Something Blue ~ A Pretty Wedding Inspired by an Ocean Lagoon

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In our second real wedding feature today, we're sharing lovely Babishe and Matt's wedding, which took place on 24 May this year at Plum Park Hotel, and was photographed by Natalie J. Watts

This wedding has some lovely styling ideas, think lots of pretty florals and ribbons and plenty of inspiration for that something blue…

"We
wanted our wedding to be really personal and that's why we decided to do
it ourselves, without any assistance from a planner or stylist. Initially we were going to run with a vintage theme, but instead we took the colour of the sapphire stones of our engagement rings as
inspiration.  
So I had a blue rose bouquet, the bridesmaids wore blue, we had blue
ribbon decorations and a blue wedding cake.

Photography by Natalie J. Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"Matt and I met whilst working in H&M in Milton Keynes.  I had a boyfriend at the time (not very serious) and he already had a girlfriend (serious), so I knew nothing could happen. After that, we both went our own way, myself meeting someone else and travelling with that person and Matt going to university. We didn't see each other for a few years. Then in 2007, I ended up going to a birthday celebration with a friend – it was a very last minute thing, but ended up being the best decision I ever made!

 I went to a club, and as I was walking away from the bar with my friend, I realised Matt was walking across from me. I have never done this in my life before, but instantly grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him down to my level (he's 6'3 and I am 5 foot!). We had a really good time together and had more than one kiss, but that was all – I'm a good girl and also my good friends did not know who he was and made sure I went home with them!  Matt and I started dating after this."

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"In 2010, we decided to go travelling for one year around Australia, New Zealand and Asia. I did not know it at the time, but Matt had bought an engagement ring and took it with him. He had it in his back pack for six months.  

When we arrived there, it was such a wonderful sight, the white sands and the ombres of blue and green ocean lagoon was breath taking. We decided to go for a wander and explore this beautiful place. Walking through the lagoon we realised that there were hundreds of small stingrays in the water, it was awesome. We found a secluded beach, put our things down and decided to go for a swim."

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"The water was beautiful and we went swimming and on a boat trip and as we were leaving the sea, Matt said that I needed to close my eyes.  As I opened them, he was on one knee with the ring in his hand.

He then did a beautiful little speech and asked me to marry him.  I was so shocked, and happy and emotional.  I said yes. It was so amazing and Matt could not have picked a more idyllic spot for the proposal, it was perfect."

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"We had to wait a while to get married. We still had another six months to go before getting home and when we did get home we were living with Matt's parents. We decided we wanted to wait until we bought a house, which we did last year. It was good to wait, we were able to save all the money ourselves and it really was worth it. It's nice to know we don't have any loans to pay off.

We decided to do everything ourselves. Matt did most of the work, even to the point of designing the save the date cards (came home one day and he had done it, without me knowing) and decorating the venue (with a little help from his mum and a couple of bridesmaids). I made the paper bunting and the ribbon hoop and made decorative jars (with some help from my girlfriends)."


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

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"I had tried on so many dresses but because I am only five foot tall, I ended up looking like a walking marshmallow. My parents had given me £2000 towards my wedding dress, so I decided then that I would get one made especially for me.  I actually emailed quite a few wedding dress makers and the only one that got back to me promptly was Lisa from Estilo Moda.  When I met her, we instantly became friends and I knew she was the one to make my dress for me.

I knew exactly what I wanted from my wedding dress. I would get a few ideas together for Lisa and she would let me know what would work and what would not. I appreciated her honesty and she knew what she was talking about. She made a beautiful dress that I will keep forever. I knew that I wanted a dress that would be a little different than the norm. I am also quite flat chested, so all the traditional bust lines did not really work on me.

I decided to go all out as I was small, and have an open front with just some lace flowers keeping me decent. It worked and I felt so elegant in it.  I also decided to have an open back as well. I loved this aspect of my dress – it looked beautiful."


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"I have problems with my feet, so am really unable to wear high heels. I also did not want to wear completely flat shoes as I am only 5 foot, I wanted to appear taller. Flatforms had recently become popular and these were my miraculous answer. I found an electric blue pair from Topshop, not only could I wear my specialised  insoles in them, but I could appear taller and still feel like I was wearing high heels.  

I spent the whole day and night in them and they were both beautiful and comfortable."

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"I did not wear any hair accessories. However, my hair stylist decided to take some of the flowers from my bouquet and put them in my hair."

