and stayed out – after thunderstorms the days before and showers on the morning!). 

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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to remember that it’s just one day and doesn’t have to be perfect – the most important part will be the marriage after! I hoped for a good day but didn’t pin my hopes on it being perfect and it was a lovely surprise that it turned out to be an incredibly special day!

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Congratulations Debs and Andy!

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2011 Paul Whittle at Bestside Photography

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