lndevents

Mark and Matt’s Wedding 8th August 2018

I met Mark and Matt for the first time, quite close to their chosen wedding date so by that point they’d sorted so much and looked so calm and collected, I thought my job was already done!

It therefore meant so much more to receive a thank you card which read, “both me and Mark would like to thank you so much for your support during our special day. We had an amazing day and this was down to you organising everyone including Mark and me! You were great”.

Their whole day was truly beautiful and ran smoothly but it was the ceremony that brought me to tears – something I thought I’d overcome but I was so emotional.

Mark and Matt both chose to walk to the aisle with their respective mums. It was originally going to be from separate locations where they’d meet in the middle of the aisle but Mark’s mum wasn’t up to a long walk so I managed to time it just right that they left from the house at Deighton Lodge and Matt and his mum left from the back of the bridal parlour.

Whenever it comes to ceremony time, you well and truly see the nerves kick into the brides and/or grooms and this often comes out in tears when they finally get to lay eyes on each other at the end of the aisle and when I see tears, I am also completely balling.

Both Mark and Matt looked so handsome in their custom suits as they sat and listed to Sharon Kent conducting their ceremony. We managed to do this in the garden and Kathrine from Fleur Adamo had beautifully decorated the pergoda framing them.

Here are some of the images I chose to share of their day, taken by Russ Ellis Photography.

When Jen and Joe told me about all their planned wedding suppliers, I knew it was going to be a great day and I wasn’t wrong.

I met the couple, the day before their wedding to run through the last minute logistics and I could see how amazingly they’d styled the barns.

They’d hired furniture from All Things Borrowed and each table was named after a metal band. Tables were adorned with red roses, bottles of whiskey and moody lighting.

On the day itself, Joe looked as dapper as Jen looked stunning. He wore an all black suit with black shades and big black boots and Jen wore a stunning fitted, backless dress with a leather jacket.

Their personal friends, The Drinky Tin provided ongoing cocktails and shots for people to keep warm in the April weather and Hog and Apple wowed guests (as usual) with their mouthwatering food.

The day had such an upbeat vibe about it all day and the guests knew how to party…. So much so, I had to be the bad guy and literally pull the plug at the end of the night (in keeping with venue rules, not because I want to be a party pooper J).

Many thanks to Stories Before Autumn for allowing me to share these images.

I was so excited to be contacted by Will’s mum in regards to organising his 18^th (8th December 2018).

Gaby had already booked Thorner Village Hall and made great headway with decoration ideas so my job was to bring in the finishing touches, pull all the suppliers together and then be there for the physical set up, running of the party and the pack down.

Will wanted a black, white and gold theme so I used Wedding Venue Lighting to swag out all the walls of the main hall with white fairy lit curtains and then complimentary drapes from the ceiling. They then did the bar and eating area with black starlit cloths and the dance floor was a black dance floor, which was also starlit.

I hired the furniture from Blacks and went with phantom chairs and round tables, which I covered with black linen from Coloured Linen Hire and then created centrepieces with gold trays and mixed size pillar candles in white and gold.

With it being so close to Christmas, Gaby had some LED Christmas trees I lined the entrance area with (also backdropped with a black LED cloth) and she had hired some big light up letters for both the entrance and the dance floor area.

I hired the Whimsical Cake Company (sadly no longer trading) to provide a huge balloon installation in the entrance area to cover up the hall’s notice board and then in the dining area they provided a jaw dropping dessert table.

Gaby had hired Friends 4 Dinner to provide canapés and big sharing bowls of food, and Jonny Ross Music for a DJ, Sax and Photography package.

I added to this by bringing in Louisiana’s bar and Viva La Booth so all the evening’s food, drink and entertainment was covered.

The hall looked absolutely amazing when it was finished and the night went amazingly. Will was a truly lucky (newly) 18 year old!

A few months ago, I was really lucky to have been passed a referral by a planner friend of mine who was already booked.

