Love Is Not Breathlessness: A Real Wedding In The North West – Laura & KC

Posted on: 18/03/2013

.

.

.

I love that Brides Up North is defined by geography, rather than genre.  That means that I get to feature all sorts of weddings, from the low key and quirky, to the modern, opulent or just downright dreamy.  And this beautiful Real Wedding in the North West sent to me by bride Laura, Sara of Marry Me Films and Caroline White Photography definitely falls into the downright dreamy category!

.

It’s time to go all out fairytale…

.

.

The Wedding Film of Laura & Kenneth at Peckforton Castle from Marry Me Films on Vimeo.

.

.

.

.

Laura says:  We got engaged on October 26th 2011 in Los Angeles California where we live. KC proposed at a beautiful place called Huntington gardens, he surprised me in the rose garden with a violinist playing ‘our’ song and rose petals everywhere. He also did it before it was open to the public and after we soaked it all up with afternoon tea there. It was really a perfect romantic day and of course I said yes!

.

.

.

.

Our wedding was April 30th 2012 and luckily we picked one of the only sunny English days that month!   We got married at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire.  I wanted to marry in UK as all my family are there so I began to search for places. I found Peckforton Castle when I was searching for places close to my parents home and so we visited it when we were in England for Christmas and we both knew it was perfect for us. I wanted a fairytale style wedding and a castle is definitely a fit for that!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I have always loved this poem:

.

“Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don’t blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being "in love", which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.”

.

So I included it in our wedding invitations.  On our invitations, menus and schedule we also had a beautiful tree as the main design and the actual shape of it is that of this unique tree when you enter the castle.

.

.

.

.

.

.

We really wanted our wedding to be simple, classy and timeless so we chose white as our colour. 

.

.

.

.

I chose a white wedding dress from Vera Wang which I thought suited me the most and I fell in love with it. I knew it was the dress for me as it made me feel like a Princess. KC wore a tailored suit from Tom Ford. In the evening I wore a very sparkly gold dress from a boutique in LA. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

We used Ian Lloyd (UK School of Floristry) for our flowers and he did a spectacular job. He did stunning candelabras for the ceremony and a beautiful floral archway as you entered the great hall swell as lots of other flower arrangements. We also had a walk way of petals down the aisle and our initials made from 150 roses. Everything in white of course!

.

.

.

.

.

.

Caroline White did amazing photography and captured real moments which we loved. She also made us our wedding album

.

Marry Me Films were our videographers and they were fantastic. It was great to show KC’s dad the wedding as he unfortunately was unable to travel.

.

.

.

.

Seeing KC’s face when I walked down the aisle was my favourite part and knowing I would spend the rest of my life with him. Oh and the food, I loved the food!

.

.

.

.

.

.

We started the day with breakfast in the library room which was great for our guests as a lot had travelled to our wedding so it was nice for them to catch up (I was getting ready) we then had our ceremony in the great Hall and one special touch was that our ring bearer was an owl who flew down the aisle and my brother (KC’s best man) caught him!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

After the ceremony we had canapés and drinks outside on the castle’s lawn and we had a falconry show for our guests which they loved and we all had a go at catching them. It was a fun thing as it broke up the day and kept things moving ! there was no awkward standing around or waiting for what was next which I liked.

.

After this we had our wedding reception in the hexagonal room and a special touch for me was that we had one giant table for ourselves and guests, I loved it because we could all engage and talk (I had 24 guests) and it felt more like sitting with family, well a lot were! KC and I from day one knew we didn’t want a big wedding and that dinner really confirmed for us we had made the right decision – it was perfect.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I used Maisie Fantaisie in London for the cake and had it delivered to the castle the morning of the wedding. As my wedding was very intimate we chose two layers of individual ‘pearl, bow and blossom’ mini cakes and then a top tier cake for cutting. For the mini cakes we had two different flavours: vanilla bean cake with vanilla bean butter cream and raspberry jam and coconut cake with coconut butter cream and raspberry jam; and for the top tier chocolate fudge cake with chocolate ganache butter cream. 

.

We also had cookie wedding favours for the wedding breakfast. Each cookie had a different saying such as “love” or “smitten” on them and was wrapped with ribbons. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I had a harp player to walk down the aisle to, her name was Nerys Hewitt and she played canon in D for the wedding march and classical music the rest of the time. We also had her to play as guests entered the great hall and for our wedding reception afterwards.

.

In the evening we had a buffet in the library room with candles playing and we played songs we had chosen together on our iPod. As our wedding was small and mainly family with a few friends we wanted the evening to be about catching up and being able to talk. As we live so far away it was nice for our wedding to be more relaxed and intimate. KC and I didn’t want a first dance or a formal wedding in that sense. We didn’t want any awkward moments for us or to include things that we personally wouldn’t look forward to.

.

.

.

.

One of the most memorable moments of the day was that KC announced at dinner that we were to become parents. Only our parents knew so it was special to be able to tell everyone in person our big news! at the time I was just over 4 months and now we have a beautiful daughter called Freya who is 4 months old. I can’t wait to share with her our wedding and point and say ‘ you were there’!

.

.

.

.

.

.

After dinner we cut our cake and a special touch was that we cut it with a real sword – KC really loved that part! KC and I then changed and we joined guests for drinks and the buffet in the wine cellar. I think we were the first to go to bed! It was a perfect but exhausting day being pregnant! I was so happy to get to do it though as we had planned our wedding before we found out so I was very lucky that my dress still fit!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

We had an amazing vacation in the Maldives at the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru resort. It was truly perfect in every way and is my favourite holiday to date I can’t say enough good things about it.

.

.

.

.

My top tip for other Brides Up North would be that when you are planning your wedding, plan it for yourself not to please everyone. Remember it’s YOUR special day. Also a videographer is great, there’s so much you miss and parts of my day where a blur due to adrenaline and nerves so it was nice to watch back to fill in the gaps.

.

.

.

.

Congratulations Laura & KC!

.

Get in touch to see your own Real Wedding featured on Brides Up North – here’s how!

.

.

Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2013 Caroline White Photography; Video © 2013 Marry Me Films – this is not a sponsored post

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

.

.