Sun-dappled! A Real Wedding In The Lake District – Michelle & Dominic

Posted on: 07/06/2012

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It’s a double whammy rollover jackpot of Real Wedding gorgeousness today, the second offering being this beautiful sun-dappled Lake District wedding, sent to my by Toby and Hannah who together make up Red On Blonde Photography and real bride Michelle.

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It’s a nice day for a white wedding…

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Michelle says: Dom proposed on our first anniversary. We had gone to The Gatehouse restaurant in Lancaster to celebrate, and he popped the question at the end of the meal – I had a feeling he was going to but it was still a surprise!

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We were married on 26th June 2011 at the Jesus Church in Troutbeck, and had our wedding reception at The Merewood Country House Hotel in Windermere.  We both fell in love with The Merewood the moment we saw it, and for me especially it was the type of place I’d always dreamed of getting married. The views of the grounds and the lake are beautiful, and the hotel itself is gorgeous. We also loved the fact that the hotel was ours exclusively both the night before and on the day. It made us feel like we were in our own little world.

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We didn’t decide upon a theme, it was more of a natural development. I’m drawn to a lot of vintage looks, I love pretty florals, roses and lots of pearls, and so the wedding took on a very classic look.

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I chose a dress by Maggie Sottero, which we found at Dan Kerr in Blackpool. I went to loads of bridal shops but as soon as I tried it on I knew it was the one – it was liquid silk with only a small underskirt and had pearls and Swarovski crystals decorating the bodice. I also wore a small matching tiara and a tiered veil, which was decorated with pearl drops. I didn’t wear it for long though, the day was too hot!

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I carried a bouquet of white roses, with pearl and diamante sprigs from Valerie Ann’s in Windermere.

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I arrived at the church In a vintage Rolls Royce which we then used for our trip to the reception afterwards.

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My bridesmaids wore 50’s style prom dresses from BHS in fuchsia. I chose the colour and shorter length because I wanted them to be fun and more laid back, especially when everything else was so formal. I’m so glad I did as for me this really sums up the whole day – it was traditional but so much fun!

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We went for classic ivory with all the suits, table and seat covers and of course my dress as well. I also wanted to try and inject some fun into the day and the  fuchsia bridesmaids dresses definitely brightened the pictures up! I was very keen on not letting the fuchsia overpower the rest of the room during the wedding breakfast, so I tied them into the room through a small sprinkling of fuchsia glitter on the tables and ribbon on the cake. I think it added the colour pop that I wanted, without being too overpowering.

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We chose a four tier fruit cake from Imaginative Cakes in Horwich. it was decorated with fuchsia ribbon, pearls and had beautiful sugar flowers with fuchsia glitter on top.

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My favourite part of the day was when Dominic and I had our pictures taken. After such an eventful day it was great to wander off into the hotel grounds together, I don’t think we’d got much chance to see each other until then!

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My mum hand made our save the date cards, wedding invitations, and order of services: she did such a good job.

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As wedding favours we gave breast cancer pins to the women and England pins to the men, and made donations to breast cancer and cancer research in the name of each guest. We felt that the money would be put to much better use this way, and was also a subtle way of remembering those we’d lost in the day’s celebrations.

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We asked a friend to DJ for us, Kieran from Aardvark Entertainment in Lancaster. He did a great job. He played something for everyone, and I’ll never forget dancing to some Ska in my wedding dress!

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After the wedding, we went to Costa Adeje in Tenerife for a week. I’d been there previously with family, and we decided that after all the stress of planning a wedding, we wanted to go somewhere we knew we would have a great honeymoon rather than try somewhere new.

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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to accept help from those who offer it! My parents helped out with loads, especially my mum – I don’t think we’d have known where to start if it wasn’t for her!

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Congratulations Michelle & Dominic!

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Are you a newly wed?  Contact Brides Up North to share your Real Wedding memories!

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2012 Red On Blonde Photography

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