Handmade Vintage Crafty Wedding with Medical Inspired Decor

Oh how I love a wedding which represents a couples’ personality and today’s real wedding does just that. Simon and Bethany were hitched in the summer months and following their church ceremony held their reception at Tullyveery House in Ireland.

They envisioned a handmade, vintage-inspired day that was personalised and fun. They had their loved ones contributing too, which I always love to see. Simon is a doctor and Bethany is a nurse, so they incorporated some quirky medical inspired decor, do look out for the cute centrepieces. There were some seriously gorgeous outfits, blooming beautiful florals and a lot of love all round.

Adam and Grace, thank you so much for sharing these divine images of a really happy celebration indeed.

Tullyveery House Wedding

The Proposal

Simon took me out for Sunday dinner to the Slieve Donard Hotel on the 2nd September 2018. He had told me he liked me 5 years previous in Newcastle car park but didn’t think I’d find this a romantic proposal spot. Afterwards, we went for a walk over the Murlough sand dunes. After a very specific path suggested by a usually relaxed Simon, I started to get suspicious. After the last climb, I found a collection of photographs and candles displayed with a hand-painted wood slice saying, “Will you marry me?” This ended up as an inspiration for our church décor when we got stuck into wedding planning.

The Vision

Our aim was to have a day that was fun and reflected our personalities. As Simon is a doctor and I’m a nurse, we thought it would be fun to have a vintage medical theme running through the day, as we both like things that are a little bit quirky.

The Planning Process

We started planning soon after we got engaged – we both enjoy art and making things so we knew we wanted to do as much ourselves as we could. It was a lot of fun brainstorming ideas, making Pinterest boards and seeing them come to life. With both of us working full-time jobs and shift work, we felt like every spare moment we had was filled with wedding planning, but we had a lot of fun in the process.

Budget

We tried to involve our family and friends as much as possible and by doing all the decorations ourselves, we were able to save a bit and ended up with plenty of souvenirs from the day.

The Venue

We secretly went venue hunting before we got engaged as we knew it was coming soon enough. Tullyveery House, Killyleagh was only the second we saw but we fell in love with it from the beginning. We wanted somewhere out of the way where we could share the day with just our guests. The idyllic scenery overlooking the Mourne Mountains with sheep in the fields looked just like home. This quirky venue was just us.

Your Outfits & Accessories

My mum initially had to talk me out of making my own wedding dress, so she was set on taking me shopping. I had seen a dress I liked a few months before getting engaged and thought there would be plenty similar to that style but after trying on about 60 options, I finally went back to Perfect Day where I had originally seen it. After trying it on, I knew it was the one! I liked the thought of adding beads to the back which I made myself, adding my own touch to my outfit.

Simon’s suit was from Statement Menswear, Portadown. After I tried to convince him to have a full burgundy suit, we had to agree on a mix of navy and tan, which suited our vintage look well.

The Readings & Music

Our service took place in Bethany’s church, Kilkeel Baptist Tabernacle. As a Christian couple, it was important to both of us that our day was Christ-centered. My pastor did the vows and Simon’s minister conducted the sermon. We chose our favourite hymns and bible verses. Friends and family did readings, played instruments and sang while we signed our register. Our service was a very special part of our day.

The Flowers

Our florist was a close family friend, Elizabeth Bell from Annalong – now retired as a florist and only does friends and family weddings. We were so pleased with our beautiful flowers, which perfectly complimented our vintage theme and style.

The Cake

Hollie Berrie Cakes, Scarva. Our brief for Hollie was to go wild and do what she liked. We gave her our colour scheme and she worked her magic creating 3 incredible cakes, which looked and tasted amazing.

Your Photographer

Simon was in charge of choosing photographers and had always loved Adam and Grace’s work. After talking me into doing an engagement shoot, they made it so casual and not stressful at all. They were great on the day and you don’t realise how many photos they’re taking because they’re so calm and professional about it all.

The Details & Décor

We had so much fun doing all the details. Simon drew all the elements to create our order of the day board and painted the photo board. I sewed all the bunting, made the favours and between us, we hand-painted all our signage. Our dads cut down forests to make all our wood signs and my mum decided to knit the wedding party! We may have got a bit carried away doing all the details but we loved creating it all!

Beauty

Makeup by the very talented Claire McKinney, based in Lisburn. Hair by KN Hair in Kilkeel also did a fantastic job on the day.

Groomsmen

The boys were kitted out in suits to complement Simon’s vintage style from Statement Menswear, Portadown.

Bridesmaids

We chose the bridesmaids from Perfect Day, Lurgan, matching in with the colours of the day and the beading details matched my dress.

The Honeymoon

We ended up having to rebook our honeymoon after the bombings in Sri Lanka but it wasn’t too much hassle. Clubworld Travel in Banbridge were fantastic after they had to rearrange the whole trip when Sri Lanka was no longer an option. We instead spent a week exploring Capetown in South Africa and on safari, then relaxed for a week in Mauritius. We had a great time – highly recommended!

Memorable Moments

It rained the whole hour’s journey from the church to the venue. Our afternoon plans were garden games and a drinks reception. We realised we had never actually discussed what to do if it rained. Thankfully after a few wet photographs, the sun appeared, and we spent the afternoon playing games and evening outside around the firepit. We fondly remember guests flinging inflatable pigs around and some dodgy dance moves later on. All our families and friends got on like one big family and it was so special to have everyone there. Our day was so much more than we imagined. We loved every minute, and everyone commented on the love and effort we had put into making it our own.

We will also never forget our amazing food from Jane’s Kitchen. It was simply was incredible! They were so professional throughout; service was fantastic and the pudding bar was a real spectacle. Jane’s menu was delicious.

Advice For Other Couples

Enjoy it all – don’t do things because people tell you you have to, just do things the way you want to do them and make the day your own.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Well wasn’t that all just stunning?

Simon and Bethany thank you so much for sharing your wonderful Tullyveery House wedding with us.