Belle Amour: Wedding Ideas Less of the traditional. More of the original.

Mister Phill is one of my very favourite storytellers. Especially as he uses a camera to tell the stories; it’s easier on the eyes :) I’m delighted to share two of Mister Phill’s stories with you; one this week and one next week both with a lovely Christmassy feel to them: I’m just not ready for it to be over yet! Today’s wedding is Kim & Huw’s, with true Christmas colours of red and gold making an appearance. Simon Fazackarley joined Mister Phill in capturing this wedding and the two of them did a bloomin’ good job!

The meeting

We met at Bournemouth University when we both moved into shared accomodation together. So the whole time we have known each other we’ve lived together! We’ve been together 6 years.

The proposal

I’d been away for a long weekend with my girlfriends in Deia, Majorca and returned one grey Monday morning; 13th July 2009. I had called Huw from the airport to say I had landed and was on my way home. He couldn’t really talk as he was in a meeting but said he’d text me. I started my journey back from Gatwick via train and then bus. I got a text from Huw just seeing how my journey was going as I got on the bus. When I got back to our flat there was a note on the door telling my to leave my bags outside and come in. I opened the front door and our hallway was covered in flowers, hearts and candles, it was beautiful.

I thought Huw may have laid out a suprise for me or something but then I was confused by the candles! My head was racing but I reached the end of the hallway, turned into the living room where Huw was on one knee and on the wall behind him, in massive red (cut out) letters spelt ‘Kim, will you marry me?’ I was completely suprised! It was so wonderful and so personal to Huw and I. I later found out that Huw had booked the long weekend off work too and organised the whole thing whilst I was away so I would have no suspicions what he was up to!

The wedding

Was wonderful. We both love Christmas so there was never any doubt in our mind we wouldn’t get married at such a magical and special time of the year.

We really wanted a relaxed, cosy but beautiful and glam wedding; Greyfriars House was the most perfect venue. We really wanted our guests to feel like they were in our home (relaxed enough to take their shoes off if they wanted)and Greyfriars’ cosy roaring fires, gorgeous decor and lush carpet really helped. Barrie Heptenstall, who owns Greyfriars, was fantastic, nothing was too much and he helped orchestrate the most wonderful wedding.

Throughout the whole planning process he was helpful and so accommodating. Another really important factor for us was the food, we wanted real, hearty honest but delicious winter food (nothing too showing or hard to eat!) The catering by Sally Iddles Fabulous Food was amazing! We had so many compliments. The photography was also so important to Huw and I (especially Huw, photography is a hobby of his) and Phill has lived up to and exceeded our expectations; we can’t wait to get all the final pics!

The flowers were also really important to me and we had the most wonderful florist: Alexandra Flowers. Our brief was gorgeous, funky, Christmas arrangements and we were bowled over by what Alex produced. The flowers were the most stunning part of the wedding, my bouquet was so beautiful it made me cry! We had Martini glasses and champagne bottles on the main fireplace, bursting with flowers and feathers; it was utterly stunning! She and her team certainly had their work cut out with 6 bridesmaids, 7 ushers and 2 best men, that’s a lot of bouquets and button holes, but they were amazing and made the wedding what we wanted!

I loved the getting ready part, it was so chilled and so much fun. My cousin (who was also a bridesmaid) did mine and the rest of the bridesmaids’ make-up, she did an incredible job and is so talented, her name is Hannah Martin and she worked miracles with me! We were getting ready in the huge pink bedroom upstairs whilst our guests arrived downstairs. A couple of times I sneaked out with my mum and listened to all our guests arriving, we poked our heads over the bannister but not so much so that anyone could see me! It was actually a really special moment standing with my mum listening to our wedding going on downstairs.

My mum walked me down the stairs and then my dad took my arm and walked me down the aisle, we walked down to Elvis Can’t Help Falling in Love With You. The ceremony was so perfect and we walked out to Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride which set the mood for the rest of the day perfectly!

Awesome images courtesy of Mister Phill & Simon Fazackarley

Any unmarried men, that may have read this post, take note of that proposal story because I don’t know a girl who wouldn’t love being asked in that way! The magazine style ‘Order of the Day’ with Kim & Huw in their Christmas hats was an especially nice touch, a fantastic souvenir for the guests! And I love a venue where you can get ready upstairs and walk to your wedding! Make sure you come back tomorrow to see the reception for this beautiful big day.

Debs

Photographer Details:
Mister Phill’s website
Contact Mister Phill
Phone: 07870 696248

Photographer Details:
Simon Fazackarley’s website
Contact Simon
Phone: 07976 047565

Tags: Christmas