The Editorials: All White Weddings

January 27th, 2013 | Julia Braime

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Recently, I talked about how away from the pages of this site, I write for a huge range of regional and National glossy bridal magazines, with regular columns in some of my favourite titles (you can see the full list on my about page).  Obviously, features for print have to be fresh, so I hold back in sharing my pieces on the pages of the blog until after publication.  A month or so on though, rather than be relegated to being rather posh chip paper, I thought that my words might be useful to my online readers who didn’t manage to pick up a print copy.

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In this new blog series, The Editorials, I will be sharing my pre-published offline content, online.  Double the pretty! 

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First up, my feature for my regular column in Wedding Magazine, with my comments on the fresh and fabulous trend for all white weddings.  In my opinion, pale is always interesting…

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There’s something going on in wedding blog land. Where you’d previously find matchy-matchy colour schemes or rainbow brights, it’s suddenly a total white out! Following the pale palette used so successfully at last year’s Royal Wedding, the trend for all white weddings is still going strong. In my opinion big days have never looked so beautiful.

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Bleached out blooms, snowy centre pieces and neutral details work together to create a wonderland that’s not just for Winter. This simple colour scheme, which can be classic or modern in equal measure, is effective across all four seasons. Keep things soft and pretty with vintage elements or sharpen the look up with chic styling. Choose any colour, so long as it’s white!

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Image by Katy Melling Photography

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Image by Katy Melling Photography

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Image by Katy Melling Photography

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Stand Out From The Crowd

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When working with an exclusively white or ivory colour base, don’t feel that whole wedding party has to match. Choosing complimentary hues or contrasting darker shades for your bridesmaids will create a striking backdrop for your wedding dress and make light posies pop.

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Image by Sean Elliott Photography 

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Image by Sean Elliott Photography

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Image by Sean Elliott Photography

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Colour Charts

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Diamond white, vintage cream, ivory. There’s more than one shade of pale! Keep things interesting by layering tones, textures and fabrics for a luxe look.

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Image by Katy Melling Photography 

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Image by Lesley Meredith Photography

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Image by Alison Groves Photography 

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Twinkle Twinkle!

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Add interest to starched table settings with a sprinkling of sparkle, shining silverware and springs of greenery.

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Image by Faye Hatton Photography 

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Image by Stan Seaton Photography

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Images by Tierney Photography 

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Image by Karen McGowran 

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Work With What You’ve Got

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For the whitest, brightest bouquets keep your choice of flowers seasonal. Choose paper whites and lily of the valley in Spring months and try adding a touch of mistletoe to a hand tied bunch at Christmas time.

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Image by Helen Russell Photography 

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Image by Stan Seaton Photography 

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Add Interest

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A neutral canvas is easy to style. For a classy wedding day look, choose a high fashion heel or chic clutch in a tonal colour to add drama that’s perfectly understated.

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Image by Sean Elliott Photography

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2013 as credited

This is not a sponsored post

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

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Real Wedding Recap 2011: Easter Eggstravaganza! A Real Springtime Wedding In The North East – Jordan & John

January 1st, 2012 | Julia Braime

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Happy New Year!  The normal wedding blog schedule will resume on 3rd January 2012, but while I nurse my hangover with the best of you, here is a burst of Real Wedding freshness, with one of my favourite Spring weddings from 2011.  Happy New Year Jordan and John!

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Wedding blog favourite Karen McGowran Photography sent Brides Up North Jordan and John’s beautiful Real Wedding at Close House Hotel to share with you.  I adore the duck egg blue colour scheme and fresh floral styling.  It’s all in the detail girls!

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Over to Team J:  We got engaged at Ramside Hall Hotel, Durham, in April 2009. John took me for a surprise treat to celebrate our anniversary and popped the question!  We were married on Easter Saturday, 23^rd April 2011 at Close House Hotel, Heddon on the Wall. 

