Mr + Mrs Chatterley
Wedding Date: 6th August 2019 | Shustoke Barn
Instagram: @_lydiachatterley
Photographer: Green Antlers Photography
Martin and Lydia planned a gorgeous rustic theme wedding complete with lots of DIYs including a doughnut wall, a s'mores station and a sweet table - umm yum! Lydia wore a beautiful Essence of Australia gown with a handmade veil embroidered with the couple's initials and wedding date. Can we also talk about THAT bouquet...
Tell us about how you met and the proposal...
Nothing too exciting but we met at work. We’d been together roughly 4 years when he surprised me with a Christmas present - a holiday to Mexico the following March. My immediate reaction was “are you going to propose to me?” He said “I’ve got no money left I’ve spend it all on a holiday, so no!” Everyone was asking me if I thought he was going proposed and I told them what he said. Turns out he was and I’m just gullible!
He proposed to me in Mexico on the 15th March 2018, 2 days after my Birthday. I always said that I wouldn’t have wanted to be proposed too on my birthday or on Christmas day so 2 days after my birthday was fine! We were on a planned day trip visiting different parts of Mexico. We were on our way to a natural sinkhole where you could swim around and enjoy the scenery. We were swimming around when Martin swam over to a rock just out of the water so I followed. I swam up to him where he was holding the ring. (He had the ring in a secret pocket in his swim shorts all day) But I was so shocked I didn’t expect it at all. Evidently I said yes! He knows I would have hated a massive scene with loads of people around so it just being the two of us was perfect. Technically he didn’t get down on one knee either so made sure he done that when we got back!
Something Old – Moms handmade lace sewn into my dress
Something New- dress, shoes, jewellery
Something Borrowed – another piece of my mom's handmade lace sewn into my dress
Something Blue – “I DO” decals on the bottom of my shoes
Best wedding splurge?
Photographer and videographer. You have these pictures and videos for a lifetime so if anything, this is where you’d splurge! For me I really wanted two photographers – one so that they could be with martin while he and his groomsmen were getting ready and another for me and my bridesmaids. Sam and Diana were a perfect set up! They’re husband and wife and work really well together. We met them before the big day which was great and we spoke about all aspects of the day & how the planning was going.
Although a bit different for the videographer, we only had one, which also worked out fine. Eric was our videographer and he was lovely and very professional!
Tell us all about the dress...
I spent months of trying on multiple dresses and going to wedding shows to find my dress and being told I won’t get style of dress I wanted (strapless with a sheer boddice). I thought I would have had to settle for a dress I wasn’t complete in love with, at this point I felt deflated and the thought of wedding shopping was daunting. After looking at a few dresses online I came across one I liked and tried to find out where it would be stocked.
In the end I gave Dress Me Pretty a ring – they had the dress in stock. I had a phone consultation with Amy who was wonderful. She suggested I had a look at a dress by Essence of Australia – called Kylie. On first look online I wasn’t too sure, but I had already booked an appointment to go see the original dress I was interested in. Trying the original dress on I really, really like it. But thought since I was already there I may as well try on the dress that Amy told me about. As soon as I seen myself in the mirror, I had tears build up, at that point I knew it was my dress. I loved it, I still do and I’m so happy how everything turned out.
What was your favourite wedding purchase?
My Auntie very generously paid for me to have my veil made by a lady called Daisy Sheldon who hand-makes wedding veils. My Auntie wanted me to have something special and meaningful that I could keep hold of forever.
Tell us all about your wedding theme...
Our wedding theme started out to be quite a popular decision which is the rustic theme. However later on in the planning I realised I wanted a bit more so upped the rustic to – rustic glam – if that’s a thing. Although from the beginning I knew I didn’t want popular colours and wanted something a bit different so opted with brown tweed like suits and sage chiffon bridesmaids dresses. Throughout the wedding planning Pintrest & Instagram were amazing and I would spend a god knows how long just scrolling through each night for more inspiration.
What was your wedding budget – and did you stick to it?
We did try and have a budget. But it kind of went out the window. In the end we spent about 25K with a lot of help from family members which we are incredibly grateful for - we had our perfect day and just what we wanted.
Where did you find all of your inspiration?
Instagram and Pinterest - all my inspiration came from here. It’s where I found a lot of our suppliers!
Wedding must-have...
When people ask about a wedding videographer- and are they worth it? 100% YES! Originally, we weren’t planning on having a videographer and to be honest it was totally a last minute decision. But it was the best decision. I love looking back at our video it makes me smile every time.
Music
- Song you walked down the aisle to: Sam Smith – Latch (acoustic)
- Walking back up the aisle married: Simon & Garfunkel- Baby Driver
- Father Daughter Dance: Tim McGraw – My Little Girl
- First Dance: Lauv – There’s no way (feat. Julia Michaels)
Who was your favourite wedding supplier?
The Lanes – florist. I loved my florist Hannah Lane. I found her on Instagram and knew that I wanted her to be my florist for our big day. I met with her a couple of times to go over what I wanted - or what I thought I wanted. She assured me that nothing would be final until the week or so before the wedding anyway so even if I changed my mind on our original plans it wouldn’t matter. I did change my mind too!
