Some wedding questions. (sort of a quiz thingy)

[Smurfgirl]

I know its boring, am just getting ideas. Was horrifed when I sent a vague e-mail to a photographer asking for some info and he e-mailed me back saying he was booked up for my propsed wedding date (Oct 2008!) already so I might start seriously looking into some other stuff.

I know big white weddings are a bit cheesy but I really want one and I want it to be lovely and have only been to two weddings in my life and have no close friends who are married so nobody to give me advice. Other than my mum who is stuck in 1981 I think!

What transport did you use to get you from home to church/church to reception etc?
What were your colours

Did you buy your bridesmaid dresses or have them made? They seem v.expensive even from places like Debenhams.
What flowers did you have? How did you chose?
How many bridesmaids did you have?

And finally which place for my reception
Judges or Headlam Hall

I had proper wedding cars, but the dads of two friends who had nice cars transported other guests, which kept costs down.
My bridesmaids were in in tartan, sound naff, but it was the Lyndsey tartan which is burgundy and green and navy, it is lovely, far nicer than it sounds written down. I was in ivory
Had bridesmaids dresses made
had bouquets made by florist who was great, gave me heaps of pictures to look at and gave loads of advice
Bridesmaids was the only sticking point. I had 6! 3 big 3 small, because my mother said i couldn't just have my friends, i would have to have my big cousin and if i had her i'd have to have the 2 little ones, and then of course there was DHs little sister!

Transport: We tied some white ribbon to my dad's company car (lovely BMW) and he drove us to the reception.
Colours: Um, I wore a blue dress and my bridesmaids wore red/clothes of their choice.
Bridesmaids dresses: Went and bought exrental dresses from a bridal shop. £25 for the 9 year old and £10 for the 6 year old. Spent £30 having the 9 year old's taken out.
Flowers: I had a 'sheaf' of longstemmed white flowers with pink tips. When we went to pick up the buttonholes on the morning of the wedding, I saw them and liked them (I wasnt going to have a bouquet as didnt want anything horribly staged or expensive). I think they were £5.
Bridesmaids: My SIL has 3 boys and a girl so they were paigeboys and bridesmaids.I had an adult bridesmaid (my best friend who wore her own clothes). The other child bridesmaid was DH's bosses adopted daughter, who we asked because she is a little sweetheart and was desperately excited.
I got married here
in the Great Hall. It had amazing gardens which made for fab wedding photos and it meant all the kids could just bomb off and fall in the mud after the photos were taken. We had a small reception there and then moved on to a lovely pub down the road with a bouncy castle in the garden.

I would go for Headlam Hall. It looks beautiful.

Hi Smurfgirl...remember me? I'm the Darlingtonian who recommended Headlam Hall on your earlier thread!

Glad you liked it - did you go and see Walworth?

Anyway - re; transport. I had a black Morris Oxford . Had never heard of/seen them before (not a car buff at all) but it's the type of thing you'd see in an old film, old leather seats, indicators that flip up...gorgeous.

If you fancy something old fashioned like that, let me know and I can give you the number of where I hired it.

You've got plenty of time yet but you seem pretty organised, anyway. xx

We had a beautiful old silver car that the top could come down on, I'm ashamed to say I can't remember what it is called but their were only 2 of them in the country.

Our colours were, scarlet red, cream and silver

Bought the bridesmaid dress in debenhams during the blue x sale for £40 and shoes to match from new look for a tenner. And the flower girls dress also from debenhams reduced to £18 total bargains both of them.

We has grand prix red roses, some pretty whire flowers and silver twiggy things to pull all the colours together. Mine was a long drooping thing and my sisters a little hand tied. We also had a flower ring headress made for the flower girl and roses for button holes.

