A Justin Alexander Gown For A Family Focussed Garden Party Wedding

A few weeks ago, we featured a wedding which took place around the corner from where I grew up in rural Cheshire. So it feels like sweet serendipity that yet another beautiful celebration just appeared in my inbox, this time not only held within miles of my adolescent home, but documented on camera by one of my school friends, the very lovely Helen Jane Smiddy. I can genuinely feel Helen’s warm, sweet personality pervading these images, which so sensitively capture the romance of the new Mr and Mrs Worthington.

Lisa, a carer who is currently undertaking her nurse training at university, wed her love, Michael, a senior analyst programmer on 2^nd July 2016. The couple followed their church ceremony with a garden party inspired marquee reception in the groom’s nan’s garden in Kingsley, Cheshire. Let’s start by taking a peak at their wedding film, captured by Graham Kirk Video.

“As we were holding our reception in the family garden, the original muse was a vintage garden party; I’m a fan of the shabby chic look. My Pinterest board was full of ideas and images from wedding blogs like Love My Dress – real weddings inspired me the most. We originally started with a mint and pink colour scheme, then decided on some cornflower blue bridesmaids’ dresses, so opted for blue and vintage pink. It was important to us both for the event to be family orientated, and to remember those who were unable to be with us.”

Lisa and Michael’s chosen colour palette of soft pinks and blues was echoed in their stationery and in the ensembles of their wedding party – just you wait ’til I get to those sugar sweet Chi Chi London bridesmaids dresses.

“The bridesmaids dresses were from Chi Chi London. After a lot of indecision this was the best choice I could have made, they looked incredible. The shoes they purchased by themselves, I wanted them to wear what they would be comfortable in and to their own taste. I purchased them some earrings from Esty as a gift from us both.”

“We ordered printable stationery from Etsy. This included a package of invitations, monograms and thank you cards. I copied artwork from the invitations to create our menus and order of service and typed up the place cards, which we then pinned to the glassware using mini craft pegs. This was one of the DIYs I loved doing. I got them printed at a local printers, Mary there is so helpful and friendly.”

Lisa wore a romantic Justin Alexander gown, purchased from Puure Bride in Lymm, with ASOS shoes, a thoughtful gift from her friend, Lisa-Marie. The delicate embellishment on Lisa’s dress is just beautiful, set off perfectly by swathes of flowing skirts.

“I like soft pastels and the fluffy, unstructured flowers like peonies and hydrangeas. I wanted my bouquet not to be too formally arranged, with a loose whimsical style. As the bridesmaids were wearing tea dresses, I wanted some contrasting flowing ribbons against the fabric. My flower girls (my nieces) were each given a wand laden with silk flowers and ribbon, a suggestion from my florist and something that they could keep.”

Friends and family clubbed together to help our bride collect stem vases and vintage cut glassware from charity shops, which were dotted around the marquee, filled with pretty blooms. The couple wanted to amass a mismatched collection to lend to the makeshift garden party feel.

“It took me one day and three dress shops to find ‘the one.’ Throughout the day it proved clear that I was drawn to dresses that were quite minimal but I really wanted a bit of sparkly detail. This was the perfect halfway mark. I felt like royalty in it, it was so classy and elegant. I loved the train and the neck line, but most of all that I felt like a million dollars in it.”

Lisa picked up her flower girl’s frocks from a stall at her local market and had floral crowns of pink and blue made to sit atop their flowing locks.

Our bride’s soft up-do was crafted by Becky Duncan, while her glowing, golden make-up was taken care of by two talented ladies; Lisa’s dear friend, Emma Douglas at Paint-Me Pretty, and Jenifer Coste at Darcey’s Beauty, who is a friend of the bride’s sister, Michelle.

“I wore handmade silver and diamanté hair pins, borrowed from my chief bridesmaid and sister, Laura. They were made by some Turkish friends of the family and posted to her ready for her wedding, nine years ago. For perfume I chose YSL Black Opium. It was actually the one thing I forgot to bring with me on the morning of the wedding, so I pinched my mum’s bottle. My earrings were a gift from Michael, he chose them and they were a perfect accessory to complement my dress.”

The couple knew from the beginning that they wanted their wedding day to be a celebration of love and of family, so it was incredibly touching to read that Lisa and Michael have known each other almost their whole lives. It’s instances like this that make me truly believe in fate, something my long-suffering fiancé (and lover of explain everything with science) rolls his eyes at when I express my feelings on destiny on an all to regular basis.

“We have a picture of us from when Michael was five and I was a babe in arms; our mothers were work friends. Later we worked in the same hotel and some years later, Michael sent me a message via Facebook asking me if I’d like to go for a drink with him. A week or so later we went out for a beautiful meal together.”

“We got engaged on 19^th September 2015, the day before my 28^th birthday. Michael had taken me to Liverpool for the weekend as one of many birthday gifts. He took me to the restaurant where we had our first date and after the meal he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. After dinner Michael drove us home, where we went for a celebratory drink at a local bar, and there were all of our family and friends gathered together. It was such a wonderful surprise. We had nine and a half months to plan our wedding, Michael and I wanted to get married as soon as possible.”

