Wild & Rustic Glam Wedding by the Sea

I am absolutely loving Bex and Clare’s wedding, and I’m really excited to share it with you today. They wanted to pack as much fun and entertainment in as possible, gals after my own heart! There’s a lot of beauty in their day too, they have described it as rustic-glam and have asked if it’s a thing. If it’s not a thing, we’re making it happen because it sums up these nuptials just perfectly!

This gorgeous pair tied the knot on the 6th April 2018 at Newton Hall in Northumberland. Their style is in equal parts romantic, elegant and rustic. With a colour palette of navy, pink and touches of gold, from the bridesmaids’ outfits to the florals, everything is simply beautiful.

Bex and Clare fell in love with Craig of Mr & Mrs Wedding Photography‘s laid back style and it’s a joy to see these wonderful images. I think my favourites have to be the lovely beach shots, so special. Thank you for sharing these with us today Craig!

The Proposal

New year’s day 2017, our final day in Beadnell, Northumberland. Wet, -3 degrees, gale force winds. In typical Bex and Clare style, we set off for a brisk, frankly freezing, walk along Beadnell beach. I (Bex) was grumpy that the weather was so ridiculous, not knowing that Clare was planning to propose at the end of the beach or that she was lugging a bottle of prosecco and glasses in her sodden rucksack.

The weather eased up momentarily for Clare to get down on one knee. We sat on the rocks, drinking prosecco with hail stones falling all around us. Couldn’t have been more perfectly us really – safe to say that I said yes…and not only to get us out of the horrendous weather!

The Vision

We decided quite quickly on our main areas: food, music and something to pull all our ideas together!

We live our lives at 100mph and we wanted this to be reflected in our wedding day. So we embarked on finding lots of entertainment to keep our guests wondering what was coming next (a bit like our lives!)

Colour was easy – we both love navy. The blush pink followed as an accent and then my inner glam came out with a bit of gold throughout.

The Planning Process

I’m a control freak. I also have fairly good style so, the planning fell to me and Clare became a very important sous-chef.

I had meticulous spreadsheets, put together a wedding website, designed the stationary and then just got cracking with sourcing, contacting and booking in suppliers.

Thankfully on the day, I let go and Newton Hall couldn’t have done a better job.

The Readings & Music

Music is a massive part of both our lives. We have a very eclectic taste and really wanted music to bring the whole day together. From the acoustic guitarist, Richard, who played throughout ceremony and at the drinks reception, to my bridal party’s flash mob rendition of ‘We’ve only just begun’ by the Carpenters as part of my speech and then onto the North East Singing Waiters and a live band with bandaoke to wrap up the night. We really did say ‘Thank you for the Music’ it was just fantastic.

We knew we wanted our little boy, William, to do some of a reading and fell in love with ‘A Lovely Love Story’ by Edward Monkton. It went down a storm, once I’d changed all the ‘he’ references to ‘she’s’ and adapted it so it wasn’t quite as confusing for guests!

Budget

This went out of the water when I was diagnosed with cancer. Life seemed too precious and short to care! We did so much of it ourselves that we definitely saved a lot too.

The Venue

Newton Hall, Newton-by-the-sea, Northumberland. We fell in love with Newton Hall many years ago whilst walking up and down the coastline. It’s just breath-taking. We just couldn’t have got married anywhere else, especially since we got engaged up there.

The food was divine and every plate was emptied. The cocktails – Moscow Mule – was inspiring. The staff were so good that before I even asked for something they had it ready. Amazing.

Along with trips to The Ship Inn, Low-Newton-by-the-Sea and Newton Beach.

Your Outfits & Accessories

Both our dresses were by Essense of Australia and we bought them from Limelight Occasions in Lepton, Huddersfield.

We both have completely different shapes and whilst we wanted to complement each other, we also wanted to choose something that suited us.

Limelight was a fantastic experience, having tried a LOT of wedding shops around west Yorkshire, nothing compared to the attention to detail, style, skill and friendliness of Limelight.

We chose to have matching shoes (Carvella) and handbags (Moschino) to link us in to each other.

