As the editorial team take a short summer break, we’ll be leaving you with a reduced blogging schedule so that you still get your daily dose of wedding lovely. Usual service will recommence on Monday 31st August 2020 but in the meantime watch out for recaps of some of our favourite Real Weddings shared during the first half of 2020.
Drop in every day for the very prettiest, most unique wedding inspiration and – if you are a Brides Up North bride – to see if your real wedding was one of our top picks.
Today’s featured couple were one of the last to walk up the aisle before the Covid-19 lockdown, marring on 6th March, making them feel all the more grateful for their wonderful celebrations.
Picking chic Liverpool hotel, 30 James Street for their big day, the hotel projected the desired feels and was just the right size for their guestlist.
Featuring a bold magenta pink colour palette (bride Shannon’s favourite!) and a subtle superheroes theme (groom Adam’s passion), the couple’s plans came together perfectly with the right level of luxe styling to complement the venue as well as all-important personal touches to set their wedding apart.
We adore Shannon’s choice of embellished princess gown with one of the longest trains we’ve ever seen (and that’s saying something!) plus the florals win our hearts too – cool, contemporary and uber romantic.
Though they managed to fit in their wedding before the pandemic escalated, unfortunately they’ve had to put their Mexico honeymoon on hold and so we wish Shannon and Adam the best of luck in hopefully jetting off soon… and when the trip does materialise, we hope it’s as epic as their big day clearly was!
With images by Madison Picture
PROPOSAL
Shannon says: We got engaged in Amsterdam in 2017. Adam had never been overly keen on marriage, so I was very shocked when it happened. He took me away for my birthday in October to Amsterdam with two of our best friends. We stayed in a fancy hotel that had a rooftop terrace. So, on the first night we all went up there to look at the lights of Amsterdam and take some pics and little did I know, our friends were filming the whole thing and that’s when Adam got down and popped the question!
SETTING
We got married on the 6th March 2020. There was no real significance of the date, we decided for two years ahead to give us plenty of time to save up, so we didn’t have to take out any loans. We originally wanted a May wedding but it worked out way cheaper for March and we knew we wanted a Friday wedding so chose the first Friday of the month so we wouldn’t have to wait too long!
In retrospect we were really lucky our big day took place when it did as it was a week-and-a-half before lockdown. We had around 20 members of family all flying from all over the world to be there and I could not be more grateful!
We had our whole day at 30 James Street, Liverpool. We just adored this venue and it was exactly what I had pictured as a bride of how I’d love my wedding to be. The room is also not too small and not too big so made the day feel really intimate.
THEME
Well, Adam chose the theme… which was superheroes! He loves anything Marvel or DC. However, being a tattooist, I still wanted a bit of an edgy yet classy style so tried to make the theme quite subtle.
Our colour scheme was deep magenta. I just love this colour, it’s my favourite colour ever and I think it went perfectly for the time of year too! It was such a warming colour for the room.
DRESS
My dress was an A-line lacey, sparkly full-length dress with a train for days! It was from a bridal boutique in Ellsmere Port called Dorothy Rose. Originally, I wanted to go for a figure hugging, mermaid gown but after trying on tonnes of dresses, I actually hated them the most for my figure. When I put on my dress, I just knew it was the one. I felt like a princess!
GROOMSMEN
Adam got his suit from Moss Bros! It was a dark navy tweed suit. The groomsmen all matched Adam’s suit and we bought them all from Moss Bros too – getting a fab discount as we bought more than five!
BRIDESMAIDS
I had one maid of honour and four bridesmaids. I’m actually a bit of a bargain hunter and found my bridesmaids dresses on a website called 10store. They cost me £10 each and I bought belts for the dresses at an additional £7 each. Making them a total of £17 per dress. My sister’s maid of honour dress came from Boohoo, for a bargain price too, and we also added a belt.
BEAUTY
Our hair was done by the gorgeous Annie and Jodie from Trendy Gal Studio on The Wirral. Our makeup was done by the gorgeous Emily Rowlands who works at Victoria Ellen on The Wirral.
PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY
Our photographers were Nick and Paul from Madison Picture. I would one million percent recommend them to anyone. They made me feel so comfortable on the day and we all had such a laugh with them. Such great guys and the photos and video they did for us were just incredible. I couldn’t ask for better.
STYLING
The Flower Boutique in Wallasey, created mine and my bridesmaids’ bouquets. They were incredible, I could have cried they were that perfect.
We used White Events from The Wirral to dress our venue and they did a fabulous job. We had the ‘LUX package’ so it was quite full and floral which is exactly what I wanted! We had gorgeous plinths with our centrepieces on as you walked down the aisle, a big white carpet, up lighting, lanterns! The lot! It was stunning!
FAVOURS
We chose brownies! Basically, me and Adam are big foodies and our best friend laura, owns Laura’s Cakes and Bakes in Wallasey, and she makes THE tastiest brownies ever. They went down so well!
CAKE
This was created by Kingfisher Cakes from The Wirral. We had just a two-tier cake with a fake third tier as we didn’t want to waste too much. Our top tier was red velvet and Terry’s Chocolate Orange and our bottom tier was a chocolate chip pound cake. Delicious!
DINING
Our wedding breakfast menu was carrot and coriander soup to start; roasted lamb in a red wine jus with dauphinois potatoes for main; and profiteroles for dessert. The food was amazing, I cannot fault it.
We had a bottle of red, white and rose on each table and didn’t see any left by the end!
ENTERTAINMENT
The amazing Natalie Collins sang us down the aisle and performed for our drinks reception. She was just great.
In the evening we had a DJ playing the best music, and a caricaturist called Mickey Toons, which everyone absolutely loved. We also had a photo booth, sweet cart and chocolate fountain.
SPECIAL TOUCH
A lot of the stationery I made myself, so it had my personal touches. I designed our welcome sign where we both look like superheroes. Our guestbook was a giant Batman symbol made out of wood for people to sign so we can hang in the house and I also made my own bridal leather jacket! That said ‘Mrs Ellis’ on the back. I wore this into our wedding breakfast and had so many comments.
THANKS TO
I couldn’t fault any of our suppliers as they all delivered, and more, on the day. They made it so special and it was more than I could have ever wanted. The pictures show just that.
I would also 100% recommended our venue. They really do go all out to make your day amazing. I had a guy called James from the venue follow me around all day fixing my hair and dress and making me look incredible. He was bringing us drinks all the time and even helping the photographer. I would definitely ask for him to work your wedding. He was the best!
BEST BIT
It’s tough to pick, but I think it was the speeches. They were super emotional and special, especially my dad’s…I cried like a baby. But the whole day was just magical, it seems like such a blur now, but I literally danced all night with all the people I love the most.
HONEYMOON
This is a sad one, we never got to go on our honeymoon, due to coronavirus. We were due to go to Mexico in April in an unbelievable hotel with a butler, the whole shebang, but it was cancelled. We have rebooked again for August but don’t hold much hope.
ADVICE
In the run up to help with the planning I attended a couple of Brides Up North’s wedding fairs.
I would say, if you can, definitely get a videographer. The day goes so quick and it really is such a blur it’s so nice to be able to relive it and watch it back whenever you like.
I’d also say it’s the personal touches that make the day extra special. Finally, DONT SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF. You really won’t care by the end of it… but it will be the best day of your life!
