Laura – “The moment I put Grace on by Augusta Jones I knew she was the one”
Today’s “I Chose Cicily Bridal” blog post features the lovely Laura who wore Grace by Augusta Jones for her New York styled wedding.
Enjoy reading all about Laura’s winter wedding day….
Laura & Craig – 12th December 2015
How did you meet your soul mate and how did he propose?
Craig and I met at Leeds festival back in 2012, the year after he popped the question. Taking me on a horse drawn carriage ride through Central Park on a winter break to New York.
Where was your venue and why did you choose it?
I was previously a wedding planner and when it came to choose the venue there was no competition, The Ashes Wedding Venue in Leek was the one.
The venue is a country paradise, from the moment you drive up The Ashes driveway you know that nothing else will compare, as soon as Craig saw the venue I could tell he was just as in love with it as me.
Describe the style of your wedding and why you chose it.
We had an New York themed wedding, with a family twist as we wanted to bring aspects of our childhoods to the wedding.
All of the stationary was had made by ourselves with a New York theme throughout, the table names were places we visited whilst in New York when we got engaged.
We went with a traditional fruit cake made and decorated by my Mum and Sister with a New York Theme, My dad had to mix the cake in a washing up bowl as the cake was so big!
There were endless trips to collect pine cones from Formby woods where I used to walk as a girl with my family, everyone got involved from her Auntie June, Mum and our beautiful flower Girls Maddie and Summer. Pinecone Christmas trees surrounded the venue windows and left the feel of a Christmas wonderland.
We had a sweetie table with all of the childhood sweets we had when we were younger and each guest received home made Bride and Groom truffle favours made by Mum and I.
Emerald green bunting handmade by myself along with lots of volunteers surrounded the courtyards of the venue and main reception room. Along with bunches of mistletoe hanging in the windows.
The tables were lit by candlelight, with hessian runners and wooden slabs cut from an old tree in my parents back Garden. Within the reception room there was a large LOVE sign as a feature to symbolise the poem that my brother wrote for our wedding which he read through the ceremony…not a dry eye in the room!
How did you find shopping for your wedding dress / would you do anything differently? / Advice for other brides?
When Craig and I first met we used to go to Ashby Del a Zouch for coffee and a mooch around the shops. From the first time I saw Cicily Bridal I knew that would be the wedding dress shop of dreams. As soon as Craig and I got engaged I made an appointment to try on the dresses made for princesses, from the first moment I stepped into Cicily with the smell of the candle burning subtly in the background I knew “She” would be in here.
The moment I put Grace on by Augusta Jones I knew she was the one. I felt like an absolute princess and it brought a tear to my Mum’s Eye when she saw me in it.
If you want a dream team then Cicily Bridal is the place to go. The moment you meet Victoria and Lisa you know that they are your fairy godmothers, there amazing and give some fantastic advice when choosing the dress of your dreams.
My sister bought one of the candles they have in the shop, my bridesmaids lit it for me whilst we got ready the morning of our wedding. It brought calmness to me to have the scent of shop all around me knowing that Lisa and Victoria helped me find the dress that I would be wearing to marry the man of my dreams.
How did you accessorise your dress, veil, headpiece, belts etc
I wore Ivory and Co accessories to complimented my dress which Craig brought for me as a wedding gift. I also wore a fur shawl and cathedral length veil which I purchased from Cicily Bridal when we bought my wedding dress.
What shoe’s did you wear?
I wore Miss Lower by Irregular Choice. I wanted something a little quirky to bring out my personality.
What did your bridesmaids wear?
We went for elegance when we chose our bridesmaid dresses. We chose the colour emerald green with it being a Christmas wedding. Long floaty dresses to the floor with a crossover neckline, ivory shoes and ivory pashminas to keep off the wintry chill.
Our flower girls Maddie and Summer wore Little ivory dresses, with teddy bear fleece jackets to keep them warm and lelli kelly shoes.
What was the grooms outfit, did he get to choose it!?
Craig and I decided at the beginning that we would both keep what we were going to wear as a surprise for each other for the wedding day. We were both in agreement with everything as almost everything was handmade by either Craig or myself. Mainly so that we both had a surprise on our wedding day.
He looked so handsome and had done an amazing job! He went for a light grey suit with cream waistcoats. The only thing I knew was that they were having green cravats…he made these himself as he wasn’t happy with the colour match the shop gave him. He’s a dab hand on the sewing machine now!
He accessorised his outfit with a pocket watch and a watch I bought him as his wedding gift. I also bought him little bits for the day like “mint to be mints” and tissues encase he should cry! Along with a copy of “do’s and don’t for husbands”.
What was the best moment of the day?
I think the best moment was the ceremony itself. We realised how lucky we were to have such amazing family and friends.
Our horse Spice and Chocolate Labrador Marley joined us for the ceremony. Marley at Craig’s side and Spice in the courtyard looking on waiting for us to come out as Mr & Mrs.
One of our close friends Fro had spent time selecting songs from Leeds Festival the year we met to sing and play on the guitar as guest walked in to take their seats for the ceremony.
My brother had written us a poem about Love and the way he see’s it with in our family, it meant so much to us as you could tell he put so much effort into it.
As a surprise for Craig I had arranged for his close friend and Usher Mark to sing “Love, Love Love” as we walked down the Isle! It was and Friends all joined in during the chorus. It was like the scene out of love actually!
What advice would you give brides to be?
Capture the moment, make sure that you go with the best photographer you can find as they are the ones that will capture your memories forever through photographs. Our photographer completed our dream team, Caroline was amazing throughout and even after the wedding.
Would you do anything differently?
You know what I don’t think we would, we surrounded our day with our dream team.
From the moment I woke up I knew that everyone had come together to make our day perfect. From the team at Cicily Bridal with my beautiful Wedding Dress, The Ashes Wedding planners and the suppliers we had chosen to help us complete our day the way we had imagined it.
We had complete faith in them all and knew the day would be perfect and I can honestly say that in our eyes it was.
Where did you go for a rest!? – Honeymoon!
We honeymooned in Perth, Australia. It was brilliant we did so much travelling, spent time at Margaret River and then traveled up the Coral Coast to Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort. It was perfect!
Looking back at your day, how would you describe it?
A complete and utter fairy tail, perfect in every way!