Johanna & Rich were married in Brant Broughton with the reception at Doddington Hall. In my new wedding photographer blog style, here are some comments from Johanna & Rich…I’m especially grateful for the comments about Natural Expressions Photography!! Photos are at the end of the words…
Where was your wedding, and why?
Our ceremony was at St Helens Church in Brant Broughton (Lincolnshire) where Rich grew up. His parents and his sister got married there too so there’s a long family heritage. As an added bonus, it’s a stunning church!
Our reception was at the lovely Doddington Hall (www.doddingtonhall.com)
Did you have a theme or style for your wedding?
We had a colour theme of yellow, brown and ivory to guide the planning. I’m from Singapore, but wanted to get married here in the UK rather than back home because I love an English wedding – old churches, summer gardens, first dance. So ‘English wedding’ was my theme by default.
Where did you find your dress?
By Elizabeth Fillmore from Brown’s Bride in London (www.brownsfashion.com) I bought it at a sample sale because it fit like a glove just as it was, but I’m not good at impulse purchases and did have to spend the next week convincing myself I’d done the right thing. (I now know I did!)
What about shoes and accessories?
Shoes were from a shop in Singapore which I love. I was last back in February and realised on the final day that it was my last chance to shop in Singapore for accessories, so I went to the local mall & bought my shoes and jewellery in half an hour flat.
As well as my Singapore-bought necklace and earrings, I wore a pearl and crystal hairband from Mirror Mirror in London (www.mirrormirror.uk.com) and my new mother-in-law’s engagement ring as my something borrowed, old and blue.
Who did your hair & make-up?
We had a lovely morning before the ceremony with two incomparable ladies, Charlotte Wesson (hair – www.charlottewesson.co.uk) and Faye of Blushes of Lincoln (make-up www.blusheslincoln.co.uk) coming to our residence to do mine and my bridesmaids’ and mother’s hair and make-up. They did an amazing job for all of us, and left us all feeling so pampered and relaxed ahead of the day.
Blushes of Lincoln in particular were amazing, staying till we got in the car to make sure we had perfect make-up, giving us little product samples for touch-ups and offering to do any last minute jobs, like nail polish or eyebrow tweezing if needed
What about flowers?
We had personal flowers from an old friend of Rich’s who runs a florist in Hampshire called Flower Vogue (www.flower-vogue.com).
The venue flowers in church and Doddington Hall were by RJ’s Florist of Lincoln (www.rjsflorist.blogspot.com) who must have emptied the county of lilies for our day! RJ’s Florist very kindly agreed to loan us some of the pedestals for an extra day so we could contribute our pedestals to St Helens for their very special King James Bible 400th Anniversary service the next day. I was thrilled the stunning flowers would get to be enjoyed twice.
Who made your wedding cake?
Made by my amazing mother-in-law. Rich’s 80 year old grandmother made all the stunning sugar flowers that decorate the cake
Who were your Groomsmen and why?
Rich’s groomsmen were old school friends, family (my brother and his brother-in-law) and former band mates. We missed the final member of Rich’s old 3 man band as he is now very successfully pursuing his solo career in Australia
What about Bridesmaids?
I rather unusually had 4 bridesmaids who didn’t know each other before I asked them to be my bridesmaids. My sister, a friend from childhood, a friend from University and a close friend from my early working life. I would have loved to ask my other sister too, but she gets married herself in a matter of months, and I thought it might all be too much!
Did you have Wedding Favours?
We chose to donate to the Alzheimer’s Society (www.alzheimers.org.uk) in lieu of wedding favours and they provided us with little cards we could put on each guests’ place setting. My grandmother was taken from us too early by Alzheimer’s and I wanted everyone to remember that she should have been with us that day.
Where did you find your invitations & stationery?
We made all our invitations and stationery ourselves. Our place-cards were photos of each of our guests, rather than their names and we really enjoyed watching their faces as they came into the dining room to discover this
What is your most memorable moment from your wedding day?
It’s a hard question! At the moment everything is memorable, ask us in 10 years…
At the moment, Rich’s is my arrival at the church.
Mine is the car ride back from the church to Doddington, when were alone and could chat about how everything had gone in the run up to the ceremony. Related to this, I have to thank Graham of Silver Spirit Cars (www.our-day.co.uk) who not only has stunning cars, but is also the nicest, most personable and professional person you could hope to have driving you.
What is your favourite photograph and why?
We can’t name one! What I really wanted from our wedding photographs, and which Natural Expressions Photography deliver in spades, was to relive the wedding day and see all the bits that I missed from being busy catching up with guests or getting ready. I felt I only had a narrow vision of how the wedding proceeded until I got Patrick’s photos, but he captured the unseen moments among my guests, in the venue and the church, and even things I did which I didn’t remember until I saw the photos. They’re perfect.
Any comments about Natural Expressions Photography?
Wonderful (and not just because this is his blog!). Exactly the photos I’d hoped to have from my wedding, a calming presence on the day who got everything done with a minimum of bother, and I have to say that half the guests fell in love with him and how nice he is. Rich’s mom is still talking about how lovely he was with everyone!
Any helpful tips / advice for future brides?
Don’t worry about anything on the day – trust the people that you’ve asked to help you – and concentrate on just seeing and absorbing as many memories as you can. There are too many and too little time as it is!
Having a team like Justine’s at Doddington Hall certainly helped me do this, and I didn’t need to worry about a thing!
Where was your honeymoon?
We went to the Maldives for a perfect, but too-short 7 day honeymoon
I’m very excited to have been shortlisted as a regional winner for the Wedding Industry Awards. The great thing about these awards is that a large part of the voting process is based on votes and comments from actual couples, so a big thank you to everyone who voted! 
Wedding Planning
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