When putting together this post on Christina and Chris’s wedding I actually cried. The sentiment of Christina’s words regarding her family, who she clearly loves dearly, is so sincere that I couldn’t help welling up with a couple of tears then sent streaming down my face when she spoke of the dance she shared with her Granddad. A truly special moment that I’m sure she will cherish for years!
Keen to feel like
a real princess
for the day, Christina fell in love with Walworth Castle as the setting for the big day. Along with the help of groom Chris, she then planned an elegant wedding that was special yet simple, keeping the main focus on what weddings are all about – love!With images by Essence of the Moment Photography.
christina says:
We got engaged in July 2013 in Las Vegas. Chris had planned to ask me outside the Bellagio as the fountains were playing and had been planning it for months, but due to the heat I fainted and ruined the moment. Instead, he asked me when we had been out for a lovely dinner that same evening back at our hotel. After checking that he had asked my Grandfather’s permission, I said yes.Our wedding date was 23rd August 2014. We selected this date as it was a bank holiday so we knew that people would be off work and able to attend and it would give us time together following our wedding.
We got married at Walworth Castle in West Auckland, Darlington. We chose this venue as being a History teacher I love castles and loved the idea of being a princess for the day. We looked at other venues but from the moment that we drove up the drive of the castle, I knew that it was perfect.
I wanted my wedding to be simple and elegant. I really wanted to focus on Chris and I getting married rather than anything else. I therefore tried to combine vintage ideas with elegance which would reflect both of our styles.
In terms of colours, I chose lilac and ivory as I felt that they were nice, summer shades and I also knew that my sister would look beautiful in lilac.
My wedding dress was from First Glance Bridal in Sunderland and was made by Allure Bridal. It was the second dress that I tried on and I instantly fell in love with it. I loved the delicate lace but also the train giving it a vintage yet dramatic feel. I never imagined that I would choose a form fitting dress, but from the moment that I put on the dress I knew that it was the one. I chose to only take my Grandmother with me when choosing a dress and she loved it too.
My shoes were made by an American designer and were modelled on Bella’s shoes from the Twilight movies as I fell in love with them when I first saw them in the Twilight wedding. My headpiece was from Rocks and Roses bridal boutique and my diamond bracelet was borrowed from my Grandmother.
Chris wore a grey suit with lilac accessories and an ivory waistcoat from Troughear Suit Hire at Gilesgate in Durham. The owner has been friends with my father in law for years so we knew that this was the place we would use. We chose grey as both my husband and his brother, the best man, have dark hair and I felt it would complement both their hair and skin tones and the colour scheme. Chris wore shoes from Kurt Geiger.
My sister, who was my maid of honour, wore a lilac Grecian style dress from a brand called Diva Sophia, which is stocked in Harrods. I felt that it would suit her figure and wanted her to feel comfortable as well as looking elegant. Her shoes were from Next and her clutch bag was from Accessorize.
The best man wore the same suit as Chris from Troughear Suit Hire as we wanted them to match and complement my sister’s dress.
Our photographer was Jed Wee from Essence of the Moment Photography. I would highly recommend Jed as he shot some beautiful photos and really captured our style and personalities. He made us feel very relaxed and was willing to be flexible with what we wanted. On the evening, my good friend Helen took many beautiful shots and we also had a photo booth to give us some slightly different images.
I love fresh flowers however when it came to my bouquet, I decided that I wanted something with more of a vintage feel and something that I could keep as a memento of the day. I therefore had my bouquets made by a company called Ditsy Bride, who I found online. She made me a beautiful bouquet with silk flowers, pearls, vintage brooches and lace and made a miniature version for my sister, plus she did the button holes. They were stunning.
For the reception I purchased and styled all of the decorations myself. I used several websites such as Not on the High Street and Confetti and also attended several wedding fayres to gather ideas. My chair covers and sashes were hired from Princess Occasions whom I found online and my sister took care of these for me, as she is fantastic with small details, while I decorated the venue. My centrepiece flowers came from Flowers 4 U, a local florist in Durham.
For favours the female guests had a small box designed on a bridal gown with two heart shaped chocolates inside and the male guests had a box in the shape of a suit with the same chocolates inside. The chocolates were from Hotel Chocolat and were wrapped in lilac foil. The children were given a heart-shaped chocolate lolly wrapped in lilac foil, again from Hotel Chocolat.
For the cake, we decided that we wanted a traditional fruit cake as it is Chris’s favourite and we knew it would be popular with our families. We were very lucky that Chris’s lovely Aunty Heather makes and sells beautiful cakes and offered to make our cake for us. We looked through several cake books and wedding magazines and eventually chose a petal and butterfly design with lilac detailing and ivory icing to match our colour scheme. Heather also made some beautiful cupcakes with the same lilac butterflies resting on the icing for the children.
The venue offered a resident DJ which we used for the disco. My grandparents paid for a Blackjack table for us as well supplied by Gray Events – we thought this would be fitting due to the fact that we got engaged in Las Vegas. We also had a photo booth from Boothalicious, which was very popular and we managed to capture some great photos which we were presented in an album at the end of the evening.
On the day we had a few special moments which made the day more personal to us. I decided to invite my mother in law to come up and see me in my dress when I was ready before I went downstairs to be married. We are very close and I wanted a moment just to see her without other people. This was a lovely moment and I am so glad that I did it.
Also, during the reception, I decided to do a speech as well as Chris as I wanted to thank my grandparents and parents in law personally for all of their support and also wanted to thank my grandparents for their unwavering support in bringing me up. I thought that this added a special touch to the speeches and took some of the pressure off Chris.
Finally, after Chris and I did our first dance, I chose to also do a dance with my Grandfather to Tina Turner’s Simply the Best to show him how grateful I am for all of his support and for our relationship. My Grandad didn’t know about this and he was very surprised but touched.
We would definitely recommend Walworth Castle to anybody looking to get married in the North East. Lou and Surinder, the managers, are both so friendly and fantastic and made us feel constantly at ease. The price was excellent and this included exclusive use of the venue with the promise of no other weddings that day. The food was fantastic and the day ran very smoothly due to the lovely staff across all departments.
My favourite part of the day was getting ready in the morning with my Grandmother and Sister. We were all so excited and after six years, I couldn’t wait to marry Chris in front of the people who mean to the most to us. We were all very relaxed and loved watching the guests arrive from our Tower Room window as we did our makeup.
Due to us both returning to work after the wedding, we decided to wait and have our honeymoon this summer. We are going to stay in a beautiful cottage in the grounds of a castle in Scotland for a week where we can enjoy some lovely walks, hopefully some barbecues and also take our lovely little dog Missy.
My top tip for other Brides Up North is to remember the reason why you are getting married and focus on that. It is so easy to get too caught up in the planning and budgeting and forget the purpose of the day. We had a small wedding of 50 and it was perfect as the day was focused on two people getting married rather than the centrepieces or entertainment.
For a groom, I would say make sure that you have one thing that you can call your own and plan within the wedding. The world of weddings is generally dominated by females, but by having one part of the wedding that you decide on keeps you involved. My husband chose the cake and food and it was perfect.
Our wedding day was the best day of my life. All of our best friends and closest family were there and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day!