1 bridesmaid and 1 flowergirl

transport - none had it at my aunts house - wedding and reception

colours - none - no attendants

flowers - roses

bridesmaids - none

Transport - black cab to and from reg office and to evening do, back in oldest routemaster bus with all our mates

Colours - ivory and gold (in an indianish way)for the evening. No colours for the day really, I got married in a fuchsia suit and fuchsia suede hat and dh in a jasper conran suit

Bridesmaid dresses were Anokhi gold dresses

Flowers were cream lilies and gold tortured willow mainly I think

3 bridesmaids but as we got married in reg office they only got done up in the evening

Headlam hall looks great

ours was here and Westminster Reg office on Marylebone Rd

What transport did you use to get you from home to church/church to reception etc? - smart hired car (don't know what make), but nothing special as reception and wedding were in same place.

What were your colours - Lots of different colours of pink, picked out from bouquet. We didn't stick to one shade - pastels, bright pink, deep purpley/pink.
Did you buy your bridesmaid dresses or have them made? - Bought them from Monsoon.
What flowers did you have? How did you chose? - Roses, lillies. Took advice from florist who was very good.
How many bridesmaids did you have? -
Had two little bridesmaids.

transport> Dh walked to venue and I took the 180 bus. This had much to do with the fact the cab company claimed no knowledge of the booking (despite confirming it the night before) then offered us one in '2 hours time'

No colours as such. I wore black with a pea green wrap. Dh had a red tie and we used red flowers.

My bridesmaid wore her own dress. She threatened to wear an orange , very short halterneck, but changed her mind at the last minute to a nice long russet coloured dress (dh was dissapointed, he wanted the halterneck as friend has a very large bust). Best man, the sad old goth, wore leather and pixie boots with skull fastenings.

I made the buttonholes from red carnations bought the day before. We used the same to decorate the M&S cake. (Do you spot the cheapskate theme?) I wasn't going to have a bouquet, but at the last minute the best man's wife gave me a dried flowers and black feather bouquet which went really well with the whole 'theme'.

I just had my best friend as a witness.

We got married at a nice venue in London, the registrar came out to do the wedding. We spent most of our budget on the venue and the alcohol.

Had a Beaumont convertible as transport
Colours were cream & hyacinth blue based around the dresses. (bridesmaids picked them themselves - I absolved myself of all responsibility!)
I bought them at a sample sale - look out for these, I bought my wedding dress at one too for a fraction of the price. The 3 adult dresses were £59 each and the toddler one £29
I had cream calla lillies beacause I adore them and the bridesmaids had cream roses with ribbons to match their dresses
My vote is for Judges - looks like the photos would be fab and they do wedding BBQs - I had this for our evening reception and all the guests loved it.

Hope this helps and do come back with any other queries - everyone loves talking about their weddings - brings back such happy memories for me anyway

We had an old 1951 Austin A125 Sheerline Limousine for our car.
Our colours (vom) were ivory and lemon. My dress and Bridesmaids dresses were ivory, mens suits (dark grey and ivory)then my bouquets and bridesmaids we lemon, bridal party flowers were lemon and the inside of the marquee was ivory and lemon.
Brought Bridesmaid dresses from Debenhams - Jasper Conrans ones - think they were £75 each.
Had lemon roses and ivory cala lillies. chose by picking my florist, going through all of her books and then just running through different idea's - she was fantastic.
Had 3 bridesmaids - niece (11), niece (3) and daughter (2).
Headlam Hall

Good Luck with the organising

I actually got married abroad, just me and DH. But we had a large church blessing on our return, which was just like a normal wedding to be honest.

What transport did you use to get you from home to church/church to reception etc?

Our friend worked in a garage at the time, and borrowed a nice shiny brand new big car. Not sure what make - not a traditional wedding car though But him mum did the flowers for the back and it looked fab. Friend drove me and bridesmaid to the church, and then me and Dh to reception.

What were your colours

Golden yellow colour for follows and the men
Sister's dress with blue

Did you buy your bridesmaid dresses or have them made? They seem v.expensive even from places like Debenhams.

