Real Before the Big Day Bride: Katie & Michael

I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's nothing I like more than a Before the Big Day bride! Lovely Katie read Before the Big Day on a regular basis and even signed up for our newsletter as she prepared for her wedding, so it's so exciting for me to feature her gorgeous wedding pictures. A girl after my own heart, she researched her wedding on Pinterest, Etsy and of course Before the Big Day.   As a couple, Katie and Michael DIY'd tonnes of their wedding details, including all the stationery, from Save the Dates, table numbers, the table plan, and a fabulous photo booth. Katie's wedding theme gradually developed once she'd bought her wedding gown - a gorgeous lacy dress by David Tutera for Mon Cheri. This led to lots of lace and pearl wedding details, teamed with a deep raspberry pink and ivory colour palette. Tonnes more wedding details to come in the reception post later today, in the meantime enjoy these gorgeous wedding pictures by Andrew Billington.

We got married on the 22nd June 2013 at St Michael’s Church in East Ardsley and hosted our reception at the stunning Waterton Park Hotel in Walton, Wakefield.

My wedding dress 'Jolie' came from Broughtons Bridals in Garforth and the designer was David Tutera for Mon Cheri. I started by trying on a few dresses that I liked, and then the owner, Sam, picked out the dress she thought would suit my height and shape best, and I just fell in love. I thought I wanted a princess style dress, but they just didn't suit me, because I'm tall. Also I love lace so my dress was the perfect combination of both, with delicate lace detailing and a big skirt. I also customised the dress by removing ribbon and adding the belt. so it was definitely one of a kind!

My shoes were Touch Ups by Benjamin Walk. I am 2 inches smaller than Michael so only wanted a small 1 inch heel with peep toes, which I found really difficult to find - there isn’t much out there for taller girls. Eventually I found my shoes online and added pretty pearl shoes clips for some detail, and what a great choice they were, as they were comfy all day!

My veil was from Margaret Roberts who comes highly recommended by lots of brides in the online wedding community. She made my stunning, two-tier, cathedral-length veil with scattered crystals for an amazing price. My tiara was by Glitzy Secrets, which combined the pearl detail I loved, with subtle diamantes which fitted perfectly with my dress.

I let my bridesmaids decide between themselves what they wanted, and after I few trying-on sessions in different shops, they decided on Dessy full-length, one-shouldered dresses. The colour was 'Tutti Fruitti', which was exactly the shade I imagined as my raspberry pink. This type of dress suited all three of them, and they looked so beautiful, and felt comfortable all day with the one strap.

I eventually persuaded Michael to go with my colour palette of deep raspberry pink, lightened with ivory, to keep it fresh and summery, a principle we'd wanted from the start of our wedding planning. Our theme developed into lace and pearls after I chose my lace dress, and we decided to incorporate it throughout the day. This started with our DIY wedding stationery, and included lace-trimmed place-markers and favour boxes, and strings of pearls falling from candelabras.

Michael also chose his, and his ushers suits from Broughtons Bridals' menswear section which stocks Peter Posh suits. We chose navy blue tails, which we thought looked great with raspberry pink, and they were lightweight enough for {we hoped} a warm, sunny day.

We decided from the beginning of the planning stage that we would like to make our own wedding stationery. I took lots of inspiration from Pinterest, Etsy, wedding blogs and websites, and eventually we found a pocket-fold design we both loved. We then put our own spin on it, with our colours and theme. We included an RSVP card, accommodation details, and additional information for our guests.

Our wedding photographer, Andrew Billington was also a recommendation - I think it's the best way to find a photographer because there are so many out there, which is a bit daunting at first. 

As soon we saw Andrew's work and met him, we knew he was the photographer for us. His style of reportage was exactly what we wanted - our day captured not through posed shots, but as it happens and unfolds. We had so many comments from guests about how professional and friendly he was - most didn't even notice he was taking pictures! Nothing was too much trouble.

Our wedding florist was Sofia at Ivy Florists in Pudsey. We found her thanks to a recommendation, and from the very first consultation we knew we could trust her to capture our ideas. 

Sofia immediately put us at ease. I took my mood board to show the style I wanted, and Sofia created the perfect rustic, hand-tied bouquets for me and my bridesmaids. We chose my favourite peonies and roses as our main flowers - luckily June was the perfect month for these. Working with Sofia, we knew exactly what was going in each bouquet, buttonhole, top table piece, etc. They looked absolutely stunning.



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