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We looked at loads of venues but as soon as we pulled up to Close House we fell in love with it! When we went inside it just felt right and we knew it was the place for us. It has such an amazing intimate atmosphere and we could immediately imagine it filled with our families and friends. The light airy feel and the gorgeous grounds fit with the type of wedding and colour schemes we wanted.

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Another key factor was the staff – Laura, Close House’s Wedding Coordinator was so reassuring and down to earth, and all of the staff are friendly, professional and can’t do enough for you. We just felt certain everything would come together and all our guests would be looked after.

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Spring is my favourite season so we wanted a light, fresh and colourful wedding with lots of spring flowers and colours. Since our wedding was on Easter Saturday, Springtime Easter became our theme, with duck egg blue being the main colour. Our place cards were little eggs and we had an Easter egg hunt during the drinks reception for the kids. We hid Easter bunny cards around the house and gardens, which they then swapped for an Easter egg when they found them.

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My dress was Maggie Sottero’s ‘Alannah’, which I got from The Wedding Wardrobe in Chester-le-Street – a fabulous service, I’d recommend them to anyone!

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In keeping with the light floaty feel, my bridesmaids wore gorgeous tea length dresses from Monsoon. It turned out the colour we’d chosen was very difficult to find and match in the perfect shade – so when I spotted them I was over the moon!

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Their gifts were pearl bracelets with their initials on from Not on the High Street, pearl earrings and a cute necklace from Oasis.

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Instead of a guest book we had a wedding wish tree – which was really popular with our guests.

I gave my two young bridesmaids ‘My Day as a Bridesmaid’ albums with cameras, which gave them certain things they had to take pictures of on the day to add into the album… they loved it and it even kept four year old Lily entertained all day.

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We handed a quiz with funny questions about myself and John out during the wedding breakfast – I’ve never seen our families and friends get so competitive!

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My bouquet was a domed, hand tied posy of champagne roses, pale pink roses, cream double lizzianthus, cream freesia and pale pink blush and lemon tulips.  I was so excited when the flowers arrived – it finally felt real!

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Even though I love cake, when we prioritised our budget near the start neither of us saw the cake as something we wanted to spend a lot on. So I was over the moon when it turned out to look so impressive on the day! My Grandma baked the bottom tier fruit cake, while ‘Kirsty’s Cakes’ made the top three sponge tiers, and iced all of the cakes plain ivory. We then added a gorgeous pearl and crystal brooch and some ivory ribbon, and Wedding Flowers for You added fresh flowers.

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It looked stunning and if we’d had a bigger cake budget is exactly the kind of cake I’d have chosen anyway!

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It’s so hard to choose but if I had to pick my favourite moment from the day I’d say the ceremony itself. I never expected that would be the case as you spend so long planning all the other bits, but it was beautiful. This sounds cheesy, but it felt like it was just me and John in the room, and every word the registrar said meant so much.

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Another thing I have to mention that I just loved about the whole day is the way that everyone just mixed with each other and laughed all day. I’d be looking around and see two people chatting who didn’t know each other and just loved the friendly relaxed atmosphere. I think Facebook helps! Everyone finds it easier to go up and chat to people as they already know a little bit about them and have a conversation starter!

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Two weeks after our wedding we went on Honeymoon on a Caribbean cruise on the Allure of the Seas. We’d never been on a cruise before and were blown away by it.

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My top tip for other Brides Up North is to decide in advance that from when you wake up in the morning nothing can spoil your day and you’re going to enjoy your day as much as your guests will!! The floaty fabric of my dress was quite fine and after a few group photos I was covered in grass stains and had a tiny rip right at the bottom of my dress. I quickly decided I could either stand still and worry about my dress all day – or forget about it and have as much fun as possible with all my favourite people! The little things don’t matter – when the formalities are over, enjoy yourself and be a guest at your own wedding!