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A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

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A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"Our photography was by Natalie J. Watts.  Matt and I have known Natalie
for a long time. We all worked together in H&M (When I first met
Matt ). This is why it was so special for us having Natalie take our
photos for us."

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"For our wedding,
Natalie arrived in the morning and was with us the whole day. As she was
one of our guests, it just felt so comfortable and wonderful having her
with me. On our wedding day we had torrents of torrential rain, so were
unable to stay outside, however every time it stopped raining the sun
would come out and Nat would get us all outside to take pics. It worked
really well as we got some lovely hazy shots.
 

I would
recommend Natalie to everyone – not only is she very professional,
organised and dedicated to taking beautiful pictures, but she is also a
wonderful person to have around, and really kept me calm.
"



A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"We chose our wedding venue, Plum Park Hotel, because we were able to have the ceremony and reception there, and it was just really lovely. We also chose it as it was close to us so it would be easy for guests to get home."

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"My make up and hair were done by Caroline ( make up) and Hair Victoria from Powder and Glow.  They were amazing.  I met Caroline at a wedding fair and knew straight away that she was the one to do my make up. When I had my trial, Caroline and Victoria made me feel super comfortable and they were just so easy to talk to. The make up that Caroline used was fantastic, my skin looked amazing and the way she did my eyes was beautiful. I felt like a Queen!

 I had decided on a style for my hair, and on the trial it was beautiful, Victoria had done a wonderful job, but a few days later I realised it just was not me, and I wanted to do a different style. She was very understanding, and although we did not have another trial, she was able to do the style perfectly on the day, even adding to in by putting in some flowers from my bouquet.  I would highly recommend Powder and Glow to any future bride."

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"I bought a blue bow tie and blue braces (with little moustaches on them) from H&M for Jacob, our page boy. The shirt and trousers and flat cap were his own." 

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"For the ceremony area, we left the chairs bare and just had jars of flowers next to each aisle. I had made paper bunting, this was hung on the table. I had also  created a decoration feature that hung on the window. This was made out of a hula hoop  and covered with white ribbon that had ombres of blue ribbons hanging from it." 


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


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A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"My mom gave me away and my stepdad walked me down the aisle. I chose Adele's ' Make you feel my love '. One of my good friends is a gifted cello player, so is her mom, and they played it for me as I walked down the aisle.  As a wedding gift, she gave me a framed copy of the music – something I'll treasure forever."

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 "Matt and I decided to write our own vows, it was really scary doing it, but I am so glad we decided to do it this way, as it was really personal and special.  This is an extract from mine;…."

'I love you for the person that you are, for your caring heart, your warmth and for being such a gentleman, not just to me but to our friends and complete strangers as well. I love you when I hear you sing, your voice touches my soul and I love that you are so strong, cool and confident yet every time you see a penguin or a Boston terrier or all manner of cute baby animals, you go completely soppy!'

'As your wife, I promise to try and always bring laughter into your life and to make you happy.  I promise to always be your friend and confidant and to always support you in all you choose to do. I promise to be true to you, to cherish you, to appreciate you, to always be there for you and to love you totally, with every fibre of my being."


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

Matt's vows to Babishe were as follows;

'Since we have been together my life has been filled with happiness and laughter. Everyday with you is an adventure and we have already experienced so much together.  You're the best person I know and, when I am with you, you make me want to be the best person I can be and I love you for that.  We've stood together through good times and bad, and through everything it has been the most amazing feeling to know that no matter what, you will be there for me.' 

'I promise you, here, in front of all our friends and family, that I will always make you feel this way too. I will love you, protect you, hold you and worship you.  You are beautiful to your very soul and I'll spend my whole life making sure you remember that. Through financial stature and physical  state, mental well-being and advancement of age, I will treasure you, cherish you, and until death parts us, I will love you.'"


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"The reception was decorated with ribbons  and bunting on the chairs, and on each table Matt had written a different chapter of our lives together with a photo to go with it. We had a few of our engagement photos on the table next to the seating plan (made ourselves with a white frame, with wall paper and home made seating lists pinned in to  it).  We also had a couple of bird cages, one styled by the florist, the other by one of my bridesmaids, that had white ball lights in them. Again we wanted it personal and kept it simple."


