A Pretty Crochet Wedding Dress for DIY National Trust Gardens Wedding

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Hello lovelies! It’s almost the weekend and we’ve got a gorgeous outdoor DIY wedding to share with you today, just the thing to get us geared up for a couple of days off work.

Our couple, Jonny a maths teacher, and Andrea, a Juvenile Justice Centre worker, first met when they were teens during the school summer holidays. After Andrea moved away from their hometown for university, the pair kept in touch and after a few years, they made the decision to make it official. After becoming engaged in the exact spot they met 6 years previous, they decided on 5th August 2017 as their wedding date, giving themselves just one year to plan the day of their dreams.

After falling in love with the National Trust Park Rowallane Garden in Saintfield, Northern Ireland, Andrea and Jonny knew it was the perfect venue for them. As top of the agenda was a chilled occasion, the private courtyard provided the perfect opportunity to be married outdoors in a relaxed setting, with the wedding breakfast and reception taking place in the venues beautiful stone barn.

“We wanted our wedding to be very relaxed and chilled and wanted our guests to be in one place all day. We both love colours and vibrancy so once we had visited Rowallane Gardens, nothing else compared”.

Images by NavyBlur Photography

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And in keeping with the outdoorsy setting, Andrea recruited the help of her Aunt to grow her wedding flowers over the space of a year, giving her free rein to do what she felt right, growing flowers of all shapes, sizes and vibrant colours.

“My aunt spent all year growing different kinds to see what would work best in terms of colours, size, success of growth etc. We gave her free reign to do what she wanted, as she is a keen gardener, and we knew she would make them look amazing, and she did.”

During their summer holidays (whilst at school and uni) Jonny and Andrea  volunteered with an organisation that rang kids clubs in the south of Ireland. They met as teens and became very close friends, keeping in touch when Andrea moved away for university. Years and boyfriends and girlfriends passed and they became closer.

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In 2012 they decided to take things further, act on their feelings and become a couple. It was so great, that Jonny asked Andrea to marry him in 2015, at the spot in Ireland where they met almost exactly 6 years before. They spent one year planning their wedding.

We love the pretty stationery – all of which was designed by the talented bride herself.

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We love a bride who wears a bold red lip, such a glamorous wedding day look.

“My hair was styled by Vermillion Hair Co, my local hair salon – they have cut my hair since she was 11 year old!  It was great to have that personal relationship on such a special and intimate day. My makeup artist was Karen Jarvis – she was a last minute call, as my previous artist had to pull out due to illness. Karen had done my colleagues make up at my sisters wedding, she was excellent! She was so quick to respond and help. Never mind the fact she did and AMAZING job on the girls make up on the day too.”

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Andrea purchased her earrings from the internet based accessories store, Liberty in Love, which she discovered whilst browsing online.

“My earrings were beautiful and just finished off my look perfectly.”

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Andrea’s stunning full-length fitted crocheted gown, from Divinity Bridal in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

“I loved the crochet overlay of the dress, it was just my style. It was so light and felt so casual, whilst looking elegant and fitted”.

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The bridesmaids wore glitzy maxi dresses from Miss Selfridge, with each holding a bouquet of gorgeous pink, white and green flowers from Andrea’s Aunt to walk down the aisle with.

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The groom sported a Remus Umo 3-piece checked suit to differentiate him from his groomsmen, a House of Fraser bow tie and a pocket watch, gifted to him by Andrea on the morning of the wedding.

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Time and time again, we see brides saying, in their ‘words of wedded wisdom’ that they would always advise other couples to take some special time out in the day together as newlyweds, that the day flies by in a flash and capturing this special time helps to create meaningful memories.

“Our favourite part of the day was probably getting away – just Jonny and I for photos. We got that all important time together and got to talk about how they day was going. Whilst also taking in that it was actually our wedding day.”

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The couple’s hired NavyBlur Photography to capture their day in images.

“They were amazing and we almost didn’t know they were there. They took all the types of photos we asked for and, as there were two of them, we got photo’s from both perspectives, and each person’s style and personality came out in the images.”

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With the wedding breakfast and speeches running a little over schedule (when don’t they at a wedding?!) their band Knievels who Andrea and Jonny spotted at a local market were late to start, but more than made up for it with their chilled out vibe.

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Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Make sure you spend time together and just chill. Our day was so chilled, we weren’t rushing the day by looking forward to the next thing. We just enjoyed what was going on when it was happening and it made it feel like it lasted longer.”

Also the speeches, although great, went on very long, it meant the band was on quite late and everything was a bit behind schedule.”

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Congratulations to the beautiful new bride and groom and extra special thanks goes out to Navyblur Photography for capturing the day in all it’s natural and beautiful glory.

Holly x

Credits & Thanks

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.

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