Liz & Jake’s Floral-Filled Middleton Lodge Wedding

I also fall in love with Middleton Lodge on a fairly frequent basis and Liz & Jake’s beautiful wedding day is no exception. They went BIG with florals, and although their wedding took place in early spring last year (first year anniversary impending!), their wedding vibe had a strong autumnal theme. Think tweed suits, warm orange-y tones and dining by candlelight.

Oh, and Liz, today’s beautiful bride, made all the stationery herself… inspired! If you love a rambling floral, an expertly-styled tablescape and real weddings that are, well, real… you’re going to love this one!

Liz says…

We instantly fell in love with Middleton Lodge Estate. It’s difficult to pinpoint, but it gave us a special feeling, the vibes and atmosphere were so relaxed. As a creative person, I really appreciated the interior décor that is so beautiful across the entire estate, it looked effortlessly grand. Each area has its own style whilst still being cohesive with the aesthetics and architecture of the estate. The staff were incredible, super friendly and happy, clearly, they love what they do.

I spent hours looking at dresses during the lockdowns and dreamed of the day I could actually try them on. I got a little disheartened and body conscious looking at all the tiny models with their flawless makeup and perfect hair but it became clear that although I wanted to look made up and elegant, I wanted to look like me. I didn’t want to walk down the aisle and Jake be shocked by a transformation, I wanted him to see me and the person he was marrying. When I finally got to try a dress at The Harrogate Wedding Lounge the assistants were incredible. I tried a Justin Alexander dress with ‘cold shoulders’, a ball gown shape with a huge train. The dress was full of layers; spotted tulle, delicate lace and the undertone was called ‘latte’. The dress was meant to be. I felt confident, beautiful, and so elegant, I didn’t want to take it off.

I chose emerald green Aurora-style bridesmaids dresses from TH&TH and hoped the girls would feel comfortable and confident. When they tried them on, they both fit perfectly and looked so stunning. Green is one of our favourite colours and we thought it would have worked with all seasons should the date change.

I wanted to keep my hair and makeup looking elegant but natural, so Jake recognised me, and so our planner, Hannah, suggested Natasha Jane Makeup and Kelly Hanks Hair Design who were amazing on the day.

Jake already had an idea of his suit, growing up on a farm he wanted a nod to country life with a tweed suit. We came across Vintage Suit Hire, and it seemed to be a perfect fit with the statement orange buttons. I bought him a few accessories as a wedding day gift, again personal to us, such as beagle cufflinks so our dog Chloe could be with us (she was not invited).

With the help of our wedding planner, Hannah Rachael Weddings, we realised we wanted our day to be relaxed, personal to us, to be surrounded by our closest friends and family (only around 40 guests). We wanted to have enough time to spend with each guest and enough budget to treat them to a lovely day as a thank you for being part of our journey as a couple. We wanted our wedding to be personal and the events through the day to have meaning to us. We aren’t religious or overly superstitious, so a lot of the traditions didn’t make sense to us as a modern couple. We did a private cake cut and I didn’t toss my bouquet (in fact I didn’t put it down until our wedding breakfast!). I had my dad accompany me down the aisle but there was no mention of him giving me away. We also had my best friend Rob as a ‘brides-man’ and Jake’s sister as a ‘grooms-maid’.

When it came to styling it was like Hannah was inside my head at times and she came up with so many simple solutions to problems I was losing sleep over. I had a few wobbles but a quick email or chat with Hannah and we were back on track.

Music was super important, and it really set the scene and created such a special atmosphere throughout different parts of the day. On arrival our guests were greeted with the sound of the string quartet Dahlia Music playing beautiful classical pieces and they played modern covers and movie themes for our guests throughout the reception. We both enjoy classical music, and I played in an orchestra when I was younger, but the twist of them doing modern covers really sold it to us. In the evening we hired The Malthouse Boys to kick off our surprise evening celebrations in the cellar bar. No one was expecting a dessert table, fully stocked bar, and live band that’s for sure. On the day we asked the band to play songs they enjoy playing and that really helped get everyone up dancing!

I really enjoyed sourcing the elements for styling, from the candles and candle sticks to even dying our own table runners with the help of Jake’s mum, making it so much more personal. There were so many small details that made the venue and day really feel like our own. I really enjoyed the process of designing and making the individual menus, name cards and on the day stationery. I found a lot of local or independent suppliers from handmade paper to hand dyed ribbons. We chose a team of suppliers whose personalities gelled with ours. People we felt we could share a coffee and a chat with and feel comfortable around. We tried to choose local or small businesses with a focus on sustainability too.

I have a passion for décor and florals, and we took a lot of inspiration from the colour scheme of our lounge for our wedding styling, our walls are painted in Farrow and Ball’s ‘skimming stone’ which has gorgeous warm heather tones. We absolutely love the autumn season and its rusty orange tones (but couldn’t wait to marry so had autumn colours in spring), and of course a coffee theme that ran throughout the day as coffee is life to us. Emma Cox Floristry is incredible at transforming spaces with her beautiful floral designs, so we just knew we had to ask her to be a part of our day. We chose to have the staircase decorated with flowers, autumnal meadows for the top of the aisle and lots of beautiful bowls of blooms. Everything except the staircase arrangement got repurposed, from the ceremony to our wedding breakfast and into the cellar bar in the evening, it created the most beautiful atmosphere throughout our day.

We had a few friends with different dietary requirements so Hannah suggested a dessert table to cater for all. We had mini cakes from Copper Spoon Cakery and some tasty vegan gluten-free brownies from Love Brownies.

Catering was taken care of in-house by the team at Middleton Lodge which has an incredible ever-changing and seasonal-based menu with ingredients grown within the estate’s garden.

I first found Freya Raby Photography on Instagram. She’d posted client statements saying how un-photogenic and awkward they feel in front of a camera followed by incredible couple portraits or relaxed and happy shots. Our first chat via Zoom we instantly felt comfortable and connected with similar interests. We met for an engagement photoshoot as a practice on the moor near us and didn’t stop laughing the entire time. The photos were incredible and we could not believe the beautiful portraits she had captured. On the day we hardly knew she was around, which allowed her to get some gorgeous candid pictures of guests interacting and capture playful moments like our private cake cut. She really captured the relaxed atmosphere of the day and silly moments. The photo booth she provided with props created hilarious boomerangs too!

Best part of the day

It’s so hard to pick one best part of the day. I absolutely loved seeing all the months of planning and styling come together. Hannah did an amazing job of bringing together all the personal details we had discussed. The styling was so cohesive and flowed from room to room. Walking into the dining room set with all our candles and incredible flowers was like walking into my vision board but better.

Another highlight was our sweetheart table, catching each other up on the morning’s moments that we had each missed, like my mum being pooped on by a bird before her hair was done (lucky for some) and looking out across the room full of our loved ones chatting away.

From one couple to another…

Find out what is important to you as a couple, whether this is the feeling and atmosphere of the day or who you are inviting. Once you know as a couple what you want you should stay true to it. There are a lot of other opinions offered and you shouldn’t feel pressured to listen to these or do what tradition dictates.