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"Again, I wanted our cake to be quite personal and so my cake was made by my cousin Robyn. She was very pregnant at the time and she did such an amazing job. We decided to have three tiers, the bottom chocolate caramel and the others vanilla sponge. The two top tiers however, were food dyed blue (in ombre shades of course). It was utterly delicious.

 The cake topper I bought off Etsy. It was very us, as Matt is 6'3 and I am only 5'. It was a tall giraffe groom and a small deer bride."


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


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A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts


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A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"As my husband is a musician along with a few of our family and friends, we decided to have an open mike day. So, after the speeches and wedding breakfast, every one got to go up on stage and do a performance. We didn't want a 'wedding DJ', so decided to have an old style jukebox instead. This went down well."

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"Apart from actually marrying my best friend there was another favorite part of the wedding day; right at the end of the night, Queens 'Bohemian Rhapsody' started playing, Matt and I started dancing slowly to the beginning part of it and when we looked up, all our guest had surrounded the dance floor, leaving just us in the middle by ourselves. So, Matt and I did an impromptu dance routine for everyone and then when it kicked in, My God, did it kick in – everyone ran into the dance floor and a mosh pit did arise. I did not ever think that I would be moshing at my wedding, but what a better song to do it to, than Bohemian Rhapsody.  It was a very, very surreal moment!

 There was another moment when my very drunk brother in law, threw his arms out to me and shouted 'We are sisters now!' – it was priceless!"

A wedding in Blue, photography by Natalie J Watts

"Our first dance was to 'Juliet'. Although this is not a very traditional wedding song, it was very personal to us. When we were travelling in Thailand, we ended up on an island called Koa Lanta, and the hotel we stayed in had its own wooden hand made bar run by Thai Hippies. You could sit on blankets and pillows and drink cocktails and beers while watching  the sun set on the empty, miles long beach.

 The Thai Hippies kept playing the best of Dire Straits and one evening when Romeo and Juliet was playing there was a power cut to all the hotels on the beach due to a lightning storm. It was fantastic, we decided to go for a walk on the beach where we encountered stray dogs, who walked with us and strange fire fly like things (I still think they were fairies!) that decided to fly out to sea.  It was all very surreal and exciting and every time we hear that song, we get transported back to that moment."


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Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"My advice to any bride is
to make 100% sure that you get photos of  yourself and the ones you love,
don't forget about them, you will definitely regret it later.
 

Also,
stay calm, make sure you eat something before you walk down the aisle
and please, please make sure you spend some time with your husband on
the day without other people.. the day really does fly by so quickly,
you will want to cherish these moments.

I also did not
want to be a messy bride, so did not drink too much. This really helped
and to be honest, I did not miss it. I remembered the whole night and
did not get any drunk cringe worthy photo's – heed this advice Ladies!"

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What a lovely day, so personal and heartfelt, thank you so very much Babishe and Matt' – and huge thanks as always to Natalie J. Watts for sharing her work with our readers.

You can see more blue weddings here, and you might want to check out more work from Natalie J. Watts on Love My Dress too.

With much love,

Annabel

Heart

Photographer –  Natalie J. Watts 
Venue - Plum Park Hotel in Northhamptonshire
Brides Dress - Estilo Moda
Brides Veil - Bridal Botique in Newport Pagnell
Brides Shoes - Topshop  
Bride's accessories –
Grooms Suit - Next
Bridesmaids – own dresses
Flowergirls - H&M
Florist – Cheryl – 07760872593
Cake – the bride's cousin + cake topper from Etsy
Rings – Jewellery by Johan – Etsy black wood and titanium

Annabel

Annabel View all Annabel's articles

Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.

3 thoughts on “Something Blue ~ A Pretty Wedding Inspired by an Ocean Lagoon

  1. I love all the details at this wedding. Such a sweet way to decorate the chairs! The bride has a cracking smile too, it’s quite infectious! Beautiful photography Natalie 🙂
    Franky xxx

  2. Thanks so much for a such brilliant feature, Annabel! This wedding really meant a lot as I’ve known Babishe & Matt for a long time, before they were together and Babishe was the first visitor to me in hospital when I had my son (as she worked there at the time)!
    I wish them both a lifetime of happiness together and lots of love! ♥

  3. Lovely wedding! I love the wedding gown and it’s details! The blue sets the happy mood of the wedding. And those little blue stuffs it makes me more envious. I never realized that blue themed color is also beautiful!

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