Let Love Grow. Yellow Roses for a wedding at The Alnwick Garden – Natalie & Sergio

Dress

I wore a satin, box pleat ball gown with a high neck and plunging front neck line by Modeca called Alicante, purchased from Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo Bridal Boutique in East Kilbride, Glasgow. It was everything I had imagined, in keeping with my unique style; bringing together vintage and elegance in a princess gown. It made me feel like you should on your wedding day.

Groomsmen

Sergio wore a three-piece suit with double-breasted waistcoat in beige and ivory from by Noose and Monkey purchased online.

The groomsmen wore a three-piece mix and match suit chosen by the groom.

Bridesmaids

I had three bridesmaids who wore a full-length chiffon and laced A-line, V-neck gown with corset back in pale yellow purchased online from Peaceful.2011.

Beauty

The bridesmaids’ makeup was done by MJ (one of the bridesmaids). Myself, my mother and the mother of the groom had our hair done by Jenz Hair Salon and those who chose not to do their own makeup had theirs done by Paula Pace at Perfection Nail and Beauty.

Transport

I travelled in a Range Rover Discovery driven by my father’s best friend Gavin. Sergio was driven by my stepbrother Ewan, in a BMW Series 1. Our other guests were driven by a coach, hired from Travelsure.

Photography

Michal Ufniak was our photographer. He did such an amazing job capturing all the little special moments throughout the day. We would recommend him because he wants to bring out the best of every situation and he done a great job!

Videography

Our videographer was Andrew from Tyne Digital. I truly recommend him because he also took stills in case we missed any moments, and he also filmed the ceremony and speeches and made an extra video with all the cuts and extras that were not included in the original one. Incredible work!

Styling

I carried a bouquet of yellow and white flowers, mainly yellow roses with a large white ostrich feather incorporated to represent my father being with me on the day. These were provided by Sharon Wright from Wild With Love.

All the flowers at the venue were provided by Sharon, too. Our main flowers consisted of gypsophila used for the chair ends during ceremony, tied with ribbon and for the centrepieces in glass jars with spray yellow roses. She also created a beautiful garland of greenery yellow roses and others woven into a wicker chair. She supplied the flowers for the buttonholes too, however these were made and created by mother of the groom, Maria del Carmen.

Cake

We chose a four-tier, gluten-free, semi-iced cake with different flavours such as lemon and poppy seed, red velvet, vanilla white chocolate and raspberry. It was baked and decorated by soon to be sister in-law of the bride, the very talented Bridget Robertson.

Dining

All the food we chose was bespoke to our wedding to bring together traditional Scottish and Spanish foods.

We had a Picpoul de Pinet white wine as this is one of our favourites and matched the chosen foods the best. For our red wine we selected the house red.

Entertainment

We had a piper welcoming the guests and to pipe me through the gardens upon arrival and to provide a musical backdrop throughout the photos.

There was also a string trio called Aurora Strings who provided all the music during the ceremony and drinks reception. We also booked magician, Simon from The Joker, who provided fantastic entertainment interacting with all the guests.

For the evening reception we chose a band from Glasgow called The Jiggers who provided a Scottish ceilidh followed by an evening of DJ music that allowed us to incorporate both traditional Spanish and Scottish music.

Special touches

We had lots of special touches, including speech translations, an amazing piece of wood for our guests to sign, and feathers spread out to remember my dad. We also created our own photobooth with a wicker chair and our own props.

As my father passed away when I was young, we decided to make a table featuring memories of him and others who couldn’t be with us at the time and to honour them at the beginning of our ceremony.

Best bit

Signing the registrar with our closest family members was a highlight because that was the moment it became official and we had a minute to ourselves to talk. It was an intimate gathering for me signing my old name for the last time knowing that from now on, I would be Natalie De Juan Sanz.

Honeymoon

After the weekend celebration we flew to Paris for four days where we explored the city, food, wine and Disneyland. We had never visited Paris before. We are very much looking forward to our two-week Caribbean cruise honeymoon in February.

Advice

Our top tip for other Brides Up North would be: spend the day with each other. Don’t follow the tradition of splitting up to make sure you speak with every guest. The day is yours to celebrate together.