A Provonias Gown For A Glamorous and Festive Winter Wedding

Good morning lovelies! Now how about a gorgeous festive wedding for you today? If you’re planning your nuptials for this Christmas, this is one wedding you won’t want to miss checking out. It’s full of glitz and glam and has a really gorgeous and cosy feel to it. So, let’s get started shall we?

Today’s bride and groom, Civil Servants Rachel and Ben, said their nuptials on 28th December 2017 in a festive winter wedding held at Matfen Hall in Matfen Village, Northumberland.  In keeping with the sparkly glam theme, the bride chose the Amanda dress by Pronovias with a Justin Alexander lace jacket, both from Mia Sposa in Newcastle.

“The girls at Mia Sposa were fantastic! So helpful and welcoming and I would recommend them to anyone. I loved the buttons running down the whole cathedral length train of my dress and the bow on the waist. Although the dress was very simple, the length of the train and full skirt meant it wasn’t plain. The Mikado silk material was perfect for a winter wedding. I paired it with a Justin Alexander lace jacket as it fit perfectly with the dress and felt more me.”

Images by  Zoe Emilie

On hand to catch all the festivities on camera was photographer Zoe Emilie whose services they won in a Facebook competition.

“We were incredibly lucky to win our photography package through a Facebook competition with the lovely Zoe. She is very creative and has captured some beautiful images that we would never have imagines. There are some gorgeous natural shots of guests throughout the day which gives a real feel for the day and gives us glimpses of moments we would have otherwise missed. We adore our photo’s – Zoe did such a fabulous job! She also took us to a lovely beach in Northumberland called Rumbling Kern for our engagement shoot. She was really adventurous and had loads of ideas for fantastic photo’s. It was a great experience watching the sunrise on the beautiful Northumberland coast and we have some really lovely pictures as a result.”

Rachel and Ben first met after being placed in the same team at work before getting engaged whilst on holiday in Florida in March 2016.

“We were close friends for a few years before our friendship developed into a relationship. We got engaged after deciding together that we would like to marry in the next couple of years. We booked the wedding in April 2016 and got married in December 2017, giving us over 18 months to plan the wedding.”

“With the wedding falling between Christmas and New Year, we both loved the idea of black tie as it’s so timeless and fitting for the festive season. We also incorporated sequins and lots of candles throughout the wedding as they lent themselves well to the time of year. It’s an ideal time for cosy fires and candles and the perfect excuse for a bit of sparkle! We both wanted the wedding to be fairly classic in style so that hopefully, it won’t look dated too quickly.”

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“I also chose a Joyce Jackson fingertip length Monaco veil customised with the crystal accent from their Cila veil and Becky by Charlotte Mills shoes from Lovelane Boutique. My vintage wreath tiara – as worn by Lady Mary in Downton Abbey – was from Glitzy Secrets and I wore Jo Malone Velvet Rose and Oud as my scent.”

“I wanted to wear a different perfume for the wedding and it reminded me of my usual favourite, Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb, so seemed a perfect choice.”

“The three older bridesmaids, my friend Alison, and my cousins Bea and Ella wore nude sequin Adrianna Papell dresses purchased from Dillard’s (a department store in the US) and the younger bridesmaid Evie wore the Hannah dress is Rose Quartz with sequin top and chiffon skirt from also in the US. Henry our page-boy looked dapper in a dinner suit to match the bridal party from Marks and Spencer and paired it with black Converse trainers. He looked so cute and did a great job walking down the stairs with his mam Alison.”

Rachel employed the talents of Carli from The Big Event Hair and Make Up to create her gorgeous up do and bridal make up.

“Carli did a fantastic hob of all our hair and make up. Everyone looked amazing and I wouldn’t hesitate to book Carli for another occasion. Everything lasted the whole day and looked fantastic in the photographs. I was really pleased with the results.”

The absolutely stunning florals were kept wintry with a mix of ivory, blush and deep red colours to reflect the grandeur surroundings and all made by the talented florists Amy and Allison at Thoughts of You Flowers.

“Amy and Allison were both great and they made us such gorgeous bouquets. Mine was a shower bouquet made up of hydrangea, ranunculus, roses, lots of green foliage and cascading red ribbons. The girls had smaller hand-tied bouquets in the same colour scheme with blousy roses, green foliage and matching ribbons. They also created a gorgeous foliage display with fairy lights for the huge fireplace in the Great Hall and a lovely long and low arrangement for the signing of the register and top table with hydrangea, carnations and roses – all flowers which I mentioned to them I loved. We went for classic ivory roses for the gents buttonholes and ladies corsages. Thoughts Of You also provided the flowers for both of our cakes and did such a great job, I can’t recommend them enough.”

“We chose the venue due to the stunning Great Hall. When searching for a venue, we found many of the rooms we viewed for the ceremony were a bit underwhelming and lacking character. We thought the Great Hall had the feeling of a church with striking features, like the enormous stained glass window, fireplace and staircase, leaving it hard to beat!”

“We loved the hall so much we also chose to hold our wedding breakfast in there too. We also found the package at Matfen Hall offered for the wedding was very competitive as it took care of the DJ, catering, drinks package, room hire and on the day stationery.”

Not ones to miss out on glamming up, the older boys also wore black tie in keeping with the theme.

“Ben hired a French Connection dinner suit from Moss Bros which he wore with a Marcella evening shirt and shirt studs from TM Lewin, black leather brogues from Loake, a bow tie and pocket square from Mrs Bow Tie and he borrowed his cufflinks off his uncle as he had forgotten to take his own with him!”