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Were there any surprises on the day?
Weirdly - the weather. Leading up to the day I was so obsessed with how the weather was going to be it made me anxious. Throughout the morning while everyone was getting ready it rained non stop. When we were about to leave the cottage we were staying at to have a few photos outside it stopped. As soon as I got into the car, it stated again. Then as soon as I reached the venue it stopped. Its like everything was perfectly timed. It’s supposed to be good luck anyway if it rains on your wedding day!
Did you have have anything unusual at your wedding?
I wouldn’t really call it unusual, but we did have our dog, Dobby come to have some pictures with us after the ceremony. He loves people too so he loved all of the attention.
Who was your bride and groom squad?
I had four bridesmaids who were my best friends Jemma and Charlotte my cousin Leah and niece Abigail. Martin had his best friend Mat as best man and his groomsmen were Martins' brother Simon, my Brother Lewis and another one of our friends Richard.
What was the worst wedding planning moment?
Hair and makeup was a big thing for me on the day so planning for this was hard. And although my hair wasn’t a problem and I’d already had that booked in for the day. I’d never had my make up done professionally before so I went to a few trials before had which were unsuccessful.
I had a recommendation from a lady I knew. I had a trial and everything went well. Until I wanted to book in for another trial to finalise the look for the day for her to turn around and say she’s on holiday over the time of my wedding. My wedding was five weeks away… anyway to say I wasn’t happy was an understatement. However, honestly it turned out for the best anyway. Instagram helped me out again with this one. I found Holly Baker, she’s such a lovely person and so talented! On the morning of my wedding she got on with everyone like we’d all known each other ages, it was so relaxed and just a perfect non-stressful morning! I wouldn’t have had it any other way, all the stress was worth it in the end.
Did you make any Wedding DIYs?
- Bridesmaids + Groomsmen boxes
- Wedding Save the dates & invites
- Hangover kits + bottles of water
- Favour biscuits
- Smores station
- Wedding signage - we stained all the wood and had a sign writer that Martin knows through work to do the writing for us
Tell us about your wedding favours...
As wedding favours we had handmade shortbread biscuits with our names in the icing. Martins Mom Di helped us with the baking and myself and my bridesmaid Jemma did the decorating. We also had a little “leave a note for the bride and groom” cards that my brother made for us to have on the table with pencils so guests could fill them out- they’re a really good idea to have. They’re a laugh too reading them back! We also had hangover kits with bottles of water with handmade labels again with both our names on. In the hangover kit there was the usual paracetamol, plater, mints, tea bag /coffee in a little hessian bag which wrapped round the bottle of water.
Tell us about the food...
To this day everyone who attended our wedding will say that it was the best food they have ever had at a wedding and obviously we agree! As a starter we had leek & potato soup. For main we had a mixed grill- which included pork ribs, chorizo sausage & lamb chops all cooked on a BBQ out in the courtyard of the venue & rotisserie chicken . Served with seasonal veg, roast potatoes & gravy. We opted for this because we heard amazing things about it. It wasn’t served up like a normal meal at a wedding. All the food was delivered to the table and people would help themselves to what they wanted. It was a great ice breaker too for people who were sitting on a table with people they didn’t know. For pudding we had chocolate brownie served with ice cream.
What was the funniest moment of the day?
Dad dancing - literally. My dad is quiet, doesn’t drink loads but he let his hair down a lot at the reception. To the point he’s in the middle of the dance floor with everyone around him “OOH OHHing” cheering him on. One of the funniest things I’ve seen him do, and probably the funniest wedding photograph!
What was the most emotional moment of the day?
One of my favourite and emotional parts of the day, the Father + Daughter dance. I lost my mom when I was younger so this dance was super special to me. I’m a really emotional person and thought I would be crying all through out the wedding but some how I held back tears for the majority of the day. Until this point. Some people I know aren’t really keen on the father and daughter dance but loved every part of it. He picked the song too which meant a lot.
Tell us about your Honeymoon...
We both decided on New York. Martin had been before but I hadn’t, he loved it so didn’t mind going again. It was kind of a good thing too that he’d been before too because he knew what he was doing and where he was going - I just followed, it was great! Our favorite part of the holiday had to be a helicopter ride over New York. The sights you see are amazing I’d 100% recommend it to anyone planning on going!
Venue: Shustoke BarnPhotographer: Green Antlers PhotographyVideographer: Song Bird Wedding videosStationery: DIYFlorist: The LanesCake: Alison Taylor – Cake IceDécor: The LanesMUA: Holly Baker MUAHair: Hayley’s Hair DesignDress: Dress Me PrettyVeil: Daisy Sheldon EmbroideryShoes: Kurt GigerBridesmaids dresses: R&Z Dress WorldSuits: SlatersRings: Warstone Jewellers (Birmingham Jewellery Quarter)DJ: Agent JoePhotobooth: Friend
From Brides, With Love xo
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