A Zavana Bridal Gown For A Wild And Rustic DIY Wedding

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Hello gorgeous ones and happy Monday! Today we’re kicking off the week in style with some stunning blooms, an 11-strong wedding party and a dress to make you weak at the knees. A bride after my own heart, Amy opted for wild foliage, had her boys dressed in dickie bows and put on a scrumptious afternoon tea party for all the guests. Want to see more? Me too.

English teachers Amy and Tom said their I Do’s on 16th September 2017 at Hexham Winter Gardens in Northumberland. The bride chose a truly stunning plunge neck lace gown designed by Zavana Bridal from One Fine Day in Gateshead.

“I was lucky enough to find ‘The One’ on day one of shopping for a dress! The design was not what I had originally wanted in the slightest. I had pictured a dress with long sleeves and a slight fishtail flare at the bottom. However when I tried this dress on I got so emotional and could imagine myself wearing it on the day. I never thought I’d get emotional over a dress! I loved the shape of the dress, the chapel shaped train and the leaf detail on the lace, as it’s connected to our proposal under the trees.”

Images by Andy Turner

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Capturing the bridesquad on camera with some stunning shots of them together with the bride was County-Durham based photographer Andy Turner.

“Our photographer Andy Turner was phenomenal. He caught the day in a way we could never have dreamt of. We wanted a very candid photographer, someone who could capture our personalities and those moments we didn’t see. We couldn’t recommend Andy enough, he was so relaxed and patient, we barely knew he was there!”

“We also had a videographer called Joe Cunningham who is also one of our close friends. When he offered to do our wedding we snapped his hand off. Joe is a very talented man who sacrificed joining in on the fun to capture our day.”

“We chose the venue because of a recommendation from a photographer we know. We moved up to Newcastle for university and stayed for a few years after so it’s a very special place to us, full of beauty and memories. The venue was a blank canvas which allowed us to put our own stamp on it and follow through with our own desires of how we wanted it to look on the day.”

“After seeing a shoot done by my interior designer friend for a wedding venue she’s opening, I instantly fell in love with the look and wanted that vibe for my own wedding, The shoot was beautiful and looked totally overgrown and rustic so we went with something similar.”

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The couple went through primary and secondary school together and then college and university, but only really got to know each one New Years Eve when Tom plucked up the courage to talk to Amy.

“I have been in the year below Tom since nursery. Same primary school, secondary and high school, same college and even university! I liked him a lot. We finally got to know each other when Tom approached me on New Years and asked, whilst quite tipsy, what Santa had brought me for Christmas. We spent the summer together before Tom moved up to Newcastle for university and made it official in the October. We were together for 5 years when Tom proposed on Christmas day in 2016.”

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“Tom wanted to go on a Christmas walk to our local lake (where we had our first date). We walked down with Tom being his usual soppy self and being very sweet. He then suggested a game of hide and seek because we both love games. I spent a long time searching for him in the pitch black and finally found him next to a big tree where he got down on one knee with a picnic basket of my favourite things next to him, along with fairy lights in the trees and our initials carved into the tree.”

“We spent some time together sat on the picnic blanket in complete shock, and were then joined by our families who had been hiding in the bushes! We had a reasonably short engagement and planned the wedding in 8 and a half months.”

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“My amazing make up artist Jess Mcleay went over and above for my bridal look on the day. She did two trials to make sure I was totally happy with the look, made me feel super comfortable and made sure she was around if I needed her in the day for a top up, though it turned out I was having too much fun to bother!”

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“As my dress had a low neckline made of sheer mesh, I couldn’t wear a necklace, and my dress was so detailed I didn’t feel like it needed much jewellery. I wore a bracelet that my husband-to-be gave me on the morning of the wedding which was made by my amazing sister. I also had a garter made by my sister of Igi Jewellery which was lace with a chain and pendants hanging from the lace.”

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“My veil was also from One Fine Day and I found a bargain pair of shoes from River Island. I didn’t want to splash out on shoes because I thought no one would see them and I would just end up taking them off for the Ceilidh band anyway (I ended up taking them off way before that!). I had fresh flowers in my hair by my amazing hair artist Art by Lucy Maria and wore a Ted Baker perfume. It was just my favourite scent at the time and I also didn’t want to spend a huge amount on another perfume.”

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The groom looked handsome in a simple 3-piece navy wool suit from John Lewis which he wore with an Albert chain with a St. Christopher pendent, and his groomsmen all wore matching bow ties and socks to match the colours of the bridesmaid dresses.

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The bride and her maids made up a striking bridesquad with the bridesmaids each wearing various complimenting coloured dresses from Lipsy, TFNCReligion and ASOS, and their own nude heels.

“I had 6 bridesmaids and 1 maid of honour. I wanted 2 dresses from each colour in my bouquet (sage green, dusty pink and deep burgundy). I think searching for bridesmaid dresses was the job that took me the longest! For my maid of honour I wanted to combine all the colours into her dress and after much searching, we found one in a Religion pop-up shop, the last one in her size.”

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“All the dresses were very floaty with some kind of ruffle detail on them. I think the colours worked well together and all of my 7 bridesmaids looked stunning.”

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Amy’s dad accompanied her down the aisle, a moment the bride considers to be one of the most special in her life, to The Book Of Love by Gavin James.

“We legally married a few days before the wedding at our church, Hillsong in Newcastle. On the day, Tom’s dad married us which meant so much to Tom and I. Tom’s dad began by telling the ‘story of us’; how we met, how we fell in love and Tom’s proposal, all the way up to us getting married.”

