A Pronovias Gown for a Rustic Italian Wedding in North Yorkshire

I grew up in the North East but call Yorkshire my home these days, therefore today’s North Yorkshire wedding, photographed by Newcastle-based ladies The Twins, is right up my street- plus it’s beautiful, stylish and fun- perfect really!

Andy and Alix  married at St Mary’s Church in Goldsborough on the 30th of July 2016, followed by a reception at nearby Goldsborough Hall.  The couple got engaged while on holiday in Mallorca and, inspired by the olive fields where Alix said ‘yes’, they decided to go ‘rustic Italian’ on their big day.

“I wanted the wedding to have a rustic Italian feel. We got engaged surrounded by olive fields in Mallorca and my mum has always liked green which fit the rustic theme I wanted.  The crisp whites of the flowers also worked well with it.”

Photography by The Twins Photography

Today’s fabulous photos come to us courtesy of Caroline and Kelly (aka The Twins), who we are thrilled to have as members of our Little Book for Brides.  I never fail to find their work interesting and exciting- their use of light is just wonderful.

“Our friends had used The Twins for their wedding a couple of years before and I knew as soon as I saw the photos that I wanted these photographers.  All of their photographs are amazing and ‘different’ and all a piece of art in their own right.”

Alix and Andy also chose to have their special day captured on moving film and hired Stefan of YSD MEDIA to do the honours.

“Our friends used Stefan for their wedding video and we loved his work and knew we could trust him.  He was also a huge Man City fan which my husband loved, being a fellow supporter.”

Alix wore a pair of gold heels by Jimmy Choo, while in her hair she chose a pearl detailed clip which she found online.

For jewellery she wore a diamond necklace which was a gift from Andy and she finished her dressing with a spray of ‘Daisy’ by Marc Jacobs.

The bridesmaids looked lovely in green-blue dresses from Dessy (the shade is celadon), while the flower girls looked very sweet in frocks bought from eBay.  Hair was the work of Charlotte of Gloss Hairdressing in Knaresborough, while make up was by Danni Alexandra.

Alix looked beautiful in ‘Primadona’ by Pronovias, worn with a Pronovias veil, both of which she purchased from Bridal Rogue Gallery in York.  I actually bought my own wedding dress at this boutique back in 2012 and the staff were fantastic- I hope Alix had as good a time with the ladies there as I did.  I completely adore the embroidery on her gown, especially on the neckline and back- stunning.

“I knew I wanted a big dress with lots of detail and when I tried the Primadona on I just knew it was the one.”

“Andy and I met during my last year of university. We both went to the University of Manchester and we had quite a few mutual friends, what with Andy playing on the university hockey team and myself on the university netball team. We got chatting in a bar and never looked back.”

“Our engagement was extra special.  We had planned to go away with friends to Mallorca for four days and on the last day Andy had arranged to meet his parents in a hotel close by as he said they were also holidaying there with some friends.  We packed our suitcases and jumped in a cab as we thought we could go there for the day before heading off to the airport to catch the flight home.”

“When we arrived at the spectacular hotel (Hotel Castell son Claret) it was absolutely stunning – the whole hotel was surrounded by beautiful olive tree lined fields.  Andy was acting strangely but I didn’t suspect anything.  The next thing I knew a member of staff was showing us to our lunch table.”

“I kept reminding Andy to let them know we were waiting for his parents but he carried on.  As I was walked through the beautiful gardens of the hotel I saw a small table nestled among the flowers next to a waterfall but it only had two chairs.  The waitress left and Andy explained that his parents weren’t and never were meeting us, that we weren’t going home that day and then he asked me to marry him.  Of course I said yes- best day of my life to date!”

Andy looked very smart in a traditional tail suit from Harrogate Suit Hire, worn with personalised map cufflinks.

The bouquets and floral arrangements, all in white, were from the talented workshop of Lucy Macnicoll Flowers.

“I found Lucy on the internet and immediately fell in love with her designs.  I knew she could pull off the rustic feel I wanted and she sure did.”

“Our friend Fiona did all of our invitations and orders of service and we created a ‘Wedding Booklet’ for each guest’s place at the table. “

“The booklet had a quick blurb of every member of the guest list and all of the blurbs linked to other people to help instigate conversation. I then made the table plan which was hung on a bird cage. We used Colonial Classics for our place names – Jenga Blocks with everyone’s names engraved.”

Alix’s brother walked her down the aisle to ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri, played live by The Wedding String Quartet.  Alix and Andy then chose one religious reading (1 Corinthians 13) and a poem- ‘The life that I have’ by Leo Marks, which was Alix’s Dad’s favourite- a lovely gesture.

“My godfather used to be a jeweller so he sourced our rings and got them made for us.  He also sourced my engagement ring.”

 

“The weather was absolutely fantastic which allowed us to have the drinks reception on the terrace and have the string quartet playing outside, enjoying both the beautiful gardens and the venue itself.”

As well as the beautiful gardens and the music provided by the string quartet, guests were able to make use of the photobooth, which Alix and Andy put together themselves.

“We chose Goldsborough Hall as it felt intimate while still having the grand feeling we always wanted.  It was very close to our house and the church was right next door.”

Catering was provided by Goldsborough Hall, while the elegant cake was made by the talented Jemma of Sweet Jem’s Bakery.

“Jemma is a good friend of ours and she kindly did the cake as a wedding gift.  It was very simple but elegant – I didn’t want anything fussy.  Each tier was a different flavour (salted caramel, vanilla and lemon and blueberry).”

Evening entertainment came in the form of live band ReCover, who kept the dancefloor full all evening with their wide range of popular covers.

“My favourite part of the day was the speeches at the wedding breakfast.  The meal was set in a beautiful orangery and the sunny day made everything look beautiful.  All of the speeches were absolutely fantastic, with people in tears at certain points but hysterics of laughter at others.”

 

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Do exactly what you want to do and do it because it makes you both happy.  Don’t worry about what other people will think.  It is your day and a day that you will remember forever.”

Huge thanks to Alix and Andy for sharing their beautiful day.  I’m off to have a better look at that beautiful hotel where Andy proposed, but let me leave you with a link to some more brides in beautiful Pronovias gowns and a few more weddings from The (lovely) Twins– enjoy!

S x