A Handmade and Rustic, French Garden Party Inspired Wedding

Happy Friday afternoon folks! I really hope this finds you well. Regulars will have noted our schedule has been a little all over this week – we’re so very busy right now preparing for the busy Christmas period (and, for me, the ‘small’ matter of moving house in a few days time!), so thank you so very much to all of you have have been waiting patiently for today’s first real wedding feature.

This charming  wedding celebrates the nuptials of David and Lauren, who tied the knot on 5th September this year at Creskeld Hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Having gotten engaged in France, the couple were keen to create a rustic, French garden party inspired scene for their guests to enjoy, and I think they pulled this off with taste and perfection.

“We wanted to bring a French theme into our wedding because of our engagement and many happy trips together there. Therefore we tried to carry through a loose rustic French theme.”

Photography by Julie Michaelsen
Julie Michaelsen is a member of our wedding directory, Little Book For Brides

There was lots of DIY and handmade elements present on the day too, as Laura explains…

“We both like vintage style and with Creskeld being a dairy farm, those three elements seemed to come together quite naturally.  My vision was executed with the help of David’s ability with power tools, most notably the bar, which David made from apple crates and reclaimed wood! French wine boxes were used to hold flowers on the tables, along with checked table cloths which were run up by a friend of the bride’s mother.”

The couple chose photographer Julie Michaelsen to capture their day. We absolutely adore Julie here at Love My Dress – she’s not only a long-term sponsor but also a much loved member of our Little Book For Brides wedding directory.

“My mother and I met Julie as we were leaving Brides the Show and I believe it was fate! We were not particularly enthusiastic as a couple about being photographed, but Julie is very empathetic and made us feel so relaxed.”

Lauren turned to the talents of Hair stylist and makeup artist Natalie Willingham…

“Natalie Willingham, who was an absolute star. I had two people cancel on me which was a bit of a panic but Natalie stepped in quite last minute, despite having to come directly on to me from another bridal party! She was such a calming influence and intuitively knew what I wanted and what would suit me.” 

“Our bouquets, button holes and flower girl flower crowns were all provided by our floristk, Tranmere Flowers in Otley. The flowers in the church and marquee were all arranged by David’s mother largely using greenery and foliage from the gardens at Creskeld Hall. We planted a great deal of flowers ourselves with mixed results, the Cosmos in the wine boxes on the tables were amongst the few that did work!”

Lauren’s beautiful lace gown was by Allure Bridal – she found and purchased he dress via The White Gallery in Ramsbottom, Lancashire.

“It was the first dress I saw and the only one I ever considered. We didn’t even have an appointment and were “just browsing” but luckily the shop had had a cancellation. They did make me try another dress on just to make sure, but I don’t even remember what it looked like as wasn’t remotely interested!”

“My diamond necklace was lent by my mother in law, it’s a family heirloom. The earrings are by Katherine Swaine which I found on www.notonthehighstreet.com. I also attached a necklace my aunt gave me before she died to my dress so I could have her there with me. It is a pair of little blue clogs so also served as my something blue!”

“I knew I wanted to be comfortable so no corset or masses of material to manoeuvre around and this one had the vintage style which worked so well. I am actually going to speak to the dressmaker about dying and restyling it so I can wear it again, I couldn’t bear to wear it just once!”

“My father, who is 6 foot 5 and dwarfed me as I refused to wear heels – walked me down the aisle to the sound of Charpentier Te Deum Le Parlement de Musique.”

“We didn’t tailor our vows preferring to tailor the church service instead. Rather than a choir or soloist whilst we were signing the register we decided to go a bit more interactive with our Master of Ceremonies leading the congregation in songs from Harrow School as that where David, his father, his brothers and most of his ushers went to school. We knew that a few people would join in but were pleasantly surprised that everyone really got into the swing of things which made it uniquely our wedding.”

“The wedding ring was made in 1915 and was found by David in a jewellery shop in Inverness whilst on a business trip. We’ve always appreciated the quality of vintage or ‘pre-owned’. It was the week he should have been ordering a new ring so perfect timing and complimented the engagement ring.”

“Our first reading was from the Rule of St Benedict in our nod to tradition. Our second reading was a Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton read by a couple of friends of ours who got married the previous year with each of them playing the parts of the two dinosaurs. We wanted to have something traditional, but also something fun as the whole point of our wedding day for us was to enjoy it and have it reflect our sense of humour.”

