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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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This fan-bloomin- tabulous Real Wedding was sent to me by Featured Supplier and friend Lynne of Stems Design, who worked her little cotton socks off to create the most stunning floral displays for her friend Christina’s big day. 

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Now I don’t know if its the tiny page’s hats, the parasols or the huge feeling of glee I get from these images, but I feel like kicking up my heels and dancing across the rooftops a bit, Mary Poppins style! 

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Revel in it, and be inspired!

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Let’s hear from today’s stunning bride, Christina:  We got engaged on a Med cruise in Venice on a small bridge away from all the hustle and bustle in September 2010 and married on 17 July 2011 at St Margaret’s Church Brotton with our reception at Grinkle Park Hotel in Easington.

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I have lived in Brotton my whole life and have lots of fond memories of the church, my eldest sister was married here too which is my first memory of a perfect wedding.  Grinkle Park has always been in my family as the whole family go there one day over Christmas period to get together for dinner, this is a tradition that goes back long before i was born!

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I loved it when my Dad and I got out of the car outside of the church, the feeling is indescribable, and my Dad shed a tear which was lovely. 

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Our theme was kind of vintage glam, but really it was just lots of bits and pieces that I love, rather than solely sticking to a theme. I love lace and pearls and wanted the whole thing to be very dreamy and soft. I also wanted it to be fun and relaxed, not too formal and very personal.  Colour wise, we decided on a mixture of pastels, mainly baby pink and blue.

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My bridesmaids wore ivory 50’s halter neck tea length gowns with pale pink satin laced petticoats. I got them made to measure from Honey Pie Boutique and I was amazed at the quality when they came.  I had my three nieces as flower girls and they wore hand made dresses in pale pink. I made the headbands for my bridesmaids after seeing some I loved but didn’t want to pay the price for six of them! When we finished making them I loved them more than anything i had seen in the shops.

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I went for a Pronovias fitted drop waist lace bodice with a full skirt made up of individual lace trimmed frills… I loved it! It was from Poppy Bridal in Darlington and the lady who worked there made my headdress to match using the same lace my dress was made of, I think I almost loved the headdress more than the dress!

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Stems Design did all the flowers on the day – the most gorgeous blooms that I have ever seen! 

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To personalise things, I had collected lots of china tea cups from charity shops to use as my favours to our lady guests, we had whiskey bottles for the men with a picture of me and Craig together from when we were 12.  On the back of everyone’s name place was a memory myself or Craig had of that guest. We called each table after a bridge in Venice and we also hand made the invitations which included the actual invitation sewn onto a lace handkerchief for the guest to keep. Instead of a paper guest book I cut lots of squares of different pink and blue fabric up and pinned them to a scrap book for the quests to leave their notes on, eventually i will get round to sewing them together to make a patchwork quilt.

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Treats wise, we hired an ice cream van and chose an ivory five tiered cake that reminded me of the lace on my dress. We had four different flavours including fruit, chocolate, carrot and ginger.

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We both really loved the whole day,  but the first dance to the Beatles Twist and Shout was memorable! All our close friends got up after about a minute and joined in with us which we loved.  

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Craig’s dad booked us a surprise Western Med cruise for our honeymoon which we loved, we went to lots of places such as Barcelona, Southern France, Naples Italy, and Pisa.

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My top tip for other Brides Up North would be to relax and enjoy every single moment of the day, don’t worry if your guests are having a good time. Get plenty of pictures and ask if your photographer will stay for after your first dance, our pictures of us and guests dancing are amazing! Also don’t forget to get some of your cake! I did!

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Congratulations Christina & Craig!

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Fancy seeing your Real Wedding on Brides Up North?  Contact me 

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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2012 Keith Moss Photography

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