A proposal in St Ives led to an awesome Autumn Wedding at Holmewood Hall!
Tell us about the proposal – how and where did it happen?
‘We were in St Ives town having lunch, I then had to pop into the card factory and get a 21st balloon for a girl who I worked with. As we were walking back over the bridge towards the car, he stopped me on the bridge and got down on one knee. I had no idea and I was stood there holding a 21st birthday balloon! St Ives is where we went for our first date.’
What was your first step in planning your wedding?
‘The first thing we did was enquire about Holmewood Hall. I’d never had a set venue in my head to get married and I’d never heard of Holmewood Hall so I wanted to look around. After that it was all about getting the dress!’
Inspiration: Did you use blogs or magazines for ideas?
‘I didn’t look at magazines or blogs but I did have a Pinterest board though – it just has so many ideas.’
What were your wedding “must have’s”?
‘Alcohol, lots and lots of alcohol! Adam and I have always enjoyed going out for drinks together and we’ve traveled to lots of places. I wanted everyone to have a good time and enjoy themselves so lots of drinks and shots was a must. We also planned our tables around the places we’ve visited to make it a bit more personal.’
Wedding budget: how did you organise your wedding budget?
‘I’m such a penny pincher so I tried to do everything myself! I found some great resources from Amazon, Facebook and just did it by myself. Your wedding doesn’t have to cost a fortune, trust me!’
Wedding venue: how did you search for a wedding venue?
‘Two days after getting engaged I was googling wedding venues! Holmewood Hall came up and gave us an appointment for January 2019. We looked at a few other places but we knew when we visited that Holmewood Hall was where we wanted to get married.’
What made you choose Holmewood Hall as your Wedding venue?
‘The grounds are stunning as I love being outside! The ceremony room is so pretty and just gave me a really warm feeling, the place wasn’t entirely finished when we visited and we weren’t allowed to see everything but that didn’t bother us as we were happy with what we saw.’
Styling your wedding: how did you personalise your big day?
‘We were very minimal on decorations, I had my favourite flowers gypsophila on each table in handmade jars which one of my bridesmaids and her Mum made – thank you! I also put an individual flag of each country with the table and everyone had their own tequila rose shot waiting for them! Our cake was made by one of Adam’s cousins as a wedding gift and it was gorgeous. We both love chocolate so thought sod it we’re having a 4 layered chocolate cake! It was so yummy and looked fantastic.’
Wedding photographer: how did you choose your photographer?
‘Our wedding photographer was Josh Hyde, Josh was a friend I knew from Ramsey where I used to live. We’d photographed together before and his work is beautiful so I knew we were going to have him. Our wedding photos are just perfect, he picked the best moments to take the shot without stealing us away too much from our friends. He knew exactly what he was doing and we were so happy.’
Wedding suppliers: how did you choose your suppliers?
‘We didn’t have any wedding suppliers we did it all ourselves 🙂 Our florist Lucy made mine and my bridesmaid’s bouquet which were also gypsophila.’
Describe your wedding attire
‘Every wedding dress I tried on I was like – ‘Aww I love it!’ (I’m very easily pleased) but I knew something wasn’t right. I usually wear tight fitting clothes which traditionally wedding dresses are not! The lady at a wedding fayre said to me “do you wear big dresses?” To which I said “no I like tight clothes” so she replied “well why not buy a tight dress?” These words stuck with me and when I saw my dress I knew it was the one. It was sheer lace at the bodice and fitted all the way down to my shins with a really big train, I was in love and it was the third dress I tried on! After that I tried every veil which again I loved but I was shown a really long one and I thought hey I’m not getting married again let’s go all out! I was so happy with what I chose and did have a cry trying it on!’
What accessories did you wear on the day?
‘I wore a pair of earrings that Adam bought me the day before the wedding, a hair broach from Amazon and no underwear (you couldn’t see I promise!). My shoes were white heels which I bought from New look as they were so comfy.’
What did your partner wear?
‘Adam wore a navy blue suit with baby pink tie to match my bouquet. He looked gorgeous. His groomsmen wore the same but he had a waistcoat just as a little extra.’
Tell us about your Bridesmaids, Groomsmen and their outfits?
‘We both had 3 bridesmaids/groomsmen. I did the girl thing of inviting them out to lunch then telling them all, Adam sent out a text! Haha’
What was your biggest wedding splurge?
‘The biggest splurge was the venue, but we knew this would happen but we were so happy that everything was included. It really took stress off on the day!’
What was your biggest wedding saving?
‘My dress! The shop I bought it from sells ex sample dresses all for under £799, mine wasn’t even that price and I was so happy to know that no one else would have the same dress.’
What was your ceremony like?
‘Outside the room I was so excited and ready to walk down there as soon as the doors opened and the music started, I was a blubbering mess. Luckily I had my Dad next to me to hold me up. The registrar was lovely and added a bit of humour into our ceremony which was great. We walked out to ‘Electric Dreams’ – Philip Oakley which is a song we both love.’
Did you have a band or DJ for your evening reception?
‘We had the Holmewood Hall DJ’
Tell us about your first dance – what song did you chose and why?
‘We had ‘You and I’ by Tom Walker we really liked the lyrics to this song and it’s still quite upbeat as we’re not a slow dancing couple. No choreographing unfortunately we just winged it!’
Based on your own experience, give us some top tips
‘Honestly the day after you realise this! My top tips would be please don’t stress it’s only a day, there is more to life than your wedding day (I never thought I’d say that!) All that matters is you get to marry the person you love and remember that. Enjoy every second as it goes so quick. If you can’t afford it don’t afford it. It’s not worth the hassle of savings and deposits when you can use that to enjoy the rest of your life together.’
Did you go on a honeymoon or mini-moon?
‘The day after we flew to Greece for 5 days as a mini moon to take in the wedding and our new status as husband and wife. It was just gorgeous and what we needed.
We were due to travel to Italy for 2 weeks in May 2020 but due to Covid-19 we’re unable to go. But it doesn’t matter we’ll go one day.’
Tell us about your suppliers:
Photographer: J Hyde Weddings
Make Up: Kiss & Make Up
Wedding attire: Townhouse Bridal
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Asos
Other outfits: Moss Bros
Wedding rings: Ernest Jones
Other: Lucy’s Florist