WWW readers Rebecca and Dean married in May in a church service followed by a reception at Yew Lodge Country House, West Sussex. Being a wedding photographer, Dean had great insider knowledge to help plan their day. They wanted great photography, a special exclusive venue and stylish touches throughout.

They home made much of their décor, with the sweetie table, table plan and favours all created by themselves. I adore the light up initials on the dance floor, the vintage cameras on the tables and the pretty floral bridesmaid dresses.

Rebecca looked beautiful in lace, with her wavy hair clipped with a pretty comb. Dean opted for a dapper tailor made three piece suit with yellow tie and buttonhole. Amazing.

Thanks so much to the brilliant Eric Yerke for sharing his photographs with us today.

 

The Proposal… Long story short – we had recently moved to a rented cottage in the middle of nowhere down a rural lane in Felbridge, Surrey (after living with Becky’s parents for 4 years to save for a deposit) and a month in, Dean informed Becky he was going out with work colleagues and wouldn’t be in till late. Becky stayed at her parents that night and Dean joined her about 2a.m. and then told her she needed to be up by 6a.m. as he had something planned. Becky kicked off (threw a mini tantrum) as she didn’t think four hours notice was long enough and didn’t want to get up at 6a.m. on a weekend – she thought he had planned for them to go to France for the day – which she didn’t want to do. After driving home in separate cars (5 minutes away), Becky still ignoring Dean and still wearing her pyjamas, she opened the door to the lounge to find it had been filled with huge pink and white helium balloons and a big bouquet of pink and white roses (Dean had spent two hours with a helium tank at midnight filling the balloons – we have pics!). Dean got down on one knee and blubbered a proposal saying that there was a car coming to take us up to Hatton Gardens to choose a ring! Becky was completely taken by surprise – you don’t expect to be proposed to in your jamas and at that time in the morning! The ring he proposed with was 50p from a charity shop and miles too big (thank god he didn’t choose the real thing).

The Vision for the Day…  Theme Jam Jars or ‘handmade’ – suppose if anything we tried to go back to ‘weddings in the 70 / 80’s’ – cotton handmade dresses for bridesmaids, men wore their own suits, silk handknitted ties – we decorated and drove our own car! No colour scheme – but we had Wedgewood blue tablecloths and multicoloured honeycomb balls used in the reception bar.

The Planning Process… We both knew what we wanted as Dean constantly came home showing pictures and ideas of what he had seen at other weddings. Becky always wanted to get married in Spring as she loves spring leaves and blossom – and all the older couples we know that are still together have wedding anniversaries in May – both sets of parents, the neighbours, and Becky’s older brother. Dean also didn’t have any bookings for 2013 at that point so we had first pickings on a date and rather than waiting till Spring 2014, we thought we would set ourselves a challenge!

Dean, being a wedding photographer, already knew what he had in mind for his photographer / venue / invites – he wanted exclusive hire of a venue as had seen weddings where there were two brides at one venue. He designed the invites himself, the wedding website, the gift list, the information booklet, the wedding service booklets (which had glassine envelopes filled with confetti on the back) and the guest sheets which had fields to fill in.

Becky being the organised one, kept Dean on track and had a file and lists of things to do and make, and when to do them! She put together mood boards and sketches of the things she wanted to create at the wedding.

The Venue… Becky went to school next to the church (before the school was knocked down) and always dreamed of having her wedding there. It was the FIRST thing we booked and the only thing she was insistent on. With the new rules in place it meant that we were able to marry there – even though we no longer lived in the parish, but we had to attend the church on a regular basis. This was fantastic as not only did we get to know everyone by the time the wedding came we felt really comfortable in our environment and had built a good relationship with the Reverend marrying us which was nice. The church of St. Peter and Paul is also very pretty – it is set away from the road and also opposite a pub for a pre-wedding drink to calm Dean’s nerves!

As soon as we saw Yew Lodge – we were sold. We wanted to be able to decorate the venue ourselves which is something they allow you to do. When we found out we could have it on May the 4  – we joked about having a Star Wars theme, but soon moved away from that. Yew Lodge is set back from the road and a bit ‘hidden’ (not easy to find) – it was pretty, old looking, on fantastic and varied grounds for our photos, it had air conditioning (Dean gets hot easily), nice toilet facilities (who likes a porta-loo?) and we just saw it as a blank canvas to put all our handmade touches on. It also had a few bedrooms which meant we could have a select few join us for breakfast the next day.

