Happy Friday everyone, need a bit of wedding inspiration to get you through the day?
Well today, I have a gorgeous country vineyard inspired wedding to share with you and I am super in love with the elegant Bordeaux colour theme. Deep reds are just so classy aren’t they!
Ness and Paddy had a lovely outdoor wedding under a stylish canopy with lots of rustic, organic charm.
Words by Ness. Images by Kevin Belson Photography.
Our ceremony was held on one of the lawns next to the house with the black mountains as the backdrop. They erected a canopy with benches both sides and an aisle down the middle.
The reception was also held within the grounds, in the Wainhouse. The Wainhouse is a beautiful barn and a blank canvas to decorate, this is where we moved to after the drinks and canapés and stayed here for the meal and evening party.
Paddy found Dewsall Court through another wedding photographer’s blog, it was the first venue we went to see and we fell in love with it. It wasn’t within our budget so we looked around at other venues but nothing even came close. With the help of my generous parents we booked Dewsall for our special day. We wanted a venue that felt like home, somewhere everyone would feel relaxed.
Dewsall had everything we wanted and is a charming and romantic English country home. The large beautiful house which was exclusive to us meant we could have our closest friends and family stay for the weekend, oh and not to mention a full-size snooker table, Paddy was sold! The gardens, grounds and stunning landscape were just perfect and we realised that we wanted to have the ceremony outside.
I knew I wanted a dress with lace of some sort and a detailed back but at the same time kept an open mind. This was the hardest part and it actually took me a while to find the perfect dress, in the end my friends gave me a deadline.
The dress I eventually chose was in the first shop I had been and I asked for a dress to be shipped that I had seen somewhere online.
I knew it was the one, it was a Kenneth Winston fit and flare gown with layered lace, a beautifully detailed low back and a jewelled neckline. Having red hair, I didn’t want a white dress so I had the dress made in a champagne colour with ivory lace.
I had 3 bridesmaids, my best friend Ceri was my maid of honour, my cousin Lizzie and my brother’s girlfriend Helen.
I wanted to make sure they were comfortable and they were so relaxed about they would wear. We found long lace and pleated dresses from Ted Baker which they all loved. They were reversible which meant they could wear whichever way around they preferred.
Ceri wore a powder blue and Liz and Helen wore pale green. They all looked beautiful and Paddy said he first welled up when they stepped out to walk down the aisle.
Paddy sent me a gift on the morning of the wedding, beautiful pearl earrings which complimented my dress. The outfit was finished off with fresh flowers in my hair and a very comfortable pair of Rachel Simpson shoes.
Paddy didn’t want anything too formal and found a brown herringbone suit that was perfect on Asos, which his two best men also wore and the ushers found similar suits through Asos too!
Paddy’s cuff links were a gift from his brother on his wedding day which coincidentally is the same date as ours.
All of the men wore the same burgundy polka dot tie, to match the burgundy in my bouquet.
Dewsall recommended Love Lily and Emma and her team were brilliant and we were completely confident in them. The button holes, corsages and bouquets were relaxed seasonal flowers with herbs an d soft foliage.
With plenty of whites, greens and flashes of Bordeaux which included narcissi, lily of the valley, gypsophila and beautiful peonies.
We used confetti made from dried rose petals and bird seed. Emma couldn’t have got the flowers more perfect…
We had a suspended flower arch for the end of the canopy which framed us whilst we were married; we then used these to decorate the top table, as well as small vases on wine barrels at the entrance of the aisle.
They dressed the beams in the Wainhouse with Gypsophila and also provided us with lots of loose flowers and Mum arranged these in mixed jars to dress the tables.
My Dad walked me down the aisle – the music we chose was a song that meant a lot to us and fitted perfectly with the simple garden ceremony under the canopy.
Paddy and I met at work folding Levis jeans and he asked me to marry him after almost 10 years together.
Paddy and I got engaged whilst travelling around New Zealand. He took me to the water’s edge and whilst we watched the sun set he asked me – as soon as we were home we couldn’t wait to start planning!!
