Anna and Chris’s delightful spring wedding was held in May this year at the breathtakingly beautiful Jervaulx Abbey – a tranquil, historic and beautiful Abbey located in North Yorkshire, and a venue that is incredibly close to the bride’s heart, for it belongs to her family.
The abbey came alive with vibrant wildflowers, reflecting the joyful spirit of the couple’s day and Anna looked the epitome of bridal grace and elegance, in her Savin London wedding dress, which featured intricate floral embroidery. She carried the most delightful bouquet of pastel-hues and trailing silk ribbons – and being one half of Where The Ribbon Ends, she made the magnificent 4 tier wedding cake herself, with the support of her sister.
These images have been beautifully captured by James Green Studio. Enjoy!
Stationery
I did all the stationery myself. The welcome sign was made with plants that are now growing in the garden.
Menus and invites I had hand painted a water colour which was made digital. Table signs were made with pressed flowers which is something we have done since we were kids, we also use pressed flowers on our wedding cakes.
The seating plan, I hand painted a design and wrote names below. I adored creating this.
Lylun Designs
Bridal Beauty & Accessories
Nala and Knot, or Natalie and Laura are the loveliest team. We met on a photoshoot at the abbey and I knew they were just what I needed on the morning of my wedding. They make you feel incredibly special, relaxed and they’re incredibly talented. No request is too much.
My denim jacket was embroidered by Beth Wilson Embroidery. We came across Beth a year or so ago and as soon as I saw her work, we immediately got in touch. Beth creates bespoke embroidered jackets. The level of detail is incredible – I can wear it until it falls apart!
I wore a pair of Dr. Martens, which I had painted on the back, changed the laces to a pink to match the flowers and engraved our wedding date in silver.
The Dress
My Savin London dress was from The White Yard. Clare and I have met in the past through weddings. I saw Savin London online and when I saw she stocked Savin I booked in a consultation. Clare knows I am a keen artist and when I arrived to the beautiful studio, I was looking through the collection and Clare said ‘there is a gown here you are not leaving without trying on’ Ailyn, my dress, was the first dress I tried.
I honestly don’t think I could have picked a more perfect dress. Clare’s knowledge of her gowns, the attention to detail and her brides. The dress influenced my cake also.
I had my dress altered at The Bobbin Bridal – Helen immediately had my trust, she was clear, super friendly and put me at ease immediately. I had a big request to remove the train and she was very patient with me and trusted I knew what I wanted. The dress fitted me so perfectly I fell in love with it all over again.
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Bridesmaids
My bridesmaids wore dark navy wrap around dresses from Phase Eight.
Originally, I had suggested pale pink and all different. I am over the moon we found these flattering and darker dresses, the flowers popped!
Find beautiful bridesmaids dresses
Our florist was The Petal Studio – Emma nad Wayne were another dream team couple that we worked with on our wedding day. I’ve worked with Emma for years within the wedding world.
I had 100% trust that Emma would go above and beyond to bring my floral dreams to life.
Groom
Chris’s suit was from Tweed and Groom. He chose a Marc Jacobs suit, which had an orange stripe, which matched the Liberty ties. We wanted the ties to stand out like the bridesmaids flowers.
The Ceremony
My dad, Ian, walked me down the aisle. I had three bridesmaids that walked down first, then my sister and mum walked down and we followed.
We asked a close friend to conduct our ceremony, Clarke, he did the most amazing job of creating a personal, fun and loving ceremony.
On the Wednesday before our wedding we had a intimate legal ceremony within the grounds at Jervaulx, as the license is in my name and the logistics we decided to get the legal part done prior to the big day. This allowed us to make the ceremony much more us, we wrote words to each other and we exchanged rings on the Saturday. Legally we didn’t need to exchange rings on the Wednesday so it made it very special to do so on the Saturday.
We believe it’s not the legal part that makes a wedding/marriage, it’s saying and declaring your intentions infront of all your loved ones, allowing them to be apart of your relationship, through the good and the bad. Having friends and family to remind us of our vows.
Our rings, and Chris’s pocket watch, were by Bradley’s of York, I used to live in York and knew Kay through working in the town centre.
We have also provided cakes for some of her jewellery events, it was a obvious choice as I’d prefer to work with a independent where possible. We went with platinum bands, matching my engagement ring.
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Photography
James of James Green Studio was our photographer. James and Merika are a dream team. A married couple I had met a few years prior during a photoshoot in the abbey. The style of photographer I adore, relaxed and the tones just suit the outdoors.
Capturing the sun and the colours are like a fairytale. On the day James and merika felt like they were guests, made us feel relaxed and laughing. I actually asked them before I was even engaged and as soon as I was engaged they were my first email,I’d have changed my wedding date to ensure we had them.
