Wonderful Winter Wonderland Wedding Evening

The Yorkshire Wedding Collective's lovely little bridal soiree went wonderfully last week. It was a complete pleasure helping them to arrange this gorgeous little event.

Many bride and grooms arrived at the Wedding Collective boutique in Harrogate to be inspired with winter wonderland wedding ideas and they weren't disappointed!

As a member of the Yorkshire Wedding Collective the wonderful Morgan Photography was on hand to capture the evening’s final preparations.

{All photos below are copyright of Morgan Photography unless otherwise stated.}

Fabulous displays created by members of the Yorkshire Wedding Collective were on show, and both the upstairs and downstairs spaces of the boutique were taken over in a shower of sparkle and shine.

(Photo courtesy of Saunts Parties and Events)

Guests were delighted with delicious food carefully created by Saunts Parties and Events, and were welcomed with glasses of sparkling Rose courtesy of Yorkshire Vintners.

The gorgeous table display was adorned with some hand-crafted stationery by Quilling Magic and delicate floral arrangements by Where Angels Play, fitting the winter wonderland theme perfectly.

Us folk from Williams Hart Weddings planned and organised the event and, along with Shelley Kay from the Yorkshire Wedding Collective, were responsible for delivering some delightful details around the room, including the vintage-styled Christmas tree, elegant candy bar and decorative festive displays.

Patisserie Viennoise wowed guests with their beautiful wedding cake and samples of their deliciously more-ish chocolate cake.

The Event Music Company provided the soundtrack to the evening with their Trio Vivo providing outstanding live music, playing arrangements of Christmas classics with a modern twist which set everyone in the festive mood.

All the brides-to-be and their friends and family were offered complimentary mini-makeovers by the talented Louise Lunn Make-Up and Morgan Photography talked guests through how perfect wedding photos are created using the latest air-brushing techniques in the chill-out area.

Form Bespoke Jewellery were showcasing their latest individually designed rings and Millinery by Design were talking all about what the latest wedding headwear is all about.

Vintage accessories were on show by Rosie Weisencrantz, hand-crafted stationery by Much Ado was beautifully displayed and Simply Seat Covers showed how chair covers really can make a big difference to the look and feel of a celebration. Their pewter sashes, fit the winter wonderland theme perfectly.

It was an evening packed full of the latest wedding trends and ideas, all set against the beautiful backdrop of the Yorkshire Wedding Collective boutique in the heart of Harrogate.

The Yorkshire Wedding Collective is open Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 4pm and on evenings and weekends by appointment. For more information please call the boutique on 01423 529775.

Check out this little one minute video of the evening...

Only One Day to go till the Harrogate Bridal Soiree

We’re on the final countdown to the Yorkshire Wedding Collective's gorgeous little bridal soiree, with only four days to go we are busy dressing the boutique and polishing up all our sparkly and spangly decorations especially for you! The music play lists have been finalised and the drinks and canapé menus agreed. Goody bags have been stuffed and we are all up to date with the latest beauty tips ready to make-over you lovelies!

Photo courtesy of Morgan Photography

Talented Morgan Photography will be sharing some insider tips with you, revealing howthe use of airbrushing techniques is not just for celebrities. They will be showing you how you too, can look flawless in your wedding pictures.

Event Music’s Trio Vivo have been practising their latest winter wonderland themes to set the scene on the evening, they will be playing live in the boutique creating the party mood. Trio Vivo are the Event Music Company’s favourite ‘daytime’ music group. Normally found playing their own unique arrangements of anything from Lady Gaga’s Poker Face to Pachelbel’s Canon in D.

Photo courtesy of Event Music

Where Angels Play have been busy perfecting their winter wonderland displays to show how inspiring flowers can be whatever the season, Simply Seat Covers will be transforming chairs and Form Bespoke Jewellers will be showing you how wedding rings can be hand crafted especially for you to your own unique design.

Yorkshire Vintners will be topping up your glasses on the night with some delightful Fizz. They provide a specialist wine planning service allowing you to taste and then select the perfect wine for your big day.

Plus on the night there is also a chance to win four free tickets to PapaKata’s (the tee-pee people) Papa Christmas, a sumptuous dinner event, which is worth over £150.

There are a whole host of wedding suppliers on hand on the evening, each an expert in their field, ready to help with whatever your query may be. To find out more about who’ll be coming along check out the earlier blog posts about the soiree here.

If you’ve already registered for this exclusive event, please remember to bring your ticket with you.

It’s set to be a gorgeous cosy evening, so roll on Thursday 9^th December folks!