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Little Black Book:

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Venue:  Close House Hotel

Photographer:  Karen McGowran Photography

Dress:  Maggie Sottero at The Wedding Wardrobe

Bridesmaids:  Monsoon

Men’s attire: Slaters

Chair Covers:  Simply Bows & Chair Covers

Flowers:  Wedding Flowers For You

Cake:  Kirsty’s Cakes

Cars:  Parkers Execulink

Gifts and accessories:  Not On The High Street and Oasis

Stationery and table decorations: handmade

Bride’s Make Up:  Kate D at MAC

Bride’s Hair: Toni Wardle Mobile Hairdresser

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © Karen McGowran Photography 

Karen McGowran Photography is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier

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

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I Heart The North East, A Wedding Blogger Wears House Of Mooshki…

October 1st, 2011 | Julia Braime

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A few weeks ago I spent a happy Saturday modelling gorgeous bridal dresses for  House of Mooshki.  The North East based design house creates beautiful bespoke gowns that – take it from me – will make any bride feel a million dollars on her big day. 

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As the behind the scenes shots show, I turned up all scrubbed and scruffy in my civvies and surrendered myself to the skills of Paula Pace at Perfection Nail and Beauty and Lisa Jones on hair.  They had some work to do, for sure – particularly after I had spent the whole of the previous day poncing about in ivory tulle on the Yorkshire Moors – but they didn’t let me down.

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I was a little worried about how I was going to get all that backcombing out of my mane, but after pouring myself into these stunning frocks, my inner diva took over.  All I cared about was who would be touching up my lippy…

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Ok, so that’s a lie!  I was nervous as hell – and I hope you like the beautiful images that Karen McGowran Photography and Kat Timmins Photography and the team produced.  I hardly recognise myself, but what I do know is that I LOVE the North East.

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Click through to see the full shoot…

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The Geordies Have Landed! All The Photos From The #BUNtweetup North East…

September 29th, 2011 | Julia Braime

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It’s the moment the North East Wedding Industry has been waiting for…

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Or maybe not!  Without further sneak peeking, teasing or ado, I give you the official images from the Brides Up North Tweet Up North East 2011 with Wedding Ideas Magazine, a wedding industry networking event organised by little old me and photographed by the lovely Karen McGowran Photography. 

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To see all the gorgeous styling details and to find out who was involved behind the scenes, click here.

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To see the images from the Brides Up North Tweet Ups in the North West and Yorkshire, or to pre-register for the next set of Brides Up North Tweet Ups in 2012 click here. 

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All images by Karen McGowran Photography, polaroid pictures seen in images by Sean Elliott Photography

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{Me, with my lovely Mum}

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Shout outs to some attendees on the night:

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Heaven Sent Cupcakes; Karen McGowran Photography; Sean Elliott Photography; Claire De Lune Florist; By Wendy; Popcake Kitchen; Little Town Bakery; What A Do Weddings; AMV Live Music; Perfect Days Vintage; Vintage Twee; House Of Mooshki; The Black Horse; Floral Quarter; Hasy Daisy Florist; Angel Cakes; Cheekie Sweete; Celebration Cakes Peterlee; Wedding Tales; Xtra Ordinary Photography; Becky Mitchell Photography; Open Door Events; Mark Deeks; Lorraine Wight Photography; Sally Thurrell Photography; Perfection Nail and Beauty; Kat Timmins Photography; What Katy Did Next; Bex Rooms; Make Up By Jo; Tees Valley Weddings; Tux &Tales Photography; Baroque Bags; Imagic Moment; Your Personal Touch; Stan Seaton Photography; Matt Ethan Photography;  Mia Sposa Bridal & Menswear; Wedding Flowers For You; Durham Events; Close House Hotel; Dirk Van Der Werff; Fyzal Photography; Simply Bows & Chair Covers; By Gina; Emerson Photography; Flower Fever; Beckwith Events; Vicky Trainor; Nick Unwin Photography; Might Fine Events; Aime Watson; Squeak Unique; Kids Deserve The Best; Rubys Tea Party; Daisychain Events; A Grand Day; Katie Byram Photography; Euphoria Boutique 

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If I have missed you from the list or have been unable to link to your website, drop me a line julia@bridesupnorth.co.uk to let me know and I will add you in.  Please feel free to leave a comment on this post to tell my readers all about your business too. 

