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Welcome to Sunday Brides Up North.  The air may be filled with freezing fog, but look closely and you’ll see fairy lights twinkling through the grey:  there’s only one working week to go until Christmas!  As you wind down in the office, indulge in the communal Quality Street and take a few more long lunches than normal, make sure to stop by as there’ll be a double dose of wedding pretty waiting for you on these pages right up until the big day itself.

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Speaking of pretty, today we are in Middlesbrough for the beautiful wedding of Bryde and Rob, who are proud to have brought their special day in on budget without compromising on style.  It prides me to feature weddings of every style, denomination and price point here on Brides Up North:  basically, if it’s stunning, it’s in.  Bryde and Rob’s wedding is most certainly in – by penny pinching on the things that were less important to them, they added more costly details where it mattered and carried off the whole celebration with aplomb!  With images by Sally Thurrell Photography. 

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Bryde says:  The day that we got engaged I came home from work to find our apartment filled with candles, a piece of classical music playing and rose petals all over the floor, leading to Rob kneeling in the bedroom with the most beautiful engagement ring. It was a day before we were off for a weekend away together to celebrate our second anniversary.

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We were married on August 10^th 2012 at Ormesby Hall in Middlesbrough. 

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We were on a tight budget as I’m still a student but we felt that the ceremony venue was the most important part of our day, so after months of looking and getting very nervous that we’d never find the perfect place, we finally came upon Ormesby Hall, that was in our price range and fit our theme of a English country garden wedding. It was absolutely beautiful.

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We both love the 50’s and 60’s eras so we decided on a vintage theme with lots of lace, a pastel colour scheme and charity shop nick-knacks which were essential to us staying within budget.

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My wedding dress was always going to be lace, but finding a vintage inspired lace dress within budget was the hardest part of the whole wedding. I finally found my perfect dress, on eBay of all places for £85.

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Everyone commented on how beautiful the dress was and when they found out how cheap it was they were shocked to say the least. It just shows you don’t have to spend a fortune to have a perfect day.

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My bridesmaids wore beautiful, pale pink chiffon, floor length dresses from www.missguided.com, with our flower girls in ivory tea dresses from eBay and the men wore King Edward suits from Psyche in Middlesbrough.

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Although we chose a pastel colour scheme I didn’t want to put the men in anything too feminine or garish so Rob decided on the colour of the suits. So I was relieved when I saw him and the groomsmen looking very dapper in black and ivory suits!

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My bespoke lace veil (which I actually loved more than my dress) was created by the talented Katy at What Katy Did Next. She also created our own personal cake toppers which our guests were very fond of.

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My bouquet was filled with pale pink and ivory roses, with sprigs of lilac and greenery. I wanted the flowers to look very natural and not too tidy; our florist did a great job.

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My Granddad has a beautiful garden, so it was wonderful for his flowers to decorate our reception, he even created the bouquets for our flower girls himself. We also had the reception filled with candles, tea cups and vases that had been collected by many of our friends and family.

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We found our amazing 60’s wedding car, The Digby at Lovedubcars.  I’d recommend their company to anyone, and our driver was lovely.   I travelled to the ceremony with both my Mum and Dad with me in the car, as I’m really close to both my parents and my Mum was a massive part of my day so I wanted her with me too. And on the way to our reception Rob and I enjoyed champagne with the roof down, which led to lots of cheering and beeping from onlookers. It was so much fun.

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My favourite part was the ceremony. Rob had sworn he wouldn’t cry but as I walked down the aisle, to the same piece of classical music that Rob had played when he proposed, he was crying his eyes out, as were were all three of my sisters. My youngest sister Annie gave an emotional reading of Bob Dylan’s Forever Young, I think by the end of it there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. After our vows we walked down the aisle to the Match of the Day theme tune, much to everyone’s amusement and we drank champagne in the gardens with all our loved ones, and the weather was perfect!

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Our photographer Sally (Sally Thurrell Photography) was just like having a lifelong friend with me, as soon as she arrived on the morning she gave me a massive hug and my family loved her. Having a good relationship with her helped a lot.

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For our wedding cake, we had my own personal favourite from The Olde Young Teahouse made which was a raspberry, coconut and chocolate cake, Rob’s favourite which was a Dime Bar cake, and a classic chocolate sponge with vanilla cream and strawberries.

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My Dad was an unexpected piece of entertainment when he brought out his guitar for his speech, which was lovely as he had done the same at his own wedding to my Mum 11 years ago. We had a DJ for our evening reception who kept us dancing all night to classics by Elvis Presley and The Beach Boys

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We stayed in a log cabin at Whinstone View the next day for the weekend, and four days later we set off for a 5* all inclusive week in Egypt.

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Even though our wedding was cheap compared to what is normally spent on the average wedding, I don’t think that effected the quality of the day at all, so my top tip for other Brides Up North would be to shop around, eBay was a godsend and have a dig through loads of charity shops for decoration ideas, and if you make invites, table plans and decorations yourself, it’s not only cheaper but it adds a personal touch to the day. At the end of the day it’s about you marrying the person you love, so don’t be nervous, ha!

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Congratulations Bryde & Rob!

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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 © 2012 Sally Thurrell Photography

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