I’m going to remember July… when I look back on the English Wedding Blog features for the year I’ll be like, “oh July… that was when I shared that amazing Lakes wedding with Wainwrights and walking boots!” and quietly noted it as one of my favourite weddings of the year so far. I’ve always said weddings should be personal to you, whoever you are and whatever your crazy loves and hobbies may be! And if that’s muddy boots and cairns (Instagram friends will know it is for me!) then you’ll adore today’s wedding blog.
Lisa and Richie’s big day rocks. The details are fabulous – and for those of you who don’t know the Lakes like the back of your hands, just enjoy the cute little books and other fab details (and be grateful I didn’t show you every single Wainwright table name… because I wanted to!). There’s so much more to see, and the photos are superb!
Images are by a wedding photographer I’ve heard many wonderful things about in my years of blogging, and yet this is the first real wedding from lovely Tiree Dawson I’ve featured on the English Wedding Blog. I have every finger crossed that she’ll share more beautiful weddings with us over the year… but for now:
- http://www.tireedawson.co.uk/
- https://www.facebook.com/tireedawsonphotography
- https://twitter.com/tireephotos
Oh before the photos can I share my best bit from Lisa’s English Wedding Blog interview? I asked her ‘what’s the best thing about being married?‘ and she just said, “my husband.”
I told you this was brilliant.
The English Wedding Blog interview: Lisa and Richie
Wedding photographer’s website:
Were you pleased with your wedding photographer?
Very pleased, Tiree’s extremely approachable. She put us at ease and blended into the day perfectly – just what we wanted.
Wedding venue:
Merewood Country House Hotel
Wedding date:
13th June 2015
Can you describe your wedding in a single sentence?
Our wedding was relaxed and filled with everybody and everything we love (smiles, laughter, family, friends and dancing).
What was your reaction to seeing your wedding photos for the first time?
We were amazed at how beautiful they were and loved all the little surprises Tiree managed to capture on the day. The pictures reflected our family and friend’s personalities perfectly, including my excitement and eagerness to marry Richie by nearly running down the aisle with my Grandma!
As well as pictures of the wedding party, Tiree captured wonderful pictures of all the lovely decorations and the little extra’s which made our day so special. We especially loved the surprise picture of our wedding rings which were placed on a map of our home town, the picture of our old walking boots and the picture of the Langdale’s at the end of the day.
Your wedding style or theme:
We didn’t start with a theme for the wedding. Our hope for the day was that it would be colourful, relaxed, happy and welcoming with a few personal touches close to our heart. However, everything cumulated together to give our wedding a classic English Country / Lakeland theme.
Where did you find your suppliers?
All our Suppliers were found locally in and around Ulverston, via the internet, wedding fair, family and friends or our own experiences.
Best bit of budget advice?
Start with a budget (including all the little extras) and understand what is really important to you both and agree what you can compromise on if something comes in higher than your initial budget.
Don’t be embarrassed to either wait or ask when Supplier promotions are on, or discuss your budget with a Supplier if something is more expensive than you budgeted for. For example – I absolutely loved the flowers I had chosen for the bouquets, but they came in higher than our original budget. I rang Michelle (our florist) and discussed how we could reduce the cost while keeping the quality and style, instead of changing the flowers we reduced the size of the bouquets and they were absolutely beautiful -No one would ever know I had to compromise (apart from you now I’ve put it in this blog)!
Wedding invitations and on the day stationery:
We made and printed our own invitations, order of services, table plan and table names.
The Merewood printed the place names and menus using the font we had used on everything else.
Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?
I fell in love with two completely different wedding dresses – a glamourous Gatsby inspired dress and my classically beautiful dress. I definitely picked the right one. I love vintage style dresses and always wanted a short dress. In the end it’s exactly the dress I chose and I couldn’t have been happier.
Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:
Justin Alexander from Butterfly Bridal in Lancaster
Glitz and sparkle – the bride’s accessories:
I was extremely lucky that all the jewellery I wore on the day had a special meaning. I wore a bracelet which was a Christmas present from my mum before she passed away, a pair of earrings which were given to me by Richie’s sister for my ‘special’ birthday in April and my best friend Joanne (chief bridesmaid) lent me the most precious thing she owns – her mum’s engagement ring as my something old, something borrowed and something blue. I felt very honoured (and nervous ) wearing her ring on such a special occasion knowing how much it meant to Joanne.