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Oh, and forgive me while I have a captive audience… have you saved the date for the Brides Up North SUPER SHOWCASE Grand Wedding Exhibition at Ramside Hall Hotel on Sunday March 4th 2012 from 12pm – 4pm?!  Brides to be – this means you! 

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The region’s top wedding suppliers will be out in force at this MASSIVE, not to be missed bridal event.  With two professional fashion shows, oodles of wedding inspiration, on the day discounts, amazing giveaways and surprises galore this is a must do date for any North East Bride To Be.  Watch this space for more details of how to pre register as a Brides Up North VIP Bride To Be.

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EXHIBITOR BOOKINGS: email julia@bridesupnorth.co.uk for details.  Suppliers are strictly limited by category. 

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Click on through to see the rest…

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A Fairy-lit Fiesta! – The #BUNtweetup North East

September 28th, 2011 | Julia Braime

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The fairy lights were strung, the champagne was on ice and a gazillion candles had been lit.  It was time for the third and final Brides Up North Tweet Up 2011 with Wedding Ideas Magazine, and it was set to be a very twinkly one…

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Each host venue chosen for the Brides Up North Tweet Ups (see all the images here) was handpicked for a reason – Didsbury House for its girly gorgeousness,  The Mansion, Roundhay for its quality and style and this venue, The Black Horse, Beamish, for its intimate, chocolate box charm. 

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Although the decor for each and every Tweet Up featured brilliant blooms, pearls, crystals, a whole lot of sugar and admittedly, a lot of pink, each had it’s own unique styling and special added extras. 

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To enhance the cosy countryside feel of the North East venue, I let there be light.  And lots of it.  Candles and fairy lights covered every surface, beam, wagon wheel and wishing tree!  TOP TIP: brides to be on a budget – if you can’t spend much on flowers, consider festooning your venue with fairy lights to create a stunning visual effect for less.  String them generously, add some candles and turn the main lights low.  Instant Disneyland, and pure romance. 

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Once again, I couldn’t have pulled this off singlehandedly. HUGE HUGE thanks and love to these fabulous wedding industry greats, who provided so much help, support and general hand holding:

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Karen McGowran Photography, for her amazing images, bubbly personality and hard work; Sean Elliott Photography for being a proper mate and supporting me at not one but two Tweet Ups with his awesome banter and fantabulous camera skills; The girls at Claire De Lune Florist  for their unique and brilliant floral displays, their pretty candy cart and for making sure I ate something when nerves where getting the better of me; By Wendy for lending me her gorgeous white wishing tree whilst she was sunning herself in Florida; Popcake Kitchen for bringing the cutest BUN popcakes and Heaven Sent Cupcakes for baking a job lot of perfect Brides Up North cookies; Little Town Bakery for her fabulous Twitter bird cake and matching cupcake tower – a work of art!; What A Do Weddings for being an absolute star and creating the amazing hand printed goody bags that went down a storm once again; Andy from AMV Live Music on keyboards and the gorgeous Karen of Livewire on vocals for stunning my guests with your brilliant and beautiful music; Perfect Days Vintage and Vintage Twee for entrusting me with your super styling details for one more night…; House Of Mooshki for dressing this wedding blogger to the nines; The team at The Black Horse for being absolute superstars; Hitched Magazine for adding your glossy pages to my goody bags; Wedding Ideas Magazine for being a constant support through this whole process and last but not least my wonderful Mum, Dad and my best mate Jane for turning up to surprise me on the night.  I love you!

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It seems I don’t get out of bed in the morning without a fabulous team behind me these days!

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Enjoy the details…

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All images by Karen McGowran Photography

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