Eclectic Burgundy Indie Autumn Wedding With Smoke Bombs

Adam proposed to me at the whispering wall at the top of St Pauls Cathedral. There were tourists everywhere so when he got down on one knee, there was so much cheering! He got the idea to propose there a few months before. I was having cardiothoracic surgery at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and he took a walk around St Pauls Cathedral whist waiting for me to come out of surgery. The only downfall was that we weren’t allowed to take photographs until we got outside the cathedral.

We both wanted a wedding that represented us and in that, we wanted to ensure our daughter Summer Rose was involved and was to have a great time too. We wanted something that showed off the things that brought us together such as music, tattoo’s, 80’s movies and a good party whilst also having a strong wedding feel. We wanted our friends and family to feel relaxed and have a great time!

The planning was surprisingly much easier than we anticipated! We had just over 18months to plan once we had set a date and picked a venue. We were planning the wedding during my final year at university for Nursing so there were days that it all felt too much, but we made it through. Some days, planning a wedding was a welcome break from placements and dissertation and vice versa! Thankfully, I had my sister on hand to help whenever I needed it!

We started off thinking we would only need to spend about £10,000 but this amount soon became closer to £19,000.

The Pumping house was the first and only venue we visited. We both felt it had everything we wanted in a venue. We wanted the ceremony and reception in the same place and the pumping house offered that and then some! The biggest selling point for us was the cinema and games room. We knew straight away it would be a hit with our daughter and niece and nephews! Obviously, Adam’s first and only question to the venue was ‘What beer do you sell?’ our wedding planner Ellie was absolutely fab!

She helped us so much throughout the planning stages. Especially giving us a helping hand when were clueless as to what the next steps in planning were.

Bride – Theresa My Dress was Estima by Pronovias. It was purchased from Jaynes Bridal Wear Lincoln. The dress was by far the hardest part of wedding planning. So many people say how when you find ‘the one’, you know! But I struggled to ‘know’. I spent months travelling up and down the country to different shops trying to find a dress that gave me that feeling that all brides talk about.

The lack of that feeling caused me so much anxiety and stress that I finally decided to take a leap of fate on a dress that I just liked. It wasn’t until going back for a fitting that I realised that I LOVED this dress and it was the stress I was putting on myself to find the one that had stopped me having the feeling all other brides talk about. I loved that the lace panels down the sides gave me a waist (that I don’t usually have) whilst showing off the parts of me that I love, such as my back

(I wanted to show off my new back piece). I kept the jewellery and hair very simple as I felt the lace in the dress and my tattoos were enough. Groom Adam wore the Eton, a 3-piece suit by Marc Darcy purchased from Gere Menswear in Lincoln. Initially we had wanted a brown tweed suit but once we saw this suit, we knew they were perfect!

The suits had just the right amount of colour running through them that incorporated the bridesmaid dresses and flowers.

Readings Although we didn’t write our own readings, we did decide on some that were more modern than what we have heard before. We wanted to show that we are more than ‘to have and to hold’, we are best friends and soul mates too. Music Now the aisle song was probably one of the last things we actually picked and finalised!

We found it so hard picking the song we both felt summed up us and would work as an aisle song. We finally decided on David Bowie – As the world falls down.

Bridal party hair. A friend offered to do the bridal party hair as a wedding gift. This worked out great as we were planning on asking her to do the hair anyway! I wasn’t fussed as to how the bridesmaid had their hair, so long as they felt comfortable. As for my hair, I knew I wanted it up in order to show off the back of my dress and back tattoo. I didn’t want anything too big or OTT so we decided on a messy low bun.

This worked well with the veil and then we added in some bouquet flowers for the evening after the veil was removed. Make up was by Natalie Kate. I hadn’t had a trial with Natalie as we booked her last minute due to my original make up artist moving away! This was a blessing in disguise as Natalie worked her magic and was able to produce exactly what I wanted first time!

Nails were by Bobbi and BrowDown. I wanted something very subtle due as I’m not used to having my nails done thanks to my job as a nurse!

The groomsmen all wore the same suit as the groom (Eaton by Marc Darcy from Gere Menswear). But to help the groom stand out, the groomsmen only had 2 piece suits. All groomsmen were also given an engraved copper pocket watch on the day as a thank you for all their help.

The cake for us was more about flavour than design although we absolutely LOVED the look of the cake! No one believed that the flowers on the cake were made out of icing! We went with chocolate and raspberry as bottom tier, lemon for the middle and finally salted caramel as the top tier.

The table runners, names and chair sashes were hired from Save the Date event stylists. Our table centrepieces were actually planters from Matalan. We wanted some height to them as the ceiling was so high. We had a friend make the wooden frame to stand behind us at the ceremony which looked fabulous!

The table plan/order of the day was my favourite décor. The frame was actually a clothes rail from MADE.com. My sister then designed and printed fabric that attached to the frame with Velcro. We had so many compliments of it on the day and it now stands proud in our house. When it came to favours, all we were told was how many get left behind, go in the bin or how much of a waste of money they can be.

