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We are in Yorkshire this afternoon for the intimate wedding celebration of Gillian and Michael, with images by Brides Up North Featured Supplier, Paul Joseph Photography.
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Gillian and Michael kept their day to just their nearest and dearest, with a romantic colour palette, plenty of personal touches and one gorgeous dress…
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… found in TKMaxx! Yes, you read that right. Kudos.
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Gillian says: While out in Skipton one day on our way for some lunch, we wandered past a jewellers and both just looked at each other and said “Shall we?” then went inside and chose the ring! Having to wait for delivery of the ring in my size, it wasn’t until a week later Michael got down on one knee at Haworth Park, Haworth and asked “Gillian, will you marry me?” and placed it on my finger.
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We were married on 17th May 2012 at Holdsworth House Hotel and Restaurant, Halifax. Having looked at a couple of venues before, nothing really grabbed us but we only had to drive into the car park of Holdsworth House and that was it. I have always loved historic buildings and Holdsworth House felt just perfect.
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I wouldn’t say I had one set theme but rather several intertwined such as shabby chic, rustic and personalised. Having always been creative I knew I wanted a handmade wedding. My head was buzzing with ideas from the word go and with the help of my daughter, Trudy, we set to work. We did worry, having never seen such a personalised, handmade occasion that it wouldn’t quite come together but in the end, it was exactly what I envisaged and our guests loved it!
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I chose a palette of pinks and lilacs to complement the aubergine bridesmaid gowns.
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I looked at several bridal shops but couldn’t really find ‘The One’ and with only 6 weeks till the big day I walked into TKMaxx and found my dress. Staff told me it had been delivered that morning so it was as if it was waiting for me! It was a Su Wong Alice in Wonderland design, very vintage inspired, ivory lace. My amazing shoes were a gift from my husband to be from Dune.
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Michael’s suit was a dark navy, pinstripe ¾ length jacket and trousers with a white shirt and pink tie from Brides 2 Be in Scarlett Heights, Queensbury.
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My three bridesmaids – my two daughters and Michael’s niece – wore aubergine halter neck dresses from Coast and matching grey heels from Marks & Spencer. The best man, Ralph and my son, Oliver, who gave me away, wore matching suits to Michael’s but with aubergine ties to match the girls.
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My mother in law, Marilyn arranged for my son and I to be picked up in a vintage cream Bentley. It was a beautiful addition to the day and went with the venue perfectly. We hired it through The Wedding Mill in Saltaire.
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My bouquet was made up of pink avalanche roses, small daisies, pink gerberas with touches of purples and green foliage. The bridesmaids carried smaller versions of my bouquet. I wasn’t really sure of names of flowers I just chose what I liked the look of with the help of my florist, Sarah, at Eastell’s Florist in Shipley.
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A special touch, courtesy of Michael’s Auntie Andrea was that every guest was given an individual flower as they arrived to wear on the day.
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I walked down the aisle to Ronan Keating – When You Say Nothing At All – and we finished the ceremony with Queen’s It’s A Kind Of Magic, the song playing in the car when I picked Michael up for our first date!
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Walking down the aisle to Michael, everyone else in the room was a blur, I was so happy to see him and exchange our vows. I felt as though I was floating.
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We added lots of personalised touches such as our memory tree, taken from St.Ives where we walk our dog regularly. We added our favourite pictures on brown luggage tags and hung them from it and a welcome sign we made from a tree that had been recently felled. My favourite touch was the felt hearts I made from scratch with each guest’s initial on them to put on favour jars.
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As we wanted a handmade wedding we used lots of places from the high street. The Range was great for getting our favour jars and the craft section for all our bits and bobs. Another great find was our local garden centre, Woodbank Nurseries in Harden. Ebay was fab for finding ribbon and personalised labels.
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Our table plan was a massive hit too! That idea came from Michael always calling me ‘The apple of his eye’ I saw the canvas in TKMaxx and my daughter added the rest!
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My daughter created a gorgeous sweetie table as a surprise for us.
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Our chair covers came from Yvonne at Covered To Perfection who I found at a wedding fair. She offered a great service and is a lovely person too.
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I saw a picture of a cake I liked in a wedding magazine and took it to Netty’s Cakes of Thornton, recommended by my brother in law. Jeanette listened to my ideas and made the perfect cake just as I had imagined.
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Our wedding photographer was Paul of Paul Joseph Photography he captured the day beautifully and really showed off the details of the day in his pictures. Our guests are still commenting on what a lovely person he was on the day.
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We didn’t choose to finish our day with a disco and instead we had an extended day with music during our meal which carried on through to the hotel’s bar area. We spent hours putting together a playlist of favourite songs to be played during the day.
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We left the hotel the following morning to our mini-moon in Windermere. Then in August we went to Disney World Florida!
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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to try not to stress too much because the day just goes so quickly and everything just falls into place… and remember to let your husband to be know how much you love him as he has put up with your Bridezilla ways for months!
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Congratulations Gillian & Michael!
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Get in touch to see your own Real Wedding featured on Brides Up North. Here’s how.
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2012 Paul Joseph Photography
Paul Joseph 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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