Bride Jodi also has some great advice for couples coming up to their big day so keep scrolling folks…
Jodi says…
The West Mill was the first and only venue we looked at. Of course it is; quirky, industrial and an award winner, but it is sooooo much more! We viewed the venue in the winter on a dark miserable day however the venue did not lose any of its beauty. Our Event’s Manager Anna, and all the other staff, were fabulous the whole way through our wedding process. We trusted them with our big day and had no doubt they would help make the day incredible. Jenkinsons, our Caterers, were also amazing. What is a wedding without scrumptious food!
The dress was an interesting one; it was nothing like what I thought I would choose! I walked passed it at the National Wedding Show and then couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was the only dress I tried on and didn’t want to change anything. It was a Justin Alexander signature dress so it wasn’t the cheapest option, but when you find the one – it’s the one!
Due to my dress being so detailed I didn’t need much else! I wore a rose gold head piece and earrings by Ivory & Co. My shoes were Jenny Packham however for the evening I quickly changed into white lace Toms so I could dance the night away.
All the bridal party had hair and makeup done by Laura and Saskia at Beau Hair. They were fabulous to work with and made us feel very special. They even helped us keep on track in the morning, reminding me that the Bridesmaid’s needed to get dressed; my emotions had caught up with me by that point! The hardest decision with makeup was if I was going to brave the darker lipstick! I don’t normally wear heavy makeup, however I had seen a bride rock a dark lip on her wedding day and was fascinated by the thought of it. Saskia certainly gave me the confidence to go for it and my hubby to be was not disappointed.
The Bridesmaids all wore different dresses, their ages ranged from 13 to 33 so it didn’t feel right for them to be in the same dress. They were all from different brands/shops; Coast, ASOS and Adrianna Papell. Although hard work to find 6 different embellished dresses that worked with the colours, it was worth it as they all felt comfortable and beautiful on the day! The flower girls wore Monsoon children’s dresses and wore flower crowns made by our florist.
The Groom, his best man and our fathers wore Harry Brown suits. The double breasted waistcoat the groom and best man wore was chosen by them as they felt it fitted in with the industrial feel of the venue. The grey tweed design fitted the relaxed and vintage feel we wanted.
When we discussed what we wanted from our day, we came to the decision that we wanted people to walk away and say “all the décor was sooooo Jodi & Matt.” We wanted to have a relaxed, fun day and make everyone around us smile. When coming up with ideas for décor we used the beautiful venue as an inspiration, being an old cotton mill we tried to incorporate this throughout… embroidery hoops in our backdrop and table plan, vintage bobbins for table numbers and even cotton candy flavoured jelly beans as favours.
We revamped the old tandem and vintage bike, spent countless hours winding thread round vintage bobbins for our table number holders, we created the timeline, made our table plan and our biggest project was our backdrop!
The backdrop was an idea we had before we chose the venue and then when we booked the venue it was perfect! The industrial feel to the ceremony room allowed the delicacy of the backdrop to stand out. We asked all our family and friends to donate lace, so peoples old net curtains featured in our big day! My Grandmother even made a piece of lace (it took her two years!) which was used on our registrar table and then our ‘Top Table’ for the meal.
Our florist was the amazing Nadia di Tullio. We had seen her work on The West Mill’s website, it looked amazing and so individual we decided we had to meet her!
Nadia is an incredibly talented person that we feel extremely lucky to have found. From the very beginning Nadia was so friendly, helpful, kind and creative. We had no idea what flowers we wanted however after our first meeting we completely trusted Nadia. Her guidance and creative mind assured us our floral arrangements would be amazing. She certainly did not disappoint. The moment I saw the flowers I cried, they were perfect and beyond anything we could have thought of and asked for ourselves. So many of our guests said how different and beautiful they were. We really feel that the flowers tied our wedding décor together and made it even more special. If you want a florist that is easy to communicate with, extremely talented, helpful and offers great advice then Nadia is the one!
Finding a wedding photographer is probably one of the hardest jobs of the planning. We wanted someone who took amazing photos but also capture the essence of our day allowing us to relive our wedding for years to come. We first met Darren (Reality Photography) when he photographed my cousins wedding a year before and we knew from that point Darren does this with ease whilst making you feel relaxed and comfortable. Our photos arrived back to us in no time and we laughed and cried the whole way through. We honestly could not have asked for more! Darren was easy to contact throughout the planning and we trusted him completely with his creative mind to produce wonderful photos. My sister who is engaged said she won’t be considering anyone else! Darren is our new Family Wedding Photographer for sure.
Best part of the day
To be romantic – marrying each other!
Just to mention a few things which we feel made a real difference to our day… Spending and experiencing the day together, sitting on our own for the meal, doing a joint speech and just showing everyone how much we love and care for one another – even if this meant a lot of tears! Other moments included the reactions of our guests to our DIY décor projects. The Groom and Best Man entering the ceremony on a tandem. Our joint speech. Us both rocking the dance floor in LED trainers.
From one bride to another…
When people say “take 10 minutes to yourselves and catch up as you won’t see each other” don’t listen to that! Spend the whole day together! It is your day which celebrates your love for one another – we spent and experienced our day together and it was amazing! We told everyone in the speeches if you want to see us in the evening we would be on the dance floor. When we mingled in the day at the drinks reception again we did it together! We sat by ourselves for the meal this was really lovely and we spoke the whole time about the day so far (also an added bonus if you have ‘complicated families’ for a top table). Everyone praised us on this and many who had married before us said they will always regret not spending the day with their new married partner more.
Venue The West Mill
Photography Reality Photography
Florist Nadia di Tullio
Caterers Jenkinsons
Bridal Designer Justin Alexander
Headpiece & Earrings Ivory & Co.
Hair & Makeup Beau Hair
Bridesmaids Dresses Coast, ASOS and Adrianna Papell
Flower Girls Monsoon
Groom’s Attire Harry Brown