.

.

.

Welcome to Tuesday Brides Up North!  No “it’s only the middle of the month and the overdraft is maxed on wedding paraphernalia” dreariness here!  No way Jose!

.

Only the stunningly beautiful Real Wedding of North East couple Stephanie & Martin, with images by Andrew Billington Photography.  Crisp, cool and romantic, Stephanie and Martin’s big day is contemporary, fresh and oh so lovely. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Stephanie says:  We stayed at a romantic farm cottage in Hexham on New Years Eve 2010 – Martin proposed outside of the cottage before we went out for the evening. 

.

.

.

.

We were married on 23rd August 2012 at Eshott Hall, Northumberland.  It was exactly what I had imagined for us. It’s a period building with lots of character but intimate and smaller than other Halls I had been to. It felt very special.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

We opted for a simple colour scheme of ivory, pink and white.  I chose a lace over tulle San Patrick wedding dress with spaghetti straps and a heart shaped bust, from Wendy Coles Bridal in Monkwearmouth.

.

My bridesmaids wore coral rose coloured full length strapless dresses from Coast and the boys wore suits from French Connection. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

My sister, Lisa McNamara, who is a hairdresser based in Boldon did my ‘do. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I carried a hand tied bouquet of roses in dusty pink and ivory by Jan Watters, East Boldon.   

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Aurora Strings played during the day on the lawn and we chose Jason Issacs – a fabulous swing singer – to sing in the evening. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

We had a very special guest – an RAF Sea King helicopter!  It was a flyover from RAF Boulmer as Martin is a Search & Rescue helicopter pilot.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The food at Eshott was fabulous, and I loved getting married on the stairs below the stained glass window – it felt really special and different to any wedding I had been to.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Our cake was a combination of two tiers of fruit & one sponge decorated with pink icing roses, made by Martins grandparents who are (handily!) retired bakers.  We also chose a cake of cheese – bought from Fenwick’s food hall, Newcastle.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Martin made flight tickets for the guests and the destinations were places we had either been or were going to on our honeymoon, and they were the names of the tables.

.

We also left postcards of the places on the tables so that people could write us a special message and the beers on the table matched the table names – e.g. Phuket table had Chang beer & the Barcelona table had San Miguel beer etc!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

There were a few favourite moments for me.  Martin did a rhyming speech which was hilarious and Martin’s brother sang during the ceremony which was really special.

.

.

.

.

.

.

After the wedding we took a long honeymoon and travelled around Thailand for three weeks. 

.

.

.

.

My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to stay true to what you originally want for your wedding – don’t be swayed by expensive stuff and extras that you don’t really need.

.

.

.

.

Congratulations Stephanie & Martin!

.

.

Get in touch to see your own Real Wedding featured on these pretty pages.

.

.

Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2012 Andrew Billington Photography

This is not a sponsored post

Contact Brides Up North to submit your business as a Featured Supplier

.

.