A St. Patrick Dress with Wings for an Elegant, Pastel Hued Wedding at Askham Hall in the Lake District

176 HELEN RUSSELL PHOTOGRAPHY

Today’s romantic and elegant Lake District wedding is a pastel coloured dream, filled with flowers and brilliant handmade touches, including all of the beautiful signage you’ll soon see, created by the talented bride.

In addition to all of that loveliness, there’s also an incredible wedding dress complete with the dreamiest draped wings. Yes, yes I know. Wings. Settle in, read on and enjoy for all of these delightful details. Meet Laura, who is a Project Manager at a design agency, and Adam, an Aircraft Engineer for British Airways. They were married on the 29 September 2018 at Askham Hall, Cumbria – a graceful country house and estate, and a venue we’re proud to include in our supplier directory, Little Book.

Images by Helen Russell Photography

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As she works for a design agency, Laura was able to bring her stationery ideas to life with the help of a graphic design colleague, and she also hand lettered the lovely mirror table plan.

“There wasn’t one thing that inspired our day really. I knew that I wanted lots of flowers in white, pink and peach with lots of foliage and greenery. I also brought in some gold and wooden bits and it went from there. I wanted to keep it quite simple!”

Laura’s beautiful hair was styled by her local hair stylist, Kay, who is based in Gateshead (sadly, no further details available), and her make-up was a perfect balance of glamour and romance, by Sarah Stonehouse, of F.A.C.E Make-Up Artistry.

“Sarah is just wonderful! She’s just the sort of person you want around on the morning of your wedding, as she’s relaxed but efficient, and she kept things running smoothly. She had to drive over to the Lakes from Newcastle and arrived at 6.30am on the dot, just as she said she would! We all loved our make-up, and I need to find an excuse to get her to do mine again soon!”

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From Durham boutique Alice Elizabeth, Laura chose an ethereal and elegant beauty of a dress by St. Patrick. Not only did it have pretty, botanical inspired lace and the most delicate of tulle illusion necklines, it also came complete with detachable, softly draped wings that looked out of this world.

“I must have tried on about 75 dresses before I found my dress – no exaggeration! I think I drove my mum mad. When I tried on my dress, there wasn’t anything about it that I wanted to change, so I decided it must be the one.”

“I didn’t have that emotional ‘This is the one’ moment, and I didn’t cry – I just really loved the dress. I loved the crepe material of the skirt of my dress, as well as the ‘wings’ that were attached to the shoulders. They meant that I could change the look of the dress throughout the day.”

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Laura wore rose gold drop earrings from Monica Vinader, and a gold locket bracelet, given to her by her gran some years before as her ‘Something old.’ On her feet, Laura wore pretty blush pink velvet sandals from Monsoon.

“My veil was my something borrowed, and was loaned to me by a good friend who had got married the previous year.”

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The bridesmaids wore lovely pale blue beaded maxi dresses from Monsoon, together with their own shoes, and silver and gold pendant necklaces engraved with their initials – gifts from Laura on the morning of the wedding from Bloom Boutique.

“I absolutely loved these dresses and thankfully so did my bridesmaids. I loved the colour, the neckline and the beading, and they went perfectly with the flowers. I added some ribbon to my bouquet in the same colour as their dresses, which was also my ‘Something blue.”

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Floral arrangements by the brilliantly creative Made in Flowers were whimsical and romantic pastel-hued confections of Old English and spray roses, stocks, lisianthus, hydrangea blooms and greenery.

“I can’t thank Katie enough for creating the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen. I gave her a brief of white, pale pink and peach flowers with lots of foliage, and there were a few particular types of roses that I wanted that she was able to source for me, including some roses that look exactly like peonies (which I couldn’t have because it was the wrong season!).”

“I’ve sent some of the roses from my bouquet to a company that preserve them in 3D, then encase them in a paperweight, and I can’t wait to see what it looks like when I receive it! I was so sad leaving my bouquet when we went on our honeymoon a week after the wedding.”

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“We wanted somewhere that we could hire for the whole weekend to extend the celebrations, somewhere with character and lovely grounds for photos, and somewhere where there wasn’t a wedding every day of the week so we could decorate ourselves and not feel pushed out the next day because another couple were arriving.”

“I spotted Askham Hall in a magazine and we travelled over to visit it. I instantly loved everything about it! The house is so quirky but also welcoming and homely. I instantly felt at home. The barn where we had our ceremony and reception was gorgeous, and the gardens were beautiful. I also liked that there were several different spaces for your guests to see during the wedding day. The staff are so relaxed and lovely to work with as well. The Lake District is a place that we visit regularly, and it’s just made it even more special for us now.”

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The barn was bursting with lots of gorgeous pastel blooms – garlands, milk churn arrangements, and posies and single stems in bottles and vases, with the festoon fairylights hired from SVL Hire.

“Large white balloons were dotted around the barn and Askham Hall, and I printed Polaroid photos of us as kids, and then together as a couple, and these were strung up around the barn for guests to look/laugh at.”

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“I created several wooden signs, which Adam cut to size, and we stained and then I hand lettered them. They took forever but I really enjoyed making them all.”

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From Moss Bros., Adam chose a dark blue suit with contrasting light grey check waistcoat, which he wore with a shirt from Marks & Spencer, a blue bow tie, and shoes, also from Marks & Spencer, whilst his groomsmen wore matching suits from Moss Bros.

