Emotional & Personal Industrial Winter Wedding

There is so much to be inspired by here today, from the DIY projects to the words of advice from the couple. Let’s find out all shall we?

WWW readers Jodi and Matt planned a day that turned out to be “emotional, personal and detailed” with an initial vision to make everyone smile. I love this ethos and I really think that their relaxed and fun day looked an utter blast for everyone. The couple made sure they spent the whole day together too, which sounded like a really perfect decision.

What better way to dictate your décor theme, than by the history of the venue? The West Mill in Derbyshire is an old cotton mill, so the DIY decoration projects centred around fabric. What a brilliant idea! I just love the embroidery hoop lace backdrop and the vintage bobbins table names. Then there was the dessert display, think cake, brownies and even a cookie wall, it looked scrummy! Also be sure to spot an unusual and totally awesome entrance from the groom, I am sure it will make you smile.

All of the beautiful emotions, personal touches and gorgeous outfits, were photographed by Reality Photography. Thanks so much to Darren for sharing them with us today. Do winter weddings get any better? I think not.

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The Proposal

It’s an emotional one!

Unfortunately, Jodi’s Grandfather passed away a couple of months before Matt planned to propose. Matt knowing how close Jodi was to her Grandfather wanted to ensure he was still part of our marriage. Jodi’s Grandfather was an engineer and spent many years designing and building parts for canal boats and in 2006 he designed and built a bridge for Calcutt Marina in Warwickshire. Matt proposed on the bridge on the 04/09/2016. There were a lot of tears!

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The Vision

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 and 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.

The Planning Process

Our planning process was surprisingly smooth, we decided from the beginning that we were going to plan and make decisions as early as possible so we could really enjoy the last few months before the wedding stress free. Creating so much of the décor ourselves it meant we planned and created our day together.

The Venue

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 loose 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 (Caterers) were also fabulous. What is a wedding without amazing food!

The Dress & Accessories

The dress was an interesting one; it was nothing like what I thought I would choose! I walked past 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 I quickly changed into white lace Toms in the evening so I could dance the night away.

Finding The Dress

When we were newly engaged we went to the National Wedding Show at the NEC. This was to get inspiration for our day and to generally get excited about planning! Due to Matt being there and still having 14 months to go, I had no intention of looking at dresses. When we arrived we quickly realised it was a massive dress show. My Mum got excited and wanted me to try on a few to start getting an idea. I didn’t choose my dress to try on in fact we were just about to leave when I saw it hanging on a stall.

I had to try it on! When I went to the shop ‘The Dressing Rooms’ a few weeks later the staff were lovely and although I was set on the dress I saw at the show I still tried on another 20! I still chose the same dress, it was the only one I didn’t want to change anything about or anything about me.

Due to the wedding still being 14 months away, my dress didn’t arrive until a year later! However I loved it just the same.

Groom’s Attire

The groom, his best man and our fathers wore Harry Brown suits. The double breasted waist coat 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.

Beautiful Bridesmaids

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 from all 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 Nadia Di Tullio.

The Readings & Music

I walked down the aisle to a cover of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’ by Haley Klinkhammer.

We had two readings read during the ceremony. We both work for the same company, we both love our jobs and our colleagues are like a second family. It is also were we met! The readings were done by our company directors. Eskimo Love Song and To Love is Not to Possess James Kavanaugh.

Our exit music was a cover of Queens ‘You’re My Best Friend’ by The Once.

Our first dance was sung by our amazing band ‘The Beat Brothers’ and was Ed Sheeran’s ‘How Would You Feel’.

Your Photographer

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 create wonderful photos. My sister who is engaged said she won’t be considering anyone else! Darren is our new family wedding photographer for sure.

The Details & Décor

We created a lot of our décor ourselves, this was important to us as we wanted the day to show who we were as a couple.

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 choose 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 stand out. We asked all our family and friends to donate lace for the backdrop, so peoples old net curtains featured in our big day!

Jodi’s Grandmother even made a piece of lace (it took her two years!) which was used on our registrar table and then our ‘Top Table’.

In the evening we had the amazing Beat Brothers who played three sets, playing classic oldies to current chart toppers. We did not stop dancing, they added that extra fun feeling to our day.

We also had Oh! Photobooth there who encouraged everyone to get involved with the photobooth and have created some very funny memories from our big day.

The Cake

Cake. I loveeee puddings so having just a cake was not going to be sufficient. We had a ‘Nearly Naked’ Cake which was prosecco and peach flavour! In addition we had Cookie Dough Brownies and Nutella Brownies. And just to go full cake crazy we had a Cookie Wall with four flavours; Toffee and Pecan, Oreo, Raspberry and White Chocolate and Hazelnut. All our sweet treats went down a storm. Nat at Yummy Little Cakes is A-mazing!

The Flowers

Out 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!

The Honeymoon

We booked our honeymoon through The Experienced Travel Group. They created the most perfect itinerary for us to tour and relax in the stunning country of Sri Lanka. We spent 8 days exploring the country, moving around visiting temples, going to markets, an elephant safari, explored the tea plantations and even climbed Sigiriya Rock! The last 6 days we spent relaxing in a beautiful boutique hotel on the stunning south coast. We could not recommend the country and The Experience Travel Group enough. We had a wonderful driver called Anjula who truly made our honeymoon the best it could be. I am an anxious traveller however his friendly, personal service and his want to ensure you have the most memorable experience put me at ease very quickly!

Memorable Moments

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 evening in LED trainers.

Advice For Other Couples

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.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Just perfect!

Thanks ever so much to Jodi and Matt for sharing their sublime wedding with us here today xo Lou