It was for a hen do planned at the bride’s house with a brief of 80’s/90’s sleepover party…so happy to have received this one!

The bride had asked for it all to be a surprise so I was liaising with the maid of honour – her sister, who was an absolute pleasure to discuss ideas with and totally trusted me to put in place all the styling details and activities I had in mind for them.

I need to say a big thank you to The Yorkshire Bartender who provided a cocktail master class, Rebel Cakes for providing a macaroon making master class and Homegrown Hospitality who provided the most amazing 80’s style buffet for the hens.

Also none of the day would have been captured so well if it weren’t for Kayti Peschke who kindly gave me permission to use these photos.

The funniest part of planning all of this was that it wasn’t until the maid of honour passed me all the hen’s names for some personalised sleep masks, that I realised I had actually shown the bride and her fiancé their venue and was helping them to co-ordinate their big day…more on that on another blog!

When clients book me to help them fully plan their big occasions, they become more than an acquaintance because I need to really get to know them; to know their style, likes and dislikes so when the wedding day is over, I go into slight mourning but by that point, we’ve usually become friends on social media so I can keep stalking them and seeing all their new exciting chapters in life, post the big ‘I Do’… I’m not a weirdo honestly; they do usually correspond back with me. 🙂

Helena and Michael have been no exception to this. I was first contacted by Helena 18 months prior to her big day. She had been given my details by her sister-in-law, who I used to work with in a previous life and I will be forever grateful for that referral as (I personally feel and hope she does too) we had the best 18 months planning time together.

Helena and Michael had already chosen the Tithe Barn in Poppleton for their reception venue. It wasn’t far from her parent’s house in her hometown of York but as she now lived with Michael in Germany, they felt a planner would be beneficial for the ability to source things more easily when being local to the venue as well as the time factor.

A lot of people do initially perceive planners as an unnecessary expense but I cannot stress (and hopefully all of my now married clients will agree) how much of an investment in time saving we are. Helena and Michael also perceived this as an important factor in hiring a planner as they both worked full time and had a toddler at home that (quite rightly so) took up their time outside of the workplace.

When chatting to the couple, the most obvious thing was how relaxed they wanted the day to be. It wasn’t about big frivolities or archaic traditions that they felt had to be undertaken to have a wedding day, it was simply about that day being the step into a married life.

Due to the nature of the venue and the nature of the couple, it seemed logical to look for relaxed but great quality suppliers to match. That started with the caterers. After some tempting choices, Field & Forage were picked to come and serve from their gorgeous horse trailer in the barn’s garden

After various discussions, on the day the couple went with pulled pork burritos, beef rolls and of course German Bratwurst. There was also the most amazing dessert table for afterwards with so many options and if that wasn’t enough, F&F created a yummy ‘cake’ of cheese for the couple to cut and add to the choices.

Coming from Germany, it made sense for Helena and Michael to stock up on a lot of booze via their ferry boarding at Calais so they really needed a bar service that could be flexible in allowing them to use their own alcohol where necessary and take advice on what would work elsewhere. This is where the Yorkshire Bartender works perfectly. Callum is fantastic at advising on the right quantities of drink per guest and interesting options to suit individuals themes or ideas, so whilst the couple supplied the wines and beers, Callum’s team mixed up some tasty cocktails for arrival drinks as well as taking care of the tea and coffees post meal.

When Helena told me about the style of the day and the lack of formalities, the first photographer I thought of was my friend Laura from Hip To Heart Photography She offers half day packages for couples which is such a useful feature for those that don’t want every single aspect covering but still understand how important it is to document such a significant occasion in some format. Luckily Helena and Michael agreed and also loved her work and actually ended up extending some of the hours as so many lovely things were planned. I thank Laura for allowing me to use these images below.

