This morning’s real wedding couple decided to make to plan a wedding that was pretty and personal rather than shaping it around one set theme.
The result is a very natural and romantic big day that’s brimming with beautiful elements; from the fairy tale style venue to the gorgeous blooms and
delicate decor
, this one has it all!With images by Brides Up North favourite, Paul Liddement Wedding Stories.
wendy says:
We got engaged on the banks of Loch Lomond in February 2013. I’m from Helensburgh, near Loch Lomond and I love boats so Dave arranged for us to go on a boat tour for my birthday. After a beautiful, if slightly chilly, trip around the loch and a whisky to calm the nerves, Dave got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
Our wedding date was Saturday 6th June 2015. As we were getting married outside we wanted to choose date where we might have slightly less chance of getting rain.
We got married and had our reception at The Treehouse in Alnwick Gardens. We looked at a number of venues in and around my hometown and felt they were far too formal. I then started looking online for unusual wedding venues and came across the Treehouse. As soon as we walked up its walkway we knew we had found the right place; it’s so naturally beautiful, the perfect size and adorned with fairy lights!
The Treehouse is such a beautiful venue that we felt no need to dress it up too much with a set theme and instead chose to simply add personal elements that really made the day about us.
We chose a mint colour scheme as this was a colour we both liked and carried through from our engagement party invites and decorations.
I bought a Mori Lee dress (style 1901). It was a long fitted lace dress with a bateau neckline that continues to a V shaped back. It had a crystal and pearl tie sash at the back. I bought it from a wedding dress shop local to where I live. I choose it as it encompassed everything I was looking for, as soon as I tried it on I knew it was the one as nothing else compared.
On the day of the wedding, my hair done at Hair and Sun in Alnwick. They were very knowledgeable and listened to what I wanted, and made it look even better than I could have imagined. My makeup meanwhile was done by Leonie at The Powder Room in Alnwick. Leonie is so friendly and really listened to what I wanted. She created a stunningly natural look that made me feel fantastic and lasted all day.
Dave wore a blue three piece Ben Sherman suit with white shirt, black accessories and a mint tie. We purchased it from a shop near York during one of our visits to Alnwick. We wanted Dave’s groomsmen to be more relaxed and asked them to wear a grey suit and white shirt. We then bought mint ties, bowties and braces for them, to bring it all together.
We had four bridesmaids in total. My sister Kimberley who is 27 wore a long mint dress with a neckline and V back that was similar to my dress. My little bridesmaids – Dave’s nieces, twins Sophie and Amelia who are six, and Lily who is three – wore gorgeous little mint and white Monsoon dresses with a matching cape with silver sparkles.
I made all of my jewellery for the wedding day, including my headband, and Kimberley’s hair piece for the day too. Laura at Celtic Shore Jewellery, created two beautiful necklaces as gifts for mine and Dave’s mums. Laura was incredibly friendly, fast and the gifts are loved by us and our mums.
On the wedding day we travelled to the Treehouse in a VW split screen campervan decorated with mint ribbon, hired from Brooklands Wedding Cars based in Durham.
Our photographer was Paul Liddement who we found online through recommendations. We loved the natural and creative style of Paul’s photographs and the storytelling approach to his work. On the day Paul was fantastic from the moment he arrived; he was so friendly, fun and relaxed. He was also incredibly creative with his shots, seeing images that others would not, and made the effort to really engage with our guests.
We have seen our wedding images online and we are delighted with them, they really are beautiful. We can’t thank Paul enough for all of his hard work; he made us feel very special and really captured everything we wanted and more! We would 110% recommend Paul to other couples that are looking for someone who is fun, creative, relaxed and a true professional.
I designed and made all of our wedding stationery, including invitations, table plan, table numbers, name cards and menus. For my wedding invites I polyprinted a mint green tree design onto grey card and used gold glitter paint and pearls to resemble fairy lights intertwined in the branches. My table plan, table numbers and menus were printed onto white card and mounted on mint card. I then embossed gold dots onto each piece to resemble the fairly lights from the invites. I made my own hummingbird wine glass name cards using mint card and again embossed gold dots on the inside of their wings.
Simply Flowers in Alnwick provided my flowers and I loved them, they were just what we wanted. I carried a hand held posy of alliums, thistles, lavenders, cornflowers, gyp and dusty miller foliage.
Kimberley carried a smaller version of my bouquet and my little bridesmaids each had a single allium wrapped with mint ribbon. The button holes and corsages for the bridal party were made of a thistle head, lavender, white freesia and gyp and dusty miller foliage.
For the venue, I decorated lots of small jars and vases with mint ribbon and lace and Simply Flowers filled them with a selection of alliums, thistles, lavenders, cornflowers and gyp and dusty miller foliage. These were positioned all around the Treehouse and on the tables.
Our favours were wild flower seed ornaments that could be hung or planted in our guests’ gardens. When they dissolve they spread wild flower seeds into the ground around them. I purchased these from Ashvale, a social enterprise set up by St. Elizabeth’s charity. We gave our young guests personalised wedding colouring in and activity books to keep them entertained.
We chose a three tiered sponge cake similar to the Bobbette and Belle gold and white polka dot cake. Our cake maker Autumn at Plumb & Rabbitts Cake Studio, created each layer a different flavour and the entire cake was gluten free.
To decide on our wedding breakfast, we were invited to a food and wine tasting evening at the Treehouse where we got to sample their delicious seasonal and local menu. We really struggled to choose which dishes to put on our menu. Luckily they gave all of our guests a choice of three starters, mains and desserts.
Our welcome drinks were a Blue Caribbean Mist cocktails served in a sugar rimmed champagne glass. We toasted with Prosecco and with our meal we drank Le Bouquet Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon Siete Soles.
To provide entertainment, we hired Reely Rockin, a ceilidh and cover band from Newcastle. We listened to some of their work online and really liked what we heard. We really wanted a ceilidh however we knew a lot of our guests would never have been to one before and so opted for a mix of both ceilidh dances and covers.
As a special touch we had a fab wedding sparkler send off towards the end of the night as it was getting dark. All of our guests really enjoyed this and it gave us some fantastic photographs!
The Treehouse was perfect for us and all of our guests loved it. The staff were all fantastic, so friendly and worked very hard to make sure our day went without a hitch, even with the sudden downpour twenty minutes before. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone that is looking for a really relaxed, beautiful and unforgettable day!
We’d also recommend The Hogs Head Inn in Alnwick, where most of our guests stayed. They were so friendly and made everyone feel welcome. They were incredibly helpful and kept the bar open at the end of the night for when everyone returned from the wedding.
We loved everything about our day so it is difficult to choose just one favourite part. Above all I’d say we loved having everyone we love together – laughing, sharing memories, creating new memories, toasting, eating and dancing. It was truly unforgettable!
Following the wedding we went to Thailand on honeymoon. We flew into Phuket where we were picked up early the next morning to travel to Elephant Hills tented camp in Khao Sok National Park, an amazing experience involving elephants, wildlife, lots of boats and jungle trekking. We then travelled to Koh Samui where we got to relax on the beach, sip cocktails in the infinity pools, do some more boat tours and eat lots of delicious Thai food.
My top tip to other Brides Up North would be to make your day all about you. Make your choices about what you would like and what makes you smile, and most importantly enjoy every minute because it really does go so quickly!