Having an interest in photography himself, this was the first thing Paddy wanted to organise. After going through numerous recommendations from friends and searching various internet sites he looked at a suggestion from one of his best men who is a Wedding Photographer himself.
Straight away he knew that Kevin Belson Photography was the team he wanted to capture our special day. His creative style and ability to capture the moments that mean so much were exactly what we were looking for, and after we had met Kevin and Carol we knew it was in good hands and one less thing we needed to worry about!
The results were fantastic, everything we hoped for and more, and a perfect reminder of our day.
We had a magician to entertain the guests during the drinks reception and photos as well as a musician from the band playing classical acoustic guitar.
Soul’d Out played for the evening entertainment and the dance floor was full the entire night after our first dance – they even had the kids playing the tambourine with them at the front of the dance floor.
We had a loose country vineyard theme for our wedding, with plenty of greens and flashes of Bordeaux.
Rustic wooden signs were made and the seating plan by Nick and Tom. The guestbook was postcards from New Zealand for people to leave us notes. We had a menu board and order of the day which my brother’s girlfriend Charley did.
We wanted to make as much ourselves as possible, our family and friends are very creative so we roped everyone in to help out. My bridesmaids were amazing, Ceri, and her mum made a ll of the signs for the day. Helen is a graphic designer and she designed all of the stationery and various signs around the house.
Liz hunted down furniture and restored boxes, tables, frames, ladder and our Grandad’s bar who sadly passed away. We used this in memory of him for the backdrop to our photobooth, it was repainted by Lizzie, with a chest of silly props for people to pose, it went down a storm!
We made hessian table runners with lace thanks mum! We saved hundreds of corks and made huge name letters to hang on the walls. For the table plan we stamped lollipop sticks and the boys tied to a ladder the day before whilst drinking Whiskey.
For the table names and favours we stamped tags which were tied onto a dram of liquor we’d chosen for each person. With this was homemade Swiss biscuits made by Paddy’s mum, with a porcelain tag which had been made and personalised by my cousin who was unable to attend, she made over 100 and sent them from New Zealand.
We also made bath bombs for our guests in the house, insisting they all take a dip and relax in their tub over the weekend. For our bridal party, we personalised individual boxes with gifts inside.
Mum and I made the bridesmaids a dressing gown to wear the morning of the wedding along with an infinity bracelet. The best men and ushers had personalised hip flasks, beard oil and ties. Our parents also had personalised gifts as keepsakes from the wedding.
Seeing everyone’s hard work coming together was an amazing feeling.
I knew that I wanted to make my own wedding cake, but with so much to organise I asked for some help. My mum and Paddy’s mum both made a tier, I managed to make mine the day before, all three layers were different.
The bridesmaids dressed the cake with fresh fruit and flowers between drinking wine in the garden and the meal. It meant so much more being baked with love so we decided to serve the cake as dessert so everyone could appreciate it we loved it.
If you could impart any words of wisdom to a future brides planning their wedding days, what would they be?
Make the day your own, do what is important to you as a couple. Take any help you can get and involve family and friends. We’ll remember all of the planning just as much, with evenings of crafting and wine.
We didn’t take much time to stand back on our own and take everything in which we regret. Most of all, don’t worry about the little details on the day, enjoy! It really does fly by.
What was your most memorable moment of the day?
Having mixed emotions of nervousness and excitement. We woke up the next morning and said ‘that was perfect!’
On the way downstairs the birds started chirping, the sun came out and the music started it was truly magical.
What a lovely wedding, I adore that deep Bordeaux red. Such a gorgeous colour for a vineyard inspired wedding!
wedding credits / photographer: kevin belson photography / wedding venue: dewsall court / brides dress: / grooms suit: asos / brides shoes: rachel simpson / bridesmaid dresses: ted baker / hair & makeup: di mcdonald / florist: love lily / wedding cake: homemade
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Gorgeous bride! Love the dress!
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