Rachel’s dad walked her down the aisle to One Day Like This by Elbow played by the Arco String Quartet. The couple also decided to tailor their own vows and Allison, Rachel’s cousin, read A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton during the ceremony.

“We chose this reading because we both found it light-hearted and amusing and we both saw some of ourselves within the reading. Ben’s dad also read Marry Your Best Friend by N’Tima which we chose as started off as close friends before becoming a couple, so we both identified with it.”

They then swapped rings, Ben’s a platinum ring from Argos and Rachel’s a diamond platinum ring from Little Book for Brides member Emmy London, via H Samuel.

“I wanted something that would fit quite closely to the setting on my engagement ring without having a ring specially made and one which would also look nice worn alone. I saw the Emmy London collection on Love My Dress and then checked it out in store at H Samuel. The ring fit nicely with my engagement ring and made a nice pair without them being a matching set.”

After the ceremony, the Arco String Quartet welcomed guests into a drinks reception whilst the couple and the wedding party went off with photographer Zoe for photo’s.

With the venue being such a gorgeous location as it was, little was needed other than the gorgeous blooms and some glitz to glam it up a little.

“We hired chivari chairs, blush chair drapes and a rose gold sequin top table-cloth from Ballroom Bedlam. We also added a candelabra from TK Maxx, sequin table runners and tea light holders from Styleboxe via Very, various sized Christmas scented inclusion candles from Aldi, Sainsbury’s and House of Fraser, and dinner candles and vanilla scented pillar candles from IKEA.”

Once sat down for the wedding breakfast in the Great Hall, they were treated to wedding favours of the couple’s favourite Ghirardelli chocolate squares.

“There’s a shop in Disney Springs which we love to visit when we’re on holiday so wanted to incorporate them into the wedding. I had been on the hunt for the chocolates on holiday in the US earlier in the year but the use by dates weren’t long enough to make it to the wedding. Luckily, my parents had a holiday booked for later in the year and were kind enough to carry them back for us. They timed it just right to get their peppermint bark squares, which are my favourite Christmas chocolates, back in time.”

The catering for the wedding breakfast was provided by the venue and included a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.

“We opted for plum tomato, roasted red pepper and mozzarella galette with basil pesto galette to start, followed by a Christmas dinner. We then had a bride’s choice of dessert which was an apple and cinnamon pie with custard and nutmeg ice cream for the ladies, and a grooms choice of sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream for the gents.”

“For our evening food we had a choice of mini fish and chips or pizza and wedges. The food was all so lovely and we’ve had plenty compliments from guests. Some have even said it was the best food they’re ever had at a wedding!”

“My cousin Allison also made us a gorgeous traditional fruitcake, which went down a storm, and our cake table was created by The Master Cakesmith. We chose a fairly simple 3-tier cake with the top two layers plainly iced and the bottom tier iced in a ruffle design. The flavours were lemon and rose petal, millionaire’s shortbread and caramel cake. We also had raspberry ripple cupcakes and a box of peanut butter brownies. We decided to go for a smaller wedding cake and added the cupcakes and brownies as it gave more choice for guests and could be served along with the fruitcake and our food at the evening reception. All of the cakes were so tasty!”

After the wedding breakfast, Lucy Bewley sang and played the piano in the Great Hall before heading down to the Vault Bar for the party.

“We created a song list for Lucy to play and it was so lovely to listen to songs we both like and it added a personal touch. Lucy was great on the day and played beautifully. It was nice to have something for guests to enjoy before heading down to the Vault Bar, during that part of a wedding there’s usually a lull. Matfen’s resident DJ Tim Hills then played out the rest of the night and we had a sparkler send off. It was a bit of fun and made for some nice pictures despite it being -2c! We bought the extra  large sparklers from Aldi around bonfire night and they went down really well!”

On reflection Rachel would choose the ceremony as her favourite part of the day, but only when pushed as it was so hard to choose amongst such a brilliant day of memories.

“It’s really difficult to choose as we both loved the whole day so much! The ceremony was obviously the most important part of the day to us and we loved having our wedding video to see it all again as it went by in such a blur! On reflection the only thing I’d do differently is having a different dress to wear to our evening reception. I absolutely loved my dress but it was very hot to wear while dancing and I would have been more comfortable in something lighter. Although it didn’t stop me having an amazing time dancing the night away!”

Words Of Wedded Wisdom

“Try to enjoy the planning process and run up to the wedding without getting stressed about it. You’ll both enjoy yourself and whatever happens, it’ll be a happy occasion regardless. The important part is the marriage, not the wedding, so try not to lose sight of that – it is only one day of your lives together after all.”

“Make sure whoever is helping you get ready on the day knows how to fasten your dress. We had a slight panic when my mum and sister couldn’t fasten mine. Luckily my dad was on hand and managed to fasten me in the nick of time with help from my bridesmaid Bea, who managed to do up all of the buttons on my lace jacket. Had we known prior to the day, it would have resulted in us all being a lot more calm in the short time before the ceremony!”

“If your budget allows, definitely book a videographer. It’s lovely getting to see the day again and hearing your guests enjoy themselves. You get to see parts of the day you missed at the time and it will be a fantastic memento of the special day for years to come.”

What a gorgeous day! I do love a festive themed wedding and this one’s gorgeous black tie and glitz theme had me from the start. A bit congratulations to Ben and Rachel and a big thank you to Zoe Emilie for sharing these beautiful shots with us.

Until next time…

Much love,

Holly x