When Jonathan emailed me and mentioned “the coolest wedding dress ever” I was hooked! This is a beaut of a wedding: full of fun, colour and the most wonderful DIY details. Jade & Matt tied the knot at Newland Bishop Farm in May, with a festival themed day and a tipi reception. There were space hoppers, pom poms, blasts of colour EVERYWHERE, a picnic… a totally chilled out wedding. Photographer Jonathan – JS Coates Wedding Photography – described Jade & Matt’s day as “a burst of colour and smiles”. Just what we need on our screens right now, I think!

 

Wedding photographer’s website:

https://jscoates.com/

How did you choose your photographer?

We had searched through tonnes of pics of wedding shots on instagram and immediately fell in love with Jonathan’s pictures. They were amazing and we knew that he was the one for us! They were timeless and yet very modern, with a relaxed vibe… we hate formal shots!

Were you pleased with your wedding photographer? Do tell… we love a brilliant review!

He was amazing! He told us he was leaving after a full day’s shooting, and he was still taking pictures and dancing like he was at a rave an hour later. He was like one of our wedding guests, and was perfect. We couldn’t recommend him enough. Matt hates having his picture taken and Jonathan made this a painless process and captured some priceless and downright hilarious pictures on the day.

Tell us about the moment you saw your wedding photos for the first time?

We didn’t look at them properly until both our moms had come round for tea so we could all look through them together, and it was beautiful! There were lots of tears! It was lovely.. then we made them watch the 2 hour wedding video.. not so enthusiastic haha!

Where did you find your suppliers? (Blogs, magazines, recommendations?)

Eclectic Wedding Extravaganza!- a great alternative wedding fair in Birmingham- so much inspo!
Instagram
Hours of searching google!!!

What’s your top tip for saving money?

Pick two things you want to prioritise (for us it was photographer and music), and relax with everything else.
I bought my bridesmaid bouquets from Aldi the day before, whack some ribbon round them and they’re fine!

… and which elements of your wedding are you glad you spent more on?

Dress, photographer and music…. everything else fell into place

Where did you buy or source your wedding stationery – or was making it a labour of love?

A friend created them for us as he is a graphic designer

Did you fall in love with your wedding dress?

Head over heels- it is still THE most beautiful dress I have ever seen and I have worn it after the wedding as well! It couldn’t have been more perfect and I had so many wonderful compliments from people!

Wedding dress designer and bridal boutique:

Jo and the team at the Couture Company in Birmingham. I went to a few dress shops and the dresses I tried didn’t feel like me. I knew I wanted a dress that wasn’t too wedding-y and that I could wear again and I couldn’t find anything suitable. As soon as I went to the Couture Company I knew I had found the right place. If you have a dress in mind, however different or non-traditional, they will make it for you. The whole process of going for fittings and working out what I wanted was a pleasure, and was so relaxing. Jo and the team were amazing. Lots of guests said it was the most beautiful wedding dress they had ever seen, even some of the guys and they never notice things like that! The dress fitted like a glove and I just couldn’t stop staring at it, it was so beautiful!

Tell us about your accessories: jewellery, shoes and anything else!

Shoes- Turquoise and Gold Charlotte Olympia Stilettos I got off ebay…. BEAUTIFUL!!!
Hair Accessories from Crown and Glory- Hydrangea hair clips to match the flowers on the dress
Blue flower earrings from Wolf and Moon

And what did the groom wear?

Blue Suit from Moss Bros to match his eyes and some snazzy Ted Baker socks
Felt buttonhole flowers from… to match my felt bouquet

Beautiful bridesmaids: what did your best girls wear?

They wore some beautiful dresses that I ordered from Etsy, in cornflower blue and sage green. They looked amazing!!!

Hair and make-up – did you DIY or hire a professional?

My mom’s friend did our hair-she was amazing!!
Sarah Russell MUA- she did mine and the BM’s makeup and she was amazing!! I would definitely recommend her!

Describe your wedding flowers. Who arranged them for you? (florist details would be lovely please)

I had a lovely felt flower bouquet made by http://www.flipsidebride.co.uk/ I knew I didn’t want to throw it away so it always had to be felt for me! They were amazing, designing a colour board and discussing which flowers I wanted in the bouquet. And I knew I wanted a picture of my dad on it, so she even helped me attach that to the bouquet!

General styling – did your venue need much decoration?

It was very much a blank canvas so we put our own stamp on it. We decorated with rustic wooden cake stands made from log slices, felt flowers, ribbons and pompoms

Crafts and makes – tell us about any homemade elements of your wedding… did you enjoy them?

All of the decorations were made by us. I made about 300 pompoms to use as table decorations and for signs. Wedding table plans and order of the day were on wooden pallets.

The wedding cake: what kind of cake did you choose and why?

We had a 3 tier wedding cake made by the MOB’s friend. It was beautiful and tasted delicious and was decorated with macarons and iced flowers to match the felt bouquet. We also asked our lovely friends to ,make some cakes and they did not disappoint, the cakes were beautiful and tasted amazing! The cake table looked like it was going to topple over, due to the amount of cake that was on it!

Entertainment: any musical recommendations, surprises or treats?

We had the best men DJing our wedding. Andy was phenomenal and kept the dancefloor full to the very end! I could’nt recommend them more. When we renew our vows we are definitely asking him to DJ! Rhythms del Toro, the house badn for the Cuban Embassy in Moseley played as well, covering some classics. They were fantastic and we had so many comments about how good the band were. They really kept the dancefloor heaving.

Words of wisdom: share your best piece of advice for other couples:

Do what you want, make it as individual to you as you want and don’t feel like you need to please other people. This day is all for you two and you should do whatever the hell you want!

What’s the best thing about being married?

Knowing someone has your back, and you’ve got theirs…. and always making each other laugh

Favourite supplier web links for other brides and grooms:

https://jscoates.com/
http://www.flipsidebride.co.uk/
https://www.the-couture-company.co.uk/
https://crownandglory.co.uk/
http://sarahrussell.co.uk/
https://www.moss.co.uk/
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PMPrinted
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Craftyscott1
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/cutzbothways
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HollyCollingsCrafts