North East Wedding

real wedding recap: justin alexander for a dreamy pink wedding in the north east – claire & anthony

Rachel Hirst

It’s holiday season here on the blog, and as the editorial team take a short break, we’ll be leaving you with a reduced blogging schedule so that you still get your daily dose of wedding lovely. Usual service will recommence on Monday 4th July 2016 but in the meantime watch out for recaps of some of our favourite Real Weddings so far this year. 

Drop in every day for the very prettiest, most unique wedding inspiration and – if you are a Brides Up North bride – to see if your real wedding was one of our top picks.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

There’s pretty – and then there’s today’s real wedding pretty! Just wow!

As soon as we saw the images of Claire & Anthony’s big day we fell head over heels in love. Picture perfect, we adore all elements of this stunning celebration: from the pastel pink colour palette and soft blooms to the cake, décor and Claire’s gorgeous Justin Alexander gown.

Ladies, make sure you’re sitting down for this one – it may cause weakness of the knees!

With images by Katy Melling Photography.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

claire says:

We got engaged during a surprise weekend away in June 2013, which Anthony had organised. He took me for afternoon tea at Betty’s in Harrogate as he knows I love cakes. This was followed by an exciting stay at Rudding Park Hotel, in Harrogate. When we got to our hotel room, champagne and roses awaited us. As I checked out the room, Anthony dropped to one knee and pulled out a gorgeous ring. He gave an emotional speech and I said yes, of course. We celebrated that evening by having a delicious steak dinner at the hotel restaurant and drinking more champagne. I later heard that he had asked my father for his approval. I thought this was lovely as I’m an old romantic.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

Our wedding was on 7th September 2014. We chose this date as we had always wanted a September wedding as the weather always seems to be nicer at that time of year.

We chose Close House, in Heddon-on-the-Wall, as our venue. This was because we didn’t want a church wedding but didn’t want to compromise on the beauty of our venue. We set our hearts on Close House as it was a short drive from Newcastle, but felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, with fantastic views of the rolling countryside. Close House itself is a beautiful Georgian style venue but we felt like we had two venues in one as the evening reception was held in the golf club house.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

The theme for the wedding was classic elegance. I chose this theme as it fitted in with our venue but it was also very glamorous. Our colour scheme was pinks and white, which I chose as they complemented each other well and provided a little colour, without being overwhelming.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland

My dress was from The Harrogate Wedding Lounge. It was a fitted lace Justin Alexander Signature design. The dress was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. It had pearl and diamante beading around the bust and waist with a silver under layer. There was then diamante buttons all the way down the back of the dress and along the train. I felt like a princess in my dress. It was gorgeous, and despite the length, it was easy to wear.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

To accessorise my dress I wore silver jewellery, which Anthony had given me throughout our relationship. I also wore pink diamond Carat chandelier earrings, which Anthony gave me as a wedding present. On my feet I wore my dream wedding shoes – a pair of sparkly peep-toe Jimmy Choos. This was topped off by a full-length Joyce Jackson veil with lace scalloping around the edges. It was inspired by Kim Kardashian’s epic veil!

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

Anthony hired a traditional morning suit from Moss Bros with an off white cravat and handkerchief so that he stood out from the ushers and best man, who wore identical suits but with pink cravats and handkerchiefs. Anthony completed his look with black Kurt Geiger shoes and a Michael Kors watch, which was a wedding present from me.

My bridesmaids wore Jenny Packham dresses from Debenhams. The dresses were dusky pink and fell just below their knees. They were rushed under the bust and had intricate beading across the chest.

On the morning of the wedding Carolyn Clayton took care of mine and my bridesmaids’ hair and Kitty Kerry did our makeup.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

Our wedding photographer was Katy Melling, who we would highly recommend. I just love her soft romantic style. We also had the day filmed by videographers, Tait2 Productions.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

My flowers were created by Wedding Flowers for You. I had a mix of white and pink roses with white hydrangea heads.

Rather than spending lots of money on actual decorations for the venue, I chose to decorate the room with lots of floral decorations. I also had two large planters containing white hydrangeas at the door to greet the guests on arrival. In the evening we had a candlelit walkway from the main house to the club house where our evening reception was. I also hired a white and silver post box for guests to deliver their cards.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

Our delicious four-tier stacked wedding cake was made by The Master Cakesmith. The cake was made of up of alternate layers of strawberry and Madagascan vanilla and white chocolate and raspberry, and was decorated with pink peonies.

For our wedding breakfast, which was delicious, we had salmon with asparagus to start followed by medium cooked fillet steaks. Dessert was a sumptuous lemon tart with summer berries on the side. We had great fun sampling the wedding menu in the run up to our wedding.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

In terms of entertainment, guests were treated to music by Arco String Quartet upon arrival. They continued to play modern songs during our drinks reception on the lawns. Later, in evening, we had a DJ and surprised our guests with a spectacular firework display to Rule the World by Take That, which was managed by Impact Pyrotechnics.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

My favourite part of the day had to be walking down the aisle with my dad towards the man I love, surrounded by all our close friends and relatives.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

For our honeymoon we spent four nights in Dubai followed by a week in The Maldives. In Dubai we stayed at the Atlantis. We drove through the desert in sand riders, had afternoon tea at the Burj Arab, went to the top of the Burj Khalifa and shopped at Dubai mall. We also ate in some fabulous restaurants, such as Nobu. Then in The Maldives we drank cocktails under the stars, planted our own coconut tree and went snorkelling with manta rays.

Claire and Anthony Wedding, Close House, Northumberland, north east wedding photography

My top tip to other Brides Up North is – if you like to wear your makeup or hair in a certain way, then do it. Don’t feel like you have to conform to a certain bridal image. You will feel more confident if you are happy with your look.

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