Relaxed Boho Wedding With Purple Accents

WWW readers Ashleigh and John wed at Cressbrook Hall on the 10th March 2018. Their venue is beautiful as it is, so they didn’t go too wild with additional décor, instead opting for a rustic, boho and relaxed vibe. There are subtle hints of purple all around and lots of gorgeous florals.

I’m loving Ashleigh’s leather jacket which fits perfectly with the boho vibe. She plumped for two dresses, one which was easy to dance in for the evening and her glamorous daytime look was a gorgeous gown with sweetheart neckline and full A line skirt. Dapper groom John’s outfit was from Ted Baker, the check really stands out and isn’t the floral tie made by a friend something special?

Our pair met Paul Joesph Photography at a friend’s wedding and knew they would be perfect to photograph their day. The surroundings of Cressbrook Hall are just stunning and Paul and Kelly have captured the magical landscapes and misty atmosphere wonderfully. Thank you for sharing the images with us!

The Proposal

On a beach (surrounded by coral reefs) at Recif Attitude Hotel, Mauritius.

The Vision

As chilled as possible, purple themed, in a country manor/stately home

The Planning Process

We won a competition with Bespoke Weddings (Ashleigh forgot she’d even enter the competition so that was an awesome surprise!) and received a discount off of the venue. Louise at Bespoke set up meetings with Cressbrook Hall then we used her mainly to man our website and to help with some vendor ideas. We did most of the planning and preparations together in our spare time.

Budget

Under £30,000

The Venue

Cressbrook Hall, Peak District. Rather than not doing Cressbrook any justice with trying to describe how breathtaking the venue it, the photos say it all! The staff there were brilliant, helpful and relaxed, which was exactly the vibe we wanted.

The Dress & Accessories

Dress one daytime, Wed2Be, dress 2 evening, David Bridal (hand dyed by Ashleigh).

Accessories: veil handmade by Ashleigh, purple wedge day shoes by Melissa, evening shoes were customised glittery lilac vans trainers for the ultimate comfort, leather jacket from River island and Sophia (bridesmaid) did everyone’s make up (big shout out!).

Groom’s Attire

John’s suit was from Ted Baker (chosen for the purple trim and the funky lining). His shoes were a pair of oxblood Loakes gifted by good friend Peter, who owns Peters Shoes (Nottingham and Sheffield). The ties were made by Ashleigh’s long-time friend Anee Karimi. When she told us that she was had begun to make ties, we both agreed that John and the groomsmen weren’t going to get better!

Finding the Dress

Ashleigh went to a number of boutiques in the Sheffield area with patient Sheffield-based friends (as Ashleigh’s bridesmaids are based in London and The Ribble Valley) to get a feel of styles that suited her shape. A friend suggested visiting Wed2Be and found the dress on the second visit with her Mum. She absolutely fell in love with the subtle leaf design on the underlay. The Evening dress style was chosen for its ease to move (and dance) in.

The Cake

Philippa at Cakes by Cherrypie, Sheffield is unbelievable! We found her by chance, set up a cake tasting and fell in love! We had sent over a few ideas of cakes we liked aspects of, what we wanted the flavour each tier to be and Philippa did her thing! We had a four tier semi naked cake (vanilla sponge and cherry filling; honey and spice sponge with a salted caramel filling; lemon drizzle cake with a raspberry filling and a carrot and walnut sponge with a vanilla filling) with rosemary, lavender, lilac roses and eucalyptus leaves (supplied by Plantology) to decorate.

The Readings & Music

We had lots of support from our fabulous priest, who gave us lots of ideas and suggestions for readings and hymns. We ended up choosing 1 John and Songs of Solomon. As the church has a fantastic organist and we didn’t want a CD to play the music, Ashleigh decided to enter to Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary, have Claude Debussy’s Arabesque 1 whilst signing the register and leave to Widor’s 5th Organ Symphony.

Beautiful Bridesmaids

Ashleigh knew from before the engagement who she wanted to have her back no matter what, Sophia, who is Ashleigh’s voice of reason and friend since primary school and Rhiannon, who is Ashleigh’s new sister-in-law and such a wonderful woman! Ashleigh was very relaxed with the bridesmaids’ outfits, she gave them three shades of purple and told them that they could wear what they wanted (within reason!) The bridesmaids decided to chose dresses from Wed2Be- two chose the same dress by chance and John’s sister chose a slightly different design and shade of purple.

The Flowers

Plantology, Sheffield were really great! We sat down for our initial consultation the year prior to see the sorts of plants and flowers available in March, discussed our colour scheme and the florists, using their magic, created the stunning bouquets for Ashleigh and the bridesmaids and the groomsmen and mothers’ buttonholes we all simple yet fragrant, lavender, rosemary and roses for the mothers.

Your Photographer

We actually met Paul and Kelly from Paul Joseph Photography at a friend’s wedding in October 2017. We loved how relaxed they made everyone feel, having a chat with the guests and even having a good old boogie at one point. When we saw their photos, we knew they were the ones. All you can ask of a vendor is to be friendly and helpful, and both Paul and Kelly went above and beyond!

The Details & Décor

As Cressbrook Hall’s interior is beautiful in its own right, we decided that we didn’t want to overdo the decor and have it quite rustic. The wooden table names were from Confetti Print (which our guests loved and took as a keepsake) – simple yet very effective! The homemade alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink favours were also placed on the tables and then we had small floral centrepieces (supplied by Plantology) to enable guests to be able to talk to each other.

The Honeymoon

As Ashleigh is a teacher, this limits when we could go. We went to Bali in the Summer holidays (we had to try to top Mauritius!) which was an epic experience and such a lush, welcoming island. We also went during a time of earthquakes but didn’t let the shakiness stop us having the best time!

Memorable Moments

Our first dance. Ashleigh danced from childhood and John lacks dancing coordination so we just danced like fools to Bondax’s Giving it all. Or drinking “Wickham’s wedding water” in draught. Or the priest dropping John’s ring near a grate at the church (Ashleigh’s dress saved the day!).

Advice For Other Couples

Everyone tells you that weddings are stressful and they are, so if you are going to stress, do it before the day so that your day is a breeze.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Just gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing Ashleigh and John! Rachel x