My auntie made my sister's dress. We choose the material and she made it.

What flowers did you have? How did you chose?

My sister and I had a yellow posey; others had yellow button holes. I just told the florist (MIL's paid; someone she knew did flowers) type of thing we wanted and she did it. They weren't exactly as requested but they were nice. Another family friend did the church and reception flowers, which we lovely.

How many bridesmaids did you have?

Just had my sister, who was 16 at the time.

I walked from the hotel to the venue through the city centre (great photo opportunites), and the ceremony and reception were on the same site.
Went back to the hotel at the end of the night in a limo (because it was cheap and we could fit loads of people in it - didn't have photos with it or anything.)

Didn't have 'wedding colours' as I also vomit at the phrase.
The cravats and waistcoats were kind of ivory/gold, all the flowers were ivory with lots of green foliage, and the bridesmaids wore a kind of bronze-brown colour that happened to suit both of them. I also think dark dresses looked better in photos when all the men were in dark suits as it made my ivory dress stand out more .

The bridesmaid dresses were from BHS because they were the only ones they'd seen they both liked - not especially cheap but the right colour / shape.

I had flowers from Vive la Rose . I specified a long traily bouquet (my dress was v plain and plain/tight flowers would have been too severe) and the colour (all ivory with Vendela roses), but apart from that I let them have free reign as, let's face it, all flowers are pretty and I'd rather trust a good florist to do something that looks nice than get uptight about what variety of fern they'll use.

So I had a traily bouquet with scented stock and stuff, the bridesmaids each had a bunch-type bouquet , the mothers and my grandma had corsages , and DH, the dads, and the ushers had buttonholes .
We had two pedestal arrangements at the front of the chapel which we moved to the front of the hall for the reception, and a long low arrangement on each table at dinner.
(NB if you were in London I'd definitely recommend them as they came in at about half the price of anyone else who quoted me)

I had two bridesmaids, both grown up.

Tough choice between the two venues - I initially preferred Judges because the hotel's smaller (chance of exclusive use... oooh) and doesn't have a golf course, but the room at Headlam with the glass ceiling is pretty special.

I'd go and eat at each and choose whichever is nicer as bad food is one of my pet wedding hates.

Hello!

Transport - we hired a nice car from home to the register office. the reception was walkable for all

Colours - Didn't really have set colours but mainly ended up in creams/golds.

Didn't have bridesmaids.

Flowers - I had a small posey of cream roses - lovely!

Transport: Plane (we married in cyprus)
Colours: Rouge(not burgundy/not quite pink a bit inbetween) and Ivory
Bridesmaids: 2
Flowers: Local Cypriot flowers

Bridesmaid dresses and mine were bought from Monsoon sale

hi we got married on 11th august this year.
had a daimler and a rolls i think ... cheaper because we got married on a friday !!!
had 4 bridesmaids. youngest 3 dresses from next in the sale £18 each . older bridesmaid £60 in next .
boys stuff and girls shoes, head dresses etc from bhs .
my tiara and jewellery from debenhams .
flowers were cream and pink roses, hand tied really nice .
posted a few pics on website if you want to look .

www.picturetrail.com/joshields

What transport did you use to get you from home to church/church to reception etc? A vintage Wolesey

What were your colours - gold for bridesmaids, various gold details (ribbons on flowers etc) and then navy and gold for men

Did you buy your bridesmaid dresses or have them made? My mum made it

What flowers did you have? I carried about 5 arum lillies on longstems with gold beargrass. Bridesmaid had something white and trailing but can't remember what they were now and the rest of the flowers, in the church and reception venue were white and cream and loads of them so many were cheapish

How did you chose? we had a friend doing the flowers so other than the arum lillies which are my fave flowers we got what was in season

How many bridesmaids did you have? 1 (adult)

I think I prefer Headlam Hall...

