A Lavender Inspired Intimate & Relaxed Real Wedding: Alex & Jenny

Today’s real wedding has pretty accents of lavender and was a very intimate & relaxed affair. Jenny looked stunning in her short, 50s style dress and I’m totally loving the pops of purple used to style the day.

Words by Jenny.

We wanted our wedding to be relaxed and  intimate! I love lavender and Alex had bought me some lavender plants for my garden, so I guess that inspired the wedding theme.

©2013 Cassandra Lane Photography

I really wanted a short dress as I wanted to get married in town and it was a civil ceremony. I loved the small details on the dress and it was super comfortable. I loved the way it had a full skirt (which was great for twirling around in) and the fact that I could wear shoes in a  contrasting colour that would stand out.

The Marriage Ceremony was at the Council House, Market Square, Nottingham. We chose this venue because it is really beautiful and is in a city center location. It has a sweeping staircase, a beautiful glass dome and a choice of lovely rooms for the ceremony.

We were in the Lord Mayors parlour, which is oak paneled and had an ante-room that was great for the post ceremony drinks. The registrar and ushers were fantastic, they didn’t rush us and they made us feel really special.

My dad walked me down the aisle to O mio Babbino Caro by Puccini, sung by Montserrat Caballe …this made me cry, especially seeing Alex at the end of the aisle.

We walked back down the aisle to Florence & the Machine ‘You Got The Love’.

We spent a while searching for the perfect photographer and this was one of the things that we invested the most money in from our budget. We knew we wanted a quirky informal style and Cassandra was perfect.

She managed to organise family and friends so we got all of the pictures we wanted and she was so helpful throughout. It must have been hard as there weren’t many of us during the day, but she fitted in perfectly!

We had the reception at The Gallery Function Room, The Riverbank Bar and Grill, West Bridgford, Nottingham. We chose this venue for several reasons.

It has a great location on Trent Bridge overlooking the River, it has a fab reputation for food (and we certainly weren’t disappointed) and it had a great room that could be partitioned, which was good for us as we had an intimate family meal after the ceremony and a larger party for all of our friends and extended family in the evening.

There isn’t much outside space, but we were able to have canapés outside and we could use the embankment along the river. Again the Staff were absolutely brilliant and couldn’t do enough for us all day.

Flowers by Susan provided the table decorations which were tin pots of either French Lavender or Purple Hyacinths wrapped in Hessian. We surrounded the pots with fairy lights..

The table decorations were sprigs of lavender and sweet pea tied together with a brown luggage label that had the place setting on it (that we’d stamped by hand).

Alex has a really sweet tooth, so the favours were designed around him!

We bought favour bags and filled them with heart shaped sweets, individually wrapped pieces of rock that had just married written in it and Haribo rings. All sweets and bags were sourced from Ebay.

We made personalised badges that said different things on them such as the date of the wedding, Alex loves Jenny (and vice versa).

My Mum baked the fruitcake and I decorated it. I’d seen a three tier design in a wedding magazine and liked the idea of putting bunting around the tiers. We all like fruitcake, so that was an easy choice and it makes the cake more stable.

Our first dance track was, ‘Candy’ by Paolo Nuttini. We both like the songs and lyrics, and it is nice and short!!

If you could impart any words of wisdom to a Bride to Be planning her marriage and wedding day, what would they be?

Relax! It’s pretty stressful, even if you think you are planning a small wedding. Keep it the way you both want it and you’ll love it! Try and get some sleep the night before as the day is long ….easier said then done….but the day will fly by!

What was your most memorable moment of the day / evening?

I loved every moment of the day and It’s hard to pick a particular moment that I loved. I guess it would have to be seeing Alex in the registry office and the champagne reception afterwards, as it was the first chance to relax and say hi to everyone.

Such a sweet wedding, thank you so much for sharing with the WTW blog. Please leave some love for our happy couple Alex and Jenny and their wonderful photographer Cassandra Lane!

Ensuring your wedding day is as magical and memorable as Alex and Jenny’s requires attention to every detail, especially the music that will set the tone for your celebration. To create an atmosphere that truly reflects your personal style and love story, consider hiring the best wedding musicians in the UK. From classical ensembles to contemporary bands, the right musicians can transform your wedding into an unforgettable experience for you and your guests.

Big lover of lavender? You’ll love my lavender and mint wedding inspiration!

wedding credits | photographer: cassandra lane | venue: the riverbank bar & grill | the dress: the wedding dress factory outlet | the headpiece: liberty in love | the shoes: lunar shoes | flowers: flowers by susan | grooms attire: paul smith

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