This got us thinking and we decided to use the favours as a way to remember our grandads that we had lost over the last few years. We purchased charity pins from the Macular Society for my grandad that had macular degeneration and pins from the Alzheimer’s Society for Adam’s grandad that had passed away from this disease. We then designed our own card backing for them so they would fit with the style of the wedding.

We knew that if any of these favours were left behind or binned, at least the cost of them had gone to a good cause.

All Bridesmaids wore Oasis multiway dresses in burgundy. One thing I wanted was for ALL my bridesmaids to feel comfortable on the day. As they are all different shapes, these dresses worked great in letting each bridesmaid wear them how they felt comfortable and complimented them! The two flower girls (the older one being our daughter) wore pink dresses from Monsoon.

We felt that as Summer (daughter) was so much older than the other flower girl, she should have a more grown up dress so we went for a lovely dip hem one and paired it with what she describes as ‘high heels’.

After booking our venue, the next thing we wanted to book was our photographers. We felt this was an extremely important decision as one of the only things you take away from your wedding other than a spouse is the photos. These are the photos our great great grandchildren will look at and admire in years to come. We have many friends that are fantastic wedding photographers but none of them gave us the excited feel that Kazooieloki gave

us when we came across their website and each beautiful wedding they had shot. We couldn’t wait to set up a skype call and discuss our day with them! In the run up to the wedding, they were on hand to offer advice about all sorts from smoke bombs to makeup artist suggestions. By the time it came to our wedding, we had spoken so often that they had become more like friends.

This was a bonus as on the day, there was no uncomfortable moments with them, we barely even noticed they were there taking photos. The results speak for themselves. We couldn’t have imagined better photographs. They really capture the day perfectly and we would book them again in a heartbeat, in fact we have booked them for a family Christmas photoshoot!

The flowers were by Peonies and Plumes. I wanted them to be rich in burgundy and greens whilst also incorporating the pink from the flower girl dresses. We really liked the idea of them being draped down and floaty. The buttonholes also tied in the colour scheme by being tied with copper wire.

As I had just started my new job as an oncology and haematology nurse, I wasn’t able to get much time off work, so we decided to escape to Leeds for a mini moon and hope to go on a bigger honeymoon in the new year.

The ceremony! Although this was by far the scariest part, it’s the part that means the most! We are so sad we hadn’t had this part filmed! Also, having our daughter be there and part of the day was great! They are memories she will have forever!

Don’t stress! Easier said than done but when it comes down to it, the things that go wrong really don’t matter on the day! Our band cancelled at 7am on the day. Nobody noticed that we were meant to have a band, they were more than happy to dance to the DJ’s music! And don’t forget to do things how you want them, after all, its your day!!

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Eclectic Burgundy Indie Autumn Wedding With Smoke Bombs

The Proposal

The Vision

The Planning Process

We started off thinking we would only need to spend about £10,000 but this amount soon became closer to £19,000.

Budget

The Venue

She helped us so much throughout the planning stages. Especially giving us a helping hand when were clueless as to what the next steps in planning were.

The Venue

Your Outfits & Accessories

Your Outfits & Accessories

Your Outfits & Accessories

The suits had just the right amount of colour running through them that incorporated the bridesmaid dresses and flowers.

Your Outfits & Accessories

The Readings & Music

We found it so hard picking the song we both felt summed up us and would work as an aisle song. We finally decided on David Bowie – As the world falls down.

The Readings & Music

Beauty

Beauty

Nails were by Bobbi and BrowDown. I wanted something very subtle due as I’m not used to having my nails done thanks to my job as a nurse!

Beauty

The groomsmen all wore the same suit as the groom (Eaton by Marc Darcy from Gere Menswear). But to help the groom stand out, the groomsmen only had 2 piece suits. All groomsmen were also given an engraved copper pocket watch on the day as a thank you for all their help.

Groomsmen

The cake for us was more about flavour than design although we absolutely LOVED the look of the cake! No one believed that the flowers on the cake were made out of icing! We went with chocolate and raspberry as bottom tier, lemon for the middle and finally salted caramel as the top tier.

The Cake

The Details & Décor

The Details & Décor

The Details & Décor

We knew that if any of these favours were left behind or binned, at least the cost of them had gone to a good cause.

The Details & Décor

Bridesmaids

We felt that as Summer (daughter) was so much older than the other flower girl, she should have a more grown up dress so we went for a lovely dip hem one and paired it with what she describes as ‘high heels’.

Bridesmaids

Your Photographer

Your Photographer

Your Photographer

The flowers were by Peonies and Plumes. I wanted them to be rich in burgundy and greens whilst also incorporating the pink from the flower girl dresses. We really liked the idea of them being draped down and floaty. The buttonholes also tied in the colour scheme by being tied with copper wire.

The Flowers

As I had just started my new job as an oncology and haematology nurse, I wasn’t able to get much time off work, so we decided to escape to Leeds for a mini moon and hope to go on a bigger honeymoon in the new year.

The Honeymoon

The ceremony! Although this was by far the scariest part, it’s the part that means the most! We are so sad we hadn’t had this part filmed! Also, having our daughter be there and part of the day was great! They are memories she will have forever!

Memorable Moments

Advice For Other Couples

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