Gorgeous Thrift Store Find Dress for Handmade Hereford Water Garden Wedding
This beautiful handmade wedding, is truly inspirational. Lucy and Mark’s celebration shows just how brilliant a day you can create when you are lucky enough to be surrounded by wonderful friends and family to help you enjoy the journey of planning your wedding. The couple and their family and friends created almost every element of the day themselves, with the help of some well chosen wedding suppliers. I love all the little details, the personalised ceramic napkin holders made by Lucy’s mum, an artist, the handmade bridesmaid dresses, the shawls knitted by the bride and the stunning flowers, many arranged by the wedding party.
I also adore the fact that Lucy didn’t plan to get her stunning wedding dress from a charity shop, that it was just serendipity. It fits her perfectly, was such a lucky find and was also for a good cause! So brilliant all round. I’ve always loved the line from that Sheryl Crow song, If It Makes You Happy;
“We went searching, through thrift store jungles, found Geronimo’s rifle, Marilyn’s shampoo and Benny Goodman’s cursive pen”
Because its true, you do never know what wonderful charity treasures you’ll find and what stories you’ll imagine or new memories you’ll make. I once found a dress for a student ball rummaging around our local charity shop, it was amazing, a pale blue vintage 1970’s halter neck chiffon dress…it fitted me perfectly, I loved it, it made me feel incredible when I wore it, it was just perfect! So get rummaging folks, you never know what gems you might find, maybe even a perfect dress like Lucy.
Lucy and Mark were married on the 23rd of July last year in the beautiful surroundings of Westonbury Mill Water Gardens in Hereford, they chose a great guy, Che Birch-Hayes Photography for their wedding. Che has a wonderful relaxed and gentle style, capturing the emotions and all the details in an authentic and charming way, the light and colour in his photography is captivating. So let me now hand you over to bride Lucy to tell you more about their day;
The Engagement
We met whilst studying at university in Newcastle in 2009. We got engaged in June 2015 on the side of a hill in the Cotswolds.
The Venue
We found the most amazing venue partly by chance – it was a outdoor water gardens, Westonbury Mill Water Gardens that is incredibly natural so this inspired the rest of our wedding.
The gardens looked really beautiful and matched the natural style we were looking for. The owners were lovely, and spent a lot of time answering our questions. They had only hosted a few weddings before and were therefore very open to accommodating anything we wanted.
The Dress
The dress was bought from Clic-Sargeant charity shop. I went in with my mom and godmother for fun. After a few…interesting… dresses, they gave me this one to try on. It fit perfectly and I loved it so that was it!
I also wore my mom’s veil, some leather boots from a vintage shop, A necklace with Whitby jet (a family tradition) and fresh flowers in my hair.
Hair and Make Up
Lucy’s gorgeous hair was styled on the day by talented wedding hairdresser Tabitha MacCurrach-Paine , with her pretty natural look make up by Grace of Grace Beauty.
Grooms Threads
Mark’s suit was from House of Fraser, with a tie from BHS. He also wore some Marvel cuff links a gift from Lucy on their wedding day.
Photography
The couple chose Che Birch-Hayes Photography to capture their celebrations. Their wedding planning was trans-continental as Lucy was in South Africa for a lot of it of the times;
As well as having pictures we loved, Che was willing to Skype Mark in the UK and me in South Africa! Che was friendly, unpretentious and genuinely wanted to listen to what was important to us and our families. He made an effort to see the venue prior to the wedding to get ideas and to hear ours. We loved his enthusiasm throughout, and appreciated his respectfulness on the day.
Handmade Bridesmaids Dresses
The pretty bridesmaids dresses in different colourful fabrics were all handmade by the bridal party, a huge task, but worth it as they looked amazing;
Stupidly, we decided to make all the (seven) bridesmaids dresses ourselves. The fabric was from George, South Africa, and Hereford. Dresses were made by Lucy, Mark’s mom and the bridesmaids.
Their shoes were from Clarks and the girls wore fresh flowers in their hair. All the bridesmaids shrugs were handmade too, knitted by Lucy and her mom. Their necklaces were made by Isla Clay.
The Ceremony
My Aunt Joyce played a processional and recessional that she had written and played at several of my family members’ weddings. It was somewhat of a challenge getting a piano into a field, but it was completely worth it!
The dress was bought from Clic-Sargeant charity shop. I went in with my mom and godmother for fun. After a few…interesting… dresses, they gave me this one to try on. It fit perfectly and I loved it so that was it!
Flowers
Lucy’s bridal bouquet, the corsages and buttonhole were all created by the incredibly talented Caroline Ede of Rough Acre Wedding Flowers.
The rest of the flowers were from flower wholesalers in Spaulding, Lincolnshire. This allowed us to get a tremendous range of colours and flowers. We had a great team of friends and family putting together the bridesmaids bouquet and decorations, led by Mark’s mom and sister in law. Jenny, Marks sister decorated an archway with the foliage from Mark’s parents garden and the flowers.
Stationery and Favours
The Save the Dates and the invitations were designed by my sister, Rosie. We couldn’t have been more pleased!
Our wedding favours were a bag of wildflower seeds and a personalised handmade ceramic napkin ring (the perks of a mother who is an artist!)
We found the most amazing venue partly by chance – it was a outdoor water gardens, Westonbury Mill Water Gardens that is incredibly natural so this inspired the rest of our wedding.
The Marquee
The couple sourced their marquee from Burgoynes Marquees of Lyonshall, Herefordshire;
We chose Burgoynes because they were local, friendly and very adaptable to our needs.
Catering
Our catering was done by Ruth Watson and her fantastic team. They did a fantastic job at catering for a wide range of diets and everything they produced was delicious.
Lawn Games
The guests were entertained in the beautiful surroundings of the water garden and the weather was perfect for it.
The Cake
One of the bridesmaids, Hess, handmade the cake, which was a beautiful cake with a layer each of baileys, chocolate and cardamom, and lemon.
Entertainment
We were so lucky with the band that we hired, who were called Hope Street. They were incredibly talented, and they pitched the set list perfectly. All of the guests were up and dancing the entire time!
First Dance
Lucy and Mark took to the floor in their gorgeous marquee for their first dance, choosing the Ellie Goulding song ‘How long will I love you’
Thank you so much to the newly wed’s Lucy and Mark, for allowing me to share their wedding on Adored Bride today. Big thanks also go to Che Birch-Hayes Photography for these beautiful images.
with love
Photographer – Che Birch-Hayes Photography | Venue – Westonbury Mill Water Gardens | Marquee – Burgoynes Marquees | Bride’s Dress – Clic-Sargeant | Hair – Hair by Tabitha MacCurrach-Paine | Make Up – Make Up By Grace | Bridesmaid’s Handmade Dresses – | Bridesmaids Necklaces – Isla Clay | Groom’s Suit – House of Fraser | Grooms Tie – BHS | Bride’s Bouquet – Rough Acre Wedding Flowers | Entertainment – Hope Street | Catering – Ruth Watson|
What a Lovely Setting for a wedding