Fun & Personalised Wedding With Colourful Blooms

WWW followers Liza and Adam’s Left Bank Leeds wedding which took place on the 10th August 2018 is a real beauty. Whilst our pair stuck to tradition in some aspects of the planning, they also injected plenty of their own personality with their own ‘nerdy’ pop culture references as well as Brambly hedge touches – who remembers this one from their childhood?

The colours of the florals are really quite something, and thanks to a competition that Liza and Adam won, they were able to have even more blooms than they’d budgeted for. The results are really stunning. I think you’re going to love all the other touches too, I love the idea of having a fish bowl on each table with objects relevant to the theme inside, very clever!

The beautiful images come courtesy of Amber Marie Photography and her associates Danni and Rosie, aren’t they gorgeous? Thank you so much for sharing with us Amber. Enjoy this one WWWers!

The Proposal

We were on holiday in Iceland, and Adam had planned a surprise proposal under the northern lights. Unfortunately the clouds had other ideas, so he popped the question back at our hotel. Unfortunately I was in the middle of getting undressed at the time, so now our proposal story involves me having my trousers round my ankles!

The Vision

Our vision for the wedding was for a fun day eating good food, drinking, and dancing with our nearest and dearest. Aesthetically we wanted an English country garden look inspired by the Brambly Hedge children’s books, with boho touches and wildflowers. We also had to incorporate nerdy pop-culture elements to pay tribute to our shared fandoms.

The Planning Process

As I work in project management, I’m a bit of a planner, so started budgeting and planning straight away after we got engaged (we had already been together 12 years!). This gave us nearly two years to pull everything together, which I would highly recommend.

Budget

Our budget was £10,000 thanks to help from our parents, and we couldn’t have had the day we did without them. We were really lucky and won a facebook competition for £1000 worth of flowers, which meant we were able to get a lot more than we originally budgeted for!

The Venue

We picked out Left Bank early on in the planning, as it provided a beautiful space, right near where we both grew up. It’s such a hidden gem! As we had a Humanist ceremony, we went to Leeds Town Hall in the morning to make it legal.

Your Outfits & Accessories

My dress was the Lyra dress from Wed2b. I can’t recommend them enough, as I was able to try on the actual dress, in my size. I tried on the Lyra on my first shopping trip, and when I kept comparing every other dress I tried to it, I knew I had to go back and get it. It was perfect for me, so floaty and boho, with loads of leafy and floral details. I wore it with a belt I got online cheaply (eBay I think), and had the train removed by a seamstress.

Adam’s suit was from Slaters, which he wore with a mismatched waistcoat for a more boho feel. The ties and pocket squares were from Next.

Beauty

My hairdresser was Rachel Miller. As soon as I started speaking to her she just ‘got’ my style and what I wanted to achieve. So much so she is now my regular hairdresser. I wore a crown braid with fresh flowers provided by our florist.

I did my own makeup, as I previously trained as a makeup artist. I’m also a bit fussy and don’t think I would’ve trusted someone else to do it.

The Readings & Music

Adam’s niece Chloe gave a reading of ‘Dear Friends’, which she delivered beautifully. My sister Alice read ‘Union’ by Robert Fulghum, which provoked a few tears 🙂 We walked down the aisle to ‘Soon or Never’ by Punch Brothers, and exited to ‘You and Me’ by Sara Watkins. Our evening entertainment was provided by The Distance, who played our first dance, ‘Day Too Soon’ by Sia. Unbeknownst to us, my Dad had also secretly written a song, which the band also performed, which was incredibly special and emotional.

Groomsmen

The groomsmen’s suits were from Slater’s to match Adam’s. Our friend Jo was Adam’s best woman, and wore a dress of her own in navy to match the suits.

Bridesmaids

The bridesmaids’ dresses were from ASOS. They were so pretty, and reminded me of Needle and Thread’s gowns. My flower girl, my niece Bonnie, wore a dress from Debenhams to match me.

The Flowers

Flowers were provided by Gabriella Brook, who took my direction of ‘wildflowers’ and really went to town. The floral arch in particular was absolutely spectacular.

The Cake

The cake was made by my cousin Karen, and it has to be my favourite cake I’ve ever seen. She hand made all the sugar flowers and berries, based on the wedding cake in the Brambly Hedge books. The toppers were Royal Doulton mouse figurines.

Your Photographer

Our photographers were Danni and Rosie, associates of Amber Marie Photography, who was due to have her baby at the time of our wedding. Amber edited the photos and still handled everything for us. We couldn’t be happier with the outcome, as we have so so many gorgeous photos of us and our friends and family enjoying the day.

The Details & Décor

The centrepieces were made for us by my sister’s partner, who did an incredible job with them. Each one represented a different film, game or tv show we both love. He put in so much work and it really paid off!

Our invites and table plan were designed by a friend, and tied in the wildflower theme with hidden hints of the nerdy elements.

The Honeymoon

Our honeymoon was a relaxing week in Corfu. It was a relief to sit by the pool and do nothing after the mania of planning a wedding!

Memorable Moments

Number one has to be the band playing my Dad’s song. I knew that he had written it as soon as they started, and I was in floods! The biggest hit with our guests was the ice cream van we hired. It was a standard van, not a fancy wedding one, but our guests all loved having a 99.

Advice For Other Couples

Make your budget before you do anything, research it well so it’s realistic for your area and then stick to it! Speak to each other and focus on what your priorities are. Don’t randomly buy things as soon as you get engaged. The big suppliers are where your budget should go, details you can do last minute. I would also say to remember why you are doing this. It’s to be married to your partner, not just for the sake of a party. Being able to plan our Humanist ceremony really helped with this, as we had to dig deep and talk about our reasons for doing this thing!

Credit Where Credit Is Due

What a wonderful, personal day you had Liza and Adam. Thank you for sharing everything with us. Rachel x