Burgundy & Pink Roaring 1920s Inspired Wedding

My birthday is 18th of April and ever since we dated, Alex always takes me somewhere and plans something special or a surprise. For the first year, he took me to Amsterdam, the following year we went on a big West Coast US holiday and celebrated my birthday in Las Vegas so I knew this year it would be something special. He took me to London for the weekend, we had an amazing day around Tower Bridge, he took me to the Gherkin and proposed in Mei Ume in the Four Seasons.

I have always loved the Roaring 20s and the Old Hollywood Glamour so I knew that my dream wedding had to showcase some of the features found in that era, feathers, pearls and glitz!

We originally planned our wedding for April 2020 because of the number of people that would be coming from abroad, but by June, when we came across the Pumping House in Ollerton, we knew then that we had found our wedding venue and decided that we wanted to move the wedding forward one year. We booked The Pumping house mid June and then I found our photographer Jo Greenfield a few weeks after, luckily, she was still available.

Alex and I both knew we wanted a live band performing our first dance and playing for the evening so the next mission for us was to find a reggae band. We didn’t knew then what song we would be dancing to for our first dance, and I delegated Alex to pick that. My mum was in the Philippines during the wedding planning but she was extremely helpful with all my decorations. Alex’s mum helped me in envisioning how the tables would look and planning it with Save The Date Event Stylist.

I probably visited the WWW Instagram at least five times a week and went on Pinterest for wedding ideas.

£12k but we went over lol!

We always knew we wanted a church wedding and we choose The Good Shepherd because of the ties it has with our family. Alex and Harper (our daughter) were both baptised there and I attend mass there every Sunday. We had a different venue in mind for our original April 2020 wedding reception date, and I just came across the Pumping House in Ollerton by accident. We booked a viewing last minute and Alex and I knew then that this was the venue we wanted as soon as we walked in.

Its quirky, different, yet stylish and functional. The rooms are all like mini studio apartments and the grounds are just beautiful.

I have two wedding gowns and shoes haha! I chose an all satin, sweetheart neckline, mermaid gown by Essense of Australia. I was adamant that I want a really plain gown because then I could freely choose how I can style it. My mum surprised me with a cathedral veil from the Philippines which matched the veil we used for the “veil ceremony” which as part of the traditional Filipino wedding we had.

I changed my veil to a handmade cape for the wedding breakfast that my mum and I made from scratch. It was made of four metres of soft sparkly tulle which we then added embellishments for the straps, appliqués to add weight to the ends and 2000 crystals my mum individually attached by hand. I then added a Catherine Deane embellished sash to match the cape and my head piece which was beautifully made by Melancholy Magpie.

I then wore a Sophia Webster Chiara shoes in Nude and Rose Gold to match our colour theme and the shoes of my three flower girls. For the evening, I chose a simple high neck Vera Wang evening dress with the same belt from Catherine Deane and changed to a Guiseppe Zanotti glittered blush and rose gold pumps.

With the busy morning, I forgot all the jewellery I was supposed to wear so my MOH went to my rescue and borrow me a pair of diamond stud earrings for my “something borrowed”. I wore an old diamond floral ring from my mum in my right hand and a Chinese gold bangle and matched it with a back necklace that I have “spare” which matched all my bridesmaids as part of their “thank you gift” on the day.

My husband chose a slim fit burgundy suit from Zara, and he wore the same suit as all the groomsmen, he paired it with a Marc Darcy grey waistcoat and a textured necktie. I got him matching burgundy Prada shoes as one of his wedding presents.

I found Suzy on Instagram after she styled a photoshoot in London, I knew then that her style is the one I was looking for. I always wear red lipstick whenever Alex and I go on a date so I made sure I was wearing a red lipstick, I let Suzy help me with the overall make up look. I wanted a change of hair style when I changed my outfit and vibe. Hence, I chose for a simple up do with my hair piece from the ceremony

to the wedding breakfast and then Suzy came back before the first dance to redo my make up and let my hair down for the evening.

Our church ceremony was a mixture of a traditional Catholic and a Filipino wedding ceremony. We incorporated a veil, cord and candle ceremony to reflect my heritage. We had the local church organist and solo singer to sing for our church ceremony. He played Canon in D by Pachellbel for my walking down the aisle, Morning Has Broken and Amazing Grace for our Hymns and she sang Ave Maria as we signed the register.

