Wedding at Packington Moor | Dotty & Josh

On a very classy night out in the town of dreams at a local bar. Joshua was out with the same circle of friends and kept purchasing us all shots of Apple Sourz, we swapped phone numbers and the rest they say is history.

(To remember the first night we met, Josh surprised me and all the wedding guests with providing us all with a shot of Apple Sourz for his toast).

We were on holiday in Cornwall in October 2014. We went to visit the Lizard Point, it was a beautifully sunny day and we soaked up the views of the sea and countryside. After a lovely walk we went to lunch at the only cafe there, after lunch, we took a slow walk back to our car. Josh went ahead of me and went to one of the private cliff edges we were standing at earlier. Josh called me over, he then got down on one knee, it took me a while to process what was happening, as I had no idea. He had the ring box in hand with my beautiful ring and then asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes.

 

We wanted a rustic barn wedding and Packington Moor fitted the bill perfectly alongside being a local venue.

 

Josh knew he wanted an element of tweed in his and the groomsmen suits. Therefore, once he chose his waistcoat he then matched the suit to this. He matched the page boy’s suit to the groomsmen.

I knew I wanted a vintage/lace feel to my dress, I tried on at least 10 dresses before I found “the one”. It was the owner of the shop that suggested I try on the dress, it wasn’t one I pulled out.

Originally we were going to get the bridesmaid dresses made, however, when we went shopping to help with the style of the dress. We spotted the dress in Debenhams, it was a perfect match to the theme of the wedding (woodland) as the dress had beautiful leaf beading on the top and really suited the bridesmaids. The flower girls dresses also came from debenhams.

As mentioned above we wished to have a barn wedding, with rustic woodland theme. Therefore, Packington was perfect for this.

We knew we wanted the table names to fit the theme, therefore, tables were animal names, my mum painted the animals for the table places and designed the table plan which was presented on an old wooden ladder. On the tables, we had hessian runners, small jars of wild flowers with greenery and candles dotted around the table. Favours for the ladies were wild lavender seeds. On the chairs we had hessian bows with dried lavender.

The welcome sign which was a woodland theme was painted by Josh’s dad. My poor dad chopped up a lot of logs to make wooden candle holders which were dotted around the building. What can we say we got the family involved for sure!

I was in love with all of the flowers on the day, the flowers on the archway were again wild flowers and lots of greenary. I asked for our bouquets to be wild flowers with antique pink roses and greenary. However, I was very much led by the expert – Lynn from Fine Flowers knew exactly what I was asking for when I wasn’t quite sure myself, they were beautiful.

City and Colour – Northern Wind.

City and Colour are one of our favourite bands who we have seen live on a regular basis throughout our 7 years together and this is one of our favourite songs of theirs.

This is really hard, the whole day was perfect. However, I loved my Dad’s reaction at the reveal, that memory will stay with me forever and of course seeing my future husband as I walked down the aisle whilst the string quartet played 1000 Years, sharing the moment with our nearest and dearest.

Josh and I absolutely loved the evening/disco, the band and DJ were fab! My fave memories are of me and my maids dancing with fake beards on and I loved how many people were on the dance floor, my favourite being everyone dancing to Tina Tuner Proud Mary.

I saw a couple of acquaintances wedding photos and fell in love with Ian’s style. We then attended a wedding fayre at a local venue and met the man himself, we booked a consultation with Ian at his studios and didn’t hesitate to book him after seeing more of his fabulous work.

The communication from Ian leading up to the big day was fab, certainly puts any worries at ease, he is always super friendly and no question is too big or small, I found the final meeting before the big day very helpful as he goes through timings with you.

On the day Ian arrived at the time stated (Probably earlier, the morning is a bit of a blur). His manner is such that you do not notice him taking pictures of you as you are having your hair and makeup done, So I certainly felt relaxed and at ease. I expressed some worry about it raining heavily, but, again Ian told me not to worry that he would get beautiful images. And boy, he was right our photographs of the day are beautiful, they capture our day perfectly. In fact the ones in the rain are our favourites.

Ian was extremely professional throughout the day, we cannot thank Ian enough. He was amazing! All of our guests have commented on how amazing he was and how funny! Our Nan’s in particularly thought he was a right charmer, he even got a smile out of my Nan, a challenge in itself.

Do not scrimp on photography, you really will get what you pay for. Your photographs are so important as the day goes by so quickly. They are a wonderful thing to remember your day by and sit through with your husband remembering your magical day.

Also, remember your wedding is for you both, don’t do anything because you think you should or for anyone else. It’s your day, not anyone elses.

Absolutely – 100%! I’ve recommended Ian to all of my friends who have got engaged and shared my photographs with them all. Book him – you won’t regret it!