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I told you that the pretty wasn’t going to let up in the run up to Christmas!  This afternoon’s beautiful Real Wedding sent to me by Brides Up North reader Alice is totally one for the girly girls (who, moi?) and includes all my favourite things: layer upon layer of crisp white tulle, a duo of dainty flower girls, plenty of pink peonies, a tower of gilt edged cake and lots and lots of dancing.

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Perfect. 

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With images by John Hesford. 

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Alice says:  We got engaged in October 2011 at the Fox and Hounds pub in Hurworth sitting on the river bank. We followed it up with a lovely curry at Akbar’s in Middlesbrough. Jonathan’s original plan was a romantic picnic somewhere but it was too cold!

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We were married on 22nd June 2012 at Sadberge Parish Church (St Andrews) and the reception was at Crathorne Hall, Yarm.  Our theme was traditional with a pretty vintage twist.

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We chose Crathorne Hall because we loved the building and the surroundings.  Due to the reception room being a deep red, we struggled initially to find a colour palette that would suit.  We ended up having everything cream, light gold and very pale pink.

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I had been working in a bridal shop (Grace The Weddings Company) when we got engaged so I didn’t want to have a dress that I’d seen many other brides in. So I decided to go for a very simple, yet rather big, princess style dress with not a single bead or diamante on it. It had a taffeta top with a tulle skirt made up of many, many layers. I’m not a very glitzy girl so I had a short ivory, ribbon edged veil and had a tiara made by the fantastic Sue Webster, Darlington. It consisted of pearls, vintage lace a few sparkles. Sue also made me a pearl bracelet and some pearl earrings. My shoes were ivory silk with a bow on the front.

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We got the bridesmaid dresses and the men’s outfits from the bridal shop I worked at – Grace The Weddings Company, Darlington. The colour of the bridesmaid’s dresses was ‘palomino’ – a deep cream. The dresses were chiffon with one shoulder and came from the supplier Dessy.

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My little bridesmaids wore mini versions of my dress with a satin top with straps and a full tulle skirt. The dresses had a satin belt around the middle which fastened with a tulle flower at the back.

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The men’s suits were supplied by Cameron Ross.  All the suits were dark grey Italian silk – Jon wore a 3 piece suit and the groomsmen wore a 2 piece. Harry, our page boy – also Jonathan’s son, wore trousers and a waistcoat. All the men wore black paisley skinny ties and we made some pale pink pocket squares out of a shirt (was so hard to find the right colour fabric)!

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I carried a bouquet of white avalanche roses, cream roses and pale pink peonies by Claire Metcalfe. 

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We used Lovedubcars – all the bridesmaids and mum went in a VW camper van and my dad and I travelled in an old VW Beetle. Due to the adverse weather conditions, Rachael from Lovedubcars swapped the Beetle for a camper van during the church service to take us to the reception. They made the journey so memorable for us by providing a bottle of champagne to drink on the way.

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All of our invitations, table settings, table plan, candle holders and order of services were handmade by us. We also put together favours which were in ivory metal buckets – the men received a mini aftershave, a Volkswagen camper van key ring (to remind them of the wedding cars), and a love heart shaped chocolate. The ladies also received an ivory metal bucket with a heart shaped tea light, a pink love heart chocolate and a small packet of love heart sweets. Everybody was given a small glass tube of bubbles with a heart shaped lid.

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One of my closest friends has her own cake business – Cakes By Melia – so I gave her the colour scheme and wedding theme and let her come up with a design. It was perfect! It had cascading roses and a vintage birdcage as the top tier. Everyone was wowed by the cake!

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Entertainment was easy to organise – my brother is a professional drummer and he sorted out a fantastic band for us. It was headed up by Caterina Rea who did an excellent job. It turned into an open mic night by the end with different members of the family getting up and singing. Very good fun!

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There were so many great parts to the day! I think the evening party was the highlight – it was great to be surrounded by all of our friends, family and the fantastic music.

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After the wedding we honeymooned in Southern Corfu and stayed in a beautiful hotel called Restia Suites – It was amazing!

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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to take in every detail on the day – make the most of every second. It goes by so fast! We really appreciate John Hesford, our photographer, for capturing so many of these memorable moments and intricate details on the day that we would not otherwise had seen.

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Congratulations Alice & Jonathan!

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Contact me to see your own Real Wedding featured on Brides Up North. 

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2012 John Hesford 

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