Immersive & Dark Autumnal Yorkshire Woodland Fairytale Weddi

Oh, what a treat I have in store for you, with the Yorkshire woodland wedding of WWW readers Bobbie and Alejandro. It was all just exquisite.

With their flair for art and design, they really went all out with their fairytale theme. Think magical touches such as books, homegrown pumpkins, moss and gold accents, as well as glorious flowers. It was important to them both to be as eco-friendly as possible too and they sourced second-hand items as well as growing flowers for their confetti stand.

I’ve not even mentioned how gorgeous they both looked in their dreamy attire, hello feather gown! In fact, there is so much to be inspired by, I shall leave you to discover the magic of their day for yourself.

Mine & Thine Photography, thank you so much for sending over these glorious images of such a special celebration indeed.

I found Whimsical Wonderland Weddings while searching for autumnal woodland wedding ideas on Google. So much of what I saw on WWW inspired us and help us bring the aesthetic to life.

Yorkshire Woodland Wedding

The Proposal

Alejandro proposed on Bobbie’s 31st birthday in January 2019, after a visit to a restaurant where they had been on one of their early magical dates. The meal was followed up by a visit to the Chiswick Lantern Festival – Alejandro had even packed a comfy pair of boots and Bobbie’s warmest coat for the walk!

The proposal came in the rose garden, with a string quartet in the background playing their favourite songs from Romeo and Juliet (the Baz Luhrman movie).

The ring is a bespoke diamond and green sapphire ring, designed by Alejandro to represent the natural and organic nature of their relationship.

The Vision

We love immersive theatre, and we wanted the wedding to feel like stepping into a magical realm where you’re experiencing a romantic fairy-tale in action.

To start the ceremony, Bobbie’s Dad read out a fairy-tale he had written himself in Shakespearean style about a cursed prince, a forest frozen in time and the curse being broken by a magical crown of autumn leaves placed upon the head of the princess. This story set the scene and the theme ran through everything, with fairy-tale objects as table names, vintage books scattered through the forest, and the use of fruits and vegetables in the decor to show the renewal of the seasons once the curse was broken.

The colours were autumnal, with a dark green cake, rich reds and oranges in the locally grown wildflower bouquets, and dark green for the bridesmaids.

We asked the guests to stick to a colour theme with their outfits which makes the images look so rich and beautiful.

Budget

Around £30k (and this included a self-stocked open bar).

Your Outfits

Bobbie wore a one-of-a-kind Eliza Jane Howell dress from Bridal Rogue Gallery in Harrogate. It was a simple 20s style silhouette in lace made dramatic by a cascade of feathers from the hips down.

This was paired with a golden leaf crown to match the princess of the story, a veil and green velvet shoes to match the bridesmaids.

Alejandro wore a bespoke three-piece suit with the most amazing autumnal lining. His cufflinks were a gift from Bobbie on the day, chosen to reflect her dress, handmade from recycled silver, each one stamped with a single feather to create an imprint in the metal.

We gave the bridesmaids £50 each and they selected their own dresses in dark green. We hadn’t seen how the dresses would work together until the day and we think they look fantastic. With mismatching bridesmaids dresses, the look is really tied together by accessories of the same colour, similar hairstyles and makeup – and of course the bouquets.

The Ceremony & Music

Reminiscent of the engagement, a string quartet played throughout the ceremony – a variety of songs from Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge, Practical Magic and other favourite films. Bobbie walked down the aisle to Crystal by Stevie Nicks, and Alejandro to Everybody’s Free from Romeo and Juliet.

The ceremony took place in the woods, with the guests seated in a semicircle around the altar, which was created to look like it was growing naturally from the forest floor. It was a beautiful ceremony led by an incredible humanist celebrant called Rachael Meyer. We had guests bring offerings to celebrate the seasons, we lit a unity candle to represent absent family, exchanged personal vows and rings and finished with a handfasting.

The ceremony felt like such an amazing communion with nature – there were bees and butterflies flying around the bridal bouquet, birds seem to sing on cue and golden light filtered through the trees to spotlight key moments. Somebody even asked if we had set up lighting effects!

Your Photographer & Filmmaker

James and Lianne

The Styling & Decor

Where to start?! Alejandro is an art director and props specialist for Disney, so this was never going to be a simple affair!

It helped to have our strong guiding storyline, so we stuck to that completely, eliminating any ideas that didn’t fit the theme.

We used an event designer to help us bring the vision to life the day before and she was fantastic – Maria Jakulus from Detail. Styling. Maria set up the ‘vignettes’ that we created across the venue, including our favourite, the Bacchus shrine! We also had an army of family and friends helping out the day before.

Sustainability is really important to us, so we used second hand or organic materials wherever possible. You see pears and pumpkins used across the styling, these grew on our allotment in London and we painted them gold to really make them pop. We also grew (and accepted donations of) flowers throughout the summer and put the petals in the oven to dry them into confetti. We really loved our ‘pick your own confetti’ table!

The flowers were grown locally in Otley by The Allotment Florist, and many of them were native British wildflowers, which was why the bees and butterflies were so keen!

Many of the decorative items like the brass candlesticks and items on the tables were purchased second hand from charity shops and car boots sales. The golden olive armchair was picked up on Facebook marketplace.

The altar for the ceremony was created by hand stitching moss to chicken wire. In fact 50 boxes of moss were used on the day!

The cake was BEAUTIFUL – it was dark green with antique gold detailing and the most exquisite sugar flowers you have ever seen.

The Honeymoon

We spent 10 days between Mallorca and Barcelona for our minimoon, and this was a whirlwind of catching up with Alejandro’s family and friends who were unable to attend the ceremony in the UK. We are planning to do a big honeymoon next year to really relax and enjoy.

Memorable Moments

At dinner, Bobbie’s aunt and uncle presented us with this amazing heart-shaped oil painting of the two of us. It looks exactly like us and fits amazingly with the décor!

Bobbie’s Dad presented her beloved teddy bear Freddy during his speech! It was so funny because he hadn’t even needed to ask if he could borrow him because Bobbie had brought him with her to the venue!

Advice For Other Couples

Consider Karaoke! We paid the DJ an extra £250 to bring Karaoke equipment and it was SO MUCH fun! People were flitting between dance floor and Karaoke mic and absolutely loving it. We ended up staying awake and singing Karaoke until the small hours.

If you use moss for your table centrepieces, cut circles of plastic sheet, or cut up bin bags, to protect the tablecloth underneath! We learned this the hard way.

Go all out – be over the top. Really be you! Your wedding can be as unique and as whacky as you are. Choose a venue that supports you in this.

Brides – consider a veil! I wasn’t going to wear one, and then after wearing the silly one on my hen do decided that I would and it really pulled the look together and made me feel like a quintessential and timeless bride.