Real Weddings

in the pink: morilee for a blushing big day at sandburn hall – lucy & martin

Aislinn Thompson

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Happy Monday y’all! Today’s beauty of a real wedding between Lucy and Martin centres around a lovely, delicate blush pink theme that tones beautifully with the blue of the boys’ suits and works in harmony with the subtle rustic vibe of the day.

Sandburn Hall, where the couple held their nuptials, lends itself perfectly to such a natural-styled wedding, with gorgeous exposed beams perfect for twining around fairy lights and a panoramic rural view that creates a fabulous backdrop to the ceremony and wedding breakfast.

One of our favourite details has to be the somewhat clever cake. From the front, it’s a simple and elegant design topped with two figures resembling the bride and groom, even down to Martin’s unique beard! But head round the back of the cake and you’ll find a whole host of Lego figures working hard to finish their creation. It’s details like this that guests remember from the day and it’s lovely to offer the odd surprise here and there.

Talking of surprises, thoughtful groom Martin arranged for a mint green VW campervan to pick Lucy up and transport her to Sandburn on the day of the wedding, simply because it’s her favourite. And we adore the time and thought invested into the table plan displaying photos of each guest – a lovely idea and serves two purposes; getting guests to the right table while giving them a smile en route. Tell us more, Lucy …

With images by All You Need is Love Photography.

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lucy says

: We got engaged on 28th March 2016. We were having a lazy Bank Holiday Monday, trying to decide what to do with our day as our plans had been cancelled. Martin went off to make breakfast but came back upstairs shortly afterwards and said, “I know what we can do today.” He pulled the ring out of his pocket and said, “Let’s get married!” It was a complete surprise. I don’t think I’ve ever been so speechless in my life. It took me a good few hours to be able to talk normally again!

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We got married on 24th March 2018 at Sandburn Hall in York, where we had both our ceremony and reception. Sandburn has a restaurant called Tykes that has always been one of our favourite places to eat and, even before we got engaged, we’d always said it would be a great place to get married. It’s beautiful inside and out, with beams and a light open space.

We wanted a relaxed, fun day with everything in one place and Sandburn provided that, so we’d definitely recommend the venue to others. Our wedding coordinator Rhian was great and helped massively throughout our planning. She made sure the day ran seamlessly. We can’t fault the venue at all. The rest of the staff on the day worked so hard and a lot of them were there from start to finish, which is a long day, and yet the smiles never left their faces.

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We didn’t choose a particular theme but it ended up being quite rustic with logs and flowers on the tables. We just wanted something quite simple and natural. The room is so lovely on its own that it didn’t need much decoration.

Colour-wise, we went for a blush pink as we had found bridesmaid dresses from Dorothy Perkins we liked that were blush pink, so we used this colour for the rest of the wedding.

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I got my Morilee dress from the Bridal Factory Outlet in Northallerton. I tried on several different dresses to see what suited as I had no idea what I would like and, when I put my dress on, it just felt right. It had an oyster-coloured layer under the lace, which gave it an almost vintage colouring, and lots of lace detail.

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The bridal party’s makeup was done by Natalie Greenwell and Megan Boyne did our hair. They are both very talented ladies based in York.

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Martin wore a blue suit from Ben Sherman, while our groomsmen wore blue suits from Next.

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When it came to travelling to the venue, Martin is a classic car fanatic and has a Ford Capri and he’d always said he wanted to drive himself in it to the wedding. I was staying at Griffon Lodges, which is only a five-minute drive from Sandburn, so I decided not to get a car. Martin’s dad has a Ford Cortina, so we arranged that I would be driven to the venue in the Cortina. However, Martin surprised me on the day with a VW campervan (my favourite!) to pick me up. The campervan was provided by Gareth Dunn.

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Our photographer was Becki of All You Need is Love Photography. I would absolutely recommend her. We contacted Becki after a friend recommended her. On the day, Becki fitted in like one of the guests and made everyone feel at ease. We love our photos; they capture the day perfectly.

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The bouquets for me and my bridesmaid were provided by Mouse House Floral Designs in Pocklington. We also had lots of jars around the venue with flowers in, which we did ourselves with flowers from York market. Jackie, a family friend, did the flowers on the top table for us.

Our fairy lights were provided by Wedding Venue Lighting and Weddings & Dreams provided the seat covers. Both were great – we had no problems at all.

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For the favours, we had little boxes with a range of sweets in them.

Our wedding cake was a little different from usual – it looked like a normal wedding cake from the front with blush ribbon and flowers to match our decorations. On the back, however, we had a Lego cake with little Lego men who were finishing the cake off. It was made by Judith Hannah.

For the wedding breakfast, our starter was duck spring rolls, followed by a beef dinner and finished with sticky toffee pudding. In the evening, we had a barbecue-type buffet. The food was amazing, and everyone commented on how tasty it all was. Tykes Restaurant is known for the quality of its meat, so we always knew the food was going to be good.

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In the evening we had a disco by Richard Saltmarsh, who also provided a photobooth. We wanted something that would get everyone up and having a good time. The dancefloor was never empty and there was even a Dirty Dancing routine by the boys after a few beers!

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Looking back, our favourite part of the day would have to be having all our friends and family in one room as many are now placed all over the country so seeing them regularly is tricky.

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For our honeymoon, we went to the Sensatori Azul resort in Mexico. It was a lovely 5-star resort. After such a hectic few weeks it was great to relax, enjoy the sun and eat (lots!) The staff couldn’t do enough for us and we went on some great excursions, swimming with dolphins being a particular highlight.

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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be don’t sweat the small stuff. As a bride you panic over all the small touches and, on the day, all that matters is having a great time with your family and friends. You forget all about those small things that you’ve stressed about for months!

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