My inner magpie is extremely excited to share WWW readers Nathalie and Simon’s December wedding day today.
Think winter wonderland, glamour, white, silver and sequins and you are almost there.
Nathalie and Simon wanted a wedding filled with loved ones and a lot of sparkles and fur. They had the most beautifully decorated village hall reception, with brilliant lighting and pretty blooms.
Nathalie looked beautiful in her Mori Lee dress and fur shrug, oh and she wore the most amazing pair of glitter Christian Louboutin’s. The bridesmaids looked super glam in silver sequin dresses, clutching delicate Gypsophila bouquets.
Thanks so much to Ali Lovegrove for sharing her lovely photographs with us.
The Proposal… On November 7th 2012 Simon lovingly proposed…picture the scene, there I was in my pj’s, sat on the sofa working on my blackberry and watching Hollyoaks when Simon (after cooking dinner – standard and drinking an entire bottle of red wine to himself) slid down the sofa and popped the question. As he was doing it I questioned what the hell he was doing and why he was getting in the way of the TV – not the most romantic but very ‘us’ Apparently he had had the ring for 4 weeks and all my family knew it was going to happen but every time he planned to do it, it felt too forced and I might guess or I’d annoyed him so didn’t ‘deserve’ it ha! So in the end he decided to do it in the way that was most us – on the sofa as normal on a Thursday night!
The Vision for the Day… When planning the wedding the most important thing was to make sure had a venue that could hold all our friends & family – we purposely didn’t want a country house or hotel where we would be restricted by numbers & our budget. As a full blown pink addict (I have a big 6ct Pink Tourmaline engagement ring) I actually wanted to prove people wrong and not have an entire pink day! Being a winter wedding it was all about sparkles & fur! I wanted the glam factor with sequins, silver white with just a touch if pink..
The Planning Process… Planning the wedding was easy – I know it isn’t something you should admit to but honestly I found it all so easy and fun that I was sure I was missing something and was wondering what I was supposed to be doing or getting worked up about like ‘they’ you say will. Within a week of being engaged we had booked the church and the hall and had meetings with key suppliers lined up. In my job I work as an Account Manager and manage projects so I think I tackled the wedding in the same way – find something you like, compare costs, book it & move onto the next thing on the list…easy! Even when the day before the wedding my car broke down on the way to pick up my dress I was so laid back about it I think other people were more worried for me!
The Venue… Countesthorpe Village Hall is 5 minutes up the road from where we live and where the Church is so it was a no brainer. It is a big clear hall with a bar attached (cheaper drinks J) only one wall had to be ‘draped’ to cover some artwork but otherwise it was a blank canvas and perfect as it could hold up to 180 people and meant we had the freedom to do what we liked with the space as well as being a bargain!
The Dress + Accessories… I wore a Mori Lee dress with a White Fur shrug from ‘Wonderful Wraps’ for the day and then a Justin Alexander beaded jacket for the evening to cover my arms. Finding jackets were a nightmare as my dress was white…not ivory or cream or champagne but white and there aren’t many places around they cater for ‘white’ however these 2 finished the look perfectly. As a massive shoe lover ( I purchased 3 pairs before deciding on the final ones) I went with navy glitter Christian Louboutins for the day and took a back up pair of silver glitter kurt Geiger’s in case my feet hurt (although they never got worn) I also picked up a pair of ‘I do’ Uggs for when the party really got going and to wear the next day!
I had a beautiful sparkly headband and I had the Kate Spade ‘Bridal’ bangle. Simon bought me a Tiffany Infinity bracelet & a gorgeous pair of Rochas Silver-tone Swarovski crystal earrings.
Finding the Dress… I went dress shopping with my mum and in total I must have tried on 30 dresses and I just couldn’t find anything suitable! Everything felt too safe…In the end I went to Embrace Bridal Boutique in Peterborough where I had the most fun ever! Some dress shops won’t allow you to take pictures so it is really hard to get a good grasp on what you really look like. Sally & Julie in the shop were amazing that day putting me into all sorts of different dresses and really we just had a big party in the shop and I was the doll (it was also snowing so we felt it was safer to stay in and just try everything on) I went away thinking I had found the one then got home poured over pictures and knew I was right so went back a few weeks later and signed the deal!
Groom’s Attire… As we were having a Church wedding Simon was very adamant that he wanted to wear tails ( he also wanted a top hat and cane but luckily we reined him in!) originally we were going for navy but in the end we went with black as it was winter and the silver waistcoats just complimented them so much more. Simon had a slightly different waistcoat.
