Let’s go down to the woods today for the glorious nuptials of WWW readers Emma and David, who tied the knot on the 6th August 2016. They had a splendid day filled with giggles, camp fires, serenading, cake and fun sports day style games. They were married in a super special hand fasting ceremony beneath the canopy of lush trees and beside the green ferns at Woodland Weddings in Cheshire. What a backdrop and such a lovely moment too. They then celebrated in a gorgeous marquee before glamping over night. The décor was a delight, with rustic elements such as hessian and wooden logs nestled besides fresh flowers. Birds played a key role in the theme of the day, thanks to David’s love of animals and so bird stationery and fabric was interwoven throughout.
There were also feathers in the sensational florals. Emma’s magnificent bouquet featured vibrant pink roses and oodles of vibrant foliage, it looked stunning. She chose to wear Maggie Sottero, Sundance with it’s lovely lace and shimmery slip, meanwhile David and the gents chose tweed suits and red accessories. How gorgeous?!
Many thanks to Emma Boileau for sharing these sublime photographs with us.
THE PROPOSAL | We had been talking about getting married for a while so although the proposal wasn’t really out of the blue, it was still really magical. We had planned a trip to Italy starting in Bologna and travelling round via Florence, Lucca and the Cinque Terra. On the second day in Florence, Dave suggested a trip to walk up to a piazza on the top of a hill to see the whole city. We didn’t end up in the crowded piazza, instead he took me to a small rose garden that was pretty much deserted. It smelled incredible and had a fantastic view of the city as planned. Then he got down on one knee and asked if I’d spend the rest of my life with him. Pretty easy yes at that point. Then on cue there was a rumble of thunder and the heavens opened. We got soaked and treated to a spectacular lightning show over Florence before ducking into a bar to celebrate with a glass of champagne.
THE VISION | We decided we wanted to get married outside as we’re both quite outdoorsy people. It was designed to be a bit of a mix of both of us and our interests, so we went with a bird theme as Dave is a really keen animal lover and twitcher, while I spent ages making a lot of the decorations as I’m a designer and big fan of hand made artwork.
THE PLANNING PROCESS | It took us about a year to plan everything and we were quite relaxed about what happened on the day. Luckily we booked through Woodland Weddings who had loads of ideas and contacts for entertainment and food and options for our hand fasting ceremony. I did start collecting ideas and inspiration in what became known as “the crazy wedding folder” which really came in handy as I became a bit of an expert on all things wedding for a while!
THE VENUE | We’d been to enough hotel weddings and decided we wanted something a bit different. It was actually Dave who found Woodland Weddings site online and I thought it was a great idea. We went to visit the site at Delamere forest, which really reminded us of a forest we visited in Findland a few years before so felt very “us”. Bob and the team from Woodland Weddings were wonderful from start to finish, thinking up fun games to keep our guests entertained like tug of war and a sack race to helping us source tents for some overnight glamping. We were so lucky with the weather; it was probably the hottest day of the year so my fears of wellies and having to wear a poncho over my dress weren’t realized.
THE DRESS & ACCESSORIES | I wore a Maggie Sottero Sundance dress with a tiara I’d bought from my seamstress at Stockport Wedding Service a few weeks before. I got the veil from Emma Hartley bridal in Colne. My shoes were Charlotte Mills Betty shoes. I loved them as they have something old, something new something borrow and something blue included in the shoes. The perfect wedding shoe!
FINDING THE DRESS | I’m a bit of a researcher and planner so I’d spent a fair few weeks on the internet looking for the perfect dress. I’d narrowed it down to three or four Maggie Sottero dresses but the Sundance was my favourite with its floral lace overlay and shimmery slip as it seemed to fit the woodland venue perfectly. I didn’t really have a great time at the shop I bought it from, the customer service was poor and the dress that was delivered ended up being about 4 sizes too big and needed massive alterations, but I was determined to wear it as it was the only one I’d tried on that made my mum cry (a time honoured bridal benchmark) so I went to see a lovely lady called Amina at Stockport Wedding services who altered it for me to fit like a glove on the big day. She was a real lifesaver!
