Cosy, Cottage Country Wedding, in her Aunt's Yorkshire Garden.

Inspired by their roots; Richard and Katie were both brought up in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside and they felt it important that their wedding would represent this. They were also lucky enough to have the chance to use Katie’s Aunt’s fabulous English garden as the location of their venue; this gave them a good start with the styling of their day. They hired a clear-sided, peeked marquee to hold the celebrations and they tastefully decorated it with pastel pinks, wooded textures, glass jars and rustic flowers and to give a country cottage feel to their shell-this they executed perfectly.

Katie and Richard wandering through the pine trees

With any DIY wedding you need to be prepared to be busy right up to the day of your wedding so it’s super important to be organised. Katie and Richard had a lot to do the week before their wedding; it’s a good job they enjoyed to process. I asked them for any advice they would offer other couples now that they’ve successfully accomplished their dream wedding.

The shell of a marquee totally transformed by Katie and Richard's efforts.

Country garden flowers in pot added the feeling they wanted and they were able to use them in their garden afterwards.

Keeping to that colour pallet a simple but beautiful kraft guestbook.

A memory and card station is a lovely ice breaker at your wedding, this was put together stunningly here too; Katie and Rich added instant cameras for guests to capture each other too.

Simple and 100% effective, a strand of Rosemary with a wooden hearty for place names.

Cosy, cottage country themed. 10/10 Mr and Mrs Jay it looks incredible!

Katie suggested that you make sure the décor ideas represent both of you so participation can be carried out together and alongside each other. She also advised allowing yourselves plenty of time to plan and prep along with putting it all together. They found writing down their ideas and categorising them under suitable subheadings kept things simple and helped them stay on track and motivated. E.g. Church, table décor, outside seating, followed by bullet-point ideas. They advised that seeing all their ideas in a list helped them to choose the best things that worked well together.

They also said that the best thing about their DIY wedding was when people made comments such as, this is so you and just the general compliments people gave them on their achievement.

Subtle touches make all the difference, look at how delicately wrapped the arch over the entrance to the church is.

Following the earthy theme with a pot vessel to hold the pretty cottage flowers.

A single statement floral arrangement at the front of the church can be a perfect way to lift the stonework inside.

For the country cottage styled day came some of the influence of the colour scheme, they knew they both liked the trend of pairing dusty pinks and navy. At first Katie had wanted her bridesmaids to wear navy too, but reflecting on the time of year they were getting wed, she later decided that dusty pink dresses would be more seasonally appropriate. Plus pairing this with the navy suited groomsmen kept the bridal party light and airy.

The dusty, pink dresses awaiting for their bridesmaids.

Whites and muted greens added perfectly to the girls' outfits.

The navy suites went perfectly with the white, rose button hole and dusty pink ties and pocket squares.

Katie and her bridesmaids, the dusty pink and simple baby breathe bouquets compliment her lacy dress.

Working that colour pallet perfectly, the bridal party looks rather dapper.

A bit of movement can really set off the dresses and bring life to any photograph.

After so much thought and planning going in to their day I was touched massively to hear about their favourite memories of the day…

Katie: “Walking down the aisle was my favourite memory. I was so nervous about crying (and I’m not a pretty crier!!) but as soon as I saw Rich stood at the alter a huge, goofy smile spread across my face. Happiness took over! It was also so special seeing both Rich and my close family and friends all together, supporting us.

Rich: Once the evening reception was well underway, Katie and I grabbed a bottle of wine and some pizza (evening food) and sat on the top table, just the two of us. We had chance to take everything in. It was amazing to see all of our guests enjoying themselves and we loved taking 10 minutes to ourselves to soak it all in and appreciate being, in the moment.

They would both encourage any of you to take this time at your wedding; the day goes by so quickly, it’s a massive blur of emotions one minute your getting ready the next, your Mr and Mrs and waving goodbye to your guests.

Enjoying a moment of peace.

Just the two of us.

Just so beautiful

For more tips on DIY weddings and ways to keep them eco friendly, check out this awesome blog I found the John put together!

Credits to:

Photography: Anoif Photography Flowers: The Mouse House, Pocklington Dress: Wed2B Bridesmaids Dresses: NFNC London Suites: Next Table flowers: The Range, York

Marquee: Florida Marquees Wedding breakfast: Happy Hogs Catering Evening Food: Bert's Pizzeria