The Readings + Music… My sister read a reading in the church called ‘Friendship and Daniel the best man read a reading from Ecclesiastes 3 ‘A Time for Everything’
Music wise we has a top Frank Sinatra tribute – Jay Oxenham who sang 2 sets and really got the hall swinging! He had everyone up dancing at 6:30 pm and from that minute on it was packed…and stayed packed!
Beautiful Bridesmaids… My sister - Emily, Simon’s sister – Lisa, then my 3 best friends from school – Natalie, Kayleigh & Abigail. We also had our niece who was 1 on the day dressed in a similar outfit as an un official bridesmaid. I made them al wear full length silver sequin dresses (ebay bargain) finished off with light grey fur boleros from Coast. They all embraced the sequins and went with it even though it wouldn’t have been their choice and the 3 school girls even bought their own dresses to help with the budget.
The Flowers… Zorina from Lavish Events was amazing! I have no idea about flowers but knew I wanted gypsohila as it looks a bit like snow but other than that I had no idea…She totally understood what I wanted and brought it all to life. I had red roses in my bouquet with a full on bling handle.
The Cake… My beautiful friend from work makes the most amazing cakes including fabulous wedding cakes so after scouring the internet and finding the style I wanted she got to work on making an amazing 3 tier sponge glittery, ruffled masterpiece! (vanilla, chocolate & lemon sponge)
Your Photographer… We found Ali’s details after seeing some of her work on a wedding blog and so immediately got in touch. It was clear from day 1 she was a girl after my own heart as she had amazing glittery nails when we met! Picking her was a no brainer and both Simon and I couldn’t have been more excited when we saw her pictures.
I also won a competition to have a videographer so it meant we really would have our entire day captured and we can re live it over and over again!
The Details + Decor… Having a blank canvas on a village hall we set about finding a company to not only drape it but put in a sparkly dance floor and uplight the room in soft blues & pinks. Zorina the florist managed to transform the room with her amazing ruffled chair covers and sublte pink glittery table runners. She covered our top table and in an array of fake snow, mini Christmas trees and candles. In the Christmas sales after we got engaged I snapped up loads of bargains of beautiful baubles, Christmas pine cones and a million other things – One Sunday I turned up at Zorinas studio and unloaded a car full of mismatched ‘stuff’ which she managed to use and fill the room to help turn it into the winter wonderland we were imagining. To top it all off we hired giant marquee light up letter from Vowed & Amazed which really finished the room. The biggest compliments we received we were from people who were amazed and how we had managed to turn this village hall into a beautiful reception which would rival any expensive venue today!
Food wise our caterers helped make our dream menu of: Toad in the whole, cottage pie & braised red cabbage all served in platters on the tables so people could help themselves ‘family style’ for desert we then finished off with a festive chocolate orange cheese cake and copious amount of red wine & prosecco (thanks to a Calais trip earlier in the year!)
The Honeymoon… After the wedding we spent a couple of days in the Peal District to unwind, eat cheese, drink wine reminisce and get ready for Christmas! But the main holiday will be April 29th we fly off to Vegas, followed by a week in Hawaii and a few days in New York!
Memorable Moments… Getting to the church on time & hearing people giggle at Simon’s shoes when we kneeled down ( he has ‘shes mine’ stickers on the bottom.) The speeches were amazing & the best man did a brilliant video montage ( I also couldn’t help but get up and speak).
When my mother & 3 of my bridesmaids all swapped clothes in the toilets for a video guest book entry but then came swanning out onto the dance floor – the site of my mum running around in sequins whilst my best friend wore her turquoise 2 piece and swigged from a bottle of prosecco still cracks me up now! At the end of the night Simon grabbing hold of the microphone and doing a stint of Kareoke stood on the table to serenade those of us who were still partying away into the small hours!
Advice for Other Couples… Enjoy every minute of it, don’t spend money on things at the last minute and blow your budgets but concentrate in what you want and what people will remember rather than what you think should you have! (we didn’t have any flowers in the church for example)
Credit Where Credit is Due…
Photography | Ali Lovegrove Photography
Videography | Award Wedding Video
Flowers | Zorina Handley
Dress | Sally Sellers
Cake | Holly Skey
Catering | Taste
Letters | Vowed & Amazed
Singer | Jay Oxenham
Drapes/Dance Floor/DJ | Premier Event Services
Oh the sparkle and glamour… LOVE!
Thanks so much to Nathalie and Simon for sharing their wedding story with us today XOXO Lou