GROOM’S ATTIRE | We wanted the wedding to feel really relaxed and a traditional top hat and tails would have looked a bit out of place, so Dave went to Groom in Cheshire and had a three piece tweed suit made for him. His groomsmen (and woman) hired matching suits in a darker brown material with a matching waistcoat.
THE READINGS & MUSIC | We didn’t have any readings as the hand-fasting ceremony involved lots of interaction with our bridesmaids, the best woman and groomsman. My dad and I were played into the circle by our good friend Jamie on the guitar playing a Peter Broderick song and then led around the circle to our chosen four friends who blessed our marriage by acting as Earth, Air, Fire and Water (which was actually cider!) We ended the ceremony by jumping over a ceremonial sword. So much fun!
BEAUTIFUL BRIDESMAIDS | My bridesmaids Rebecca, Rosie and Lisa were amazing, they organised the best hen do ever for me in the Lake District in a beautiful country house and were incredible on the day and on the run up helping out with all the last minute wedding preparations, I couldn’t thank them enough!
THE FLOWERS | My mum’s good friend Nina did all the flowers for us, she did an amazing job with my bouquet as I wanted to incorporate some bird feathers into in to as a little nod to my bird loving husband.
THE CAKE | Our cake was absolutely delicious, we ordered it from Christine who runs Essentially Cakes in south Manchester. She made us a stunning four tier gold and white sparkly cake based on a scrappy sketch and a moodboard I gave her a few months before. Each layer was a different flavour and I’d genuinely struggle to pick a favourite even after sampling all the layers several times!
YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER | Our photographer was the lovely and very talented Emma Boileau. I’d seen her work while I was doing my crazy internet research and decided pretty quickly she was the photographer for us. I don’t know how she did it, but she seemed to capture literally every moment of the day including how happy we were feeling and how much fun we were having. All my guests raved about her and how friendly she was and we were completely delighted with our photographs, they all looked so natural and beautiful, pretty much her speciality. I couldn’t recommend her highly enough.
THE DETAILS & DÉCOR | Most of the decorations were either made by me or borrowed from friends. I designed and papercut all the table decorations and table plans based on our bird theme and my mum sewed all the bunting that was hung around the marquee. The year before my dad’s neighbour and some other lovely people with apple trees let us raid them in order to take them to the Moss Cider project, where they turned our apple donation into a wedding cider for us for the cost of the bottles. I even got to design the labels.
THE HONEYMOON | We asked our guests to contribute to our honeymoon in lieu of gifts and we were so lucky to get to Bali for two weeks. We travelled around the island from the rainforest to dolphin watching and exploring the temples. Mostly just eating the delicious food!
MEMORABLE MOMENTS | Watching my dad tear up before the wedding as I walked down the stairs in my gown was a really special moment for me. He was equally proud to be the last man standing, singing songs around the campfire at the end of the evening! I’d have to say though, the best part of the day was when Dave surprised me by getting up on stage with our wedding band and playing the Foo Fighters, Everlong for me, which is one of our favourite songs, that was awesome!
ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES | Don’t worry about talking to everyone, because your day will probably pass in a blur of happy giggles, hellos, dancing and cake. But that’s never a bad thing!
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE |
Photography | Emma Boileau
Venue | Woodland Weddings
Cake | Essentially Cakes
Alterations | Stockport Wedding Service
Dress | Maggie Sottero, Sundance
Veil | Emma Hartley Bridal
Cider | The Moss Cider Project
Shoes | Charlotte Mills
Bridesmaids dresses | BHS
Grooms attire | Groom Hire
The band | Warble Entertainment – Supercharged *WWW wedding directory member*
The food | Outside Catering
Glamping | Glampervan and Belles
Flowers | Nina Gardner, friend of Mum
Oh how special! I love how they sourced the cider too, such a brilliant project.
Thanks so very much to Emma and David for telling us all about their celebrations here at WWW xo Lou
