A Bright, Bold and Colourful Barn Wedding…

Happy Friday afternoon ladies and gents! Have you read the second in our new series, 'Confessions of a Disabled Bride'? This wedding is the final instalment for today for all you lovely loyal Friday readers, and I love it for it's celebration of colour.

Weldon & Lara tied the knot on 30th August 2012 at Lillibrooke Manor in Maidenhead, Berkshire and these images were sent in by their wedding photographer, Fiona Kelly… 

"My background is in graphic design and I have always had art and
design in my life – it’s what happens when your father is a bit of a
painter!

Even though I was never one of those girls who dreamt of their
wedding day and knew exactly what dress and flowers she wanted, I had
strong ideas about what I didn’t want. I love colour – not just one
colour as a ‘theme’ but lots of colours; bold, bright colours that
reflected our mixed heritage to some extent."

Love My Dress Wedding Blog – Photography Copyright (c) 2012, Fiona Kelly

"Our florist was my amazingly-talented cousin from Portugal. Having
her to help in the lead up to the wedding (thank you internet and
Portuguese-speaking mum) and be so flexible about things, meant we had
total control of how much it cost (saving a lot of money) and how
everything looked.

A couple of trips to Covent Garden Flower Market set us up perfectly and the flowers lasted days and even weeks after the wedding."

"My veil was from a boutique in Galicia, Spain (where my family are
from). I knew from the start that I wanted a very long, thick-laced,
Spanish-syle mantilla veil and that the only place where I would find it would be
in Spain itself…"

"We chose our venue Lillibrooke Manor,
as it was a superb blank canvas to create a wedding which was as ‘us’
as possible. We loved the barn setting, the fact that it was all ours
for the day and the lovely garden for our guests to have drink in after
the ceremony.

We had one hundred white Chinese laterns and hand-made paper heart garlands, ribbons…"

Lara wore a design by Martina Liana…

"When it came to trying on dresses, I had quite an open mind. I knew
what would potentially suit my body shape, and was surprised by what
actually looked ok! My sister and mother came to every dress fitting
with me and as soon as I saw the look on their faces when I tried on
this particular dress, I knew it was as perfect as it felt. I only wish I
could wear it again, I loved it that much!"

"Weldon’s from Trinidad
(explains how we met eh?) and my parents are Portuguese and Spanish. We
wanted as many of our family to be there, from all over the place so the
wedding itself was always going to be a real eclectic mix of people and
cultures.

I wanted our wedding stationery to be bold, with flashes of
colour, and which would really represent us. I knew that I wanted to be
able to make everything myself at home, hence the black printing and
personalised stamp. The graphic heart illustration made of up different
icons is the first thing I designed. The icons represent things about us
– from the Spanish bull to the Trinidad flag, to the suitcase to
represent our love of travelling – and were then rolled out across
different bits of stationery."

"Our cake maker was again found through a friend of a friend. The
Yum Nums girls were so cooperative and we managed to get the cake made
exactly how I had visualised it without even meeting in person! I wanted
something simple and clean with a twist – hence the cascading frills."

"Our wedding photographer was Fiona Kelly.  Fiona’s relaxed and un-obtrusive style caught my eye immediately. I
love the way she catches moments of interaction between people and how
natural her photographs are.   As soon as I started explaining how I had
my wedding planned out in my head (Fiona was one of the first people I
had explained it all to – and has a background as a graphic designer
too!), I was so excited about how excited she got about it all, and it
made me even more comfortable about having her shoot our day.

My husband
and I aren’t ones for posing and Fiona made it all so comfortable and
natural for us which is exactly what we wanted. I am beyond happy with
how her photos have come out as I really feel they tell the story of our
day perfectly."

 

"After being introduced by a mutual friend (through the power of the
facebook), the first time we laid eyes on each other was at Notting
Hill Carnival in 2009. We moved in together not too long after, and
after 2 years of knowing this was the lovely man for me, Weldon
proposed.

How he proposed was interesting, because he managed to concoct
an elaborate story that culminated in us being at the very spot where
we first met in Notting Hill (on bonfire night no less), with him on
bended knee and Bruno Mars ‘Marry You’ blaring out of his phone. I
immediately burst in to tears (fireworks in the background and all) and
the rest is history. It was then straight on to 10 months of planning
and creating the wedding we both wanted."

