Lisa & David's Real Life Wedding

Lisa & David - Winter Wedding

Lisa's Dad found the venue online just after it had opened and suggested they take a look. "As soon as we drove up the path we knew it was the place for us, the venue was beautiful." They booked just over 2 years in advance.

The bridesmaids were all in balck and white. The maid of honour - Lisa's sister - wore a long black dress with a matching shrug. The two bridesmaids - David's nieces - wore long white dresses with black sashes and had white feather shrugs and hand muffs. The flower girl - David's daughter - wore a long dress, the top half was black and the bottom was white tulle and she also had a white shrug and hand muff.

The ushers and best man all wore black dinner suits with black bow ties.

Lisa's dress was a white satin Hollywood Dreams dress with a scalloped front and train. It was covered in Swarovski crystals and had embroidery on the bodice and train. Lisa wore a white feather wrap, diamantè tiara, earrings and bracelet.

Lisa's bouquet and David's buttonhole were made of lily of the valley. The maid of honours bouquet and the ushers buttonholes were made of white roses with diamantes through the centre. The decorations were made by Lisa's Mum and were made of white roses, freesias, mistletoe and winter foliage with added crystals.

Lisa travelled to the venue in a London black cab driven by a family friend. It fitted perfectly with the black and white theme and there was loads of room, so the journey was comfortable.

The room decoration was kept minimal as the venue itself was stunning. The ceremony room was decorated with tea lights and mistletoe, with two flower arrangements in vases behind the ceremony table. On the ceremony table was an oasis flower arrangement. The table centrepieces consisted of three white candles sitting on a large round mirror with white feathers and loose Swarovski crystals scattered around them.

The favours were silver boxes wrapped in white ribbon with a gift tag (which doubled as a place card), to make them look like Christmas gift parcels. In the boxes were 5 silver and white sugared almonds. For the children there were silver and white crackers, filled with chocolates and a gift each.

The cake was made by Lisa's Mum. It was a 4 tier fruit cake, covered in white icing. Two of the tiers had Swarovski crystals all over the icing; the other two tiers had a white ribbon and snowflake broach on each of them. The cake topper was our monogram DML in silver decorated with Swarovski crystals.

Lisa says "The best part of the day was spending it with all the people we cared about and seeing everyone enjoying themselves. The weather was perfect, venue stunning, atmosphere brilliant, food amazing and music excellent."

We asked Lisa did anything not go according to plan on the day? "Yes, we had planned a dance (the foxtrot) and had been having lessons for weeks but due to a misunderstanding, the band had set up in a different area, so we did not have the room to perform. We tried to improvise, but it didn't go too well, I ended up dragging David around the floor for most of the dance."

When asked if there was anything she'd learnt that she thought was an important tip for future wedding couples, Lisa says, "Remember why you are doing it, it is easy to get carried away in the planning and what other people want, but the day is really about you and your partner showing the world how much you love each other. Not what decorations you have or what first dance you do. It really does fly by so cherish every moment and every detail of the day."

Images courtesy of Studio 190

Suppliers:

Bride's dress - Matchmakers, Hollywood Dreams, Bride's accessories - Chic Accessories
Groom's suit - Hugo Boss, Other outfits - Moss Brothers, BHS and Debenhams
Wedding rings - Cool Diamonds
Wedding cake - Lisa's Mum
Flowers - Meadow croft (buttonholes and bouquet), Lisa's Mum (decorations)
Disco/DJ - E2 Music
Photographer - Studio 190