My shoes were Jenny Packham at Debenhams and my hair piece was by John Richard at Debenhams
Suited and booted – the groom wore:
The Groom and his ushers looked very handsome in slim-fit grey suits by Cameron Ross from Butterfly Bridal
Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?
My two adult bridesmaids looked beautiful in floor length dresses by Dessy from Butterfly Bridal. The little girls looked like angels in flower girl dresses from Butterfly Bridal and our 5yr old nephew looked adorable in tails purchased from the same boutique.
Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?
I was undecided for a long time on my hair and make-up but opted for professionals to avoid something going wrong on the Day. It was definitely the right choice!
Jo from Coco arrived very early to do our hair and was with us until we were all dressed and ready to go – she was just like one of the girls and everyone’s hair looked amazing!
Helen from Definitions mobile beauty came to the rescue when I was let down by another MUA I’d booked locally, she arrived later on in the morning to do my makeup and even helped me in my dress!
Wedding flowers:
My wedding flowers were absolutely beautiful and their smell was amazing! They included roses, peonies, craspedia, white fresia’s and lissianthus (my favourite flowers) among other greenery.
Richie wore a button hole made from lissianthus and lavender.
The table flowers were tall vases filled with flowers to compliment the bouquets.
General styling – did your venue need much decoration?
The venue is very classic and the views are decoration in themselves – but Lynda from Vintage Flair Hire injected colour into the main reception room with her beautiful hand-made sashes and bunting, she also added a lot of little touches both inside and outside the venue to pull the Lakeland elements into the day (including fresh flowers in our old walking boots!).
DIY – tell us about any handcrafted elements of your wedding…
We designed our own wedding invitations using a heart forest stamp from Noolibird and an old mountain stamp from ebay – using purples and greens on cream and brown card.
We chose an illustration by Wainwright of a view from Great Gable which included some of our favourite Mountains – I then drew this on A3 Card highlighting the mountains we had picked to use as our table names. For the Table names, we framed Wainwright’s illustrations of each mountain in a wooden frame.
Richie’s sister made vanilla heart shaped fudge for our wedding favours and Richie’s mum put together a sweet selection for one of the sideboards.
Luckily the sun came out and it didn’t thunder as forecasted, so we were able to use Richie’s Dad’s yellow TR6 to take us from the church to the Merewood – which meant a lot to both of us.
The wedding cake: traditional or quirky?
We chose a traditional 4 tier wedding cake of different flavours, with fresh flowers that matched the bouquets and button holes.
Entertainment:
We had two brilliant bands at our wedding.
The Papercranes who are from Barrow created a really relaxed feel to the afternoon and wedding breakfast. We had seen them play a number of times in Barrow and Ulverston and were extremely excited about them being a part of our day.
Ulpha590 played in the evening. They were recommended to us by a few friends who had either booked them to play for their weddings, or had been to weddings where they had played and said they were amazing (which they were!).
On the day tips and advice:
Just relax and make sure you enjoy yourself – It will be the happiest day of your life! Don’t worry about anything, everyone understands that it is a big day for you both and they are simply happy to be part of your special day. Things happen so quickly so savour every moment.
What’s the best thing about being married?
My husband x
Quick supplier list for other brides and grooms:
Merewood Country House: http://www.lakedistrictcountryhotels.co.uk/merewood-hotel
Lynda at Vintageflairhire: http://vintageflairhire.co.uk
Coco Hair and Beauty: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coco-Hair-and-Beauty-Barrow/152244084981859
Butterfly Bridal: https://www.butterfly-bridal.co.uk
Definitions Mobile Beauty https://definitionsmobilebeauty.co.uk
Valerie Ann Florist: http://www.valerieannsflorist.co.uk/
Papercranes: https://www.facebook.com/PaperCranesMusic
http://paper-cranes.co.uk/paper-cranes/
Ulpha590: http://ulpha590.co.uk/3/Home.html
