Pretty Elegance: A Real Wedding In The North East – Kate & Lewis

Posted on: 20/05/2012

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How’s your Sunday treating you Brides Up North? 

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I’m having a lovely relaxing holiday in the Greek Islands – although it’s rained for the past three days (pretty much unheard of in May I’m sure!)  – I’m enjoying the peace, good food and copious amounts of local wine.

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Between bursts of sunshine (and banks of cloud!) I’ve still time to bring you this gorgeous simple and elegant Real Wedding in the North East sent to me by Chris of Xtraordinary Photography and real bride Kate.  I hope that it gets your day (and mine!) off to a sunny start!  

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Kate says: We got engaged on Christmas Eve 2010. We had been to Church and then to our local pub for a few drinks and Lewis proposed on the night time in our home. We both love Christmas and my beautiful engagement ring was the perfect present!

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We got married on the 26^th March 2012 in our local church – The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Lobley Hill. It was a lovely service and our Priest was fantastic, all of the guests loved him! Both the day time and evening reception were held at the Gibside Hotel in Whickham. We had 110 guests during the day and a few more in the evening.

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We wanted somewhere close to the church so our guests could easily make their way to the reception and the Gibside is only a couple of miles away from the church. I knew the Gibside had lots of experience in weddings and we had eaten in the restaurant before so we knew the food was great. The venue was also a perfect size and we got a really good vibe about the place. We were shown the honeymoon suite which was recently refurbished, it was fabulous and we were sold! I can’t give enough praise to the staff at the Gibside – particularly the restaurant manager Paco – they were absolutely fantastic and really helped make our day so memorable.

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We didn’t have a theme but we wanted everything we chose to be elegant, traditional and beautiful. I kept things simple and elegant and the ivory was the main colour throughout. The exception was the bridesmaids’ dresses which were a delicate sea green and added a flash of colour to the day.

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My dress was by Amanda Wyatt from Sorelle Bridal Boutique in Sedgefield. I loved how the cap sleeves and sweetheart neckline made it quite different from the other dresses I had tried on. The dress had a fitted bodice with a fishtail skirt and a short train. The antique style lace gave it a vintage feel. I absolutely loved my wedding dress it was so beautiful. In the words of my chief bridesmaid it was ‘the most amazing item of clothing in the world!’ My shoes were from BHS and my tiara was my ‘something borrowed’ from my sister in law, she wore it for her own wedding a year before. 

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Amanda Clegg at Blush Boutique did my hair and make up. The flowers were all done by Sheila Appleton, a family friend.  I carried a mixture of white roses with gypsafillia . Roses are my favourite flower and Lewis sometimes surprises me with a bunch! The bridesmaids had smaller versions of my bouquet. We decorated the church and venue with white roses, white calla lilies and greenery.

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My favourite moment was walking out the church once we had been married. Everybody was smiling at us and I felt elated. I felt like I could relax and really enjoy the day after being so nervous walking into the church.

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A friend of the family of the family (Christine McMorris) made our cake. It was a traditional round cake with four tiers, two sponge and the larger two were traditional fruit cake. It was simply decorated with white icing, ivory ribbon and white roses. Most importantly it tasted delicious!

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The bridesmaids wore silk, sea-green dresses from Boden, they were quite a simple style but the colour really suited them and they all looked stunning. They wore ivory shoes from Debenhams and I got their pretty hair slides from Accessorize. The flower girls wore ivory dresses from Monsoon and looked very pretty. The bridesmaids and flower girls all had shrugs to wear as we thought they would be chilly but it was such a beautiful day they didn’t need them!

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We had a pianist play during the day (Lucy Bewley) and a DJ on the evening. We both love music so we wanted it during the day and evening.

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We went to Barbados for two weeks the day after we got married. We had a fabulous time it is such an amazing place.

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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to not underestimate how long it will take for you and the bridesmaids to get ready! Give yourself plenty of time so you can chill out with a glass of champagne before the car arrives. 

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Congratulations Kate & Lewis!

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Are you a newlywed?  Contact Brides Up North to share your Real Wedding memories on the wedding blog.

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2012 Xtraordinary Photography

Xtraordinary Photography is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier, but this is not a sponsored post

Contact Brides Up North to submit your business as a Featured Supplier

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