There's something particularly special about a Before the Big Day bride. I met the lovely Kate at a wedding fair over a year ago, and she told me all about reading Before the Big Day and all the incredible DIY details she was planning for her wedding. So it's immensely exciting for me to finally feature Kate and John's beautiful wedding day on the blog! Any brides planning their own DIY wedding will take heart from the huge number of DIY projects - from their wedding stationery and table numbers, right down to the evening buffet, reception decorations, wedding cake, cake pops and children's gift bags - everything was hand crafted. I'm loving Kate's beautiful wedding style - would you believe she found her Caroline Castigliano wedding gown in a sample sale? She teamed it with sparkly Benjamin Adams shoes and a stunning satin-edged Richard Designs veil. Tonnes more wedding details in Part 2, coming soon! Don't miss Kate's answers to the Before the Big Day Bride's Questionnaire - she's got tonnes of helpful moneysaving tips, including hiring a student florist from Gumtree! Stunning pictures published with thanks to James Berry of Mr November Photography.
We celebrated our wedding on Saturday 16th June. The ceremony was at St Margaret's Church in Bodelwyddan, North Wales, and we hosted the reception in my Aunt and Uncle's garden nearby.
My wedding dress was from Caroline Castigliano, and it made me feel simply fantastic. Put it this way – my 4 year old niece followed me round the whole day as she thought I was Princess Belle from Beauty and the Beast! I actually found it in a sample sale in London {having luckily tried it on in the shop a couple of days before!} and it was stunning. The shoes were sparkly Charlize ones from Benjamin Adams, that I couldn’t resist, and the veil was from Richard Designs.
John, his ushers, his dad and my brother all wore suits from Debenhams. John had an ivory waistcoat, tie and rose buttonhole - which all matched the colour of my wedding dress. The others had pink ties and pink rose buttonholes instead.
The church is a well known landmark in North Wales, near where I am from, and is absolutely beautiful.
I had seen bridesmaid dresses I really liked in London - the ones that can be worn in many different ways. I wanted the girls to be able to decide which way they wanted to wear the dress, and also have something they can wear again, so I went with a slate grey colour, which fitted with the colour scheme as well. I then found a similar style from the US from Von Vonni which were much cheaper, so I ordered them on a whim, and they worked really well.
I found my florist on Gumtree! I got a few quotes from professional florists and realised we weren't going to be able to get that much for our budget, so I started shopping around. Anne from Lillibet Flowers is a student florist, who had only done a few weddings at that point, but seemed to understand the look I wanted. We emailed a lot, but didn't actually meet until the morning of the wedding, when she dropped the bouquets off. They were so gorgeous - better than I could have hoped, and lots of guests took away the table flowers the next day.
Our photographer, James Berry of Mr November Photography, is a friend of a friend, who is also just starting out in the wedding business. Despite being London based like us, he kindly travelled up to North Wales for the day, and took some great shots. We much preferred the reportage style of photography, and as he was a music journalist photographer, he was the perfect guy to pick for those un-posed, of the moments shots. We also had a photobooth in the evening, which went down a storm, and the pictures get more and more amusing as the night goes on.
{Wedding Credits}
Wedding dress: Caroline Castigliano
Veil: Richard Designs
Shoes: Charlize by Benjamin Adams
John's suit, and ushers suits: Debenhams
Bridesmaid Dresses: Von Vonni
Venue: St Margaret's Church in Bodelwyddan & then my Aunt's garden for the reception
Band: Fonix Music
Photographer: James Berry of Mr November Photography
Flowers: Anne Jacques at Lillibet Flowers
On the day co-ordinator: Andrea Swift at Fabulous Day Events
Hair and make up: Laura Mayers from The Bridal Make Up Team
Food: Marc Macauley from MM Catering
Cheese cake (in the evening): Marks and Spencer
Photobooth: Picture Blast
Marquee: Neil from M&B Marquees
Bar: Zac from Parkhouse Bars
We celebrated our wedding on Saturday 16th June. The ceremony was at St Margaret's Church in Bodelwyddan, North Wales, and we hosted the reception in my Aunt and Uncle's garden nearby.
My wedding dress was from Caroline Castigliano, and it made me feel simply fantastic. Put it this way – my 4 year old niece followed me round the whole day as she thought I was Princess Belle from Beauty and the Beast! I actually found it in a sample sale in London {having luckily tried it on in the shop a couple of days before!} and it was stunning. The shoes were sparkly Charlize ones from Benjamin Adams, that I couldn’t resist, and the veil was from Richard Designs.
John, his ushers, his dad and my brother all wore suits from Debenhams. John had an ivory waistcoat, tie and rose buttonhole - which all matched the colour of my wedding dress. The others had pink ties and pink rose buttonholes instead.
The church is a well known landmark in North Wales, near where I am from, and is absolutely beautiful.
I had seen bridesmaid dresses I really liked in London - the ones that can be worn in many different ways. I wanted the girls to be able to decide which way they wanted to wear the dress, and also have something they can wear again, so I went with a slate grey colour, which fitted with the colour scheme as well. I then found a similar style from the US from Von Vonni which were much cheaper, so I ordered them on a whim, and they worked really well.
I found my florist on Gumtree! I got a few quotes from professional florists and realised we weren't going to be able to get that much for our budget, so I started shopping around. Anne from Lillibet Flowers is a student florist, who had only done a few weddings at that point, but seemed to understand the look I wanted. We emailed a lot, but didn't actually meet until the morning of the wedding, when she dropped the bouquets off. They were so gorgeous - better than I could have hoped, and lots of guests took away the table flowers the next day.
Our photographer, James Berry of Mr November Photography, is a friend of a friend, who is also just starting out in the wedding business. Despite being London based like us, he kindly travelled up to North Wales for the day, and took some great shots. We much preferred the reportage style of photography, and as he was a music journalist photographer, he was the perfect guy to pick for those un-posed, of the moments shots. We also had a photobooth in the evening, which went down a storm, and the pictures get more and more amusing as the night goes on.
{Wedding Credits}
Wedding dress: Caroline Castigliano
Veil: Richard Designs
Shoes: Charlize by Benjamin Adams
John's suit, and ushers suits: Debenhams
Bridesmaid Dresses: Von Vonni
Venue: St Margaret's Church in Bodelwyddan & then my Aunt's garden for the reception
Band: Fonix Music
Photographer: James Berry of Mr November Photography
Flowers: Anne Jacques at Lillibet Flowers
On the day co-ordinator: Andrea Swift at Fabulous Day Events
Hair and make up: Laura Mayers from The Bridal Make Up Team
Food: Marc Macauley from MM Catering
Cheese cake (in the evening): Marks and Spencer
Photobooth: Picture Blast
Marquee: Neil from M&B Marquees
Bar: Zac from Parkhouse Bars
♥ Want more blossom-themed wedding ideas? ♥ Or how about spring wedding ideas? ♥
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