Photo credit: Neil Thomas Douglas

Hoorah we are married! It was a dream come true to marry Jon surrounded by our family and friends, and we both had such a fun day - it really was the best day ever for us. I thought I’d share some of the details here and a big thank you to everyone for being a part of our special day.

Some photos of our wedding progress leading up to the day (will share some wedding photos soon)..

######The Venue I wrote here about choosing our wedding venue, House for an Art Lover. It was perfect for our relaxed wedding, and the team (in particular Robert) were excellent and made sure the day ran smoothly. We stayed nearby to the venue the night before - Jon with his groomsmen here and I stayed with my bridesmaids here. We all went for dinner the night before which was nice for everyone to meet properly before the wedding. Both houses were Airbnbs and were excellent, and great for getting ready in the morning.

######The Bride I chose my dress last summer, which I wrote about previously here. I found and tried on the dress in Cardiff (it was on display in the bridal shop window), but I bought it from Emma Roy up here in Edinburgh. I wanted a dress that was quite simple (not big!) and light, and I loved the detailing to the the top and back. My fittings weren’t until the month of the wedding, but luckily it didn’t need any alterations except the hem and I had a bustle added in so the train could be lifted for dancing. I skipped a veil and jewellery since the dress had enough detail with sparkles and pearls, and I wore Rainbow Club peep toe shoes that I picked up in John Lewis. My hair and make up was done by Lyn Mckenzie and it was exactly what I was looking for - simple and fresh with a pink smokey eye. Lyn also did two bridesmaids and my mum’s hair.

######The Groom Jon wore a suit from Suitsupply. He ordered a couple of different ones online and decided on the navy Lazio which fit great and he looked fantastic on the day. He wore tan shoes from Dune, a leather belt from T.M.Lewin, and a blush pink tie, white pocket square and slim tie bar from ASOS. Oh and also some navy and pink polka dot socks to finish it all off!

######The Decor Since the venue was so beautifully decorated with lots of detail already we didn’t need to do much in terms of decor. The colours we were going with were grey, navy and blush/peaches. So the flowers were made up of peach and blush roses with small white tete-a-tete daffodils (Jon & I are both welsh and wanted to incorporate some welsh things - also they smelt amazing), the groomsmen were in navy suits and the bridesmaids in grey dresses. For the tables we had white roses in fishbowls (provided by the venue) and on the long top table we had small vases of white daffodils. All of the DIY bits were made the week before the wedding. I made the table names using IKEA Tolsby frames by hanging handmade origami cranes in grey, pink and cream along with the table numbers at the bottom. We framed an ‘order of the day’ and made an instagram hashtag (#yayfryday) sign in photoshop by adapting our wedding invite design.

######The Guest Book We had a polaroid guest book, where we used a Paperchase photo album for guests to slip in a polaroid taken on the Fujifilm Instax 210 (borrowed from my work) and write a note on some kraft cards we had set up with sharpies. We also put some Ginger Ray photobooth props around the guestbook and another IKEA frame with instructions on what to do. We weren’t sure how well the guest book would go down as we read that often people need encouraging to use them - but people were queueing up to add to it which was great! We now have a book full of photos and messages that we can look back on.

######The Food & Drink The venue included a three course reception meal followed by coffee and tablet, and the food was excellent. We also had lots of wine, fizzy wine and soft drinks as part of our drinks reception and with the speeches/meal. In the evening we had a buffet but most of us were still pretty stuffed from the meal to eat much! Our cake was made up of three flavours - red velvet on the bottom, then oreo, and victoria sponge on top - and decorated with buttercream roses on top. The three cakes were bought separately and we purchased a three tier cake stand to place them on and added a Ginger Ray cake topper. The cakes were delicious and we saved some money doing it this way.

######The Photographer We chose Neil after bookmarking his website a while back. We loved his informal, relaxed and candid style of photography. He was fantastic on the day and we had a lot of comments from people that they thought he was great. We can’t wait to see all of the photos - we’ve seen a few sneak peeks already and they look fab (the photo at the top of this post is one)!

######The Dancing In the evening we had a ceilidh. It was so much fun, especially since almost all of our guests hadn’t been to one before (including myself), and after the first song the band realised we were definite beginners as it was carnage with everyone going in different directions. After that first song they kept things simple but also challenging enough for us, especially as it got later on in to the night! It kept everyone entertained and we were so glad we chose to have a ceilidh. The band did some DJing as well where they took requests which somehow ended up with the majority of the room doing the macarena at one point…

######Links Brides Gown Farah by Maggie Sottero Grooms Suit Lazio by Suitsupply Wedding Venue House for an Art Lover Shoes Harlow by Rainbow Club Florist Little Botanica Cake Mimi’s Bakehouse Bridesmaid Dresses Lori Lee by Coast Groomsmen Suits ASOS Ceilidh Band Ceilidh Minogue Photographer Neil Thomas Douglas Hair and make up Lyn Mckenzie Nails Fiji by Essie Favours Fabulous Welshcakes