“Adam and I met at a house party in 2009, just weeks before I left to go to Australia for 6 months. We got together as soon as I got back and we’ve pretty much been inseparable since! We got engaged on the 1st December 2016, so we were engaged 22 months before we got married.”

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Laura and Adam were married in the beautiful, white-washed barn at Askham Hall, and the ceiling was strung with fairylights and the space filled with flowers and balloons.Together with her dad, Laura walked down the aisle to the song Yellow by Coldplay.

“We wrote our own vows, and I’m so pleased we did as it really personalised the ceremony. We kept them secret from each other, so the first time we heard each other’s was during the ceremony itself!”

Adam’s wedding ring was made for him by Old Eldon Jewellers in Newcastle, whilst Laura’s was a very special heirloom piece.

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“My wedding ring was my gran’s wedding ring, and it means the world that it is now mine, and a part of her could be present at our wedding day.”

For their ceremony reading, Adam’s brother Ben read an extract from Leonard Cohen’s song, Dance Me To the End of Love, which he selected himself.

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“I can’t pick just one favourite part of the day! We both loved the ceremony, which really surprised us as we were both nervous and don’t like being the centre of attention. We also loved seeing everyone enjoying themselves during the drinks reception, with the sun shining down and Michael Mulholland playing on his guitar.”

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“Michael Mulholland sang and played guitar during the ceremony, drinks reception and dinner. He created such a fun, relaxed atmosphere. He even had some guests out of their seats dancing between courses during our wedding breakfast. Hiring him was one of the best decisions we made during the whole planning process.”

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Another favourite part of the day for Laura and Adam was taking some time to head outside together as the sun was setting, with photographer Helen, and videographer Jon, to capture their just-married-joy in beautiful surroundings.

“I had my hair down and wore my veil in it for the ceremony and drinks reception. For the evening reception, I had a crown made from real dried flowers by Gez at Folky Dokey. It’s absolutely beautiful and something I will keep forever! Hopefully I can find an excuse to wear it again soon.”

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Whilst guests enjoyed canapes and drinks in the autumn sunshine, Laura, Adam and the wedding party headed deeper into the gardens at Askham Hall for some wonderful group and couple shots. On hand to capture it all was photographer Helen Russell, whose fine art work is suffused with light and romance.

“I first spotted Helen’s images on Instagram before I got engaged, and fell in love with her natural, airy, light and whimsical images. We 100% made the right decision in choosing her. She is a lovely person to have around on the day, and she made us feel very relaxed, and we are absolutely in love with all our photos.”

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“Our videographer was Jon from Top Table Films. Jon was wonderful to work with on our wedding day, making us feel relaxed in front of the camera, as we were both a bit nervous! We got our film back in December and he has captured the day perfectly.”

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The team at Askham Hall cooked the most delicious feast, with cheese souffle with a creamy leek sauce, or roasted vegetable risotto to begin, followed by roast chicken, rare breed pork sausages or shallot and cheddar tarte tartin, with Eton mess or sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

There were other sweet treats in the form of a cake table full of goodies, against the tasty backdrop of a doughnut wall!

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“This consisted of a delicious Victoria sponge from Mason + Rye in Fenwick, Newcastle. I then purchased some fondant fancies from Bettys in York, and my mum and aunty made some cupcakes, brownies, blondies and a lemon and poppy seed cake.”

“However, our favourite part was the large wooden doughnut wall that Adam made. We stood it behind the cake table and it looked amazing. We bought all the doughnuts from Krispy Kreme.”

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“Favours were miniature bottles of limoncello for each guest. We bought the limoncello and mini 50ml bottles separately and bottled them ourselves. I then stamped little tags that said ‘Cheers’ and attached them to each bottle. We made up little jars of chocolates for the non-drinking guests.”

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As a cover-up to keep warm in the evening, Laura had a fantastic blush pink jacket, exquisitely hand painted with flowers, her married name and the wedding date, by Bee Davies Illustration.

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“Our first dance was When the Stars Go Blue by Ryan Adams. We couldn’t pick between that and Fleetwood Mac – Everywhere, so we had Fleetwood Mac as a second song, at which point everyone joined us on the dance floor!”

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Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Firstly, invest in a great photographer. I can’t stress this enough! You will have those photos to cherish forever so I think it’s worth every penny. The day passes so quickly and when you get your photos back, it brings it all back, plus moments you might have missed!”

“Secondly, don’t let the wedding stress you out. It can be easier said than done but it’s one day, and the most important thing is that you will be married to your husband/wife by the end of it. Everything else will fall in to place!”

“Lastly, and possibly a controversial one; it’s okay to not love wedding dress shopping – not everyone does! I enjoyed the first few shops, and then it began to get tiring and I just wanted to get it sorted. I felt so worried that I didn’t get the ‘This is the one’ feeling, but I don’t think it’s like that for everyone and that’s okay! If you feel amazing in your dress then you’ll look amazing.”

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After dark, there was sparkler fun with guests, and time to enjoy a first dance together as a married couple, with music from DJ All Star Disco, who also brought a confetti cannon along!

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Thank you Laura for your cracking words of wisdom, especially with regards to wedding dress shopping. Many thanks to both you and Adam for sharing your spectacular day with us, and to Helen Russell for her wonderful, light, bright images. You can browse more of her work on our pages right here, too.

With love,

Laura

Credits & Thanks

Laura Callan

Laura Callan View all Laura's articles

Laura is a freelance writer and content creator who loves telling stories. She has keen eye for photography and art, and lives with her husband, cats, and huge amounts of books.

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