REAL WEDDING Something Different 2827 views

Ruth & Jonathan
4 April 2009

They Met Ruth and Jonathan first met at university in Liverpool. Ruth spent her second and third years abroad, but when she returned, Jonathan was still there. It was on a shopping trip to York in 2003 that they realised they were more than just friends. In February 2007, Jonathan got down on bended knee - and it was champagne for the rest of the evening.

Wedding Venue As soon as they were engaged the couple started looking for a place to wed. They trawled all the venues in South Yorkshire, searching for somewhere 'a bit different'. Finally, they settled on Doncaster Racecourse where they fell in love with the ceremony room with its glass domed roof.

The Theme
With the big day booked for Spring, the couple wanted to keep their wedding simple and seasonal. They chose sage green and picked up on the dusky pink on their invitations and Ruth's bouquet to set the colour scheme. It went perfectly with the modern elegance of the racecourse setting with crisp white linen on the tables and coloured balloons as table centres. As favours they gave the adults lottery tickets along with little pouches of mint imperials. Instead of having a guest book, there was a slip of paper inside each place card for guests to write a message which was put in the couple's post box to be made later into a keepsake album with photos.

What They Wore Ruth wore a strapless gown by Essense made in crushed taffeta with a sweetheart neckline that sparkled with Swarovski cystals and a hip corsage sweeping the skirt to one side with a layer of irridescent tulle underneath. She sewed Swarovski crystals to the edge of her fingertip veil to match the beading on her dress and made her own tiara from crystals and pearls that had been used in the design of her teardrop necklace and earrings by a company she found on the internet.

Wanting a fresh modern look, they decided against hiring traditional tails and found smart suits in ASDA - which meant the guys could all get to keep their wedding day attire - the only problem was finding them in eight different sizes! All the men had shirts, sage green ties and hankies from My Tuxedo with the groom in a sage green waiscoat to match.

Ruth's three bridesmaids, including her older sister who was chief bridesmaid, kept with the contemporary style wearing blue striped prom dresses from Debut at Debenhams with matching blue pashminas and silver sandals. The little flower girl, the ushers daughter, wore an ivory dress from TK Maxx which Ruth sewed with blue ribbon to match the bridesmaids.

The Cake The three tiered square cake had a layer of traditional fruit, a layer of chocolate (the bride's favourite) and a layer of toffee sponge (the groom's favourite). It was decorated with pink ribbon to tie in with the colour theme with the focal point being the cake topper. As a keen cricketer and Rotherham United fan, the groom was depicted in a Rotherham shirt with cricket pads while the bride showed her support for Rovers with a Blackburn shirt and the skirt of her wedding dress. To complete it, there were also two figures of their pet cats.

The Flowers Ruth chose pink roses for her bouquet, as they were the first flowers that Jonathan had ever bought her, and mixed them with ivory roses, loops of bear grass and diamante centres. Using faux flowers, they had a similar mix for the table arrangement while the bridesmaids carried smaller versions of Ruth's bouquet but with just ivory roses.

First Dance The newlyweds danced to an album track called With Me by Logan, a band that they'd first seen as the support act at a concert they been to. It was perfect, as it was special to the couple and also something different and unfamiliar to their guests.

A Moment To Remember Ruth and Jonathan had a great time during the photography shoot going around the racecourse together - including running down the track and going inside the stables!

Honeymoon Ruth and Jonathan wanted to go somewhere they'd never been before so decided on Kenya with a three-day safari followed by nine days at a beach hotel in Mombassa - it lived up their trip of a lifetime expectations.

Any Advice? Ruth recommends allowing extra time to get ready on the morning of the wedding. 'I was fifteen minutes late arriving at the ceremony' says Ruth, 'so maybe I should have been a little bit more organised.' The groom recommends a hearty breakfast then arriving at the venue extra early to iron out any possible glitches.

Ruth & Jonathan’s Contact Book:
Venue: Doncaster Racecourse
Photographer: Andrew Fyfe
Dress: Best Bridal Prices
Groomswear: Asda and My Tuxedo
Flowers: Mrs Bouquets
Cake: Sugar & Spice
Cake topper: Boogiebabys

More photos:
Click here to see Ruth & Jonathan's PhotoShare
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