Real Wedding: Liz and Dale

A Fete Themed Family Wedding! 

I'm over the moon today to be able to share with you our first ever real wedding post!  All of the real weddings we hope to feature will be of days where Melissa Morgan Designs has had a tiny bit of input, but as well as this, I want to share with you weddings that can be an inspiration for your own celebrations.  Today's wedding is one of those such occasions.  I know from speaking to Liz (the beautiful bride) that a LOT of hard work went into planning this event, but also a LOT of love too, after all, weddings are special occasions where family and friends come together to celebrate the love of two people they cherish dearly.

A wedding at home is a task to undertake, but Liz and Dale did a sterling job of creating a fun, relaxed atmosphere with an abundance of original and home made touches.  I'll hand over to Liz to tell you more...

Photos courtesy of Dan Gelder Photography

'I had always vowed that I was never going to get married but then low and behold, I met Mr. Jupp (Dale).  We had talked about getting married years ago and then we were actually planning a white chapel wedding.  We had even mentioned it to friends and family so that they could start saving to come and join us, when the shocking news came that I was pregnant! Thirteen years and two kids later and we still hadn't tied the knot.  To be honest, I wasn't that worried either, however, I knew that if we ever were going to get married, exactly how I would want it to be...

Photos Courtesy of Dan Gelder Photography

...Luckily, when we moved, our new garden enabled us to bring my dream to life, and it all just came together naturally.  It was our wedding day but we wanted to make it a day of special family and friends, without any formality.  Most of all we wanted it to be great fun and to give everybody a bloody good knees up!  

Photos courtesy of Dan Gelder Photography

The marquee was full of straw bails alongside the tables, there was bunting, lot of bunting, apple bobbing, a coconut shy, hook a duck, retro sweets for the kids and coloured popcorn (it drove my sister almost insane working out how to make it coloured)!  We found the perfect marquee and decided on jacket potato company Juicy Jackets for our catering.  They were brilliant! 

Photo courtesy of Dan Gelder Photography 

 We felt so overwhelmed and humbled throughout the whole process, with the generosity of family and friends.  It was definetly a joint effort, and homemade.   My sister became wedding crazed, we held bunting making days, Dale's aunt worked wonders with dried flowers and made my bouquet.   For music, Dale's dad, uncle and our son Finlay, played at the wedding and then our friends, The Buccaneers, played later on in the evening.  

Photos courtesy of Dan Gelder Photography

 The two days leading up to the wedding were perfect.  We had a house and garden full of family and friends slogging away to put it all together. I can honestly say that Friday evening, seeing it all done and ready, was very emotional.  It had turned into something much more than we had envisaged, all with the help, support and love of family and friends.'

Photo courtesy of Dan Gelder Photography

In Liz's write-up she also mentioned that she 'always knew' I would make her jewellery!  This was such a lovely comment to read, and so here's the bit where I share what I made for Liz!  Liz managed to source an absolutely stunning vintage brooch, with the word 'Mrs' detailed in marcasite stones.  I took her ideas and added a a pretty rim of crystal and pearl, then put together a co-ordinating, vintage inspired necklace and a pair of static pearl earrings.  

Liz has been a firm supporter of Melissa Morgan Designs since she first found out about my little venture into the craft/wedding business and sent many brides my way before her own big day.  I'm not going to apologise for the outright soppiness of this part of the post - I want to use it to say a big THANK YOU to Liz for all of her support, and to let her know it was an honour to be able to add something to this amazing wedding! 

Congratulations Liz and Dale, we wish you many, many years of happiness together!

Melissa

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Photo Courtesy of Dan Gelder Photograhy