A Long Sleeved Maggie Sottero Gown for an Elegant Winter Barn Wedding in Shades of Purple and Grey

Do you have colours which you’re always automatically drawn to?  For me, its blues, purples and greys, so this elegant winter wedding, packed with charcoal and lavender shades, is right up my street.

Meet Alex, an events manager, and Matt,  a welder, who married on Saturday 9th December 2017 at The Yorkshire Wedding Barn near Richmond, North Yorkshire.  The couple met while doing a ski season in France, and so wanted to bring that ski-resort, rustic sort of feel to their big day, which they packed full of wood, foliage and candles- perfect for the early December evenings.  Paul Joseph Photography, who we are thrilled to recommend through our Little Book directory, caught every moment of the day in beautiful detail, including the most glorious afternoon light for some portrait shots of the newlyweds.

“Paul and Kelly are friends of ours and I have had the privilege of working with them on multiple weddings.  They bring so much joy and we couldn’t have felt more comfortable having our pictures taken by them.  They are so professional but also fun!  When we received our pictures from the day we couldn’t believe how they had captured everything so perfectly, it was like we were reliving the day all over again.”

Images by Paul Joseph Photography,

Alex wore the gorgeous ‘Deirdre’ by Maggie Sottero, which she purchased from The Harrogate Wedding Lounge, alongside her veil.  I am so in love with this dress- isn’t that lace just exquisite?  The soft flowing skirt creates a soft and romantic look while the low back and long sleeves make it incredibly elegant.“I had seen ‘Deirdre’ at a wedding show but it was too small for me to try on so I forgot about it until I saw the dress again online.  When I saw that The Harrogate Wedding Lounge had the dress in stock I quickly booked an appointment.  I fell in love before I even tried it on. It was everything I had thought I would go for- lace arms, a very low back and elegance.  The team were fabulous and made me feel so at ease.  I am quite tall and needed the arms lengthening on the dress and the amendments they did were excellent.”

On her feet Alex wore simple gold pumps from ASOS, while for accessories she chose a pearl hairslide by Ivory & Co and a pair of pearl earrings.  For scent, she opted for Myrrh & Tonka by Jo Malone– a present from her mum to remind her of the day.

Alex and her maids’ hair was the work of Alex’s long-time hairdresser Kelsea (no details) and Alex chose a relaxed braided up-do while the ladies chose to wear their hair down in soft waves- a lovely contrast.  Make up was by April Cunningham, who gave Alex a beautiful natural look.

“I don’t wear much makeup day to day so it was so important that I didn’t look like a completely different person on my wedding day.  The makeup was so natural and I have never seen my eyes look so blue- the makeup just made them pop.”

 

The bridesmaids looked elegant in beautiful full length pleated gowns from ASOS, worn with their own silver shoes and diamond stud earrings from Debenhams, which were a gift from Alex.

“Our gorgeous little flower girl wore a dress from Monsoon [members of our Little Book for Brides], she looked so cute and stole everyone’s heart when she walked down the aisle.”

Mat wore a three-piece suit from Marks and Spencer in a dark charcoal grey, paired with a lavender/ mauve tie from Swagger & Swoon which matched the bridesmaids’ gowns.

“The Yorkshire Wedding Barn was everything we could have wanted and more.  It offered lots of on-site accommodation for our family and closest friends, the two barns worked so well for a ceremony/ wedding breakfast and evening celebrations without having to get our guests to travel after each of these elements of the day and the detail and finish to the venue was out of this world. We also have a Cocker Spaniel and the venue were more than happy for her to be present for the ceremony.  This sealed the deal and meant we could have her as our ring bearer.  I also hadn’t worked here before which definitely made me switch off, ultimately making the day much more relaxed and special.”

“Lynne (of Stems Design) is a fabulous friend and the most talented lady when it comes flowers and design.  We wanted lots of foliage, white, grey and some flowers to link in with the bridesmaids dresses but I didn’t really know what all the other details would exactly look like as I left Lynne to it. I knew whatever Lynne would do would be amazing but I was blown away by it all and the surprise of seeing it all on the day was one of the best I’ve every had.”

Alex was accompanied into the ceremony by her dad, to ‘Tenerife Sea’ by Ed Sheeran, sung by a family member (Sian Hayley Smith Music) who put her own twist on it.

“My dad and I are both quite clumsy and coming down a flight of stairs and the aisle without falling over was a miracle.  It was very emotional and a struggle to hold back the tears; it was so special to have him walk me down the aisle hand in hand.”

“My sister-in-law-to-be got me a cushion with the song lyrics on as a gift on the morning of the wedding.  It was so thoughtful and definitely helped me know when to set off down the aisle as the nerves were definitely taking over.”

Alex and Matt chose two readings- the first, read by Matt’s mum, was ‘On Your Wedding Day’, and the second, read by Alex’s aunty, was a piece called ‘A Personal Thought’.

“I work for the Good Food Story so I couldn’t have chosen and certainly not trusted anyone else for the job of catering the wedding.  Having a team who I work with be such a fundamental part of the wedding put me totally at ease. The food was incredible and was made up of mine and Matt’s favourite dishes.”

“For the evening supper we used Rocket Woodfired Pizza; they were absolutely delicious and were very well received by our guests.”

“We had a gorgeous engraved wooden table plan.  My dad has a real passion for woodwork and produced a piece of wood for the plan. We then got the names engraved by West Riding Engravers Limited.  My dad also made a wooden box for our cards along with multiple signs. We now have one of them in our garden as a memory of the day.”

To decorate the barn Alex and Matt chose some fabulous lighting from Typical Type.  Lighting really can make such a huge difference to a space and its something I would really encourage you to consider.  (I didn’t until the very last minute and ended up borrowing a huge number of fairy lights from various friends and family!)

 

Instead of a sweet cake, Matt and Alex chose various cheeses from The Cheeseboard of Harrogate which their caterer’s assembled and decorated with seasonal fruit.

“We both love sloe gin and Matt’s parents generously made us a very large batch for the wedding favours. We bought some little glass bottles and I designed some personalised labels.”

For their first dance the newlyweds chose  ‘Praise You’ by Hannah Grace.  As the chorus began confetti cannons were fired and the evening party began in earnest.

“Having all your loved ones in one place is the most surreal and best feeling ever.  When you look around and see everyone the feeling is just simply awesome.  Walking down the aisle and seeing each other for the first time is a feeling that is indescribable, we will both never forget that moment.”

“We had large DANCE letters on the side of the dancefloor, some stunning copper lights in the room where we had the wedding breakfast and festoon lights between the two barns which guided people between the barns as it was dark very early.  They looked absolutely incredible.”

“We chose WDC Entertainment for our evening music.  Dom was amazing and got everyone on the dancefloor and kept them on there for hours.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“On the run up to the big day little things do go wrong or not quite how you planned them, but just keep smiling and don’t let them get you down.

When deciding on your wedding food it is impossible to please everyone so choose what you love to eat.”

So many thanks to Alex and Matt for sharing their gorgeous winter wonderland with us today.  I’m so in love with Alex’s Maggie Sottero gown, aren’t you? For more brides in this much-loved brand, see here, while for more beautiful winter wedding, this is where you want to be.

Much love,

S x