From meeting Charlotte and David, I knew they were an organised pair that said, they are literally the only wedding party who’ve given the ushers and maid of honour ‘ear pieces’ to communicate with one another. I can highly recommend it though! They had every base covered and the day finely tuned, even their group photos were done in half the time, leaving us extra time for the photos of Charlotte and David. I suppose with Charlotte’s sister working in event organising there’s no the wonder she was a true asset her sister’s wedding.
Mr and Mrs Ashe chose to get married in Birdsall at the church, which is set within the grounds of Birdsall House where they held the celebrations. They were open minded when they began to look at venues, they didn’t have an ‘ideal’ venue in mind but they did know that they wanted to get wed near where they were both brought up and with Charlotte’s family living within a mile of the estate it was somewhere they knew they should look. From the moment they made contact with Cara Willoughby (owner of the family home) they were sold, she was warm, welcoming and happy to show them around herself. Charlotte and David loved the character the period property had to offer and to seal the deal they fell in love with the unique backdrop the grounds had to offer…A lake, a folly and the rolling hills of the Yorkshire Wolds, what a space!
When it came to styling and decorating the venue, the couple both agreed they wanted to keep this to a minimum, with the property already having such charm they didn’t want anything over-the-top, so most of the décor was placed in the marquee at the back of the house where the night do took place. Even here they kept things simple with paper lanterns hanging from the marquee’s ceiling a few photos and bits and bobs placed on the tables too. The dance floor was garnished with the odd giant glitter ball, which brought tasteful, glitz to the evening do. The most important things to Charlotte and David really were that they had a great venue, delicious food and drink along with a good photographer to capture it all. (This said I’m pleased to say they were delighted with their photos!)
Something that every bride spends hours deliberating over is the dress and how to choose it… Charlotte’s story I have to say my be one of my favourites of last year…
“With my dress, again we wanted to purchase everything local to Yorkshire. I was very lucky and visited one bridal shop in the centre of York and found my dress. We knew it was the one, as a stranger outside the shop window stopped in her tracks and started crying, as she thought the dress looked beautiful. We bought it there and then.” Shared Charlotte. What a wonderful story.
When it came to the shoes Charlotte didn’t spend too much time worrying about this, her dress was so long and like she said, “I could have been wearing converse under there and no one would have ever known.” So she chose to keep the cost down here, only spending £20 on a pair of mid-heeled white sandals. #Money_saving_tip_here_ladies.
Pastel glitter in blush pink, is what the bridesmaids wore and they looked incredible, the style of the dress was perfect for the time of year with ¾ length sleeves and a full A-line skirt it was elegant but comfortable to wear and I kept them a little warmer too. These, Charlotte had bought on a whim on Black Friday the year before her wedding, they had a huge 50% off and came from the high street shop, Dorothy Perkins another great money saving tip: It’s always worth checking out high street shops for the bridesmaids, you can literally save £100s.
Here’s some words from the couple, I always like to find out about their favourite parts of the day and best memories. Charlotte goes first…
“For me, it was just the whole day that was memorable. When you see it all come together, it's amazing. Also, when you see all your friends and family there in one place (and some of them have travelled very far from Canada and Hong Kong), it was just wonderful.“
David's fondest memory…
“After the meal, it was lovely to just spend time wandering the grounds as a married couple, whilst we had our photographs taken.”
I was so chuffed to hear that David’s memories included the part of the day when we took photos.
Advice from the couple, to others planning their day…
“We recommend to start planning as soon as possible. We tried to stick to a budget and the best way for us to pay for things was little amounts each month, rather than one large sum. We used a spreadsheet to keep track of everything and spread the jobs between us. Also, use your contacts! A lot of our friends and family chipped in with their own skills to help with the process.” I’m always happy to discuss instalment, based payments with anyone who’d like to book their photography with me; it generates a monthly income for myself and helps you to spread payments making them more manageable.
Credits to:
Flowers: W P Horsley Florist, Malton
Hair: Bridal Hair By Lauren (York)
Make-up: Chloe Barr
Dress: Bridal Rogue Gallery, York
Bridesmaid dresses: Dorothy Perkins
Food and drink: Homegrown Hospitality
Venue: Birdsall House
Music/Band: Monotones Entertainment Ltd
Marquee: Florida Marquees Yorkshire Ltd
Cheese Tower: Love Cheese, York
Photography: Anoif Photography