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As a professional wedding blogger, I get the privilege of sharing a lot of couple’s most special of days – each different, each lovely. Friends often ask me if I have favourites. Of course there are styles I prefer, dresses I lust for and shoes that I sometimes even track down and buy (ahem!)… but my very favourite celebrations are always the ones where the love shines through.
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Cheesy, right? Ah, so sue me.
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Emma and Jonathan’s Real Wedding by Brides Up North Featured Supplier Richard Wynn Davies is one of those. Sure, they had a cute theme and a stunning venue, but I didn’t really notice all of that - I was blinded by their smiles.
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Which is exactly as it should be.
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Emma says: Jonathan asked me to marry him on 25th August 2010. It was a big surprise, champagne and sandwiches(!), at the summit of Sca Fell Pike (the highest mountain in England) as part of a trip with our closest friends to the Lake District. Very romantic indeed.
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We tied the knot on 23rd December 2012 at St. James Parish Church, Manston, Leeds with the reception was Oulton Hall, Rothwell.
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The church was my childhood church, and her parents still have strong connections there. We fell in love with Oulton Hall from the moment we walked into the entrance. It was the perfect setting for a winter wedding. We chose a white and silver theme, with hints of brown pine cones.
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My dress was a white duchess satin gown, designed by Jonathan and I. I then made the dress with my mum, and I did the holly leaf embroidery on the top of my dress by hand which took a long (!) time. My mum handmade every one of the thirty or so buttons and button loops which made a statement down the back of my dress. The final stitches were put in the dress the night before the wedding… but it was finished – something which at times seemed an impossible goal.
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My veil was very vintage. It was my mum’s from my parents’ wedding 28 years ago, and it was still perfectly white. It was definitely my something old, and technically borrowed!
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My satin and lace vintage style shoes were from Wedding Belles Of Otley. And my wintery hair-clip was from Glitzy Secrets.
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Peta Franklin, a small independent hairdresser in Crossgates, did my beautiful hair.
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Having designed my dress, we then designed and made the bridesmaid dresses (making adaptations from a basic pattern). The bridesmaid dresses were in a silver dupion satin, with a mini-version being made for the flower-girl.
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We hand-made all nine of the gentleman’s waistcoats, ties and pocket squares from Vogue Patterns.
To make the suits was a slight step too far (though it was considered!) and these were hired from Moss Bros.
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We also hired a 1947 Albion Vintage Coach from Yesteryear Vintage Vehicles which was superb. The staff were incredibly helpful and even managed to get our less able guests onto the coach.
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Every single moment was perfect from the very first moment waking up to sunshine to finally collapsing in a super-king size bed in the honeymoon suite. Our favourite moment has to be actually getting married, and finally becoming Mr & Mrs. It was so intimate-just beautiful.
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We baked 200 mince pies the day before the wedding to give to our guests after the marriage service.
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We sourced pine cones from Otley Chevin and Temple Newsam Park, to hand make my pine cone bouquet. We had to wash and dry hundreds of pine cones to find the best ones. Then they were all glitter sprayed and wired to form the bouquet. It looked rather amazing if I do say so myself.
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Our photographer was the amazing Richard Wynn-Davies and his lovely wife Caroline, who captured our day perfectly.
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Apart from all the sewing projects, we designed all our own table decorations, including sourcing fallen wood from a local forest, and cutting it into discs to form the table centre pieces. These then had a candle on, with a handmade, and hand collected, pine cone wreath surrounding them.
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Jonathan hand-drew from an OS map our table plan, which was the map of Sca Fell Pike where we got engaged. We then used the places on our walk for the table names.
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We designed all our own wedding invitations, menu cards, and order’s of service using my hand drawn design.
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We are anything but a traditional couple, as you may have already gathered. Instead of a DJ, we had a pub style quiz, with a side order of cheese and biscuits, a few beers and wedding cake, organised by Jonathan’s brother.
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Even more unusual was a game of Mr and Mrs, again devised by Jonathan’s brother. Very embarrassing, but great fun for all. Thankfully almost every one of our answers matched. The Groomsmen played live music for the first dance and Jonathan joined in once his dancing duties were fulfilled.
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Jonathan planned a surprise honeymoon, and it did remain a surprise until we arrived outside our destination. We went to a small family run restaurant, with rooms, hotel in Sowerby, Thirsk called ‘Oswalds’ for Christmas period.
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The service was absolutely fantastic, and we felt so special. Being greeted with champagne and strawberries, then sitting by the Christmas tree to open our wedding cards & presents was so special. The food was out of this world, and we cannot wait to go back again soon.
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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to start planning early, and be prepared to change your mind. Prioritise the things that will make your wedding day special to you, and decide the things that you can compromise on.
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Congratulations Emma & Jonathan!
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Get in touch to see your own Real Wedding featured on these pages – here’s how.
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2013 Richard Wynn-Davies
Richard Wynn-Davies 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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Congratulations Amy & Chris! 
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