How are you all today, I hope you are all having a wonderful week. The lovely Jonny Draper was the photographer of choice for Nat, a college Personal Development Tutor, and Ian, a Planning Engineer, when they tied the knot on the 16th of August last year. This wedding shows that a few thoughtful details bring the styling of reception room together, I absolutely adore the effortlessly cool vibe of the large pastel paper lanterns hanging from the rafters and the beautiful plants adorning the table plan. The most important factors for the couple were food, drinks and music, the best recipe for any good party and it definitely shows!
“We wanted the wedding to have a fairly relaxed, country/rustic style – luckily we found Owen House Wedding Barn which suited our more informal, yet fairly particular ways.”
Photography by Jonny Draper
Nat’s best girls looked fabulous in a crisp white Ted Baker dresses and peach shoes from high street favourite, Dorothy Perkins.
Nat and Ian decided to use herb plants as table names so with the help of Hayley, set about creating a spectacular table plan incorporating all of the herbs using crates from the venue, plants and glittering string lights.
“Our photographer was the amazing Jonny Draper! We are not the most natural in front of the camera but Jonny made us totally at ease – highlighted by the constant laughter captured in the photos! His ability to document the day in such a comprehensive way is superb and the fabulous pictures have enabled us to have such wonderful memories of the day.”
“Our lovely bridesmaid Hannah is the most wonderful wedding and event planner. Having not organised a wedding before it was great to have someone there to ask and rely on! We were keen for Hannah to be a huge part of the wedding and not resemble Franck (Father of the Bride circa 1991!) which was quite tough as she is so hardworking and amazing at what she does, but I think we managed it!”
“We met properly in 2005 just before I went travelling. Ian and I managed to keep in touch during the year long trip and then properly got together when I returned! We’d been together about eight to nine years when we got engaged. It was completely coincidental that we got married a year to the day later… also great planning so we don’t forget!”
“Our florist Hayley Cowell was fabulous from the initial meeting. Luckily she knew the exact style we were going for and despite my lack of flower knowledge, the flowers were beautiful! She is great, so professional and full of ideas!”
These lovely tote bag are a great gift idea for Mothers of the bride and Bridesmaid. You can purchase these bags at Alphabet Bags.
Nat decided early on to have a dress designed by Nina Mountney, an exceptionally talented friend. Wanting to be as comfortable as possible on the day, it made sense to be able to choose exactly what she wanted.
“The process of having your dress designed along with having such a huge input, the ability to be so specific and have it tailored completely to your body shape is something I would highly recommend. Nina very kindly made me two (!!) mock-up versions so I could make a decision…one that she knew would suit me (the dress I went with) and quite a bohemian style dress that I wanted. Nina and my sister’s expert opinions ruled out the floaty number and I am SO unbelievably happy about that.
Having Nina make the dress was one of the best decisions I made throughout the whole wedding planning process. I felt completely at ease, her designing, making and fitting is superb – I actually can’t find a word that can express how good she is.”
“Ian chose his suit in about ten minutes (he knows what he likes!) and wanted something fairly non-traditional, so went with the Reiss woollen light grey jacket and navy blue waistcoat and a Mrs Bow Tie dicky bow. The Best Men and Groomsmen co-ordinated in blue, all wearing a David Austen Rose buttonhole.”
Nat finished off her look (with persuasion from her mum!) with a beautiful floaty veil and a Jenny Packham headband. Her extra special ‘something old’ was her late grandma Elsie’s signet ring nestled inside her dress.
“One of the most important factors when choosing a photographer was that we would be able to spend the day with our family and friends having fun. Our photographer Jonny was able to capture so many amazing shots and we didn’t have to be away from the party! He is great a listening to what you want and providing excellent ideas and creativity. We couldn’t recommend Jonny more, he is truly wonderful at what he does!”
Nat’s father Frith walked her down the aisle to Pachelbel’s Canon in D.
“We wanted the girls to be comfortable so we asked them to choose their own readings which was nice because it was very personal. ‘On Your Wedding Day’ was a lovely light hearted reading and we laughed a lot at ‘Corinthians 13’ as Laura had adapted it slightly to include part of a poem that she liked. We didn’t tell the Vicar, hopefully he didn’t notice!”
“Both wedding rings were made by Deborah at the Manchester Arts Centre – continuing with our theme of family run businesses, new and local business and suppliers which was a really significant factor for us.”
“Nicky McCallum played outside at the barn when we were having drinks and canapés and it worked out so well. Every song he played I was thinking… ‘oh I love this one!’ I saw him with my mum and sister when meeting the florist and it was one of the best last minute decisions we made! Ian hadn’t seen him so it was a total surprise for him!”
“Food was so important to us, we love food. Vanilla in All Seasons were able to cater to our every need and allowed us to create a menu that we were really happy with. We kept the dinner quite informal with sharing plates and lots of different salads followed by strawberries with Pimm’s and ice cream. It was all amazing.”
“Another wonderful friend of the family, Jackie Robinson of Cupcakes and Co. is a fabulous caker and baker! We chose a ‘naked’ cake and decided to keep it pretty simple with a vanilla sponge with berry compote and blackberry liquor. Our florist Hayley dressed the cake with David Austen roses and Rosemary, setting it off beautifully!”
The couple’s first dance was a cover of ‘Cupid’ by Amy Winehouse. Nat’s sister gave them a record player with a record of the original version of the song by Sam Cooke. Such a wonderfully thoughtful gift!
“Our band The Rush were ridiculous, in the best possible way! They are the WOW band with a phenomenal stage presence and they know how to get the party going and going and going! We would highly recommend them, they are FAB!”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“Enjoy the day and have fun!! You’ve ordered the canapés – so eat them, your friends and family are there to see you both – so see them, all that wine you’ve ordered – drink it! (well maybe not all of it!)”
Thank you so much to Nat and Ian for sharing your special day with us. Huge thanks also to the amazing photographer Jonny Draper. We have featured some other gorgeous weddings shot by Jonny, they can be seen here.
Love Caoimhe xx
Photographer – Jonny Draper
Planner/Stylist – Hannah Walton
Venue – Owen House Wedding Barn, Mobberley, Cheshire
Wedding Dress – Nina Mountney – 07961941305
Veil – Love Bridal Boutique
Headpiece – Jenny Packham
Shoes – LK Bennett
Accessories – Monica Vinader
Groom – Reiss suit + Oliver Sweeney shoes + Uniform Wares watch + Mrs Bow Tie pocket square and tie
Bridesmaids – Ted Baker dress + Dorothy Perkins shoes + Dower and Hall bracelet
Groomsmen – ASOS + Mrs Bow Tie
Florist – Hayley Cowell
Cake – Cupcakes and Co.
Transport – Go Goodwins Bus Company
Entertainment – Nicky McCallum + The Rush
Rings – Made by Deborah at the Manchester Arts Centre
Catering – Vanilla in All Seasons + Oliver at Bollington Green + Grantham’s, Alderley Edge
Stationery – Made by Nat the bride
Hair Stylist – Carrie Newman + Emily Robinson
Makeup Artist – Carrie Newman
Favours – The Kent and Sussex Tea and Coffee Company
Caoimhe Anderson View all Caoimhe's articles
Caoimhe will never tire of beautiful wedding dress and a blooming flower crown. When she's not lusting after a gorgeous wedding she will be trying new vegetarian recipes, knitting very slowly or capturing a pink sunset from behind a camera lens.