Michael chose the groomsmen’s attire with help from his best man and brother, Joe (and as Lisa informs us, a little subtle direction from Karen, his mum). The groom chose a Ted Baker suit from Moss Bros, which he paired with a shirt from M&S and shoes and a belt from Next. Both Lisa and Michael kept their big day ensembles a secret from each other and I just love the thought of both of them being surprised at the altar.

“We said our vows in the local village church. Kingsley St Johns is beautiful and Reverend Hilary Merrington made the process easy and fruitful, often reminding us of the importance of marriage and how to maintain a healthy relationship. My loving father walked me down the aisle to Canon in D minor, and I held both his and Mike’s hand at the altar, a moment I will cherish.”

“We had the traditional church vows, though Michael did a little shimmy when he repeated, ‘with my body I honour you’ – highly amusing and unplanned! We wanted elements of the day to be unplanned so some things we didn’t know about, like our readings. Michelle chose 1 Corinthians 13 and Karen, Michael’s mum, read a poem called ‘The One.’ They were both perfect.”

Lisa chose a simple band to complement her engagement ring and Michael too opted for a simple brushed platinum ring, both purchased from Ernest Jones. Photographer Helen has so intimately captured the romance of that just married kiss, not intruding on the moment, just omnisciently capturing those snapshots in time that Lisa and Michael are sure to treasure forever.

One heck of a confetti shot later, the newlyweds and their guests travelled the short distance to Michael’s family home for their garden party inspired reception. Michael’s favourite part of the day was getting into the wedding car after the ceremony with a glass of champagne in hand, and enjoying a few minutes alone together to cherish the moment and talk.

It has long been a tradition in the groom’s family for wedding celebrations to be held in this special place, and after three of Michael’s aunties held their marquee receptions there, Lisa and Michael are the first of the next generation of their family to hold their festivities at Michael’s nan’s home.

“Helen, our photographer was just incredible. She is so laid back and made us feel relaxed. She quickly got the shots she needed and the end product is just beautiful. She is insanely talented, every single person is in awe of our photographs and we have something to treasure for the rest of our lives.”

“Gary was also great and our video is just amazing, it is truly wonderful to be able to watch our vows and speeches. The images truly show the love we have and our family and friends have for us. We also opted to have video messages over which we have never laughed so much.”

“I recommend having a marquee wedding, it’s so versatile – a blank canvas to decorate and you can plan your day with little restriction. When it came to flowers I was completely inspired by Pinterest and real weddings. I searched for bouquets and picked out individual flowers that I liked and the florist put a name to them for me.”

“We wanted to draw on a family theme so we hung photographs of our parents and grandparents on the wall behind the inflatable sofas we rented from Ta Dah, the team there are are fantastic, the sofas helped us complete a comfy area that felt like home.”

Mary at The Flour Arranger was responsible for the scrumptious semi-naked cake, adorned with fresh and artificial flowers purchased from The Range, and the couple gifted their guests with scratch cards wrapped in holders from eBay.

“From the word go I wanted a naked cake, I think they are so trendy and elegant. My mum and sister, Laura, found a local cake maker called Mary who’d been baking for a local café. She is so talented, the cake was incredible and she was fairly priced. We chose vanilla (two layers) and lemon (two layers). She also rented us a cake stand which completed the look. Mary came up on the morning of the wedding and decorated the cake with fresh and artificial flowers. I love the topper we chose; as a huge Harry Potter fan it was my own little nod to my inner Potter geek.”

With a healthy smattering of twinkling fairy lights, plenty of sweet rustic touches and an abundance of fresh, beautiful blooms supplied by Flowers of Runcorn, the couple’s marquee, hired from Marquees.com, was transformed into an inviting haven of celebration and laughter.

Lisa and Michael hired band Mulder & Co to get their party started, something they both agree was one of their best wedding planning decisions. The couple spent New Year’s Eve 2016 flicking through first dance tracks and decided on At Last by Etta James, which Michael loved and Lisa cried happy tears throughout.

“It’s so difficult to decide whether paying for a band is worth the money, but it’s seriously worth every penny. Mulder & Co were amazing, they had everyone up dancing and their Mumford and Sons style of music is right up our street.”

“The whole day was just magical. For me, a memorable moment was when we got in the car to leave at midnight; Michael was just elated and overwhelmed. I’ve never seen him look so happy, it was beautiful to see.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Trust your own choices and don’t doubt what you have already made decisions on. For example, I deliberated over the bridesmaids’ dresses for too long and ended up going with my first choice. Take a moment in the day to be together, it’s such a whirlwind and it’s a good idea to celebrate your marriage together. Don’t worry about trying to talk to everyone, it’s your day, your guests will make the time to come and give their well wishes.”

Thank you so much to Lisa, Michael and of course to Helen Jane Smiddy Photography for these love-filled images, it’s been my utmost pleasure to take this sweet, nostalgic trip down memory lane.

Wishing you the most beautiful of weekends,

Em x