For our joint mother-son and father-daughter dance, the Step Up band played “Stand By Me” and then we danced to “Baby I Love You Way” for our first dance.

Jo Greenfield – what is there not to love about her? Probably one of the most honest and talented wedding photographer out there!

I have known Cuppa Kaykes for eight years and she helped me design our three wedding cakes! They tied up with the overall look of the wedding; pearls, feathers and flowers with our three main colours; dusky pink, burgundy and rose gold. The main cake was three layers of Victoria sponge, Lemon and the top tier was faux as we kept it as a souvenir and this was served during the evening.

The two single tiered cakes were mine and Alex’s favourite, Red Velvet which was burgundy in colour and salted caramel which was copper / rose gold.

I really wanted to make my own using locally grown flowers for our wedding, but because we couldn’t guarantee which flowers would be available, I had to have back up plans for the centrepieces and button holes as they are quite time consuming to make. Rachel Petherham gladly agreed to supply me with her locally grown flowers for our bouquets. I collected the most beautiful double headed-Tulips,

Ranunculus and the rest of my wedding flowers the morning before the wedding and I hand tied them individually with the same fabric as my bridesmaids dresses and tied them with a copper wire (same copper wire as the buttonholes and napkin rings).

I worked with Save The Date to achieve the overall look of our day. I allowed Save The Date and The Pumping House to supply the major stuff – chiavari chairs, table cloths, candles, etc. and what I did was fit in any DIY that I made. I opted for a combination of dusky pink and burgundy tablecloths, and worked around that colour to plan for the table arrangements.

I found some sparkly charger plates, dusky pink embossed glasses and pink table napkins which I knew I wanted for the tables. I then made some handmade table napkins with burgundy, ivory and dusky pink flowers tied with copper wire. I also added some burgundy feathers in between the rolled table napkins for the added 1920s feel. My mum and I handmade each pearl swags we hung on the back of the chairs.

We chose ivory, rose gold and burgundy pearls to compliment the colours. As for the centrepiece, I wanted it quite tall and simple not to interfere with people socialising, and Rebecca Newell of Flowers by Rebecca did this for me. I then added some handmade place names that I used pink gradient parchment paper with foil design for and writing that Alex helped me to put together. I coded each guest’s menu choices in each place names and used some cute logos!

The outfit were the same as Alex’s only they provided their own shoes.

The girls all wore the same style and shade of dusky pink Charlotte dress from Maids to Measure. I provided them with their hair pieces from Jenny Packham but let them choose how they want their hair although we all got our hair and make up done at the same time. They chose their own shoes but all chose gold and rose gold tones.

My MOH lives in Singapore so I had to try on her dress when we ordered it, unfortunately it was too small so the perfect idea came up, alter her dress to a backless dress to keep the style the same in the front but hers would be different in the back as she is the MOH!

We went to Bath for three days straight after the wedding just to get away from the busy weekend that we had and to take it all in. We have booked to go to Seychelles in the end of November. We will be flying Business Class with BA, staying in Mahe for a night and going on an eight day yacht cruise around the Seychelles, then staying in the Hilton Labriz in a private beach in Silhoutte Island before we fly back to the UK.

We both have childhood best friends. My MOH, Phoebe has been my best friend for 30 odd years and she lives in Singapore, whilst Shane, was Alex’s. We didn’t asked them to do a speech but they both prepared one for us, so we thought we would make it a little different and have a MOH and a Best Man speech. Phoebe’s was funny yet heart warming. She briefly told everyone our childhood story and left people sobbing, on the other hand Shane’s nearly made me fell off my chair!

Between the wedding breakfast and the evening reception, there was a 45 minute gap where the Pumping House added tables and chairs for the evening guests which will allowed me to change into my evening outfit, get my make up touched up and let my hair down. I gave Alex my wedding present (this was meant to be given by Gill of Unfurl Photography while Alex was getting ready but because of one forgotten wedding dress, this never happened!) Lol.

Inside the personalised wooden box with a printed photo of one of our engagement pictures, is a personalised shot glass with a metal plaque that says “groom”, a mini bottle of single barrel JD, a mini photobook of my photoshoot with Jo Greenfield and a letter from Newcastle United. Although Alex did not cry when he saw me walk down the aisle, this five minutes of just me and him to take it all in and appreciate what we have is absolutely priceless.