Styling was my job! People sometimes wonder what the difference between a stylist and a planner is when a lot of planners offer styling packages…. Well the usual one, and certainly in my own case is that as a planner, rather than holding all my own stock, I bring other people’s talents together to create a finished article.

In this case, I need to in turn, thank Helena because she is a truly creative person. She learned how to crochet to make everyone a bespoke favour and make her own personalised cake toppers. She also created the menus in English and German so no guests felt left out and put together a photomontage, which I projected onto big screen whilst the couples joint speech took place.

The couple’s chosen colour scheme were greens and blues so I ordered in corresponding linen to go on the tables and inject some fun into the rustic barn. I also suggested, with Helena and Michael both being scientists that their seating plan could be based on a periodic table with the guests either shaded in blue or green depending on which corresponding table they were seated at.

Florals and lighting also brought the barns to life. Through selection with the couple, Kathrine from Fleur Adamo  was hired to bring in her signature wild flower arrangements with various sized vases on each table, decoration around the projector, a huge arrangement in the welcome area and dressing of the rustic bar. I then hired festoon lighting from Fabulously Finished hung across the back wall to highlight the band and dance area.

The Tithe Barn has very specific rules in its operation, one of those being the fact that no amplified music can be played. This can be limiting but luckily Helena and Michael had a ceilidh in mind all along and The New Fox Band came highly recommended by the barns. Their pianist provided beautiful background music throughout the day and then the full band gathered to bring the evenings entertainment.

I must also thank Victoria Edwards Makeup and Emily Hawkes Hair for their fantastic communication and information, which ultimately resulted in Helena and some key people being made up for the day – of course, looking absolutely stunning all day.

I am so happy to have been a part of this whole occasion and couples like Helena and Michael are a constant reminder of how lucky I am to do my job.

If anyone had asked me in previous years whether weddings were still seasonal I would have disagreed. In 2016 and 17, I seemed to be busier over Autumn and Winter than any other time but this year has certainly felt like a crazy summer and as I sit and recover from my eighteenth event of the year so far, I hope you forgive me when I say that each wedding has begun to blur.

That is absolutely no slight on any of my couples. Their creativity and ability to make some of my most regular venues look different week on week, continues to impress me. So this is more a reflection on my overworked mind – but hey it pays the bills so I am definitely not complaining!

So when Kirsty and Chris’ photos arrived in my inbox a few weeks ago, it was such a pleasant surprise to refresh my memory with just how fun their day was. Oh and whilst we’re talking photographs, there’s nothing like overstepping the boundaries of social etiquette by telling the photographer how much you’re a fan girl of her, been dying to meet her and work with her forever… I mean I’m sure everyone loves a compliment but maybe I was a little bit heavy when it came in the first sentence of meeting her.

‘Her’ is Shelly or Toast of Leeds if we’re talking business and she was a big part in what made that day really fun for me. I’m sure you’ll agree the images are stunning and I am very grateful to have been allowed to share them on my site – with thanks of course to Kirsty and Chris too.

The weather can be hit and miss in May so the couple sensibly opted for an indoor ceremony just in case. I think if you plan that way, you can only be impressed if anything better happens and luckily for them, as the day remained dry and warm it meant post ceremony drinks and photos could happen outside whilst I and some very helpful ushers, changed the room around.

Kirsty and Chris’ styling was right up my street; touches of gold with lots of botanicals and herbs as centerpieces instead of florals. The room smelt amazing due the lavender, rosemary and thyme pots scattered around and the lovely couple left notes on each table, encouraging guests to help themselves to a pot to take home as a memory…wish I’d snuck one away when no one was looking 

The food and drink was taken care of by a friend of theirs who owns the Hungry Bear restaurant in Leeds. The switch from restaurant to external catering is a tough gig (as is vice versa) but all the guests were very happy and very full by the time the meal was over so watch this space for possible future gigs.

The best part about looking back on these images is the memory of smiling all day because of the upbeat vibe around the venue. I can only assume that it was brought on by the guests because of the VIP that was amongst them; Jeff.