“The wedding car was provided by one of the ushers, a 1929 Bugatti type 44 Tourer in French racing blue. It is his father’s car and he drove it from Dorset to Yorkshire on country roads, a journey which took nine hours, true dedication to the cause. It was the perfect car for the day suiting our overall theme, being French, old and blue!”

“We hired a vintage gypsy jazz band named Belle based in Leeds playing from a farm trailer stage during the champagne reception.”

“David’s Aunt thought we were joking when we told her the menu – Steak and Chips followed by Cake and Ice Cream, but we have had so many compliments that it was the best wedding food our guests had ever eaten. I still find it quite unbelievable how Clive and his team at CWC Malings managed to cook 15 beef fillets so perfectly from a tent in a field!”

“Our cake was supplied by Patisserie Viennoise. We had a 3-tier naked sponge cake with decorated with fruit and flowers from the garden at Creskeld, and we cut and dried all the Lavender ourselves at Creskeld, again to represent our engagement in Provence.

The stationery was mostly DIY except for the invitations which were traditional and printed by Gee Brothers in Battersea. Our tables were all named after breeds of cow and a friend of ours did water colour paintings of each breed to mark the tables. The place cards were luggage tags attached to copper cow bells which guests collected before going into the marquee.”

“Our sister in law spent a lot of time manufacturing the bunting that decorated the marquee. We collected a lot of old wooden crates and tea chests from eBay that were used for general marquee decoration and as receptacles for various fruit trees and plants – an Acer that was due to be cut back in the garden at Creskeld was chopped down and placed in the marquee decorating the area around the dancefloor, and fairy lights were used to light up most of the trees plants and flower arrangements later in the night.

We also rounded up various items from around the farm to decorate the marquee further. In keeping with our cow theme we had milk churns from the dairy, an old wooden wheel barrow full of flowers on the lawn, and the cake stand was a marble pedestal from the garden that was restored by the Groom’s brother.”

“We spent hours threading gingham ribbon through tiny cow bells for each guest. There was also a Bacio Perugini chocolate for each place setting. I lived in Italy as a student so it was a nod to that, bacio means kiss in Italian and also each one has a love note in the wrapping so it felt appropriate for a wedding.”

“My two favourite parts of the day were firstly walking into the Church and secondly walking into the marquee. I don’t think anything can really prepare you for seeing all the dearest people in your lives smiling back at you and wishing you so much love, it’s utterly overwhelming and I worried I might burst with happiness!

I don’t mean to arrogantly claim that I got everything spot on but in all honesty I don’t think there is anything I would choose to change. We did take on a lot as it was completely DIY, and although it was slightly stressful at times, we had all our family and friends helping us and it meant so much that it was so personal.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“I think the best piece of advice would be to go with your instincts, especially as regards the extra things that seem a lot of effort. If you really want a particular detail, find a way to make it work. I had plenty of people tell me that nobody would notice whether the smaller touches were there or not but it’s simply not true, I found they were appreciated more than I’d even hoped they would be.”

Just as an amusing anecdote – although we obviously left the Church first, we were rather delayed in arriving back at the reception as we had to wait for a herd of cows to cross the road in front of us. Extremely funny and very to theme! The farmer was rather surprised to see a bride and groom in a 1920s Bugatti waiting for him.”

 

Hehehe! Believe me Lauren, being a country dweller, I can very much picture that scene! We’re about to move to a house in an even more rural location than we are now – and apparently only last week, the local cows escaped into our soon to be front garden! (makes note to self to park a Bugatti on the drive).

Have a wonderful Friday lunch time folks, I hope you’ve enjoyed looking through these lovely photographs as much as I have.  And if you love photographer Julie Michaelsen’s photography style, you can find out more by visiting Julie’s website or Little Book For Brides page.

Much love,

Annabel x

 

Photographer – Julie Michaelsen
Venue – Creskeld Hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire
Wedding Dress – Allure Bridal via The White Gallery
Veil – Poirier
Perfume – Jo Malone – Orange Blossom
Groom – Tails via David Saxby + shoes via Shipton & Heneage
Florist – Tranmere Flowers, Otley
Cake – Patisserie Viennoise
Transport – Bugatti (loaned)
Entertainment – Entertainment – DJ Mark Hepworth + Belle (jazz band)
Rings – Vintage
Catering – CWC Malings Ltd from Catterick N Yorks
Stationery – DIY
Makeup + Hair –Natalie Willingham