Further fabulous suppliers for you to enjoy at the Harrogate Bridal Soiree

Further suppliers will be showcasing their skills and talents at the Yorkshire Wedding Collective winter wonderland bridal soiree on Thursday 9th December. Which means you’ll be spoilt for choice in finding inspiration for your big day.

On the evening you will be treated to samples of delightfully delicious cakes by the amazing Patisserie Viennoise, wedding cake specialists of over 24 years.

Image courtesy of Patisserie Viennoise

Quilling Magic will be helping to dress our wedding table with beautiful examples of how stationery can be set apart from the norm by using quilling techniques which stand out to be that little bit different.

Image courtesy of Quilling Magic

Sharon from Millinery By Design will be sharing some of her latest bespoke millinery designs on the evening and Much Ado stationers will also be on hand to inspire you with their gorgeous stationery designs and talk you through how personalised suites of wedding stationery are created.

The whole evening will be set against a winter wonderland backdrop, created to inspire, and brought together by members of the Yorkshire Wedding Collective.

Image courtesy of Morgan Photography

Further hand-picked Yorkshire suppliers will also be at the soiree to talk you through their inspiring ideas for your big day. Find out who else will be coming along on our previous blog post.

Remember you’ll be treated to champagne and canapés on arrival and receive a gorgeous goody bag to take home too! This exclusive event is by ticket only so if you’ve not already signed up then please contact me at lucy@whweddings.co.uk so we can pop a ticket in the post to you.

More Gorgeous Suppliers On Hand at Harrogate Bridal Soiree

The Yorkshire Wedding Collective bridal soiree, to be held on Thursday 9^th December from 7-10pm in Harrogate, is set to offer an evening of sensational wedding inspiration. With an array of outstanding Yorkshire suppliers on hand to offer advice you’re sure to find some amazing ideas to make your big day stand out as something extra-special.

Along with existing members of the Yorkshire Wedding Collective, further first-class wedding suppliers will also be attending the evening to share their experience and inspiring ideas with you.

Photo courtesy of saunts parties and events

The delectable saunts parties and events will be providing some of their tastiest bite-sized treats to be enjoyed on the evening. They will be tickling your taste buds with delights including; drunken devils on horseback, mini mince pies and gooey chocolate brownies. saunts parties and events are experts in wedding catering having been in the business for over five years, providing a top quality, friendly and personal service.

Photo courtesy of Louise Lunn

Professional make-up artist Louise Lunn, will be coming along to offer you a gorgeous mini-makeover, helping you to shimmer and shine just in time for the party season. Louise has over 17 years of industry leaders Mac make- up experience behind her, meaning she is more than qualified to help you achieve whatever big day look you have in mind.

Photo courtesy of Rosie Weisencrantz

Uber-talented Caroline from Rosie Weisencrantz will be on hand with her latest collection of handcrafted vintage bridal jewellery, giving you the chance to try on some of her beautiful, hand crafted pieces, and discuss your individual requirements.

The whole evening will be set against a winter wonderland backdrop, created to inspire, and brought together by members of the Yorkshire Wedding Collective. Which means you can relax while listening to the sensational live music courtesy of The Event Music Company, enjoy the fabulous floral displays by Where Angels Play and check out an array of fabric swatches from Simply Seat Covers. We will be available to talk wedding design and planning, Form bespoke jewellers will be showcasing their individual designer rings and Morgan Photography will be talking you through how perfect wedding images are created. And don’t forget, you will receive a gorgeous goody bag to take home too.

Location map by Hand-Drawn Maps

So, for those of you already on the exclusive guest list then we look forward to welcoming you on the evening and in case you’ve not yet reserved your place please email me at Lucy@whweddings.co.uk as soon as you can and we’ll pop a ticket in the post to you.

Harrogate Bridal Soiree Evening

Williams Hart Weddings are excited to be involved with The Yorkshire Wedding Collective’s first ever bridal soiree evening at their boutique in Harrogate on Thursday 9^th December between 7 and 10pm. The evening is set to see some of Yorkshire’s finest wedding suppliers coming together to bring you some big-day inspiration all within a winter wonderland setting.

Photograph of the Yorkshire Wedding Collective Boutique by Morgan Photography

The Soiree is a chance for you to pick up expert planning tips and amazing creative ideas while meeting outstanding wedding suppliers first hand. Guests will be treated to Champagne and canapés on arrival, sensational live music and fabulous floral displays. Along with the chance to sample some delicious cakes, have a mini-makeover by professional make-up artists and receive gorgeous goody bags to take home!

Us folk from WHW will be bringing the below inspiration board to life to demonstrate how ideas can be translated into a real wedding, creating the fabulous winter wonderland backdrop to the evening.

