Have you ever seen a happier Bride? She is absolutely beaming and her energy is contagious – which is why I’m really loving this wedding this Monday morning. Sarah-Jane Ethan, with assistance by Matt Ethan, captured that love in each and every one of their pics and this bash might be the best start-of-the-week motivator yet. Get your daily dose of joy right this way!
From the Bride… Aaron and I met through a friend when we were 18 and have been together ever since. Aaron really surprised me by proposing three years ago this September in Hyde Park, London where we were living at the time. It was May so I have always wanted to get married in May! My main inspiration for the day was Spring since I love flowers and the huge range of colours you see that time of year. That’s why I went big, bright and beautiful as my theme!
It took me a while to choose my dress! I loved trying on all different styles and I found as I went along, that the style I thought I wanted totally changed! I finally found “the one,” Forsythia by Susan Neville at The White Room in Sheffield. It was the perfect dress for me, essentially two dresses in one! I loved the tight, organza, floor length detail with tulle train, more like an accessory, clipped on around the waist. I removed it for the evening reception so I could party all night!
My accessories were easy. I was given my grandmas pearl earrings and bracelet to wear on the day (something old and borrowed!) and as for my hair, I didn’t always want a veil but as soon as I tried one on I knew I had to get one! So if you feel like you don’t want a veil, I would still try one on just in case!
I waited until I’d picked my dress to get my shoes and that was an easy choice too. I went for classic Jimmy Choo’s in a champagne/silver color. I got a sample of my dress which was so handy with all the planning.
We got married at The Coniston Hotel, North Yorkshire. The most important thing for our wedding was to make sure we had a relaxed and fun atmosphere! The Coniston was the first venue we looked at and instantly fell in love with it. The views were amazing and romantic (and perfect for all weather conditions).
We chose Sarah Jane Ethan as our photographer. I came across SJ’s website after surfing the Internet for weeks trying to find a photographer whose pictures I liked and thought would be right to capture mine and Aaron’s big day! I am so happy I came across Sarah and her husband Matt! From start to finish SJ was amazing and so helpful! We had a lot of guests so we decided to have a second photographer, SJ’s husband! You can really tell Sarah and Matt love what they do and their pictures definitely reflect that! They made everyone feel so relaxed and at ease in front of the camera. Sarah and Matt really blended in with the wedding party and just enjoyed themselves which means myself and Aaron have amazing photos to remember our day! We even got an extra special gift from Matt which was a beautiful short film of our couple’s shoot.
With music being a big part of Aaron’s life I wanted it to be a big part of our day! We chose an acoustic guitarist to play some of our favourite dance songs during the ceremony with the exception of My Sarah by Thin Lizzy, which was played as I walked down the aisle with my dad. During the drinks reception we had a jazz duo (keys and Saxophone) which complemented the elated post-ceremony atmosphere perfectly!
Being a dancer I didn’t want any excuses for people not hitting the dance floor so I put together a basket of flip flops (dancing shoes) for all my guests to throw on!
I handmade my table plan with the help of my dad. Knowing I would want to save as many keepsakes as I could from the day, I styled the table plan with the intention of making it a feature in our new home. Hence why the picture frames used on the tables are now hanging in our hallway!
I also made Midnight snack bags for all our guests – everybody loves a party bag!
Myself and Aaron have been together for nine years so I wanted to share some of our favourite moments on a timeline of intimate Polaroids! (The pegs were just for fun…..and practical!!)
For the favours we used cinnamon vodka in personalised mini bottles to give the tables a bit of extra sparkle and ours guest a ‘flavoured’ favour which conveniently doubled up as place cards!
My favourite part of the day was marrying my best friend and seeing all our closest friends and family enjoying our moment with us. And my advice to any couple still planning their big day is enjoy every minute and try not to worry about the little things.
Photography: Sarah-Jane Ethan Photography | Videography: Yorkshire Wedding Video | Floral Design: Green House Florist | Wedding Dress: Suzanne Neville | Cake: Cupcakes By Katie | Make-up: Cakes To Di For | Make-up: Danielle Daynes | Hair: Ark- I- Tek | DJ: Dance Floor Couture | Wedding Venue: Coniston Hotel | Bridal Boutique: Frankie By Stephanie Allin | Bridal Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Event Decor: Aaron Roberts | Ice-Cream Cart: Ice Dream | Music: Craig Smith Music | Photobooth: Booth Revolution | Photography - Assistance: Matt Ethan | Skin & Beauty: Cakes To Di For