"Our ceremony officiant (from Windsor and Maidenhead Registry
Office) was fantastic with helping us to tailor our ceremony. We chose
our vows and readings from a huge selection she had. One of the readings
which is en excerpt from an Indian Wedding Blessing stood out, as well
as a very simple reading called ‘Maybe’ (sorry, no other reference
attached to those). Both simply struck nerves with us and weren’t too
mushy! My ‘aunt’ wrote a beautiful poem for us, which was unexpectedly
emotional and perfect. We both heard it for the first time when she read
it out at the ceremony.

From Indian Wedding Blessing:

May the sun bring you new energies by day
May the moon softly restore you by night
And the breeze blow new strength into your being
And then all the days of your life
May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty.

Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to the other.
 
Now there is no more loneliness,
For each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons,
But there is one life before you.

Go now to your dwelling place,
To enter your life together
And may your days be good and long upon the earth."

"Our second reading was 'Maybe'…

Maybe 
we are supposed to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one,
so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be
grateful for that gift.
Maybe it’s true that we don’t
know what we have got until we lose it, but it is also true that we
don’t know what we have been missing until it arrives.
Maybe the happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
Maybe love is not about finding the perfect person; its about learning to see
an imperfect person perfectly. When you do what you can, love will do
what you can’t."

"The favours were cake-pops which were made by Senseful Creations"

"Our big cake was surrounded by cupcakes made by my cousin’s very talented wife.

We also had macaroons and cake-pops (as well as cake table decoration) which were made by the superb Senseful Creations…"

"We were stuck on the first dance track. We both love music so
eclectic that we didn’t even know where to start. So this is one thing
that I copped out of by leaving to Weldon to surprise me. I only asked
that it was nothing clichéd and soppy. We ended up dancing to Luther
Vandross ‘Here and Now’.  What was your very favourite part of the day
and why."

Words of Wedded Wisdom…

"I had heard many words of
wisdom from friends and online through my endless hours of research on
wedding blogs. The one bit that stood out the most, was to walk off with
your new husband, and just watch your guests and your wedding happen in
front of you for a few minutes. And just enjoy the day – don’t sweat
about the small stuff! I was on such a high and was just buzzing the
whole time that any small things that did (inevitably) go wrong, were
just blurs.

I honestly can’t put my finger on one particular part of the day
that I would say was my favourite. The ceremony was perfect – very
relaxed and with lots of giggles and tears. The confetti throwing was a
laugh. The drinks reception was great, as it was the first moment we saw
all our friends and family together, mixing and looking relaxed and
happy. And the dancing? Well, that just topped up categorically the best
day of our lives so far.

I actually don’t think there
is anything I would have done differently. It looked as though all of
our guests were having a good time, and that was one of the most
important things for us. We hope that the day was as memorable and
unique for them as it was for us."

A colourful way to end a Friday and wish you ALL a fabulous evening and weekend.

Please show some love for this beautiful wedding and tell us which part you love the best 🙂

Much love,

Annabel

 

Photographer – Fiona Kelly
Venue – Lillibrooke Manor
Brides dress – Martina Liana from The Wedding Centre in Marlow (which I believe is now closed down – a shame because they were wonderful!)
Wedding Veil – A spanish boutique (mantilla style)
Brides Shoes – Vivienne Westwood Melissa blue and bronze slingbacks – the most brilliantly-quirky pair of shoes I have ever owned. Bought from Cocosa
Brides Hair Accessories – Hand-made fabric ivory Orchids to add on to my hair once veil was off from Etsy – Vivienne Geiger Jewels
Grooms Suit – Hugo Boss suit + Shoes + Kenzo shirt
Bridesmaids Dresses – Mori Lee, one-shoulder in Watermelon
Flowergirls – purchased from Covent Garden Flower Market and styled by a family member
Florist – Bride's cousin
Cake Designer – family + Magdeline Amor
Entertainment – Steel pan player and percussionist: Surrel at Yongstars – [email protected]