No cameras, just US two, saying how much we love each other and having a moment that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. I planned to dance with my dad to “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, played by One Step Band, but changed my mind last minute to have a joint mother-son and father-daughter dance as I know how much Alex’s mum means to him and I want to share that moment with them.

I came up to Nick (Lead Vocals of the band) and asked him for a song that was suitable and he then suggested “Stand By Me” which was perfect and I got quite emotional! Our first dance! I have danced near enough all my life and I knew that I wanted a proper wedding dance, not swaying from side to side. So I had been bugging Alex about ours, and it only took him six months probably more

to decide that we were having “Baby I Love Your Way” from the middle of the Jumanji movie! Every single colleague had probably asked him to change his mind and learn to do a dance routine with me for our wedding dance and he didn’t! but I was not disappointed by a single bit. He did a “dab” dance move for his entrance to begin with! Luckily Jo managed to take a shot of this.

We swayed most of the time and he managed to make me do a twirl or two before the band finished playing our song. One of my favourite photos was when he kissed me during our first dance, it was probably the first UNnervous kiss of the day! It was a lovely moment.

The day will fly by, people will turn up, people will not turn up. Don’t get stressed about it. Focus on your key moments, seeing your future wife or husband for the first time in their wedding dress or their suit, saying your vows, your first kiss, your first dance. Enjoy it all. Have a five minute break, longer if you can, just the two of you and say your personal vows to each other again, without looking at the piece of paper, without any stress or people watching you.

Take the wedding planning one step at a time, delegate if you need to and at the end of it all, whether you opt for a photographer / videographer or without any, don’t be scared of the double chins, the love handles, people wont care about those! Its not magazine photoshoot, so cry, laugh, dance, sing, take a shot! Have the best time of your life. The details make beautiful weddings, but it’s the emotions that makes memorable ones.

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Burgundy & Pink Roaring 1920s Inspired Wedding

The Proposal

I have always loved the Roaring 20s and the Old Hollywood Glamour so I knew that my dream wedding had to showcase some of the features found in that era, feathers, pearls and glitz!

The Vision

The Planning Process

The Planning Process

I probably visited the WWW Instagram at least five times a week and went on Pinterest for wedding ideas.

The Planning Process

£12k but we went over lol!

Budget

The Venue

Its quirky, different, yet stylish and functional. The rooms are all like mini studio apartments and the grounds are just beautiful.

The Venue

Your Outfits & Accessories

Your Outfits & Accessories

Your Outfits & Accessories

Your Outfits & Accessories

My husband chose a slim fit burgundy suit from Zara, and he wore the same suit as all the groomsmen, he paired it with a Marc Darcy grey waistcoat and a textured necktie. I got him matching burgundy Prada shoes as one of his wedding presents.

Your Outfits & Accessories

Beauty

to the wedding breakfast and then Suzy came back before the first dance to redo my make up and let my hair down for the evening.

Beauty

The Readings & Music

For our joint mother-son and father-daughter dance, the Step Up band played “Stand By Me” and then we danced to “Baby I Love You Way” for our first dance.

The Readings & Music

Jo Greenfield – what is there not to love about her? Probably one of the most honest and talented wedding photographer out there!

Your Photographer

The Cake

The two single tiered cakes were mine and Alex’s favourite, Red Velvet which was burgundy in colour and salted caramel which was copper / rose gold.

The Cake

The Flowers

Ranunculus and the rest of my wedding flowers the morning before the wedding and I hand tied them individually with the same fabric as my bridesmaids dresses and tied them with a copper wire (same copper wire as the buttonholes and napkin rings).

The Flowers

The Details & Décor

The Details & Décor

The Details & Décor

The outfit were the same as Alex’s only they provided their own shoes.

Groomsmen

Bridesmaids

My MOH lives in Singapore so I had to try on her dress when we ordered it, unfortunately it was too small so the perfect idea came up, alter her dress to a backless dress to keep the style the same in the front but hers would be different in the back as she is the MOH!

Bridesmaids

The Honeymoon

Memorable Moments

Memorable Moments

Memorable Moments

Memorable Moments

Memorable Moments

Memorable Moments

We swayed most of the time and he managed to make me do a twirl or two before the band finished playing our song. One of my favourite photos was when he kissed me during our first dance, it was probably the first UNnervous kiss of the day! It was a lovely moment.

Memorable Moments

Advice For Other Couples

Advice For Other Couples

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