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pops of pink. a bespoke dress for a romantic wedding at denton hall – katie & james

Julia Braime

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (43)

Not every bride’s dream dress is found hanging on the rails of a bridal boutique as this morning’s bride Katie goes to show.

Having envisaged the type of gown that she would love to walk the aisle in, Katie found a talented dress maker to bring her wedding wishes to life. The result is a stunning fishtail lace dress with beautiful capped sleeves, which we love.

The big day took place at Denton Hall – a

stunning venue

 in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, which we will soon be visiting for ourselves to stage our spring Luxury Wedding Exhibition. So if you want to see this fabulous hall for yourself, be sure to join us between 11am and 3pm on Sunday 17th April 2016.

With images by Bethany Clarke Photography.

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (36)

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (31)

katie says:

 James and I met at whilst I was at university in Newcastle. We subsequently moved to my home town of Leeds and after spending two years renovating our home, we were very excited to be spending our first Christmas there together.

As Christmas is my most favourite time of the year, James set about to make that Christmas the most special of all. On Christmas Eve James cooked a fabulous meal. We resided to our living room, which James had filled with candles, and he proposed by the Christmas tree. He arranged for us to spend a night at the Savoy in London, and for us to choose an engagement ring together. It was magical.

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (57)

The number 13 is lucky for us, so we set the date 13th June. We hoped for beautiful summer weather to enjoy the fabulous views from our venue. Our friends laugh as the weather forecast was driving rain until the morning of our wedding. We were so lucky to have the most beautiful hazy summer’s day.

James found our wedding reception venue. He’s a keen cyclist and often cycled past Denton Hall and so he arranged for us to go to see it. We fell in love with it the moment we walked through the door! The grand hall is nestled within the beautiful Ilkley countryside with the most stunning views, which we made the most of during our drinks reception.

For the ceremony, we both wanted a small traditional church wedding and we were lucky enough to marry at the picture perfect St Helen’s church in Denton, Ilkley. Denton Hall is about 200 metres from the church, so after the ceremony we walked, with our guests, across to the hall.

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (3)

We had a clear vision for the day and had only our closest 50 friends and family to the ceremony and day celebrations, which allowed the wedding to remain very personal and intimate. Although there wasn’t a theme as such, we used beautiful flowers in mercury glass vases and a mass of candles to create a romantic atmosphere.

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (12)

I found a fabulous dress maker at Bridal Apparel in Leeds, to help make my dream gown. She helped me to work out which style of dress would be most suited to my figure and the result was just what I had hoped for. A relaxed fishtail design with sweetheart neckline, capped sleeves and a low back. My dress was the most beautiful lace with extensive beading, which I wore with a cathedral-length silk veil. I wore minimal jewellery – pearl drop earrings, a ‘something borrowed’ pearl bracelet which belong to my mum and a rose flower arrangement in my hair. I also had some beautiful Jimmy Choo shoes.

James wears a suit for work so he wanted to wear something a little different for our big day. He and his groomsmen wore three piece navy tails suits with champagne coloured pocket squares – they looked very dapper!

My two bridesmaids wore elegant floor-length champagne coloured dresses, teamed with a relaxed ‘up do’ hairstyle.

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (17)

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (49)

Our photographer was Bethany Clarke. I had seen some of her beautiful editorial work and was so thrilled to find out the Beth also covers weddings. Her pictures are relaxed and informal and we hardly even knew she was there on the day. We are over the moon with the pictures!

We also asked a good friend ours Dave, to film snap shots of the wedding. He created the most perfect short film and showed this to us on return from our honeymoon. We are both so grateful to have this special memory.

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (22)

On the morning of the wedding I was most excited about our florist Sarah at Leafy Couture, dropping off the bridal party flowers. They were exquisite! My bridesmaids and I carried a handtied bouquet, featuring Sarah B Peonies, hot pink, pale pink and ivory David Austin roses, sweet peas, lilac, mint, and rosemary. The stems were bound with lace. I loved the bright pop of colour from the hot pink roses. James and the wedding party wore a beautiful avalanche rose with detailing from my bouquet.

For the venue we had some floral large arrangements and then on the tables used small mercury silver pots filled with avalanche roses – the smell was divine! We’d also printed out a mass of pictures of all our guests which we hung around the library in the venue. This gave a very personal feel to the room and provided much amusement.

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (30)

As favours we gave our guests out Molton Brown moisturisers, which I love and they went down a treat.

We used a family friend Zoe’s Fancy Cakes to make our wedding cake. We decided on a colourful pink macaroon tower (which complemented the bouquet) sat on a single tier of fruit cake. Zoe is so talented, everyone commented on how different the cake was. It was so good that neither James nor I were quick enough to have a piece!

James and I love good food and wine and were fortunate to have Michelin-Star Box Tree Events cater for our day. The food was faultless! As canapes our good friend Dan baked sundried tomato and chilli breadsticks, which we served alongside cones of popcorn and pretzel. This definitely helped to keep a relaxed feel to the day. For the evening food we had a hog roast and some of my closet friends baked, which meant we ended up with a bit of a wedding bake off! The cakes were a great!

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (32)

To provide some musical entertainment during our drinks reception we hired a brilliant solo artist to sing on the terrace, just outside the hall. In the evening we had Funkified – a Nottingham based nine-piece soul and funk band – to play. The dance floor was absolutely packed all night! Funkified really helped to make the evening memorable, with the sax player standing on the bar! I would recommend Funkified for any wedding as long as we can have an invite!

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (39)

We would not hesitate to recommend Denton Hall to other brides and grooms. From start to finish Hannah at Denton Hall, and Michelle at The Box Tree, catered for our every need – they were absolutely faultless.

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (46)

Picking a favourite part of the day is very difficult, though being able to speak to all our guests and enjoy prosecco in the sunshine during the drinks reception was a definite highlight. I also really enjoyed the walk from the bridal suite at Denton Hall to the church on the morning of the wedding.

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (56)

We honeymooned in America. I’m not much of a sun worshiper so we decided to start married life with a road trip. We travelled to New York, San Fran, Yosemite, Big Sur, LA, Vegas and San Diego. It really was the trip of a life time.

An Elegant Wedding at Hilltop Country House (c) Bethany Clarke Photography (60)

My top tip to other Brides Up North is – be organised! Start making plans soon after your engagement then you have more time to relax as the big day draws near. Also, on the day take time to look around the room and appreciate your lovely friends and family who will help make your day simply perfect and one you will never forget.

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comments

  • April 9, 2016 | Permalink | Reply

    beautiful wedding, stunning photos looks like a really happy day x

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