We were thrilled when we received these amazing photos and a fabulous insight into one of our beautiful #CMBrides’ picture perfect wedding day. We hope you love hearing about her special day as much as we did! Massive congratulations to Hannah and Laurence, the new Mr & Mrs Monaghan. We wish you an amazing married life filled with happiness!
The Dress: Benjamin Roberts soft A-line gown with off-the-shoulder sleeves, sheer top with sparkles and tulle overlay skirt. I got it from Emma Hartley Bridalwear in Colne, I found it in a sample sale so it was 'as is' and it fit like a glove. They also had CM shoes in the shop and this just confirmed that I needed to have some! I had my dress adjusted at Bridal Couture Italia in Bolton, which is where I also bought my bridesmaid dresses from. (Instagram- @emmahartleybridalwear @bridalcoutureitalia)
The Bridesmaids: I had four bridesmaids; two of my best friends Jodie Loster and Rhianna Lucas, sister-in-law Samantha Ingram and Laurence's little sisters Katie Monaghan. My bridesmaids wore a Dessy one-shoulder dress in majestic purple, my favourite colour, which also had a tulle overlay to match my dress. For my three flower girls, who were daughters of the bridesmaids, I bought them dresses from Matalan that I managed to alter to add my own petals to as they had a tulle skirt that could attach them to.
Flowers: I got my flowers from Jill Naughton (JN Flowers), where Jill took the brief of the purple and ran with it! We had a mixture of sweet peas, roses, purple stocks and hydrangea in our bouquets and the flower girls had flower crowns to match. We also had a flower chandelier in the ceremony room with purple seasonal blooms. (Instagram - @jilnflowers)
Wedding Venue: Styal Lodge, Styal, Chesire - it was the first venue we looked at and it was never in doubt as for our wedding venue. It's a blank canvas that you can truly customise, which is what we loved about it. (Instagram - @styallodge)
Cake: A lifelong friend of mine, Sarah Burden, made our cake. We're both baking fans and I asked her to make ours as she'd just officially started an at-home baking business. It was three tiers of different flavours - Victoria sandwich, chocolate orange and lemon drizzle. (Instagram - @ladybirdkitchenbolton)
Cake topper: I ordered a custom-made clay cake topper from Artlocke Designs which features us in our wedding day outfits and our cockapoo Mavis! (Instagram - @pinkpeppercatering)
Photographer: We chose Kerry Woods after seeing her relaxed style on Facebook. She seemed to always capture the moments that might be missed and we love the 1000+ photos she's given us! (Instagram - @kerrywoodsphoto)
Now... about the shoes!
Style - Cora. I love anything sparkly and I wanted a really subtle sparkle to match my dress, and a low enough heel to keep them on for longer than I usually manage with heels (which is usually about half an hour!). Our friend had choreographed our first dance for us and they looked the closest to proper ballroom dancing shoes too, they helped me move around the floor really well.
How would you wear your CM shoes again? I wore them at another wedding two weeks after ours, along with my wedding clutch bag. Having neutral colours went really well with the dark red dress and nude fascinator I chose to wear. They're now my 'go to' party shoes, I'm determined to get plenty of wear out of them!
Advice for any bride-to-be's? Try and take a moment for just the two of you on the day. Everyone will tell you the day flies by and it really does, but I'll always remember our little moments we had together away from all the action. I'd also make sure you have things in the diary for after the wedding and honeymoon is all over, as the 'wedding blues' are definitely a thing! We had tickets to a comedy gig for three weeks after and it just gives you both something to look forward to. I've also given myself a project in the house now I have no more wedmin to occupy me.
