A Relaxed and Romantic Wedding in Whitby

Morning all! Given we've got many beautiful weddings to share with you over the coming weeks, we've been working extra hard to schedule some Saturday posts in, after all, it's lovely to have something new to browse through over the weekend isn't it? Some of you may recognise this couple from this film we featured sometime ago, produced by Mark W. Brown, (sharing again today because it's so lovely). Couple Annabelle and Andrew tied the knot in my beautiful and much loved home town of Whitby, on 18th May this year, with a ceremony at St Cuthbert’s Church in Kirkleatham, followed by a reception at Raithwaite Hall. Today, I take pleasure in sharing this couple's full wedding with you, courtesy of photographer Lissa Alexandra.

"Andrew and I wanted a classically styled wedding so that it would stand the test of time, but not so traditional that it lacked elements of our personality. As a dedicated blog reader – and fan of Love My Dress, I took a lot of inspiration from real brides and found myself drawn to vintage style and home-made, DIY elements. I love natural papers, raffia, hessian and lace and tried to incorporate them wherever possible."

"Andrew and I met on a night out through mutual friends in 2008. I didn’t have the confidence to speak to Andrew at first (despite his best efforts), but we both found we pestered our friends with more and more (lame) excuses to go on nights out just to spot each other and get talking.

Talking soon led to dating, and four happy years, a house and a dog later, Andrew proposed and we were married in May 2013."

"We chose to get married in Whitby because it's a place that has always been really important to us. When Andrew and I first started dating we used to visit all the time, walk up the 199 steps to the abbey and enjoy walks along the beach and the pier with our fish and chips. It's where we first realised we had a future together as a couple so it will always have a place in our hearts.

When we visited Raithwaite Hall, we knew it was the venue for us. It was a mix of traditional and contemporary which suited both our styles. The staff were outgoing and the grounds were breathtaking. Claire, our wedding co-ordinator, could not have been lovelier, or done more for us, she was fantastic. We felt very comfortable there – nothing was too much trouble."

"Andrew has always wanted a tailor made three piece suit and we were recommended to Reiss tailoring service. They didn’t disappoint; it was immaculate and the service was excellent. His shoes were by Paolo Vandini."

"I saw our Florist, Adam Prest, at a wedding fair – he’d dressed the whole room with flowers and I loved how creative he was and I can honestly say I’d never seen arrangements like it before. On our first meeting I gave him a fairly open brief as I wanted to give him the freedom to be creative.

I didn’t have any set colours for the wedding except that I preferred a palette of pastille colours that toned in together rather than sticking to one colour throughout."

"Adam suggested a palette of soft apricot, pale pink a touch of lime green and the soft grey of a succulent or two to bring it all together.I was sceptical at first, but when he put the colours together in his workshop I was amazed at how well they went. On the wedding day he went one step further and added the strong pink of bleeding hearts to the arrangements, and this really made them sing.

Rather than have the flower girls carry flowers, I bought them grey Laura Ashley bunnies to which Adam attached ribbon and flowers round the neck; they looked so beautiful (and also helped to keep the girls occupied during the ceremony)."

"I wore a Benjamin Roberts dress (design 2228). I searched high and low for the perfect dress and tried on so many beautiful dresses without experiencing the “that’s the one!” moment, that I was beginning to think was a myth. I began to feel flustered and sank further and further into despair.

I decided to try Truly Beautiful in Guisborough and owner Laura, (who is lovely), was on holiday the day of my appointment, but she left the shop in the charge of her mum, who sensed my anguish and settled me immediately. I was made to feel comfortable from the start, and like we had all the time in the world."

"As soon as I saw the dress on the rail I knew it was something special. I felt excited and got butterflies when I tried it on for the first time. I loved the fishtail style, the last thing I thought I’d go for, and got lost in the immaculate detail in the layers of lace. That was the one – it was an overwhelming, happy feeling and I couldn’t contain the tears! I surprised even myself. I had the sleeves added, and two weeks before the wedding I swapped the grey belt that comes with the dress for a sparkly belt which had to be stitched on – much to the dismay of the seamstress!

But to her credit, she took it in her stride and turned it round in record time. Some time later, we found out that the lady who fitted me the first time was Andrew’s nursery nurse; and he only ever wanted to go to nursery if she was there to meet him at the door – so it felt like it was all meant to be."

"Before we got engaged we always talked about what we’d like for our wedding when it eventually happened, and one of those things was a classic, self drive car. Andrew chose an Austin Healey 3000 from North Lakes Classics.

Torrential rain the night before and the morning of the wedding almost meant Andrew couldn’t use the car – because of flooded roads, but as luck would have it the rain stopped with minutes to spare and we even managed to have the hood down after a stop at the beach for photography. We were incredibly lucky!"

"Adam Prest, our florist did such a good job of making every floral design individual. I’m a big lover of candles so we filled every available space in the reception rooms and the bar with candles which we put in jam and coffee jars which my family had collected for nearly a year. With the help of friends we decorated them with hessian, lace, raffia and frosting spray. For our guest book we decided to do things a little differently and ask our guests to write well wishes on pieces of Jenga which we thought would make a good keepsake.

They made some brilliant reading the next day! In the months leading up to the wedding Andrew and I both lost family members quite suddenly, within a few weeks of each other. We decided to light a candle in memory of them. It was our way of having them there on the day with us."

"Lissa Alexandra was our photographer. Photography was very important to us; we love reportage shots, where the photographer captures the day as it happens, but who also has an eye for details and creative ideas. We first spotted Lissa's work when she photographed my cousin’s wedding.

Among the beautiful reportage and relaxed couple shots there was an image of the bride and groom holding books in front of their faces (aptly called ‘cover her face’) which really tickled me. As soon as I saw this creative little shot I knew that Lissa was the one for us and we haven’t regretted it – she did an amazing job."

"The very talented ,Mark W. Brown, filmed our wedding. As soon as I saw his films on Love My dress, I knew Mark was the one for us and he didn’t disappoint. I have to say the film is absolutely outstanding; it made us laugh and cry (tears of joy of course) all at the same time! Mark captured moments I didn’t even know happened and I’ll honestly cherish it forever.

We can't stop watching it! We'd like to thank Mark so much for working so hard, and for all his ideas on the day, he really is awesome at what he does."