I love a Pixies wedding… there will always be those ‘wow’ photographs – and for Steven and Sara there were so many. Today’s real wedding on the blog is a fun celebration full of brilliant ideas. Sara wears a Stella York gown, and Steven’s Next suit looks perfect… they’re a fab couple, as creative as they are gorgeous and I know you’ll adore their wedding!
My favourite idea from their wedding is the table plan, accompanied by polaroid pics of every guest with the instruction to “Find You”! – I love this! And there’s so much more… the jenga guest book, wedding signpost, the amazing flowers and glorious portraits taken in woodland at Abbeywood Estate.
Thanks to Steven and Sara for sharing their day, and to fab Manchester wedding photographers Pixies in the Cellar. Do check them out:
- www.pixiesinthecellar.co.uk
- Facebook.com/PixiesintheCellarWeddingPhotography
- Pinterest.com/ipixies
- Twitter.com/iPixies
- English-Wedding.com/tag/Pixies-in-the-Cellar
Onto the wedding… watch out for those ‘wow’ moments!
Our wedding story: Steven and Sara
Wedding photographer’s website:
Were you pleased with your wedding photographer?
Couldn’t be any happier!
Wedding venue:
Abbeywood Estate, Delamere Forest
Wedding date:
11th October 2014
Can you describe your wedding in a single sentence?
A very relaxed but incredibly fun and exciting day where everyone got involved!
What was your reaction to seeing your wedding photos for the first time?
We couldn’t believe how good they were. We knew they were going to be good but we were genuinely bowled over by how artistic and thoughtful they were. They really captured the essence of the day and we could see from the photos how great a time everyone had.
Your wedding style or theme:
Autumnal colours and relaxed
How long did you spend planning your wedding?
We were engaged on December 14th 2013, we got married the next October. We started planning on the 15th December!
Best bit of budget advice?
Where possible, buy second hand. We bought a lot of decorations that had been used at previous weddings that looked new. This really saved us money and made it quite original. We also negotiated with every supplier which helped.
Wedding invitations and on the day stationery:
Invitations were made by Sara and her parents (whilst Steve was on a boy’s weekend in Newcastle!). This also saved us quite a bit of money but took them all day to make. For the day, we made the table plan and menus taking inspiration from pinterest
Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?
I knew it was the one from the minute I tried it on!
Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:
It was a Stella York gown from Shropshire Country Brides
Glitz and sparkle – the bride’s accessories:
One of my dearest friends designed and created my hair decoration from beads and silk flowers, sending it all the way from Australia! The bracelet and earrings were a gift from my parents from Pia Jewellery, and our wedding rings were from The Ring Workshop in Shropshire. I wore ivory lace peep toe shoes which were really comfy!
Suited and booted – the groom wore:
Grey puppy tooth three piece suit from Next. We wanted something more casual looking, I really didn’t want the top and tails!
Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?
The bridesmaids had hair decorations made from beads and silk flowers designed and created by a friend. They wore long coral chiffon dresses, ivory satin peep toe shoes and single floating pearl necklaces.
Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?
Make up was done by Gemma Gaade (a professional make up artist and family friend) and my hair was done at The Farndon Hair Studio.
Wedding flowers:
Jean Hopkins (Apple Tree Flowers) did our flowers and she was fantastic! Based in the South Cheshire countryside, Jean uses flowers and foliage from her garden. This was one of our favourite parts of the wedding planning.
General styling – did your venue need much decoration?
The mother of the bride had loads of great ideas for dressing the venue! The day before the wedding, family and friends helped decorate the glasshouse, hanging paper lanterns in a range of sizes and colours and wicker hearts from the beams. For the table plan, we added a personal touch by hanging black and white polaroid pictures of each of the guests underneath the table plan.
DIY – tell us about any handcrafted elements of your wedding…
We really enjoyed making things ourselves, including:
- Invitations, table plans and menus from scratch
- Homemade raspberry jam for the table favours ‘Spread the Love’
- JENGA guest book! We had our guests write their messages on the individual blocks!
- A Sign Post leading our guests around the venue – we bought second hand, painted over with blackboard paint and wrote our own directions in chalk
- Flipflops were sourced in the a shop sale and used for ‘evening dancing shoes’
The wedding cake: traditional or quirky?
Bit of both. We had a three tiered cake but with traditional at the bottom, chocolate in the middle and lemon at the top. It tasted amazing and was made by a friend of Steve’s Mum in Cumbria. It looked amazing too!
Entertainment:
We booked a great 5 piece band called ‘The Celebrities’ who did a swing set to kick the evening off, followed by a party set and then disco.
On the day tips and advice:
Relax and enjoy. The day goes so quickly, just try and take it all in!
What’s the best thing about being married?
It sounds quite soppy – but you get to spend the rest of your life with your best friend!
Quick supplier list for other brides and grooms:
- Venue www.abbeywoodestate.co.uk
- Flowers www.appletreeflowers.co.uk
- Paper Lanterns www.hanginglanterns.co.uk
- Rings www.ringworkshop.co.uk
- Photographer www.pixiesinthecellar.co.uk
- Wedding Dress www.shropshirebrides.co.uk
- Make up Gemma Gaade, Flawless Faces Make up artist
- Hair farndonhairstudio.co.uk
- Band www.thecelebrities.co.uk
