A Needle and Thread Dress and Waxflower Crown for a Bohemian and Literary Inspired Wedding

Dear Readers, you’re in for a treat today – I’ve got the most joyous, beautiful wedding to share with you, packed with touching moments, striking and colourful blooms, a radiant bride resplendent in the most amazing flower crown and even a doughnut wall. Yes, honestly, a doughnut wall. Let’s meet the bride and groom, shall we?

Sharon, a teacher and her groom Timmy, a business systems analyst were wed on the 30 October 2017 in a ceremony at Downpatrick Presbyterian Church in Downpatrick, Co. Down followed by a reception at the elegant Gracehall in Dollingstown.

“I would say it was ‘us’… very little fuss, very relaxed. I guess I was going for a vintage boho vibe with my dress and headpiece.”

Images by Nataly J Photography

The fabulous photography for the day was by Nataly J Photography, whose images are not only evocative and lovely to gaze at, but full of the happiness and emotion of Sharon and Timmy’s day, too. The couple also opted to have their day captured on film by videographer Eamonn Quinn.

“We loved having our friend Nataly as our photographer and that was amazing – she is so talented and easy to work with. We really wanted natural shots that captured the day and she definitely gave us that! In summary what made the day so special was the people, not the things.”Continuing the floral theme, Sharon chose a gown from Needle and Thread, which she purchased via their website. Embroidered with a floral motif in white and antique gold sequins, it has a lovely romantic, ethereal quality and suits our bride perfectly.

“I wanted a dress with sleeves and I always thought a train was a must! When else do you ever get to have a train? I love Needle and Thread and really love their normal everyday wear, so when I saw one of their wedding dresses on Pinterest I was sold! I just ordered the dress one day, in my normal size, and it arrived a couple of days later! It was perfect! I tried it on in front of a full length mirror in my parent’s house and just knew it was me!”

And what a headpiece it is, too, fashioned from olive branches and delicate waxflowers and berries. I’ve written before about the long and historic association that waxflowers have with weddings, being made popular and fashionable by Queen Victoria herself, when she wore them in her own flower crown at her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. Against the gorgeous texture of the olive leaves and red berries, they look wonderful. Sharon’s headpiece and all of the flowers were by Lisburn based House of Elliot Flowers, who cast a floral spell over the day with breathtaking arrangements in shades of deep berry red and white with pale green foliage and succulents.

As well as that incredible floral crown, Sharon also wore earrings from Accessorize and shoes from No. 1 Jenny Packham for Debenhams. She also chose a special signature fragrance as a remembrance of the day.

“I love perfume and have a few signature scents. My friend Amy always tells me I am her perfume guru and she always loves the ones I pick! So I wanted something memorable – something I would always associate with that day. I avoided my go to scents and opted for a brand new one, Ellie Saab ‘Girl of Now’. It was sweet yet rich and I definitely loved wearing it.”

Groom Timmy looked wonderful in a charcoal grey Prince of Wales check suit with matching waistcoat, from Bogart Menswear, which he paired with a smart floral print bow tie.

“The first time we met was at a table quiz held in a café in Lisburn. Timmy and two of his friends asked to sit at my table. We didn’t win the quiz but we had a good night and really enjoyed each other’s company. We weren’t thinking much of it and just left it at that, (well he did add me on Facebook after that night!) The quiz was organised by a group called ‘Huddle’ – for Christians in their 20s/30s. From the start our shared faith was important.”

The bridal party were driven to Gracehall in an amazing cream coloured vintage VW camper van, from Star Car Hire, and upon arrival, the bride walked down the aisle with her mum and dad on either side of her.

“I always thought it strange that the mum doesn’t get that moment of walking her daughter down the aisle. My mum and I are extremely close so it was important to me that she was there beside me so I had both parents accompany on that all important walk!”

“I didn’t think flowers were going to be very important to me until the summer before the wedding when I decided I needed a head-piece! I didn’t just want it… I needed it! House of Elliot could not have been more helpful getting everything just to my liking! I just came across their website and they were close for delivery etc, so I went for it!”

The couple next met at a Huddle worship, two months later, which just so happened to be held at the place where they later chose to hold their wedding reception – Gracehall. They had a great time together, with friends of them both commenting on how well they had got on. After exchanging a few messages, they had their first date in a Belfast restaurant.

“We both ate our own body weight in chicken and told each other way too much information for a first date! It was about a month after that, Timmy officially asked me to be his girlfriend, after introducing me to practically everyone he knows at his friend’s engagement party!”