Photo credits L-R top to bottom: Silver Dress – The Finer Things , Cake - Sienna Wedding , Feather mules – Style Me Pretty, Candles – Bridal Canvas , Flowers: Zinke Design , Roses and candles – Wedding Bee , Stationery – ElumDesigns, Chair signs – Etsy , Wedding Dress – Style Me Pretty , Wreath – Style Me Pretty, Coffee mug – Style Me Pretty

Outstanding Yorkshire suppliers bringing the event to life include; Morgan Photography, The Event Music Company, Where Angels Play florists, Form Jewellers & Simply Seat Covers .

The Yorkshire Wedding Collective is a ground breaking new concept in wedding planning. They are based in a Harrogate town-centre boutique, so brides can drop by and meet industry professionals face to face, talk through ideas and get expert advice. In the boutique brides can find a host of venue brochures to browse, DVDs of live bands to hear and photographer’s albums to flick through. There are also fabric swatches to colour match, sweetly scented wedding bouquets to savour, and suites of stationery samples to enjoy. The boutique is designed so couples can easily access some of Yorkshire’s finest wedding suppliers all under one roof.

Picture by Morgan Photography

Chris Hilton from The Event Music Company said; “we’re extremely excited about the opening of the Yorkshire Wedding Collective boutique and see it as a new wave in wedding planning. The Soiree event is set to be an amazing evening showcasing many fantastic suppliers. It will be a great opportunity for brides to chat through their big day plans and ideas and find out firsthand what’s available at the Collective to ease them through the planning process.”

The winter wonderland soiree event is by ticket only. To request your complimentary ticket, or for further details please contact Lucy Playford on 01423 861379 / 07917 735473 or email lucy@whweddings.co.uk

The Yorkshire Wedding Collective boutique is located at 15, Bower Road, Harrogate. It’s open Tuesday to Friday 10am to 4pm and on evenings and weekends by appointment. Call 01423 861379 for more information or email info@yorkshireweddingcollective.co.uk

Mad Men Inspired Wedding Photo Shoot

Earlier this month Williams Hart Weddings Towers was awash with all things 1960’s as we prepared for our Mad Men Inspired Wedding photo shoot. So we were totally thrilled to hear that the shoot has been featured on the utterly fabulous top UK blog Love My Dress today!

Photo Credit (Cat Hepple Photography)

The photo shoot was great fun to create, working with some amazing Yorkshire suppliers to create the look with loads of research into all things from the vintage era of Mad Men!

There’ll be more to come from the shoot here on the Williams Hart Weddings blog but for now you can feast your eyes over at Love My Dress.

A Bride's Eye View On Planning

Here at Williams Hart Weddings we really like to share whatever bits of information will help make your day go as smoothly and perfectly as possible.

So we asked bride-to-be Phoebe Irvine, who is all set to get married next month to give you a few insider tips, share her final plans and fill us in on what she wished she spent more time on before the big day!

“Michael and I have been dating for almost five years now, and we’ve been engaged for two, which has given us a bit of time to get the planning right.

I always knew I wanted to get married where I grew up so The George Hotel in Stamford, was an obvious choice for the venue. It’s such a beautiful town.

Photograph by Barry Samuels

We’re going for a simple, elegant look for the day or as our uber-talented florist Miss Pickering calls it ‘faded aristocracy’; lots of muted tones of porcini, dusky pinks and taupe.

I’ve loved all the planning stages of the wedding, but there have been a few things that have been all consuming. The dress is one, each one I tried I was convinced was ‘The One’ and eventually I bought the first one I’d tried on anyway! Inevitably the invites and the family politics has been another difficult area in the planning, along with the seating plan. It’s stressful trying to appease everyone!

The little bits we’ve left to the last minute are on my mind too, the music for the church took forever to decide, so the order of service is still to be printed and we still haven’t made our minds up on a first dance song! I know these things could have been sorted earlier if we’d made decisions.

I’d also be sleeping a lot easier if I could somehow make sure everyone will be having a lovely time on the day itself. It would ease my mind no end knowing that everyone and everything will be where they are meant to be at the right time.

Michael has been a great help though and I’d really urge other brides to involve their groom too. He’s been to all our supplier meetings and arranged hymns and button holes and things and he’s very excited about the big day.

Above all though, I know all these stresses are secondary and what I’m really looking forward to most is walking down the aisle and seeing Michael, knowing that he is about to be my husband.

As the big day approaches and the hard work and planning is coming to an end I’d say to brides just starting out on their planning journey to not stress too much over the little things. Just make sure you create your day, your way and not let others push their ideas on to you. You only get to plan your big day once and it’s a chance to put your personalised imprint on to the start of your lives together, and try to make sure you enjoy every last bit of it."