Jeff became my best friend for the day. We hung out on the lawn, went for walks and bonded over dinner and just like the plants, I wish I’d snuck him home too. Before any rumours start, let me clarify that Jeff is Kirsty and Chris’ pooch and sadly I think there was too strong a mutual attachment between him and the couple given he even joined the speeches for some special mentions as well as gate crashed their intimate couples photos. Oh Jeff you little rebel!!

Sometimes you just know. You know that when you meet a couple, even if it’s a year in advance, you’re going to have a great time with them and their big day.

Amy and Richard were one of those couples. As we sat on the sofa at Deighton Lodge back in 2017 and talked through their plans, I just got such a great vibe from them, I couldn’t wait for their day to arrive.

Roll onto May this year and said day was upon us. I popped down to the barns on the Friday, to go through their final plans and layout as its really helpful to me to visualize where suppliers are going and how to smoothly run certain aspects of the timeline based on where things are.

It was the first time I’d seen a couple plan out the tables the way these two had and I was very impressed with how pretty it looked. They made fantastic use of the barn’s space and I loved their colour injections and finishing touches.

The suppliers the couple had also chosen were a perfect fit and I’ll always have a soft spot for Hog and Apple given they did my own wedding food.

A huge thank you to the couple and to Craig from Mr & Mrs Wedding Photography for allowing me to use these pictures on my site. I think you’ll agree they are absolutely stunning but that is always helped when your couple is as fun as they were – it just shines through!

At the beginning of 2017 I had an enquiry from a fantastic couple who were getting married at Barmbyfield Barns later that year.

When they had their meeting with me, they explained that the wedding was focusing around a cake they’d booked…by the Tattooed Bakers. With that name drop, I was practically begging them to work their day. I have been a super fan of their outstanding talent for so long, I couldn’t believe I might actually get a chance to meet them and see one of their creations up close and personal.

Luckily for me, I was booked and I did indeed get to meet the bakers and wow at the cake, which had been modeled on the couple but turned into skulls. It was a very near Halloween after all so rather apt!

That wasn’t the only cool thing though – far from it. The bride wore an awesome dip dye dress and an ultra cool custom leather jacket. She had a man of honour to walk down the aisle with her, the groom wore crazy but amazing custom shoes and there were so many personalised DIY touches that made the styling stand out from the usual barn style weddings I am part of.

The couple lucked out with their food too with Streetcleaver supplying the daytime food and the bride’s family putting on a mountain of evening food that had been thoughtfully (and very yummy) made.

With big thanks to Dan from Gingersnaps for being a pleasure to work alongside and for allowing me to use these photos.

I was super excited when Helen contacted me to co-ordinate her wedding day as she was my first international client…ok sadly (for me) she wasn’t planning on getting married over in Switzerland but its always a boost when the business name gets overseas.

Helen and Jonnie were in fact originally from Yorkshire so they had decided on Escrick Parkland for their wedding and were going for a festival theme for the day – my total soft spot having done the same for my own.

I popped down to site the day before the wedding and things were coming together nicely, including the weather. They had a fantastic glamping area so guests could make a weekend of it, complete with showers…spoilt or what?!

On the day, the ceremony, being led by humanist Andy Ison was held down in the woodland with the main reception taking part in a Papakata tipi overlooking the stunning vista of the private girls school in the distance.

Helen arrived in a baby blue VW campervan with her hair freshly dyed a vibrant pink and a bouquet made up of yellow roses. – I love a wedding with colour, however its done!

The weather continued to play a blinder which made for the most relaxed day and the ability to get some great shots all taken by the very talented Georgina Brewster who I’ve had the pleasure of working with before and loved seeing again.

As evening kicked in, I got to experience my first wedding open mic night due to the talented guests they had invited, and then onto a festival piñata full of energy boosting sweeties to ensure everyone could party into the night!