Rustic Bunting & Yorkshire Country Vintage Wedding: Simon & Katrina

Loving the relaxed and intimate vibe of today’s rustic bunting, real Yorkshire wedding! Simon & Katrina put their own personal stamp on their vintage, country inspired big day.

Stunning florals and pretty relaxed pastel detailing make this a super sweet wedding. Enjoy!

Words by Katrina & Simon. Images  by James+Lianne Photography.

Rustic Bunting & Yorkshire Country Vintage Wedding: Simon & Katrina

We wanted our wedding to be a relaxed and an informal occasion but be about the two of us as much as possible.

Although our wedding could be described as en vogue and the styling of the venue matched the buildings perfectly, our inspiration came from places we have visited together and people that mean a lot to us.

Our tastes and sense of style were very much reflected in the way the day looked.

I really wanted a princess gown but as I am short they didn’t suit me. I also wanted some lace detail on the dress which this dress had. I felt that it suited the chilled out and relaxed venue well as it wasn’t too flashy and over the top.

Lots of friends and family commented on how they didn’t expect me to wear anything like that.

Not being a fan of overly formal attire, I wanted a suit that I could keep and wear in years to come. I opted for a classic looking 3 piece suit, in light grey with a very fine square check.

A late addition to my suit was a silk flowery tie, teamed with a pair of light brown brogues added to the classic look I was going for.

We wanted something quite personal for the transport cars. Katrina’s dad spent a lot of his youth restoring an old MGB which he had to sell when she was born.

As a bit of a surprise we managed to find a company in Yorkshire where we could hire one for the day so that he could drive Katrina to the church in a car that meant a lot to him.

It also meant that Katrina and I could spend a bit of time together before the reception, as I got to drive it to the reception. It was definitely my favourite memory of the day!

Again we didn’t want traditional wedding suits for our groomsmen; instead we asked them to wear a light grey suit which complimented the suit I wore.

To add a bit of unity we got them all a tie which matched the colour of the bridesmaids dresses. As I wanted a bit of standout I instructed them that they couldn’t wear light brown shoes like mine!

The bridesmaid dresses were pale blue numbers from BHS. I asked the bridesmaids to wear neutral style accessories and let them chose their own.

My Dad walked me down the aisle to the classic ‘Bridal March’.

How we met was explained at great length in Simon’s speech (with some exaggeration), but the short version is that we met at university in Preston.

One drunken night Simon knocked on the door and introduced himself, the rest is history. This was also where Simon proposed some years later. On the doorstep where we first met!

As it was quite a trail from the church to the venue a lot of guests decided to stay over in the local hotels. We arranged for a London Routemaster to collect them from their accommodation and take them to the reception.

Having spent a lot of time in the capital, the old red buses were quite close to our hearts so having one at our wedding was the obvious choice!

Being a designer (Simon), I had a clear image of what I did and didn’t want from our photographers, relinquishing creative control to someone else was going to be a tough decision to make.

However, as soon as I was put onto James and Lianne by a friend I knew straight away that these were the photographers for us.

On meeting them Katrina’s reservations were quashed as she was assured they are there to document the day, and not to get in the way of proceedings. I (Katrina) forgot they were there!!!

James and Lianne are true professionals and clearly love what they do. They were an absolute delight to have as photographers. We couldn’t be happier with the results.

We kept the wedding decor quite simple, with a classic twist. Some of the decorations included: bunting (made by mum), glass jars, Mr & Mrs boxes (made by Simon), paper lanterns and a vintage leather suitcase.

A couple of things dictated the choice of wedding flowers: one being the style of the venue and the other being Katrina’s Mum. Being quite creative herself, making soft furnishings for a living, she suggested we bought cut flowers from the florist in pastel shades to decorate the venue.

We then added to the vintage/classic look of the old barn by arranging them ourselves in old bottles and jars around the venue.

Flowers on the table were housed in a wooden box which I made from reclaimed pallets. This was also a great place for the table numbers.

For the wedding favours Simon drew cartoons for all the bridesmaids that had a funny memory or running joke on each. We then framed and gave them on the day.

For the groomsmen we played on the fact they had come from all over the world to be there for us both (Singapore, Australia, London and Leeds to be precise) and presented them each with a Yorkshire flag. This went down well with our Lancashire friends!!!

Mums got flowers, the dads got a gift that reflected our choice of transport for the day. Katrinas dad a large scale kit of a London routemaster and Simons dad a set of ‘Northern Line’ cufflinks.

Everyone seemed happy!

We bought sweet bags online and made each guest a bag of pick ‘n’ mix. We also used these as name places and wrote our guests names on.

We have some pretty amazing people in our family, and when it came to the cake this was no exception.

After a few weeks of ‘sweet’ talking, her Auntie agreed to make it for her. She also helped us save a fair bit of money by making the delicious cakes we had for dessert (a chocolate cake, carrot cake, lemon drizzle & Victoria sponge).

Bunting (made by Katrina’s mum) in the same colour palette as the flowers, plus plenty of candles and an old suitcase finished off the decoration of the venue.

We chose ‘Better Together’ by Jack Johnson as our first dance song as it was a song we grew to love when we first started going out.

Simon lived in London and I was at University in Preston when this song came out. He can have his romantic moments as he sent me a link to it one day saying that it reminded him of us.

wedding credits / photographer: james+lianne photography / wedding venue: east riddlesden hall / brides dress: gowns uk (not happy to recommend) / brides veil: gowns uk (not happy to recommend) / brides shoes: untold, house of fraser / bridesmaid dresses: bhs / hair: david charles salon / makeup: kiss the bride makeup / florist: d w hunt florist / wedding cake: auntie / catering: taste cuisine / rings: goldsmiths / transport: north yorkshire classic car hire, yorkshire heritage bus company

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