What transport did you use to get you from home to church/church to reception etc? Old fashioned taxi

What were your colours very pale gold dress for me with dark red detail on the corset(sounds gross but was nice), charcol traditional wedding morning suit/gold cravat for hubby. Big Bridesmaids wore very dark red, baby ones wore white with gold sash

Did you buy your bridesmaid dresses or have them made? Big Bridesmaids bought from Monsoon about £70 per dress. Little Bridesmaids from a dance shop around £40 each.

What flowers did you have? Long stemmed red roses with green foliage How did you chose? Matched my colour scheme. Mum told me they would look good - they do have their uses sometimes

How many bridesmaids did you have? 2 big ones, 3 young aged 2,4,7.

I would choose Headlam Hall. Your guests could have canapes outside and would be lovely for your wedding photos.

What transport did you use to get you from home to church/church to reception etc? cousin drove me as close as he could and then I walked the last bit
What were your colours bridesmaid wore rusty colour, had rusty colour roses
Did you buy your bridesmaid dresses or have them made? had grown up bridesmaid and my dress made (dressmaker friend of mum, cost £600 including material for both - really really recommend finding a local dressmaker if you can), bought child one in bhs
What flowers did you have? How did you chose? I had rust colour roses, bridesmaid had cream ones, cream ones on tables, also those rust coloured bud things you get in autumn on tables
How many bridesmaids did you have? one grown up (sister), one diddy (niece age about 3)

I got married at the end of October and the weather was perfect, clear blue skies, quite crisp, just lovely. And because you can't count on good weather, you don't plan for it, so it's like a bonus if it happens (but it always seems to be good weather around our anniversary too).

I went in my m and d s car with ribbons on.

colour was blue - in flower garlands on tables, ribbons on wedding cake etc

no bridesmaids

my bouquet waas all ivory/winter white, same in my hair. Mtalked to florist - had wanted cornflowers - which were my favourite att eh time but ws advised they were seasonally wrong or something.

What transport did you use to get you from home to church/church to reception etc?

1930's austin something, v pretty and looks great in the photos but not very good value considering how much it cost.

What were your colours

Lilac and silver

Did you buy your bridesmaid dresses or have them made? They seem v.expensive even from places like Debenhams.

Mum made them for me

What flowers did you have? How did you chose?

Lilac and cream lizzianthus (not sure that's the right spelling) and roses - saw a picture in the debenhams wedding brochure I liked and got florist to base them on that.

How many bridesmaids did you have?

3 adults and 1 littley

Headlam Hall looks great...

What transport did you use to get you from home to church/church to reception etc? Stretch Limo

What were your colours Lilac & cream

Did you buy your bridesmaid dresses or have them made? They seem v.expensive even from places like Debenhams - I didn't subject them to dresses! I got them gorgeous 2 piece skirt & jackets in Lilac from the catalogue!

What flowers did you have? How did you chose? Spoke to local florist who's a friend of the family. He recommended bouquet shapes that went with my height, dress etc (and he was REALLY reasonable)
How many bridesmaids did you have? 2 - both my best mates

ok- went to church in a rolls royce
colours were white, blue and yellow
sil made my bridesmaids dresses and a dressmaker made mine
flowers were a mix of roses,cornflowers,daisies,freesias, and erm-loads of others but all in appropriate colours!had a fab florist who sorted it all out.
had 3 bridesmaids-all adult.2 best mates and sil.

both venues look fab.check them out, see which feels nicest/friendliest and if it's a tie go for the cheapest.
i had a big white wedding and it was fab, but my top tip is to try and stay quite chilled about everything and please don't turn into a bridezilla because everyone will hate you

Thanks for all the replies! V.helpful we think we like Headlam the best but we still have a couple of questions for both places before we commit.

Magicgenie - i can't thank you enough for recommending Headlam, it is wonderful, very much what we want, do you know people who have had weddings there? would b interested in the car info too! in fact any help on local services!! my dp did not like walworth said it was too castely (?)