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monochrome magic. justin alexander for an outdoor wedding at horton grange – katie & michael

Julia Braime

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (25)

As much as we love to see a colourful wedding, nothing quite says class like a simple black and white themed celebration, just like the one we are sharing with you on the blog today!

Bride Katie dreamt of a timeless wedding which led her to choose a monochrome palette with little pops of pastel added along the way as a nod to the summer season.

Tying the knot outdoors, Katie and Michael’s wedding is simple, elegant and sophisticated and provides lots of lovely inspiration for those of you planning open-air “I dos”.

With images by Helen Russell Photography.

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (27)

katie says:

Michael proposed at home just after we watched a romantic film. To me this was the best way of proposing because it was just us two in our new home, doing what we enjoy most.

Our wedding was on 26th July 2015 at Horton Grange in Northumberland. We chose this summer date because we wanted an outdoor ceremony and the venue appealed to us because we are a private couple and so the small intimate setting was just perfect. The venue’s band stand also provided the perfect option for our outdoor ceremony.

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (20)

The theme for our wedding was a classic vintage look. I am very traditional and love old things. I also handmade most items for the wedding so that it was sentimental to us.

The colour scheme was black and white which we decided on because it makes a bold statement as well as being classically elegant and timeless. I added touches of grey and pastels to complement the black and white and just gave things a more summery feel when I felt it was necessary.

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (1)

My dress was by Justin Alexander, which I purchased it from Mia Sposa in Newcastle. Again the look I wanted to achieve was timeless elegance so I didn’t want any beading or jewels on the dress. With the wedding being black and white I needed to find a white wedding dress that wouldn’t drain me so I felt tulle and lace complemented my skin tone the best.

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (3)

Michael’s suit was a classic Ted Baker dinner suit purchased from Moss Bros in Newcastle. He wore a white shirt, white waistcoat and white tie with the suit which looked very classic together.

The bridesmaids wore a Jenny Packham tea-length dress purchased from Debenhams. They had small white daisies stitched all over them and they brought a summer feel to a monochrome scheme. I loved them because they were a similar shape to my wedding dress.

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (8)

For our wedding day transport we hired a Bentley and a Mercedes.

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (11)

Helen Russell was our photographer, who we knew we had to hire after seeing our friend’s wedding photos that she had taken. Helen’s work is very whimsical and natural which is exactly what we wanted. Our album is the best part about our wedding and we love looking back at our gorgeous, natural album.

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (13)

Charlotte’s House of Flowers supplied the flowers for our wedding. The bridesmaids carried gyp and I carried a large bouquet with gyp, hydrangeas and roses.

I handmade most of the decorations for the wedding. I decorated jars and they were filled with gyp. I also used things such as teacups, teapots, jugs and lanterns for my centrepieces. They were filled with a mixture of roses, gyp and hydrangeas and stood on cut down tree trunks to give the tables an outdoor feel. I also made the invitations, name cards, confetti, seating plan and guest book myself.

We hired vintage chairs and lace bows from The Finishing Touch Company, which were perfect for the look that we wanted to achieve.

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (33)

We wanted to give our guests a favour that they would keep and so decided on sterling silver spoons that were made in to keyrings. They were all engraved with the guest’s name and our wedding date. We loved the idea of this because it was something personal to our guests and some of the spoons were extremely old, which tied in with our theme. I always see our favours on our guests’ keyrings so they were definitely a worthy favour. I bought the favours from a market stall in Tynemouth Station. I would definitely recommend these if anyone struggles for a unique, personal favour that guests can treasure.

The Designer Cake Company made our wonderful wedding cake. We chose a vintage style bird cage with cupcakes. We thought cupcakes were a good idea so that guests could help themselves. We chose this company to make our cake because we were so impressed with the detail on their cakes. The attention to detail was immaculate and they pride themselves on organisation and perfection. I was so confident that Isabelle at The Designer Cake Company would make us the most perfect looking cake, and she did! The cake also tasted amazing too!

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (36)

To provide some musical entertainment we booked the Arco String Quartet to play at the ceremony. The music was extremely powerful which made the ceremony more emotional and personal to us. All of our guests enjoyed the music they played and commented on how fantastic they were. For the evening we booked The Disco Company as our DJ.

One very fun part of the wedding was the evening buffet. We hired the Marco Polo pizza van and our guests could eat as many pizzas as they liked. The pizzas were beautiful and definitely hit the spot after a few drinks!

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (16)

Horton Grange is a gorgeous venue and so I would definitely recommend it to couples looking for a small and intimate venue that serves good food! It is a very relaxed place to be married yet it has the feel of a grand stately home.

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (24)

We had planned a honeymoon to Florence in Italy however we’ve had to put it on hold for a while because we have a little boy to welcome to the world later this month.

A Monochrome Wedding at Horton Grange (c) Helen Russell Photography (43)

My top tip to other Brides Up North would be to relax and enjoy planning the wedding. Things can go wrong on the day, whether it’s the weather or a mistake. However, none of that matters on your wedding day because you will still marry the person you love and you can always have a brilliant day with the people you care about around you.

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