Kim and Chris met through a mutual friend and fell in love on a group holiday in Torquay.  They moved in together less than a year later and now live in Stockton with their two cats Zimba and Ozzie.

The Proposal

There was no proposal as such, from early on in their relationship they knew they wanted to be together and would marry, and started looking at wedding venues after they had been together for 2 years.

Wedding Theme

Kim and Chris decided on a vintage tea party theme, with pastel colours including dusky pinks and ivory.

The Bride and Groom’s Outfits

Kim designed her own wedding dress, commissioned by Laura Day Bridal in Middlesbrough.  Inspired by the 1950’s, particularly Audrey Hepburn, Kim started to gather photos, magazine cuttings, real wedding photos and her own sketches.  With Laura Day Bridal she used a mood board to create her perfect dress, and used the finest silk for an authentic 1950’s look and feel.  The dress was detailed with a simple bow made from the same silk and hand sewn Swarovski crystals, and the back of her dress had silk covered buttons.

Kim chose a shoulder length veil with Swarovski crystal drops, also from Laura Day Bridal.  Although she had not planned on having a veil, Kim’s mum asked her to try one on and she fell in love with it.

Chris hired a grey three piece lounge suit from Bakers in Middleton St George, which he wore with an ivory tie.

The Bridal Party

Kim had three bridesmaids, her eldest sister and Chris’s sisters, who wore Alfred Sung 1950’s style dresses in begonia, and Kitten sandals from Faith.  Kim’s youngest sister wore a dress made by her Grandma with ivory silk and ribbon, and coloured fabric heart buttons on the back.

The male members of the bridal party wore matching grey three piece suits with silver ties.

Transport

Kim travelled with her mum in a 1969 camper van called Tilly, hired from Lovedubcars.  “Tilly was beautiful and was the talk of the wedding!”

Flowers

Kim and Chris had a few different ideas for the flowers at their wedding.  At the church they had spring flowers, which were displayed at the end of the pews in zinc buckets, and the bouquets and buttonholes were provided by Hilary Maddren.  Kim’s bouquet had a ring tied into it that was left to her by her grandma.

The table centrepieces were arranged by The Wild Bunch Florist in Sunderland.  Kim met them at a wedding fair where they dressed a banquet table with moss.  Kim loved how different yet beautiful it looked and arranged a meeting there and then.  Kim and Chris had 13 table centrepieces, which were a mixture of bought and hired items from Elegantly Funky.  The centrepieces were either cream vintage watering cans, cream vintage cake stands or vintage bird cages.

The Ceremony & Reception

Kim and Chris had a Catholic ceremony at Holy Rosary Church in Billingham.  They had two readings and 110 guests attended.

The wedding reception was at Danby Castle.  It was everything Kim and Chris were looking for in a wedding venue; quirky, unique and flexible, with absolutely stunning views of the North Yorkshire Moors.

The Cake

The wedding cake was vintage inspired, bought from Kelly-Ann's Cakes.  Kim took along some ideas of what they were looking for and together with Kelly-Ann they came up with a design for a three tier cake. One tier was carrot cake with lemon mousse filling, the next was chocolate cake with a Cointreau filling and the final tier was a traditional fruit cake.  The cake was simple yet elegant, decorated with large sugar roses, and was in keeping with the vintage theme of the wedding.

The Photographer & Videographer

Kim and Chris used Karen McGowran Photography.  As soon as they saw samples of Karen’s work they knew she was the right photographer for them.  Group shots were kept to a minimum as they wanted lots of natural shots of the guests throughout the day.

Total Memories were booked to film the wedding day.  Kim and Chris are delighted with their ‘Best Bits’ video, which is a 4 minute snap shot of the day that “really captures how we felt and how totally blown away we were by everything”.  You can view the video here.

Details

Kim and Chris had several little details which helped to bring their wedding together and make it personal to them.  They hired vintage china, including teapots which were dotted around the venue, silk organza bows and a single carnation were attached to the back of every chair, and each place setting had a Cath Kidston napkin with some vintage ribbon and a single stem carnation.

Kim made baskets of rugs for the guests in case they got cold during the evening, and there was a very cool ‘Adults Keep Out’ area for the kids, which was filled with more toys than a child could wish for.  Kim and Chris even provided luxury portable toilets that had DVD players playing ‘Love Actually’.

Great thought even went into the drinks, where they provided 1950’s cocktails called ‘Kinky Pink’ for the ladies, and bottles of Corona for the men.  There were also little ‘Drink Me’ signs scattered around the drink trays.

Bride’s Top Tip

“Think as a couple what you really want from your wedding day and talk as much as you can.”

Groom’s Top Tip

“Make sure you learn your speech, and make sure you have the day that you both want as a couple.”

Best Buy

“I think from the guest’s perspective it was the ice cream van!”

Money Saving Ideas

“Ask for a discount everywhere.  Doesn’t always work but any discount helps!”

To view more fabulous pictures from this real wedding take a look at The Real Wedding of Kim and Chris 26/06/2010 post on The Wedding Community Blog.

Photography: Karen McGowran Photography

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