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We first met today’s bride and groom Amanda and Aaron when I featured their beautiful Lake District engagement shoot here on the wedding blog (click here to catch up) and now we join them – along with some rather brilliant Brides Up North Featured Suppliers – to celebrate their colourful and opulent big day in the North East.
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With images by Lee Scullion.
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Enjoy your Friday Brides Up North, the weekend starts here!
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Amanda says: Aaron asked me to marry him on 29th April 2012 at Aira Force, a waterfall in the Lake District, and we married on Sunday 10th March 2013 at Langley Castle.
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We searched for a long time for the perfect wedding venue. We knew that we wanted to have the ceremony in a castle, but we also wanted 5-star service, top-notch bedrooms and facilities, and exclusive use on the day. Langley Castle offered that and more. The service went above and beyond our expectations and the rooms were incredible. We couldn’t have chosen a better venue for our wedding. It was perfect!
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We kept it fairly traditional with top hats and tailcoats and added a bit of Western flair, as I am originally from Texas. For the evening reception my bridesmaids and I all rocked our cowboy boots and we served Tex Mex for our evening buffet. We chose a colour scheme of dark purple, ivory, bronze, spring green and emerald green. We wanted to incorporate some colours of a peacock as Langley Castle has peacocks on the grounds.
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I wore an ivory Melissa Sweet ballroom-style gown. I bought the dress in America because I wanted to go shopping with my sisters and my mom who live over there.
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My bridesmaids wore dark purple halter-neck and floor-length gowns made of mostly a floaty chiffon material from America. We also had ivory furry boleros for when we were outside in the snow. The groomsmen wore tailcoats and top hats with dark purple cravats from Slaters. Aaron wore an ivory cravat to match my dress.
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My favourite part of the day was the ceremony itself because that’s what it’s really all about. Aaron and I had space for a reading during our ceremony, but we decided to personalise it by each saying 25 things we love about each other. They were sweet, funny, quirky, and all from the heart which really symbolizes our relationship as a whole. It also helped us to keep from shedding too many tears!
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Our videographers were A&G Productions who were absolutely fabulous. Our photographer was Lee Scullion, who honestly is the best photographer we have seen (and we interviewed a lot before we chose him!). We had numerous compliments from our friends and family about both Lee and A&G Productions about how professional and friendly they were. Not to mention the fabulous results from Lee! With Lee Scullion it isn’t just about the photographs, it’s how he makes you feel comfortable, his sense of humour, and all the little touches and surprises he has up his sleeve. We had a photo booth as well, Limelight Photobooth Hire, who went out of their way to provide us with the Western-themed background we were looking for. They also had a few little surprises for us and I’m so happy we went with them.
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Our flowers were provided by Lorna from No Ordinary Floral Designer in Chester le Street. She provided exactly what we wanted and we couldn’t be happier with her results. My bouquet was full of wildflowers, some dark purple calla lilies, rosemary, thistle, tulips, and a couple peacock feathers to keep with our peacock colour scheme. The bridesmaids had smaller versions for their bouquets and the moms each had a little corsage to match.
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We had a three-tiered square cake with three different flavours- carrot, chocolate, and vanilla- because we couldn’t choose which one we liked best!
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We tried to incorporate both Texas and England into our wedding, since Aaron and I come from two very different places. Our favourite special touch was our handmade bespoke party favours provided by Sammylou Gifts. They were rustic wooden hearts and on one side was the Texas flag, and on the other was a Union Jack. Each one had a tag with the guest’s name and our wedding date. They were a unique and perfect way to incorporate our background and be nice little keepsakes! Sammylou is based in Somerset, they have free shipping within the UK and they can provide almost anything you can dream of so they were the best choice for us!
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We had Andrelli as our string duo during our ceremony, and they were fantastic. They incorporated classical music as well as pop which was perfect for our ceremony. We had a live band for the evening reception, Chameleon, who blew us away with their talent. They even learned our favourite country song to play for all the Texans who attended the wedding. It was amazing!
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After the wedding we went to Disneyworld, Florida and then Maui and Oahu. The honeymoon was so much fun and they places we stayed were outstanding!
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There are a lot of preparations, stress, and anxiety that go into planning a wedding. The best advice that I can give to other Brides Up North is that on the day of your wedding, don’t worry about the little things, or the things you might have forgotten, or if something comes up that was unexpected. Just enjoy every single moment, from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed, and soak up everything you can.
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Congratulations Amanda & Aaron!
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Get in touch to see your own Real Wedding featured on Brides Up North – here’s how.
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2013 Lee Scullion
Lee Scullion 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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