Let’s get this week off to a very lovely start. Today we’re in North Yorkshire for make up artist Jen and new husband Rob’s perfectly purple and
loved up
wedding day at pretty Priory Cottages.With images by Paul Joseph Photography.
Jen says:
We got engaged on 22nd April 2013. Rob hid the ring under my pillow and I was completely oblivious that he had done that or planned on doing so. In the end the surprise was ruined after plenty of prompting he had to tell me to look under my pillow. Although I was still asking why as I did it…He then asked me to marry him.
I did make him get down on one knee the next day though! I don’t think he was overly impressed with that, but a girl likes tradition.
We were married on 22nd May 2014 at Wighill Church of All Saints, with the remainder of our celebrations at The Priory Cottages.
We chose the Church after meeting with Serena at the Priory. She has a list of suppliers and venues. When we visited the church we just loved it, including the staff and regulars at the church. The all made us feel so welcome and the Church itself is just gorgeous.
The Priory Cottages were chosen even before visting Serena. I stumbled across the venue when researching weddings and going into hair and makeup for weddings after leaving the media industry. When researching styles, looks etc… their site came up. As soon as I clicked on it, I knew I would love to get married there or have some form of the day there. We had visited a few other places and the day it came to looking there, I knew as soon as I stepped into the Courtyard.
I would recommend my venue to anyone and everyone. Serena is such a gem and The Priory Cottages are just stunning. From the venue to the accommodation, I can’t recommend them enough.
Serena keeps you focused, calm and organised. She knows exactly how things should be and wants them to run on schedule for us to be ok. We provided a list of suppliers and she kept that with the timeline to make sure everything was kept in line and on time, without worrying or stressing us.
A part of me does think, oh no, I don’t want someone else to get married there that I know. But then I think, the touches that we did, the guests and laughs that we had, can’t be repeated in the same way.
Our day was so special, and it all happened with the help of all of the companies and suppliers that we chose.
We didn’t have a specific theme, but I wanted some quirky and/or vintage style objects. I like things that look different and I wanted things that would go with the setting at The Priory Cottages. Rob, like most grooms, left most things to me. I ran everything by him and the final choices were made together.
I wanted purples, and quite rustic colours when it came to flowers, confetti and objects within the venue. Purple is my favourite colour and I wanted a cross between that and aubergine purples.
My dress was by Intuzuri. I really struggled to find something that stood out.
I visited my florists and told them how I still hadn’t found my dress. They advised me to go to Simply Wedding Dresses in Bingley. As soon as I saw the Intuzuri dresses I knew it was the brand for me. Their dresses are stunning and so detailed. The back of mine was just gorgeous and so detailed. I do have a fuller figure so I was worried about trying it on and if it would suit me. But it looked gorgeous and my Mum, Nana and Bridesmaid Charlotte agreed it was the one.
Rob wore a grey Ted Baker suit from Moss Bross. Ted Baker suits fit really well but we couldn’t afford to buy the whole party one for themselves, so we rented Ted Baker’s traditional wedding suit from Moss Bross.
I searched for a while for bridesmaid dresses. My bridesmaids were all different sizes and heights. I wanted just one style rather than mixing for each. Personally I didn’t like the traditional dresses that were available. So I searched for fashion designers in the area. I then found Jennifer, who owns Prodiga. She is based in Leeds and her designs are beautiful. We went with a cowl necked maxi dress for the bridesmaids and the fabric was just lovely.
My flowers were from Floral Opulence. I had a mixture of rusty purples, whites and pinks. Again, the two of them were fabulous. The flowers and table arrangements were gorgeous and everyone commented on them so much. I had so many requests before the day and kept changing my mind. Both of them kept me in line with ideas and suggestions and reassured me throughout.
The table numbers and log sign at the front of the venue was provided by Tom Bolland and all invitions and table plan print outs were completed by my friend Zoe.
All other decorations were done by me. I love to make things and be creative when and where possible.
I did a table plan on a step ladder in different frames. We had a birdcage for cards and I used a basket with flowers and cones for the confetti. I also mades candle holders out of used jars and lace and used buckets for the favours, again with added lace. We added these to all of the tables and candles around the girders of the barn. We bought bunting through Ebay which we decorated the balcony of the balcony with and between the beams.
Our BIG LOVE sign from Typical Type was the best extra touch, it looked lovely behind our top table. This was such a favourite and an excellent photo opportunity for guests.
I loved our favours. We bought personalised M&M’s, we added a photo and text to these and then put them into buckets wrapped with lace. To top it off we added my favourite Mr Kipling cake, a French Fancy.
My cake was made by my sister. She has her own cake business and also makes intricate flowers and roses out of icing. The cake was 4 tiers, the bottom tier a fake one. One cake was chocolate with chocolate buttercream, one with orange buttercream and a vanilla sponge with lemon cream.
We used Taste Cuisine as our caterers. Again, the team were fantastic. I had a lot of requests from guests and Zoe had a lot of changes and requests to deal with from me. But everything was dealt with so well. Due to allergies and food requirements we offered a few options. Luckily, Taste Cuisine offers a menu tasting session, so we had the chance to try a few options already and the food was just gorgeous.
Our photographers were Kelly and Paul from Paul Joseph Photography. They were absolutely fantastic and I would and have been recommending them to everyone I speak to, including my own clients.
Both of them were awesome and so easy going. Paul calmed me down before the church and together they made our day so much fun. With this and our Love Shoot, we are in love with our images and are so happy with each one. I couldn’t recommend them enough.
I can’t have a definite favourite part of the day. It was all just so perfect. I’ve worked on a number of weddings and seen a lot of excitement and perfection for them for their day. To feel it yourself, the excitement, happiness and general emotion is just unexplainable.
During the day we had Champagne in the morning, Rob had given me a bottle of Bollinger for me and the girls to have whist we were getting ready. I did the hair and makeup for all of my bridesmaids, as I wanted to keep busy rather than worrying.
I did love our first dance, it was such a special moment for the both of us. It was like everyone had disappeared, Although, that was the moment that I crumbled! Even still the crying didn’t alter the special feeling that there was during that moment.
We have literally just returned from our delayed honeymoon in Mauritius. Mauritius was just what we needed. It is absolutely delightful and such a stunning place.
My top tip for other Brides Up North would be prepare, be organised and make lists and timelines! They help so much. I stupidly left a lot of decor things till maybe 1-2 months before the day. Because I decided to do a lot of the decor myself, this was not enough time. Especially with work commitments.
So if you are planning on doing a lot yourself, definitely plan ahead. I would say you want your last couple of months before the date to enjoy the build up. Everything comes together in the end, and your day will be fantastic.
