Nicola and Jonathan celebrated their sophisticated black-tie wedding on 12th May, amidst the enchanting backdrop of Nicola and Jonathan’s elegant black tie wedding was held on 12th May at the beautiful Upper House Estate in Hayfield, Derbyshire.

This historic farmstead, dating back to the 14th century, provided a picturesque countryside setting for the couple to exchange their vows, surrounded by their cherished family, friends, and their two absolutely charming dogs.

In their pursuit of a timeless wedding experience, the couple deliberately tried to avoid any contemporary wedding trends. Jonathan donned a classic black-tie ensemble, while Nicola opted for a minimalist slip dress by Made With Love, a discovery made at the Love Bridal in Altrincham in Altrincham.

Extended our heartfelt gratitude to Love My Dress-recommended wedding photographer Lauren Elliot, for capturing these lovely, joyful moments and sharing them with us.

The Dress

My dress was by Made With Love – and I got my dress from Love Bridal in Altrincham. I can honestly say it was a flawless experience with them from start to finish. 

The dress I wore on my wedding day was actually the second dress I bought. The first was a Carolina Herrera dress from The Wedding Club, London. I was having doubts on this dress and when we postponed the first time, I changed my dress – and im so glad I did. 

When going to Love Bridal I wanted to  make sure this dress felt 100% the right one – they were so helpful and really let me take my time in trying and retrying different dresses on. 

I would 100% recommend Love Bridal when shopping for a wedding dress, they have such a wide range of dress styles whilst still maintaining their own “brand and look”.

I wanted a slim fit without the dress feeling overly tight, I wanted simple and minimalistic but still classy and stylish. I still love my wedding dress and would choose it again!

Bridal Beauty & Accessories

My perfume was Louis Vuitton’s Matiere Noire. Jonathan wore Louis Vuitton – L’immensite. We chose these fragrances as we had smelt them on our last trip to Italy. This was a trip I had surprised Jonathan with for his 30^th birthday – which also tied in our menu tasting, ahead of our wedding. 

My shoes were a pair of Gucci Marmont heels. I also wore a Christian Dior bracelet that my sister had gotten me for my 30^th birthday.

I wore a veil from The Wedding Club – it was plain with a subtle silk trim. I loved wearing a veil – even if the dogs did stand on it a few times!

I am really lucky that my sister (and best friend) is my hairdresser, and incredibly talented one at that. My make up artist is my good friend, Millie Ansons, another incredibly talented woman in my life – who actually now does make up for BBC breakfast and channel 5. 

Photography

Our photographer was Lauren Elliot. I have struggled to word exactly how amazing Lauren is at what she does. The way she works is effortless. She was everywhere she needed to be at all the right times, without even knowing she was there.

She matches your energy and has a lovely, calm, relaxed manner about her that puts you instantly at ease – her presence is that that you almost forget she is there, you almost forget someone is taking your picture in those special private moments.

I had followed Laurens work for a while and I loved Laurens style of photography. I love that her photos have a deep, rich look to them and loved how so  many of her shots looked candid, even if they weren’t. 

I would recommend Lauren a million times over – she is gorgeous person inside and out and was absolutely made to do this job – she has perfected her craft in my eyes.

laurenelliot.co.uk

How They Met

We knew each other through mutual friends, we started spending time together as a group and then started dating. We got engaged on a beach in North Wales on Christmas Eve – the beach is where my husbands family have a family home so it was somewhere we had always spent a lot of time, and still do.

We had been engaged for 5.5 years before we got married.

Jonathan wore a Ted Baker suit.

The Reception

My florist is local to me in Glossop, The Alotment Bride Florist. I had loved her work for a while and chose her because I loved how she worked with a lot of greenery and foliage whilst using flowers to keep her bouquets pretty but very green. 

We had our place settings made from Studio 70 Six – they do gorgeous dried flower stationary.

We had really simple sugar cookies from @cakesbylucys with our initials on, as wedding favours.

We had Jo Malone candles in the dining room in Mimosa & Cardamom scent.

Words of Wedded Wisdom

I’ve always stuck to the thought that – it’s our wedding day and we shouldn’t please anyone other than ourselves.

I genuinely think it is imperative to remind yourself of this as there will always be wedding dramas – where people will romanticise the part they play on your wedding day – but that doesn’t mean you have to change your plans or be backed into corners to make decisions to please others. Be unapologetically selfish, for all the right reasons.