The wonderful Alnwick Garden in Northumberland provides the stunning, contemporary backdrop to today’s nuptials between Jade and James, who tied the knot in May of this year. Describing their venue as both impressive and beautiful – we think you’ll agree when you see the fabulous photos from their big day!
Going for a rustic and natural theme to tie in with this exquisite setting, the couple chose a dreamy pink, cream and white colour scheme, which complemented the surroundings beautifully. Throw in a dash of sunshine and you’ve got the perfect mix for those natural, outdoorsy feels. There are plenty of other Insta-worthy touches to look out for throughout the day too; from the candy floss stand and handmade table decorations, to the three-tier semi-naked wedding cake, which looks simply divine.
This is something of a blueprint for a wedding that’s a little bit different to your traditional barns and castles and we think you’re going to love the result! So, let’s pass the blog onto Jade to talk us through the finer details.
With images by Rachael Fraser Photography, and second shooter Rosie Davison Photography.
jade says: We got engaged on 27th November 2016. James is quite into his photography and had told me he had arranged access to the roof terrace of The Vermont Hotel to take photos of Newcastle. We turned up at The Vermont and were taken upstairs and left on the terrace alone. I noticed music was playing in the background but didn’t take any notice as James was taking photos, our song came on (Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud) which I thought was a bit strange. James then asked me to look at the Tyne Bridge; his family were holding a banner over the bridge asking me to marry him! He got down on one knee and popped the question, to which I said yes of course! Afterwards we had some champagne and pictures taken. When we went downstairs and into the lounge, I was then surprised by my parents, who had travelled up from Sheffield without me knowing! We all went for lunch together and had some celebratory drinks!
We tied the knot on 27th May 2018. We chose that date as it is close to the start of summer and has a good chance of being good weather but not too hot. It was also a bank holiday the day after, so it made it easier for people travelling a long way.
We had the ceremony and reception at The Alnwick Garden. We had looked at a few different venues which we liked but when we saw the gardens we fell in love with how beautiful it was. On a sunny day, which we fortunately had for our wedding, I think you would struggle to find a more impressive and beautiful venue!
We had a fairly rustic and natural theme for our wedding. We thought this suited the venue and tied in with the natural elements of the garden.
The colour scheme was light pinks, cream and white which suited the natural and rustic style we had chosen. It also suited the bridesmaids’ dresses.
My dress was Martina Liana, design 744 – an embroidered lace gown embellished with diamonds and pearls, a backless mermaid style with a long train. The dress was from Mia Sposa, who made my experience very special and Joy was amazing in helping me find the dress. As a special touch to my attire, James surprised me on the morning of the wedding with earrings made out of diamonds from his mother’s original engagement ring, which was very thoughtful.
James wore a dark navy suit and waistcoat by Cavani. The groomsmen wore the same as James, minus the waistcoat.
My lovely bridesmaids wore a blush pink dresses which I ordered from an online bridal store.
My cousin, who is an amateur makeup artist, did my makeup, and the bridal party’s makeup was done by my friend who is a makeup artist. Get Up Pin Up styled my hair.
For transport on the day of the wedding, we hired a vintage Rolls Royce for myself and my dad and a vintage Daimler for the bridesmaids and my mum. Both the cars were from Alnwick Wedding Cars.
Rachael Fraser was our photographer for the day; she was absolutely fantastic and we could not have wished for better pictures, we would recommend her in a heartbeat to anyone.
I carried a beautiful bouquet provided by Thoughts of You Flowers. Each of the bridesmaids also had a bouquet.
To style the venue, we decorated each table along with tea lights and a personalised wooden slab with our names and marriage date on. We had more jars of wild flowers around the venue and a handmade table plan. The flowers were provided by Thoughts of You too and the rest were done by us and James’ parents.
We also had giant rustic love letters outside on the terrace; these were later moved inside when the evening reception started.
We chose a three-tier semi naked cake, consisting of carrot, salted caramel and lemon drizzle which was decorated with butter cream, flowers and metallic shards on the top tier. We also had a few jars of cake pops on the table around the cake. The cake was by The Ivory Cake Company and it looked and tasted beautiful.
During our drinks reception after the ceremony we provided canapes which included quail scotch egg, mini Yorkshire pudding and roast beef, and mini baked potato and cream cheese. We also provided Pimms and Cava with these.
For our wedding breakfast we had confit duck egg on Welsh rarebit to start, followed by reverse seared fillet steak served with celeriac puree, braised artichoke and sweet potato fondant. For dessert we had chocolate assiette. The meal was served with a mix of red, white and rose wine along with Champagne for the toasts. We picked the menus as the food appealed to our own tastes, but we thought it would also appeal to our guests.
For entertainment, we had a pianist throughout the ceremony and wedding breakfast, as we thought this would add a touch of elegance which suited the style of the wedding and venue.
In the evening we had a selfie mirror and we also had a candy floss stand. We thought the photo booth would appeal to all of our guests and would provide us with plenty of funny photos to look through.
Following our wedding, we would recommend The Alnwick Garden to other couples, for the stunning backdrop alone, plus the amount of beautiful locations for photos.
On reflection, it’s hard to pick a favourite part of the day as we enjoyed it all and loved having all our close family and friends around us, however the ceremony was beautiful and will always stand out.
We are going on our honeymoon in August and are off to the Maldives! We are staying on a private island resort call Komandoo. We have an over water villa and can’t wait to chill out and spend some quality time together!
My top tip for other Brides Up North would be, don’t sweat the small stuff, make sure you take everything in and make a bit of time for each other!
During the planning of the wedding, we visited a couple of Brides Up North’s wedding fairs and used UNVEILED magazine for inspiration too.
the big picture