The Dress + Accessories… How many dresses did you try on before choosing the one you did? I went to two different shops and in each one tried on about 8-10 dresses. In my head I wanted a lace fitted number – but when I tried them on they didn’t look right. Being as I am a ‘worrier’ by nature I did actually buy three dresses – two very cheap dresses online (well I ordered one and they sent me two by accident!) because the bride’s dress is the only thing which is irreplaceable on the day if anything went wrong – so if someone spilt coffee down my front in the morning I felt relaxed knowing I had an ‘emergency dress’. Everyone at work thought I was mental – but I know I had a back up plan!

My mum cried and I was like “what – this one?!?” as it wasn’t at all what I had in mind! The assistant agreed it really suited me and another bride-to-be’s family actually saw me in it and came up to me to say “if I was getting married again I would choose that dress” so it was the majority vote! Buying a wedding dress is very bizarre – you wear something so impractical in colour and style never to wear it again! My friend said I looked like a ‘beautiful swan’ in it which I’m still not sure was a compliment? – But Dean loved it. I also let my mum chose my veil and I was insistent that I wanted a lace jacket as wanted my shoulders covered in church – and managed to find one second hand – the bridal shop had sold a dress to a lady which came with a jacket which she didn’t want – she was the same size and it looked perfect with the dress.

Groom’s Attire… Dean wore a tailored suit made by a tailor in Brighton. Friends of ours had spent the same amount of money on hiring suits for ushers and at least this way Dean got a new suit which he loves and will wear again! Dean spent more time choosing out the fabric swatch than I did the dress! Dean loves his shopping and has more clothes and shoes than me so choosing his suit was a dream and I am so pleased he has something he can wear again.

Beautiful Bridesmaids… Because my best friends either had children or were expecting at the time we got engaged I decided on only have ‘little’ bridesmaids, their children. Originally I wasn’t going to have any and just have molly the dog! I used to babysit Mia, my neighbour’s kid, who I had known from the age of three and when I first got together with Dean she asked if she could be bridesmaid. Mia was 14 when Dean proposed and when I phoned to check to see if being a bridesmaid was still ‘cool’ she cried so I took that as a yes.

Mia and Cerys wore the same dress – cotton knee length 50’s style tea-dress in a floral ‘cath kidston’ print with pink netting sticking out the bottom. Isobelle and Imogen wore an ivory dress from Debenham’s occasion wear with a pink flower hair band in their hair and they carried ‘bunny pouches’ made from leftover material from the bridesmaid dresses and each with a sequin bunny face and pipe cleaner ears which kept them amused in church.

The Flowers…  I wanted a textured bouquet (not your standard rose flower ball) but had to suit the flowers to the bridesmaid dresses as they were floral and would have clashed otherwise! I wanted ranunculus instead of roses in my bouquet and I really wanted sweet peas but with the bad weather there was no chance!

The bridesmaids had similar flowers arranged in bag shaped bouquets. We actually went to the florist with four different requests. Dean had wanted a yellow sunflower for his lapel (just because he had seen it at another wedding) but that was the only thing I persuaded him against purely because we didn’t use sunflowers anywhere else and sunflowers have such big stems! In the end he chose these yellow billy ball things with a daisy for him and his ushers. The mum’s had flowers to match their colour outfits but Dean’s mum had yellows to match Dean where my mum had similar flowers to my bouquet.

The Cake… My next-door neighbour. We let her decide. I saw a floral design I liked from Fortnum and Mason but in the end Wendy bought a cake magazine which had the sugar veil cake on the front which Wendy wanted to attempt. She handmade the flowers but in similar colours to my bouquet but we let her use her artistic license for the rest!

Your Photographer… Dean is a big fan of Eric’s photography and had followed his work for years. It was one of the easiest decisions we had to make and feel lucky that Eric was happy to fly over from USA to capture our day.

