Real Vintage Medical Themed Wedding: Rebecca & Ben

I've made you wait, but it's finally time for the incredible wedding reception pictures from this unique medical themed wedding. Rebecca and Ben chose The Morritt in Greta Bridge in County Durham for their wedding reception, and after many months of successful bidding on eBay, Rebecca personalised her and Ben's big day with a fabulous array of wedding details, including old medicine bottles as vases, an ancient doctor's bag for wedding gifts, and vintage first aid boxes filled with sweets. Table flowers looked just-picked, with snowberries and autumn foliage to reflect the season. Instead of a traditional wedding cake, Rebecca and Ben chose their own cheeses for a tiered cheese cake, and Rebecca's parents handmade chutney as wedding favours for eating on the day. So many wonderful details, all in one wedding - it's definitely an all-time favourite for me! Huge thanks to Sharron Gibson from The Image Garden and Vanessa Adams, her second shooter, for these gorgeous wedding pictures.

Our photographer was Sharron Gibson from The Image Garden. I found her on the internet by searching for vintage-style photographers. She is actually based in the South, but came all of the way up to photograph our big day.

Sharron was wonderful, stayed all day and evening and felt part of the wedding! She also brought an assistant photographer, Vanessa Adams, to help who was lovely. As we set off for our honeymoon 24 hours later, she had already sent me a montage of her favourite photos which I was delighted to receive.

Ben and I got married on 8th September 2012 at St Edmunds Church, Sedgefield in County Durham, followed by a reception at The Morritt, Greta Bridge.

We wanted to have a lot of people, and provide a lot of food and drink. On our budget it made sense to pick a smaller, more personal hotel that we could fill to the brim.

I had tonnes of DIY wedding projects. I wanted a table plan, but I didn't want to spend time or money on it. I found a website called Here Comes the Bride, and they suggested using a mirror. They took the measurements, and printed out {and decorated} individual cards with adhesive on the back. My mirror had a gold rim, so my Dad and I sprayed it silver! When we put it all together, it worked really well.

When I was planning our wedding theme, my sister suggested starting with the florist and working back from there....and she was right! I met with three florists and knew instantly when I had found the right one - Adam Prest......he was AMAZING!!! He is based in a farm outside of Sedgefield where he grows some of the flowers he uses. It was great to use someone local!

I could not describe really what I wanted....but he just knew. It was his idea for grey bridesmaids dresses!!!! I said I wanted the flowers to look like I had been out in the garden and picked the flowers. I also said I did not want them to be symmetrical or all the same length or size......the rest was down to him.

He selected a rose called Amnesia, white snowberries and a silvery foliage which I loved! He also suggested candelabras of varying heights for the tables. We were both keen that every table looked different!

Our wedding favours for the men were small jars of chutney {handmade by my Mum and Dad}. They make a lot of chutney, and because we were serving cheese at the end of the meal, it was the obvious decision! We made bibs and bow ties for each of the jars, and I made small top hats for all of the men to wear at dinner, which sat on top of the jars.

The girls' wedding favours were different. My Mum is very arty and decorated small grey boxes (from Paperchase) with tiny flowers dried from the garden. Again each one was different, and we baked individual Rolo brownies to go in them! We also printed minute recipe cards for the brownies and put them in the box.

I really wanted a vintage feel but having been to several weddings prior to ours in 2012 it was difficult to come up with something original. So I was thrilled when I discovered vintage medicine bottles on eBay. I bid on them regularly in the run up to the wedding until I had enough for four/five per table. They were only a couple of quid each and make lovely mementos!

I was keen to have something original for our wedding cards from guests, so to continue with the medical theme, I found a vintage doctor's bag (also on eBay) for only £30.

The medical dictionary was my own, and I HAD to buy the vintage medical book 'The movement of the heart and blood', as it seemed very romantic!!

I loved organising my wedding! It was great to put a personal stamp on the day. I tried to see it as a party, rather than a wedding, and I think we managed to create that kind of atmosphere. It did however dominate the nine months between engagement and the big day, and I am glad you only have to do it once!!

My advice to brides planning their wedding is to start early. Book in all of the big things then have a bit of a break! Use the internet. There are so many ideas and craft websites out there. If you can’t find what you want....have a go at making it!!

Invest in your dress.......it is definitely worth it!! Don’t make everything match. It was more fun having several subtle themes intermingled with each other, and it personalised the wedding more. Have a wedding folder.....it's geeky, but having everything in one place makes life so much easier!

When it came to our wedding cake, we both love cheese, so we had a cheese wedding cake! You can get them in set combinations on the internet, but we were keen to pick the cheeses ourselves, so we went to a small cheese shop called Cheese on the Green in Rugby {where Ben’s parents live} and tried all of them! It was very good fun!

I got a really naff cake topper online with a bride rugby tackling the groom.....my Mum hated it, but it looked really good after my florist had dressed the cake. To serve with the cheese, my Mum and Dad made chutney and fruit cake, while crackers and fruit were provided by the hotel along with our evening hog roast.