Beauty

Our make-up artist and hair stylist were utterly amazing. two brides, six bridesmaids, two mothers of the bride and two flower girls later – we wanted to hire them permanently to follow us around and make us look as beautiful on a daily basis.

Ashley Fehners, our make up artist, is based in Leeds and I can’t recommend her enough. She arrived on site at 6.30am and never stopped working until the ceremony at 1.30pm. She has amazing flare, great skill and really understands different face shapes, skin types and is just so lovely with it.

Emma Hill, our hair stylist, based in Newcastle, worked with our florist to create beautiful, rustic styles. She had a tough job with me as we’d not been thoroughly happy with my hair trial but she persevered until she’d transferred my vision in a perfect reality.

Bridesmaids

Our bridesmaids were like toby jugs and like with us, we wanted to make sure they were comfortable by choosing something that complimented their individual style and shape. As a result, we had a mix of dresses from high-street designers like Coast and Adrianna Pappell then more specialist designers like Sorella Vita.

We chose our favourite colours – navy, pink and gold. The gold made it less Jack Wills and added the touch of glam we wanted.

The Flowers

Sarah at Vintage Essence completely understood my vision from the first meeting. I was just so in awe of her ability to talk flowers but describe perfectly what I wanted.
She was always at the end of an email when I had a ‘great idea’ and often would make the idea even better.

We aimed for rustic – to contrast with the gold glam that was creeping in. It really worked. We two brides had huge bouquets of wild flowers and the bridesmaids had mini versions. We had a range of individual button holes as well. My Dad slaved away over wooden boxes for the centre pieces and Sarah filled them beautifully. She brought it all together, I couldn’t have done that bit without her.

The Cake

We’d always wanted a naked cake to go along with the rustic styling. We found Lyn at Bohemian Bakehouse by pure luck and our hour taster session was the most delicious part of the whole planning process. That woman can bake! We decided on three scrumptious flavours and apart from the two wooden birds (Etsy), clever eh, on the top of the cake, we just left Lynn to create a beautiful piece of art.

Your Photographer

We hunted for a photographer who worked around natural shots, less staged group shots and more ‘wow’. Craig didn’t disappoint (apart from the fact his company name is Mr and Mrs Photography – but I went for the irony!) . From the engagement shoot, we knew we’d found a gem. The wedding day was mad – we jam packed in as much as we possibly could and Craig was there to capture it all with such unbelievable flare.

He’s another supplier that we’d like to befriend and have them at our beck and call for great photos all the time ☺ Already trying to think of the next occasion!

Your Filmmaker

The film was to be a surprise for Clare. But it was too hard to keep on the day and I ended up telling her. Craig switched between camera and film – how I do not know. But he’s a bloody talent! We love our film. A memory to treasure.

The Details & Décor

We made a lot of the décor ourselves. The wooden ladders, signs, table plan, centre pieces, wooden boat table plans etc. All took some time before the wedding.

We packed the day full of entertainment too:
Richard Dudley played through the ceremony and drinks and canapes reception.
Canny Campers took us to the beach in their awesome camper van.
Rainbow flares in wellies, on the beach, with the bridal party.
The Bridesmaids did wonderfully hilarious speeches.
The North East Singing Waiters got us all singing and dancing before dessert.
Snaparazzi Photobooths dressed us up in funny hats and made us giggle.
The Bluehouse Band kept the dance floor busy all night and even let people join them to sing.
Night finished with sparklers.
The Master of Ceremonies embraced us, shattered and said ‘no one has ever tried to fit so much in’ Result. Vision achieved. Happy guests.

The Honeymoon

Still to come in the six weeks holidays. Budapest-Vienna-Prague-Berlin-Athens-Kefalonia. Unfortunately we can’t take the photographer or make up artist with us. Let’s hope we can capture the same amount of fun with just as much style.

Memorable Moments

Getting ready with all our favourite ladies.
‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ Flash Mob.
Getting blown away on the beach.
‘New York, New York’ guest circle around us with the singing waiters.
Just all of it really.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Your toastmaster was right, you did pack a lot in! Thanks for sharing all the shenanigans with us Bex and Clare! Rachel x