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Over the festive period I’ll be recapping some of my very favourite Real Weddings from the last 12 months on the wedding blog. It’s been a tough choice! In true Brides Up North style, each wedding featured on these pages is unique, beautiful and gorgeously personal. It’s been an exceptionally fabulous year! Enjoy…

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Not technically a Real Wedding, granted, but I just couldn’t leave this super duper stunning Real Engagement shoot sent to me by fabulous Brides Up North Featured Supplier Sarah Mason Photography and Brides Up North reader Amy out of my Real Wedding Recap 2012.  You’ll soon see why.  I die!

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Sarah says:  Fiona from Firenza Floral Design approached me about working together on this shoot. All her floral loveliness had been created for a seasonal inspired wedding fair and she saw it as a fab opportunity for us to work together the following week. We’ve included a few detail shots of the beautiful flowers as it was these that inspired the dreamlike, ethereal quality to the shoot. I knew Amy and Grant were the perfect couple and we brought our pre-wedding shoot forward.

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The location is Hardcastle Crags, a mile out of Hebden Bridge. I have used this amazing place as a backdrop to a few of my shoots – it’s an enchanted woodland! It’s National Trust owned. They actually have an amazing venue in the middle of the woods called Gibson Mill, just stunning!

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Bride to be Amy says: We got engaged on 27 November 2010. We’d been together 7 years and talked about marriage a lot so it wasn’t unexpected, but it was lovely! I had just finished my first teaching placement so Grant took me to a fine dining restaurant in Leeds during the day as a treat, and we went to the Christmas Markets, so we’d had a really nice day. Then he told me we needed to drop in at his brother’s. On the way he took a diversion and drove to the bus stop where we’d shared our first kiss, 7 years earlier! The snow was glistening all around us and Grant was down on one knee – he presented me with a ring he’d bought from my favourite jewellers in Sydney 6 MONTHS EARLIER! He had been waiting to ask my parents’ permission before asking me!

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We are getting married in June 2012 at Clay House in West Vale, Halifax. It’s lovely Jacobean house that’s licenced for civil ceremonies, and we’re having the whole day there.

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We met while we were in Romeo and Juliet – we are both members of an acting group called The Actors’ Workshop, but had never met or been in anything together until then. The first time Grant laid eyes on me, I was at a costume call, wearing an Elizabethan gown! I thought ‘Who is that guy in the hat?’ (he wore a lot of beanies back then) and he thought ‘Who is the girl in the dress?’ . We got to know each other through rehearsals, and I managed to get his number through a mutual friend after the play finished. I was so nervous when I first got in touch, but he was very happy that I did!

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The first time we met up after getting in touch after the play was in a local pub. We chatted for hours and totally lost track of the time.

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For me, there wasn’t a ‘moment’ when I knew that he was the one. I think I always knew! Grant has always told me that he knew when, one night, I was at a friend’s house and Grant and his friend came over. I saw the car out of the window and ran down to greet him. He says that when he saw me running towards him, excited to see him, he knew that he never wanted to be away from me.

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I love Grant’s loyalty and his desire, every day, to make me happy. He supports me in everything I do and makes me feel like together, we can do anything! No dream is too big! I also love his silliness; he can always make me smile. And he has the most beautiful, kind eyes.

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We chose to have an engagement shoot because it was a good way to get to know our photographer before the wedding day, and learn some poses and angles that we like! We were both a bit nervous, but Sarah immediately put us at ease and it was a really enjoyable couple of hours. It was nice to have some time together, away from work and home. It felt really intimate, even though there was someone taking our picture! The setting, with all the gorgeous props and flowers, was incredible and we felt so lucky to be a part of it! It has definitely made us feel more relaxed about the day. We’re going to use some of the images around the venue and as part of the Order of the Day.

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I’m a Brides Up North reader because I love reading the real wedding and real engagement features for inspiration. I’ve done lots of DIY for the wedding to try and keep costs down, and I’m always on the lookout for ideas! It’s also a great place to look for local suppliers as they’re all from the North.

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Our biggest wish for married life is that it doesn’t pass as quickly as the last 9 years! We hope to emigrate to Australia and at the moment, our biggest wish is that this happens! We’ll be delighted to come back and share our Real Wedding photographs on the wedding blog.

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Grant says: I love how much Amy makes me laugh, she has a brilliant sense of humour which for me is very important. In a lot of ways we are opposites, I am very laid back and Amy is a worrier and Amy is sensible whereas I can come across as a bit of a joker. She is the ying to my yang.

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Ahh!

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Congratulations Amy & Grant!

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2012 Sarah Mason Photography

Sarah Mason Photography is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier, but this is not a sponsored post

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

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