Rebecca and Luke were married in August at Park Farmhouse, Castle Donington. They wanted their day to have a vintage fair /circus style with mismatched details and a relaxed feel.
Rebecca makes the most beautiful bride in her lace gown and headpiece, oh and i adore her bouquet, wow!
Rebecca and Luke got creative, DIY’ing the bunting, the decorations and the favours, and it sure does look amazing. I so love the pinwheels, the red colour scheme and the beautiful flowers.
Thanks so much to the amazing Miki Photography for sharing his photography with us today.
Names…. Rebecca + Luke
Wedding Date…. The 4th of August 2012
The Proposal…. 18 months before the wedding Luke went down on one knee by a lake in Melbourne, Derbyshire where they live. Rebecca made Luke the happiest man in the world and preparations began after a celebration with friends and family.
The Vision for the day…. Vintage fair or circus style, bunting, candy-striped bags, tags and stamps, paper-pom-poms and doillies and windmills. A mismatched, relaxed and informal kind of thing.
The Planning process…. Using a spreadsheet for numbers, addresses and all other details we laid the initial plans. Then over the following days/weeks we soon settled on a venue that could host the 140-odd family and friends we wanted to mark the day with that was local with good access to hotels. More on planning below…
The Venue… Park Farmhouse, Castle Donington, John and Linda who run it were so accomodating and Shelley/Emma the wedding coordinators were excellent, always anticipating our next step and taking nothing for granted. Everything took place on-site, from the ceremony in the barn through to the reception in the pig-sties, and back through to the barn for an evening hoe-down (via the bar!). The court yard was excellent for the children to play in safely, which helped! Decorating the pig sties with paper-pom-poms, mismatched vases was great fun and made all of the folding, tying and puffing up of the 150 pom-poms so worth it in the end.
The Dress + Accessories….. The dress was lace and matching bolero were by Forget Me Not designs. The side tiara was from Glitzy Secrets. Pink shoes from Debenhams. Hair was done locally in Castle Donington by Jackie at Ann Deley Hair. Make-up was done by friend Samm.
Finding the dress…. The dress was found in a local bridal wear shop, Brides of Ashby, after originally buying a dress within weeks of the engagement! Luckily the Pre-loved site helped to sell the first dress.
Groom’s attire… A Paul Smith petrol-blue suit with waistcoat, a pink gingham tie and Dune black-toed brogues from House of Fraser. A white breathable shirt from Next went underneath, on recommendation of the fabric used.
The Readings + Music…. The readings were read by family, including a poem from an unknown author and an extract from the Velveteen Rabbit. We also had Van Morisson’s Have I Told You Lately played and sung on the piano during the signing of the register.
The evening music was supplied by the excellent Off The Record based in Nottingham, who had the whole crowd moving through the night, even learning our first dance for us (Made up lovesong no. 43, Guillemots) and doing a damned fine rendition, finishing with our ipod disco which, despite the order being changed by the good old Shuffle function, was still great fun.
Beautiful bridesmaids….. Lifelong friends Lyndsey and Vicky worked tirelessly to make sure that everything was sorted so far in advance that there was never a thing for Rebecca to worry about! They wore red Monsoon dresses.
The Flowers… Stocks and roses, loosely bound with lace – the amazing Blossom Tree worked to put together a great combination that stayed fresh and perfect throughout the day and beyond.
The Cake… An M&S 3-tier cake, decorated simply with ribbon, lovebirds and a gingham table cloth. Plenty to go around and tasted great!
Your Photographer…. The ever-patient Mick from Miki Photography brought along Aristotle for a great day from beginning to end, even with our camera-shy ways. Our package included an engagement shot to get to know us better – the results are a pleasure to view and we’ll treasure them as we look back on the day with such fond memories.
The Details + Decor…. Making bunting (with added bunting, decorations and wedding stationery from my lovely friend Katie at Eagle Eyed Bride), making favours (striped candy bags with sweets), table decorations, table planning, designing and making invites all took up our spare time through the planning stage.
The Honeymoon…. For the honeymoon Rebecca and Luke took off on the 6th of August to tour the west coast of Ireland and travel a route covered by family 42 years previously. After 5 days on the road they went to stay in a traditional thatched cottage with a peat fire and took day trips out into the mountains, arts festivals and cities. It was all over too soon, but was a great start to married life.
Memorable moments… Running over into the corn field for some quick shots before dessert, saying our vows, … so many moments!
Advice for other couples… Plan early, it’s less stressful. Enjoy the build up, it goes so quickly.
Credit where credit is due…
Dress: Forget Me Not Designs www.forgetmenotdesigns.co.uk
Photography: Mik iPhotography www.mikiphotography.co.uk
Details & Décor: Eage Eyed Bride www.eagleeyedbride.com
Tiara: Glitzy Secrets. www.glitzysecrets.com
Hair & makeup: Ann Deley Hair. www.anndeleyhair.co.uk
Venue: Park Farmhouse, Castle Donington www.parkfarmhouse.co.uk
Flowers: Blossom Tree theblossomtree.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/roses-and-stocks.html
Oh so many wonderful ideas, what a gorgeous wedding!!
Thanks so much to Rebecca and Luke for sharing their day with us today XOXO Lou