They were together for a year before Timmy proposed on Sharon’s birthday, when they went for dinner at the Galgorm in Ballymena.

“I was gutted when he said for us to leave without having dessert because that’s always my favourite thing! I know now it was because he was so nervous! It was freezing as it was December and when we left the restaurant he insisted on going for a walk…Little did I know! He played dumb and asked where the river was – all an elaborate ruse to get us down to the swing facing the waterfall. He started telling me some lovely things and gave me a hug … it was then that I felt the ring box in his pocket! I started to panic and he got down on one knee – I shouted ‘What are you doing? Get up!’ … I was just so surprised! He had to ask me what my answer was! I said yes of course. We then went into the river room for some champagne where we were met by a round of applause from the people eating their dinner! They had witnessed the whole thing!”

“I walked down to ‘Falling Slowly’ by Glen Hansard, as it is from my favourite musical ‘Once’. My friend Susan and her husband Michael were in the band at the church along with my friends Wendy and Alister. Susan played ‘Falling Slowly’ on the piano, which was very fitting as we have been to London and Dublin together to see the show!”

Sharon and Timmy chose to keep their vows standard, but as their faith is such an integral part of their life together, they asked two minister friends to speak for them – Sharon’s friend Rev. Owen Patterson, and Timmy’s friend Pastor Sam Dhlodhlo.

They chose bible readings that carried great meaning and significance to them both throughout the course of their lives – Romans 5: 1-8 and Proverbs 3: 5-12.

“The rings are from Lunn’s in Belfast. We were very last-minute with the wedding rings …we almost didn’t order them in time! Just a reflection of how relaxed we were overall! My engagement ring is very special – it is raised with a little diamond crown under the solitaire. Timmy picked it all by himself and it is exactly what I would have chosen!”

The bridesmaids wore crimson coloured dresses from Biba at House of Fraser, which complemented the rich red shades in their flowers. They wore necklaces from Accessorize and shoes from Debut by Debenhams.

Eamonn’s Hair Studio in Ballynahinch styled Sharon’s long locks in relaxed waves, and bridesmaid Amy was in charge of make-up. I particularly love the shade of warm bronze eyeshadow that Sharon is wearing.

The stunning reception space at Gracehall was transformed for the wedding breakfast, with tables decorated with elegant silver candelabra centrepieces, and the old stone walls adorned with sparkling fairy lights and bunting, as well as more lovely flowers from the House of Elliot. As favours, Sharon and Timmy also made donations to Habitat for Humanity Northern Ireland.

“The literary theme for our tables added to the vintage feel – the top table was ‘Jane Austen’ and I had the novel my friend bought me for my birthday as a centrepiece; a 1983 edition of ‘Emma’. Those small details all came together so easily.”

Stationery had been designed by the couple’s friend, Hannah Stockdale, while Sharon’s cousin Martin Cherry made a delicious looking (and tasting) doughnut wall, whilst another cousin piped the happy couple from their ceremony.

“My favourite part of the day was arriving at Gracehall…and seeing all our family and friends. That was also the moment that I got my taste of the doughnut wall! My cousin had made it for us and I was so excited to get my Malteaser doughnut! I also loved walking out of the church to my other cousin piping on his bagpipes! The most important thing for us was to have family involved in our day and to enjoy having everyone who was important to us together to celebrate!”

Old Barn Events and Catering provided the wedding feast and the couple’s friend Nic, of Baked Blessings created a totally showstopping salted caramel drip cake.

“When I saw the cake we ended up going for (salted caramel drip) I just fell in love!”

Coldplay’s Something Like Us was the lovely song of choice for Sharon and Timmy’s first dance, which they felt fitted them as a couple very well. Everybody danced the night away to music from The Fabulous Al Bennett Band and DJ Billy Fyffe.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“I would say to just do what you want – people will tell you ‘this is the way it should be done’ but, actually, it’s your day and you want it to be personal and you want to enjoy it! We weren’t stressed at all – if it’s meant to be a certain way then it will be, things all fall into place when God is at the centre.”

Sharon and Timmy, many congratulations and thank you for giving us this glimpse of your jubilant, gorgeous day. Many thanks also to the talented Nataly J for such enchanting, emotive images. You can see more wonderful weddings in Northern Ireland here, and more beautiful Needle and Thread brides, here.

With love,

Laura