For the second time this week we’re visiting one of our very favourite Yorkshire venues, Saltmarshe Hall, located near the lovely town of Howden. Did you notice that we are hosting another of our Brides Up North Bespoke Luxury Wedding Shows here on Sunday 7th October, 12pm till 3pm, free entry? Pop that one in your diaries!
As well as ours, the Hall holds a very special place in today’s featured couple’s hearts, as it was where the bride’s grandparents worked and first met. It’s a heart-warming connection that we could only dream of when searching for our perfect wedding venue.
Tying the knot earlier this spring, Faye and David opted for a classic grey colour palette that beautifully complemented the elegance of the Grade II listed venue. Throw in a DIY approach to some of the key decorations on the day – think calligraphy, pebbles and agate, and you’ve got one seriously pretty backdrop.
We just have to mention the bride’s beautiful Enzoani dress and bouquet of earl grey roses, menthe roses, avalanche roses, and foliage. Again, perfectly in keeping with the backdrop and a truly classic bridal look that we’re crushing on big style!
It’s now time to hand the blog over to our bride to share all the precious moments from the couple’s special day – prepare to be inspired!
With images by Clique Visuals.
faye says
: We got engaged on Christmas Day 2016. On the morning, I was quite angry with David as he’d had a few too many drinks the night before and said he felt ill. I went off to eat my breakfast with my family and when I came back into the room he had dressed our baby girl in a vest that said, ‘Will you marry my Daddy’. It was the sweetest thing and he was obviously let off the hook, although he never did get down on one knee. I said yes, and it was the most perfect Christmas Day.
We tied the knot on April 28th 2018. We chose a spring date because our venue has the most beautiful gardens and we hoped to get some pictures with the flowers in full bloom.
We hosted both our ceremony and reception at Saltmarshe Hall, East Yorkshire. We fell in love with the Hall the moment we saw it, as the recent renovations are both luxurious and elegant. It was important to us to have exclusive use of the venue, which created such an intimate and comfortable feeling for our guests on the day. It is also a very dear place to my family as my great grandma and granddad both met and worked at the Hall as a maid and grounds man. We would not hesitate to recommend this venue to anyone, our wedding planner Kate was so lovely and attentive, she made our day extra special.
Choosing a theme for the wedding was something which caused me some stress during the planning phase. Our vision for the day was for our decor and styling to complement the beautiful decor and surroundings at the venue. I was keen for the wedding to be romantic and timelessly elegant.
The colour palette for our wedding was shades of grey. The delicate tones of lilac, blue and blush really worked especially on the slightly overcast spring day. I wore the Juri gown by Enzoani purchased at The Bridal Lounge in Stockport. The dress was probably the exact opposite of what I had in mind that I would like, but my sister insisted I try it – and she was right. We knew it was the one instantly.
David wore a Prince of Wales morning jacket and navy waistcoat and pants from Best Man Suit Hire in Stockport. The groomsmen, meanwhile, wore navy morning suits, also from Best Man Suit Hire.
My wonderful maid of honour took all of the stress out of choosing bridesmaids dresses by picking a selection of gowns in complementary colours that fit with our theme then the girls chose their own. I really loved the mismatched look on the day and all of the girls were happy and comfortable which was so important to me. The dresses were purchased from ASOS.
My two little flower girls wore handmade tutus with white ballet vests and leggings. The girls were only 18-months-old so it was really important for them to be comfortable and our dress maker Rachel Horner was great – she even made them rag dolls with matching outfits to carry on the day.
My hair was styled on the day by Elizabeth Horner from Selby, and my makeup was done by The Forum Health and Beauty.
Alfie Wright and Craig Featherstone of Clique Visuals captured our day. We are so pleased with the final pictures – there are more than 1,000 images! What made Alfie stand out when we were searching for a photographer was his distinctive documentary style, which produces such natural pictures. We didn’t want forced poses and smiles. He made us feel really relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera and managed to capture the raw emotion of the day. Everyone commented on their professional manner and how at ease they made us all feel. Alfie went above and beyond, even carrying my phone around on the day. They were absolutely amazing, and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone.
Alfie also shot and produced our wedding video which surpassed our expectations in every way. Alfie’s ability to really capture emotions and all those little smiles and glances is fabulous. He is so talented. Everything was perfect – from the shots from the drone to the background music. David and I love our video, which is so important as it is the lasting memory from the day.
I carried a hand tied bouquet with earl grey roses, menthe roses, avalanche roses, and foliage, supplied by All Occasions Florists of Howden.
We wanted a simple and organic look for our reception and All Occasions Florists dressed the staircase, signs, tables and fireplaces with foliage which looked really elegant and stunning on the day.
My wonderful bridesmaid handmade truffles as our favours which were amazing. Everyone loved these and she is now in high demand to make more! She made three flavours that we hand packaged and finished with some little tags saying ‘eat me’.
Our cake was a three-tier semi-naked cake, consisting of chocolate, lemon and carrot cake. The cake was finished with gold drizzle and fresh flowers from the florist. It looked rustic but romantic and was so delicious; we served it at the reception.
Saltmarshe Hall provided our catering for the day. The menu featured sharing platters, followed by beef and Yorkshire puddings and a trio of desserts. The food was gorgeous and all our guests were impressed. The Hall also provided stone baked pizza freshly made outside on the patio in the evening which was amazing, just what we needed with all the drinks and dancing!
The entertainment was provided by Monotones Band, who were great. They even learnt our first dance song ‘Paulo Nutini – Loving You’ two weeks before the wedding.
As we were budget conscious, I wanted to DIY a lot of the décor, and armed with Pinterest and a chalk pen I hand made the wedding signs and table plan. This saved us so much money and was actually really fun to do. My wonderful dad made an arbour and dressed it with some dried hydrangeas, which I also used for centrepieces. For name cards I used pebbles and slices of agate I purchased from Amazon and hand-calligraphed on. These were really sweet and gave people a lasting memory of our special day. Every single moment of the day was perfect but when I heard the band play our first dance song while being surrounded by the people we love, I could have cried I felt so happy. It was an amazing moment.
For our honeymoon we chose Sardinia as we both love Italy. Sardinia was intimate, quaint and rustic. We had the loveliest week of pizza, pasta and gelato to help ease the wedding blues.
My biggest tip for other Brides Up North would be to not worry about the small details. On the day I forgot to hang the girls’ dresses on their personalised hangers, we forgot to set up some of the things for the evening photo booth and a few of the decorations weren’t as planned, but it didn’t make any difference to the day. The wedding will be so perfect and over way too quickly, so enjoy everything from planning to partying all night.
During the planning phase Brides up North really helped me. I love the real weddings and inspiration features. We also attended a wedding fair at Saltmarshe Hall, which is how we found our florist.