Many thanks to Phoebe for sharing the highs and lows of her planning experiences and we wish her the very best of luck on her big day next month.

Inspiration Concept: Art Deco

With all things Vintage still being such a popular wedding trend at the moment I thought I’d share our Art Deco design concept with you. Art Deco looks set to be a huge influence over the next season, and there are loads of simple ways to bring this theme to your celebration.

With the strong geometric shapes and associated deep colours Art Deco can sometimes have a slightly harder edge to it, so the blush and pinks here are a nice girlie way to show off this look’s softer side.

Credits: From top left across and down...

Dress: by Lindsay Fleming Couture

Stationery: by MaeMae Paperie and

Sweet Monday Photography

Pink Lemonade: Via Ruffled

Headband: UntamedPetals on Etsy

Cake: Via Private Receptions

Pearls: Our Labour of Love via Ruffled

Venue: Via Bridal Cheek

Flapper style dress: by Boutique Belle via Poptastic Bride

Ostrich Feather Clutch: by Cadybriar at Etsy

The Vintage Wedding Fair, Harrogate

I’ve been in touch with Keeley Harris from Discover Vintage who is the powerhouse behind The Vintage Wedding Fair which is taking place this weekend in Harrogate. She’s filled me in on a few details about what you can expect from the event...

On Sunday 19^th September over 50 specialist exhibitors will come together at the St George Hotel in Harrogate for The Vintage Wedding Fair.

There will be over 600 Vintage Wedding Dresses for sale at the event dating from 1920’s-1980’s along with a fantastic selection of antique lace, headdresses, hats, jewellery and shoes available for you to buy. There will also be a chance to see a vintage make-up artist at work and plenty of opportunity for all important tea and cakes supplied by The Marvellous Tea Dance Company.

Since ‘vintage’ is everywhere at the moment, from fashion to photography; homewares to festivals it seems only fitting that there is an entire wedding fair dedicated to the theme. The term covers such a huge range of decades and eras that I tend to get overly excited when brides tell me they are having a ‘vintage style wedding’. I want to get straight down to the details of how they want to interpret that into celebrating their big day.

From cheeky 1950’s circle skirts, to 1940’s chic; from a retro 1960’s feel to 1920’s glamour. It’s possible to create an amazing wedding from any of these influences. The Vintage Wedding Fair is a great place for those of you planning a vintage celebration to scope out some ideas for your celebration and pick up some unusual finds.

The Vintage Wedding Fair takes place at the St George Hotel on Sunday 19^th September from 11.30am-5pm, Entry is just £2.

Welcome to the Williams Hart Weddings blog

Thank you for stopping by, we hope you’ll like what you find!

As my first post I thought I’d share with you some of what brought this blog into existence and what we hope to achieve with our little slice of the wedding world.

Firstly, the blog has come about as a result of my love of wedding blogs in general; I literally can’t stop reading them – which helps the day job of wedding planning no end! It simply fascinates me the way that design has begun playing such a massive role in wedding planning in recent years and, how through blogs, the design-led wedding has reached so many brides-to-be so quickly.

Through all my (slightly obsessive) blogging I couldn’t help but notice how quickly the UK is catching up with the US in all things wedding; from planners to blogs, design details to DIY elements. Here at Williams Hart Weddings we hope to pull on all those national and international resources and crucially, since we’re in Yorkshire, we want to bring local suppliers directly to your attention too.

We’re planning to showcase Real Weddings from some of Yorkshire’s finest venues, with a little help from our amazing local photographers, and sit them alongside posts on DIY details and fabulous finds from around the wedding world. Our hope is that you will want to marry-up some of the delicious discoveries we post from around the globe with your local venue and suppliers, making a unique wedding that is all about you.

So, we hope you’ll like what you find here, we plan to bring to you some mind- blowing inspiration and share with you how you can make it work, right here, in Yorkshire.

This photo was taken by the super talented Steve Ramsden on my own wedding day back in 2004.

With all this in mind our aims here at Williams Hart Wedding’s Blog are to...

• Showcase ‘Real Weddings’ from some of the regions finest venues, supporting our amazing local photographers.
• Feature outstanding suppliers both local and those you can bring in from further afield
• Show fabulous ideas that you can recreate wherever you live
• Bring you wedding inspiration
• Profile some of the best likeminded businesses in Yorkshire
• Publish relevant content regularly

We’re always keen to hear what you think so drop us a line at hello@whweddings.co.uk and share your thoughts on this blog, your wedding or all things Yorkshire.

Williams Hart Weddings Blog

Hey there,

Just getting the blog up and running - so pop back soon for some gorgeous wedding ideas!