“The vows were reasonably traditional with the I Do’s and I Will’s, but the personal touch from Tom’s dad was what made the ceremony so perfect. We had so much amazing feedback from our guests about the ceremony and how loving and personal it was.”

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“Tom’s grandma then did a reading of Corinthians 13:4. This was so beautiful as we felt the words really set us up for what lay ahead with the hard times and the good. We also had one of our close friends, who has been by our side throughout our relationship, say a few words about us and who we are. He gave us some marital advice and read the story of Zacchaeus.”

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The couple swapped rings, Tom’s a gold hammered ring from John O’Mahony Jewellery via Etsy, and Amy’s a diamond band from Newcastle Jewellery Company.

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“Tom wanted something a bit different to the bog standard gold band. He looked at so many different styles and designs and eventually settled on a gold hand hammered engraved ring. I thought I’d already been pretty spoiled with my engagement ring so didn’t want to push it and ask for more diamonds. I quickly changed my mind though when I tried rings on. We compromised and I chose a beautiful secondhand diamond band.”

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The bridal bouquets were a stunning and wild array of greenery, foliage and earthy tones, supplied by florists Muscari Events and created by Amy’s two talented bridesmaids.

“Muscari Events were super accommodating. When I told them I was trying to keep the wedding as cheap as possible and asked if she could just buy the flowers for me, she was more than happy to. Two of my amazing bridesmaids put the amazing centre pieces, buttonholes, and bouquets together.”

They also went foraging for most of the greenery, which also kept the florals super cheap. I chose the colours and flowers because I wanted the wedding to look a bit wild and rustic. The colours broke up the greenery and brightened everything up.”

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After a confetti shower following the ceremony, the couple and the wedding squad went with photographer Andy for the wedding portraits before reconvening with their guests to settle in for the wedding breakfast.

“We had an afternoon tea style wedding breakfast with our friends and family making the most amazing cakes, scones and brownies. We had a mixture of wraps, sandwiches, falafel, vegetable pakoras and salads, which some of our friends helped put on afternoon tea tiers. We later had a hog roast cooked by Ian Wright and his team – it was delicious and the guests very much needed it after the Ceilidh had started!”

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As a DIY affair, Amy decorated the venue herself, along with the help of friends and family who all mucked in to decorate on the night before the wedding day.

“I had a lot of help from friends. We rented furniture and decorations from Jane at Bird Cages and Dragonflies. She was so helpful and couldn’t do enough for us. Her quirky furniture and mismatched chairs helped bring the rustic and relaxed feel we wanted. We also had help from Jane and Doug at Cogsmith & Co. We told them what we wanted and they just got it done! I was desperate for an arch made out of doors to get married under and also a box chandelier with glass jars and lights hanging down. I told Jane and Doug my ideas and they turned them into a reality – their creativity knows no bounds!”

“Tom’s aunty made beautiful clay hearts with our initials on them for our wedding favours. I then made the place names and attached them with ribbon so they doubled up as a place-name too.”

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After the wedding breakfast the newlyweds took to the dance floor for their first dance.

“We chose the song The Girl by City and Colour because it’s quite personal to our relationship; the ups and downs, the travelling, the dreams, but most importantly the love. The song starts off quite slow and beautiful, mid way through it trails off and comes back much faster. All our guests joined in at that point and a dance circle formed with people being pulled in left, right and centre.”

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Celebrations then continued into the early hours of the morning, kicking off with Ceilidh band The Hedgehog Skin performing and getting everyone up dancing.

“They were amazing and had everyone dancing! We then had a friend DJ for the rest of the evening in another room which was great because everyone was already in the dancing mood!”

“It’s so hard to choose a favourite part of the day. We both loved the Ceilidh band – I don’t think either of us have ever laughed so much! The Ceilidh got so many none dancers up on the dance floor having a laugh. I loved that none of us had a clue what we were doing and we all looked pretty silly together!”

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The wedding cake was a magnificent 4-tiered semi-naked cake made by cake maker Samantha Rudd at Oliver Lilly Cakes.

“Our amazing cake maker made our dreams come true! We had an idea of what we wanted from many hours scrolling Pinterest and when we finally came to an agreement, Samantha couldn’t have been more accommodating. She made the cake better than the image I’d found, putting her own artistic flare into it. The amount of compliments we got on the cake was incredible. Samantha is your woman if you need a cake making!”

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Words Of Wedded Wisdom

“It’s very cliché but just enjoy it! This exciting time will only happen once in your life and yes it can be stressful at the time, but try not to let that overshadow the joy. Don’t take it out on each other. I remember seeing a couple in a coffee shop arguing over the salt, then they told me it was actually because they were getting married that weekend and they were stressed! Also enjoy the attention. For me I sometimes tried to push-off the attention or found myself worrying about things such as if my bridesmaids would all get along at my Hen party. That’s not your job. Your job is to enjoy it! Enjoy having a fuss made of you!”

“Ensure you spend the time with your bride or groom. Before you know it you’ll be reminiscing and comparing stories and wished you were sharing the moments together.”

“Expect the unexpected. Things will go wrong so utilise the friends you have to support you. That being said, do the wedding for you and your partner. On the day, things go wrong but it’s part of the fun too!”

“Let the wedding reflect and celebrate you both. Control your desire to be the best wedding that looked the best. This is nothing if the joy is not present. Aesthetics are the first impression and that’s it. What will your guests enjoy or remember the most? An impact is moments and stories, not the interior.”

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Thank you Amy and Tom for sharing such a lovely day with us! I’m very envious of your gorgeous bouquets and think you have a couple of extremely talented friends there. A big thank you also to photographer Andy Turner for sharing his natural and candid images with us.

Until next time…

Much love,

Holly

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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