A pale green, gold and cream wedding with owls, a monkey and a giraffe!

Afternoon ladies, I absolutely love the following wedding I’m about to share and it just goes to show that you really can have a classy affair without blowing the budget on everything! The lovely Louise and Ross created such a personal and memorable wedding day with sweet DIY touches and real show stopping bargains. Louise’s gorgeous wedding dress cost just £60 from Monsoon!

One thing they didn’t scrimp on though was their wedding photography! And it shows in these beautiful images captured by talented wedding tog Caro Hutchings. I’ll now leave you to enjoy Ross and Louise’s wedding day…

We met through mutual friends (my best friend is married to his best friend) and he proposed whilst we were spending a very snowy weekend in London.

We chose the The Reid Rooms, Margaret Roding, Essex as we loved its relaxed feel and beautiful surroundings.  The huge old Barn House where we got ready in the morning and stayed in overnight was a big bonus, as was the working farm on-site.

My engagement ring was found in Hatton Garden…a 1920’s design in platinum with a sapphire and diamonds- just beautiful!  We picked this ring together after Ross proposed with a large golden owl ring from Topshop, complete with ruby eyes and glasses!  Our wedding bands were from Bands of Love and were simple court style platinum bands.

My dress was from Monsoon Bridal- a bargain in the sale at only £60!  The cape I found on ebay and I accessorised the outfit with some sparkly sandals, a vintage 1920’s brooch (also from ebay) and some vintage 1920’s earrings (a gift from my parents).

I loved that the dress looked vintage, it reminded me of a 1930’s evening gown and I loved the sparkly beading on the front.  I also didn’t want to have a traditional wedding dress so I liked that this was a little bit different…plus it was an absolute bargain!

Our photographer was the hugely talented Caro Hutchings, we found her via a wedding blog and loved her relaxed, natural photographs and the way she captures the light.  She was a pleasure to have around on the day and we’re so pleased with our beautiful photographs – she really managed to capture the atmosphere of the day and has produced some stunning images for us. I’d recommend her to other brides-to-be without hesitation!

Ross wore a slim fit grey suit from the Marks and Spencer Autograph range with a fitted white shirt and a slim green tie.  He looked very handsome! He wore the suit with brown shoes from Office and had a small gold owl pin on his buttonhole which matched the ring he had a proposed to me with and that was mentioned on our wedding invitation.

I didn’t wear a veil as I didn’t feel it would suit the style of the dress, instead I wore fresh flowers (Ranunculus) in my hair for the ceremony and later put in a sparkly vintage looking hair clip (from Glitzy Secrets), which went well with my sandals and the beading on the dress, to change the look from day to night.

I’ve set up a shop (TypeR Designs) to sell bespoke wedding invitations similar to my own (along with other typographic designs) on Etsy.

I chose to walk down the aisle to an instrumental version of Reign of Love by Coldplay…a really beautiful piece of music.  We walked back up the aisle after our wedding to Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles.

Our florist was Tania at Big Day Flowers. I wanted a simple arrangement of white flowers and foliage and Barbara and Tania at Big Day made my vision into a reality.  I had a beautiful hand-tied bouquet with white ranunculus, tulips and anemones with eucalyptus leaves and foliage, finished with ivory grosgrain ribbon to which I attached my original engagement ring.  The bridesmaids had a similar smaller version of my bouquet which was tied with a silver grosgrain ribbon.

I filled all the surfaces in our ceremony room with tea lights in jars and candle holders which helped create a really cosy atmosphere.  In the main reception rooms we strung up homemade bunting (made from doilies and ribbon), put up posters that I’d designed which detailed things that we both loved, along with copies of our wedding invitation.  We also strung photos of ourselves from ribbon and made a display of family wedding photos.  We also added heaps of fairy lights and candles wherever possible!

For our table centres we had white tulips, ranunculus and foliage in round vases.  The flowers were absolutely beautiful and graced a number of our guests homes for a long time after the wedding.

My cake was made by a family friend.  It was a simple 2 layer sponge cake (1 layer a classic Victoria sponge and the other chocolate), with white striped icing.  We finished it off with some green foliage and a tiny owl topper.  We also had a cake topper from Melabo on Etsy, which we stood by the side of the cake as it was too large to stand on top…this certainly provoked a few comments on the day!

Something that everyone said to me before the day was that it goes so fast and to try to enjoy every moment and to grab a few moments alone with your new husband if possible.  The day certainly flew past and I’m really glad we got to sneak away for a few photos together after the ceremony.

Our first dance was Just Like Heaven by The Cure.  I initially wasn’t keen on doing a first dance but Ross persuaded me – I had one condition and that was that we didn’t dance to a slow song so we picked Just Like Heaven which is a great upbeat song that we both love…it ended up being quite fun twirling around like maniacs to it.

I really enjoyed the whole wedding planning process and wish I could do it all over again so I think my main advice to brides to be would be to enjoy everything from the moment you get engaged onwards, have fun with the wedding and don’t be afraid to do the things that you want to do- not the things that others tell you you should be doing!

Thanks so much for sharing your special day Ross and Louise, I LOVE all the personal touches and you make a really sweet couple. Here’s to a very long and happy life together *clink*.

 

Louise and Ross’s fabulous wedding suppliers!!

Photographer ~ Caro Hutchings Photography

Venue ~ The Reid Rooms, Margaret Roding, Essex.

Brides Dress ~ Monsoon

Grooms Suit ~ Marks and Spencer Autograph

Grooms Shoes ~ Office

Bridesmaid Dresses ~ Linea at House of Fraser

Hair ~ Sarah from the Mars & Venus salon in Brentwood, Essex.  I did my own make up after having had a few trials at Mac and Bobbi B

Flowers ~ Big Day Flowers

Entertainment ~ Capital Nightlife

Cake Topper ~ MelaboWed

Food ~ Magpie Catering

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