According to the quick Google search I just did, the average length of engagement is fourteen and a half months. Mine was twenty months and although it definitely felt like the longest twenty months ever, it did give lots of time to plan things. Today’s gorgeous village wedding was planned in just twelve weeks, so I have huge respect for this super organised bride and groom. Meet Lynsey, a lingerie and swimwear designer and lecturer at London College of Fashion and Craig, a bespoke kitchen fitter, who married at the church in their home village of Stradbroke, Suffolk on the 10th September 2016.
“We wanted an underlying cycling theme as we are both keen cyclists and compete in triathlons. We follow Pro Cycling Trumps on Instagram and Craig ordered himself some cards, that’s when we had the idea of using them in our table names.”
Photography by Kerrie Mitchell
Lynsey looked extremely elegant in a chic and beautifully cut gown by Pronovias, purchased from Suffolk Bridal, Ipswich. The simplicity of the gown perfectly suited her petite frame.
“My dress was completely different from what I thought I would like as I originally wanted something quite slinky. I didn’t feel WOW in any dress I tried, which I later found out can be normal and so I chose this one due to the neckline as I really didn’t want a strapless dress and it matched the bridesmaid dresses that the girls had chosen. I loved the fabric, cleanness and the back detail and although I wasn’t sure on having a big train, on the day I loved it and it added to feeling like a princess.”On her feet she wore low heeled sandals from Dune and over her hair, a tiara purchased from Lavender and Jude, in Stradbroke. For scent, she wore Calvin Klein ‘Eternity’, and to complete her look, she chose earrings from Goldsmiths, which were bought as a 30th birthday present.
To style her very long hair, Lynsey chose to use her hairdresser of twelve years, Kim Harvey of Magenta Hair Studio in Diss.
“We had two trials to ensure my hair suited the dress and because I have a lot of hair, we needed to find an up-do that wouldn’t be too heavy. She ended up braiding my hair from my neck upwards which took the main weight of it and the rest acted as a veil.”
“My make up was done by my friend Melissa who is a primary school teacher with a huge make up obsession. A make up artist was the only thing I couldn’t find at short notice so I asked Melissa and she helped me buy new make up, we had a trial run through and on the day it was fab. It made the getting ready even more relaxed and personal.”
Flowers were sourced from Suffolk Seasons Flower Farm in Cratfield, Suffolk who delivered the flowers which were then put together by Lynsey. I absolutely love the wildflower, meadow-picked feel.
“My brother in-law used to work for the farm and recommended them. I was flexible on the flowers chosen, but I wanted certain colours and a wild flower feel. They delivered buckets of flowers and I put together the table decorations. It was the first ‘flower bunting’ that they had done.”
The bridesmaids looked lovely in dresses from ASOS, worn with hair accessories from New Look and earrings from Goldsmiths which were a thank you gift from Lynsey.
“We met when we were fifteen when Craig was putting the flags up on the church and I was walking home from school – he wolf-whistled and then asked me out through a mutual friend. We separated when I went to university but got back together seven years ago.”
“He proposed in May this year on our two-year home owning anniversary (if there is such a thing) in Southwold. We always go there on days out or cycle there for a coffee. We were engaged for four months before our wedding, but I didn’t start planning until a month later.”
Craig was smart in a three-piece suit from Next, worn with his own shoes and shirt and tie from ASOS. The tweed look works perfectly for the country feel of the day.
Lynsey was accompanied down the aisle by her kilt-clad father to the sound of the Wedding March. She and Craig exchanged the traditional church vows and readings were courtesy of Lynsey’s granddad, who read a passage from the bible, while two friends read an extract from Winnie the Pooh by A.A Milne.
Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh?” he whispered. “Yes, Piglet?”
‘Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s hand. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”
“We’ll be Friends Forever, won’t we, Pooh?” asked Piglet.
“Even longer,” Pooh answered. “If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together… there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart… I’ll always be with you.”
“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”
The couple exchanged rings purchased from Albrow and Sons in Norwich.
“We were approached in church the week before we got married by a gentleman who asked to sing at our wedding. We said yes even though we had never heard him and he was fab and the guests loved him. I loved the little surprises and just letting events unfold.”
The newlyweds and their guests walked through the village from the ceremony to their reception marquee following a bagpiper, which got the attention of most of the village!
Today’s lovely images are courtesy of Kerrie Mitchell Photography. I adore how light and bright they are and the mix of posed and natural shots.
“I 100% recommend Kerrie. She is professional, discrete, takes photos quickly and has a fantastic way to make you feel relaxed and able to laugh- she got us to play games during our engagement photos that relaxed us into being photographed on the day.”
“When we did our photos, we went to turn the car around next to my parents house (Craig’s parents, my parents and Craig and I all live in the village) and there was an ice-cream van parked there.”
“We had a spontaneous ice- cream with the photographers and it was lovely having some downtime with Craig.”
Lynsey and Craig also chose to hire a video camera through Shoot it Yourself, to capture some moving memories of the day as well.
“The bridal party were reluctant to initially get involved but ended up embracing it whole-heartily and produced some amazing filming. It encouraged the guests to relax and meet the bridal party too.”
“We did a Scottish tradition of drinking from ‘the love cup’ which my brother presented us to use after the piper had drank his whisky (I hate whisky so luckily my father had diluted it with some water). Craig and I had to both drink from this cup before the wedding breakfast to celebrate the joining of the two families.”
The cake was by Cleverley Made Cakes and chosen and designed by Craig’s mum. It looks absolutely gorgeous, don’t you think?
Catering was the work of local pub The Fox and Goose in Fressingfield, who also managed the bar.
“They did amazing food and ran the day for me, liaising directly with my brother and making the day run smoothly. As a vegetarian they arranged for the canapes to all be veggie too which was a lovely surprise.”
“For entertainment we chose Jukebox Nation from Bands for Hire. They were amazing and I am glad that we upgraded and got a sax player. They embraced our Scottish requests of the traditional first dance – bride and groom, then parents, then bridal party and then the guests.”
“The dance floor was full and remained full all night. We also had a go at the Gay Gordons, which was great fun and disorganised carnage! We ended on Auld Langsyne.”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“Relax, a happy bride makes for happy guests. I set a Facebook group for the bridal party with key dates, allocated responsibilities, filming time slots and the timing of the day. I then printed the key times for the best man, the sober (pregnant) bridesmaid and for my brother who was the master of ceremonies – I had no stress on the day and no one asked me a single question.
I couldn’t pick a best bit but we are glad that we took the time between courses to go around to each table to ensure that we had spoken to everyone.”
I just love the local and heartfelt nature of this day, thank you Craig and Lynsey for sharing it with us all- congratulations! So many thanks to Kerrie Mitchell too for allowing us to feature her work and for other weddings photographed by her which we’ve featured, have a look here.
Much love,
Shona x
Credits & Thanks
- Photographer - Kerrie Mitchell Photography
- Video hire - Shoot it Yourself
- Bride's dress - Pronovias, purchased from Suffolk Bridal, Ipswich
- Shoes - Dune
- Tiara - Lavender and Jude, Stradbroke
- Jewellery - Goldsmiths
- Bridesmaids dresses - ASOS
- Hair accessories - New Look
- Jewellery - Goldsmiths
- Groom - Suit, Next; tie, ASOS
- Hair stylist - Kim Harvey, Magenta Hair Studio, Diss
- Rings – Albrow and Sons, Norwich
- Flowers - Suffolk Seasons Flower Farm
- Cake - Cleverley Made Cakes
- Catering - The Fox and Goose, Fressingfield
- Entertainment - Jukebox Nation from Bands for Hire