Our videographer’s were Your Story Studios. Lynsey and Jules are another married couple, we met at a photoshoot in the abbey – they bring such a lovely atmosphere to the day, I barely felt like I saw them and then when the video came back we couldn’t believe how much they had captured.
Having both on site meant we got to see what each other got up to on the morning also. The editing and music chosen was so perfect for us.
New York Brass Band, surprised our guests after the ceremony. They hide behind some of the ruins and once we were in position to walk down the aisle and got showered with confetti. The band followed us down the aisle and guests faces were priceless when they realised it was a real band.
The band played during the reception drinks and so many guests loved the energy it brought. The band then led all our guests through the ruins and to the paddock where our marquee was located.
We were together for five years when Chris asked me to marry him, but I’ve been hinting for a lot longer, working in the wedding world weddings are a big conversation in our house.
Chris returned home early from a holiday and set up flowers and candles in my favourite part of the abbey, I was walking the dog and he surprised me.
The Reception & Cake
Our cake was created by my sister and I, who run Where The Ribbon Ends. My sister Gayle and I created the wedding cake. Our mum, Carol, also is involved with the business and helped create the huge dessert table we had.
The cake was based from the dress including the embroidery and also a off cut from the train I had removed, this created a bow around the cake.
The desserts table was served as desert and created a real sociable feel. It included six different flavours of mini cakes, four flavours of cupcakes, oaty flapjack with fresh raspberries and white chocolate, brookie, tarmac, crunch, donuts, macarons, biscuits, brownie pops, fresh fruits and more… displayed on our stands with the bouquets scattered between to add another pop of colour.
The urns behind our ceremony, the floral meadows and the bouquets were relaxed, loose and muted bold colours that complemented the bright spring surroundings. Emma, our florist, of The Petal Studio , also provided the napkins, runners, candles and flowers on the tables.
We matched these to the relaxed exposed trestles, bringing the odd pop of colour with the bud vases.
Our caterers were The Hog and Apple and on in the evening, we hired Spuds and Bros.
The Hog and Apple we chose due to the look as well as the taste . We wanted a couple of different meats on a platter and then sides for guests to choose. We had another husband and wife team here, Doug was front of house and wife was in the kitchen creating magic.
Again encouraging the sharing and conversation, it worked a great. Guests were serving others around them, the tables were filled with gorgeous looking fresh foods. We had more canapés, including fish and chips, ancini pesto balls, tempura prawns, sticky sausages and beef brisket.
We had fresh breads and dips, inc a chicken skin butter which was incredible, they were on the tables ready for guests when they sat down. I wanted those who were hungry to be able to eat straight away and then the main course was swapped, making it super easy to get all our guests fed quickly.
Doug was so helpful from the start, even stepping in to introduce us to the marquee and any announcements we needed.
Then the desserts table was opened after the speeches.
Evening & Dancing
Un the evening we have Spuds and Bros, an independent food van serving Canadian style Poutine. Wow! Guests adored these guys – it was amazing to introduce a few people and Norman who was serving our guests never stopped smiling, what a lovely guy.
We hired Marc and Abi via Jonny Ross Music for the evening. We did a mash up on a song that has two versions, you make my dreams come true, it started with Tyrone wells version, we had a couple of minutes and then we did a confetti pop and it went into the original by Daryl Hall & John Oates. Once the confetti and original song came in all our guests joined us on the dance floor.
Reflections & Favourite Moments
We are so fortunate that everything we wanted went the way it could have, we were blessed with blue skies in may! We chose the music, food and drinks for personal reasons and we knew we’d enjoy every element.
I don’t have a favourite part, I’d say each part has its own special time and memory for different reasons. I do remember quite clearly being sat at the top table, we had a playlist of all the bands we have been in the past playing, eating delicious food we had chosen and drinking cocktails we had requested. I looked around and I remember thinking I need to remember this moment, all our loved ones happy, laughing and enjoying all the treats we had planned.
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Additional Credits
The below suppliers and venues are featured in this article, but are not part of the Love My Dress Wedding Directory.
Annabel View all Annabel's articles
Founder of Love My Dress. Passionate Podcaster and Editor. Annabel lives in rural North Yorkshire with her husband and business partner Philip, their two daughters and menagerie of furry hounds. She loves photography, meditation, walking, being outdoors and star gazing. She is fierce when it comes to championing talent within the wedding industry and when she's not working on Love My Dress, she supports her husband Philip in the running of the family's sustainable flower farm and floral design business, Moonwind Flowers. In 2013, she became a published author.