The Details + Decor…  We handmade and sourced a lot of things together; the sweetie table featured jars bought from charity shops with labels Dean had designed, the favours were little terracotta pots filled with sunflower seeds and crinkle filled paper, in a cellophane bag with hand written tags, the seating plan was a cork board covered with flowery paper made with doilies and labels on string. We saved and collected over 100 jam jars over the 10 months and wrapped them with raffia and ribbon round the tops for candles and flowers on the tables, moustaches and lips on straws, and Dean had his collection of old cameras (from charity shops) which he wanted on the tables. It created loads more work for us both but was worth it in the end. Becky also roped in her US colleague to order some colourful honeycomb balls and collected them on a work trip – where the bag got lost on the runway! There was a random collection of things which all came together on the day!

Both the Choir and Magician were kept a secret from all our guests. The choir actually sat amongst our guests in the church and as we went to sign the register they stood and up and began to sing acapella. Everyone was in tears at this stage. I also organised for a magician/mind reader on the day as Dean’s present – he wasn’t your cheesy magician but a right geezer and some of his tricks blew us away. Our guests still comment on how good these both were.

The Honeymoon…  Florida for two weeks (a villa in Orlando and Amelia Island), and Las Vegas for one week. Florida for shopping and relaxing, (we stayed at Dean’s friends villa) and Las Vegas because we hadn’t been before and didn’t fancy three weeks just Dean organised the whole holiday but not in secret. Vegas was an eye-opener!! Florida was mega relaxing although Villa had a games room so we had a couple of arguments over Dean having to win at pool!!

Memorable Moments… Our Flash Mob choir! We had a choir of 26 ladies who sat amongst the guests and then when we went to sign the register they stood up and sung ‘Lean on Me’ in acapella followed by ‘we are family…’. It was fantastic and people weren’t expecting it and it made everyone feel happy (and others burst into tears).

Advice for Other Couples… Put the time on your invites 30 minutes before you need guests to arrive. It helps. Also – don’t waste your money on things people don’t notice – wedding cakes and car – they are just for the photos! Who cares if things aren’t exact or match – no one will notice on the day!

Credit Where Credit is Due…

Photographer Eric Yerke – EricYerke.com

Videographer Family Creative – http://family-creative.co.uk/

Ceremony venue The Church of St Peter & St Paul – http://www.lingfieldparishchurch.org/

Reception venue Yew Lodge Country House – http://www.yewlodge.co.uk/

Bride’s dress White Dresses & Tiaras – http://whitedressesandtiaras.com/

Bride’s accessories (veil, tiara, shoes) Veil & jacket (White Dresses and Tiaras – as above), Hair Jewel – JonRichard at Debenhams – http://www.debenhams.com/ Shoes – Suitables Lingfield – http://www.suitables.co.uk/

Groom’s suit Hugo Morris tailors – http://www.hugo-morris.com/ Shoes – Oliver Sweeney – http://www.oliversweeney.com/

Bridesmaids’ dresses Giddy Aunt – http://www.giddyauntclothes.co.uk/ and Occasionwear from Debenhams.

Other outfits (ushers, maid of honour, pageboys etc) Mother of the Bride outfit – Lucinda’s Purley http://www.lucindas-purley.com/, mother of the bride hat – Felicity Hat Hire – http://www.felicity.co.uk/index.php

Wedding rings Whilbleys Horsham – http://whibleys.com/

Wedding cake Wendy Bone (Neighbour)

Flowers Florabundance (no website)

Disco/DJ Ray Bird (no website – work friend)

Hair & Beauty – Tony & Guy hair, Ellis Beauty make up http://ellisbeauty.co.uk/, Bridesmaid hair – Sarah Marcs http://www.sarahmarcs.co.uk/about.html

B&D light up letters – Vowed & Amazed – http://www.vowedandamazed.co.uk/

Backdrop – Picture Perfect Events London – http://www.pictureperfecteventsuk.com/

Choir – Vocal Dimension – http://www.vocaldimension.co.uk/

Tablecloths & cake stand hire – Co-Ordination Events http://www.catering-hire.net/main.php

What a fantastic day! Thanks so so much to Rebecca and Dean for sharing their beautiful wedding with us today XOXO Lou