Rachel & Shaun’s elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography

Published by Claire Gould on

When I get a credit for “Beer” in a couple’s list of favourite suppliers, I know to expect a pretty special wedding. (Tip: there’s no place for Carling at weddings!) – and Rachel & Shaun’s day lives up to expectations, flies past them in a blaze of beauty and leaves me wanting more. Their day was epic. They’re a gorgeous couple, the vibe of the entire day is joyful – the smiles never stop from bridal prep through to the evening spent crowdsurfing. I love these two. All images are by Midlands wedding photographer and English Wedding member J S Coates Wedding Photography, who gets a glowing review from our happy couple!

Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (23)

Wedding photographer’s website

JS Coates Wedding Photography – https://jscoates.com

How did you choose your photographer?

We looked through loads of different local photographers’ websites and eventually narrowed it down to three, who we then met up with to see if we clicked. Jonathan had such a great attitude, and his relaxed style was exactly what we were after.

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

Jonathan was brilliant – we had an engagement shoot to try and become a bit more comfortable and right from the start he completely put us at ease. He was so helpful throughout the wedding making sure everything ran smoothly, so friendly with all the guests and without feeling intrusive at all managed to get some incredible shots from the action on the dance floor. The photos and slideshow are fantastic, and really summed up our amazing day

Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (5)

Tell us about your venue – what made this place special for you?

Dumbleton Hall Hotel was one of the first we saw, we fell in love with the beautiful exterior, the extensive grounds and the character inside the hotel. They were really relaxed and flexible about our plans, and we ended up almost having the place to ourselves.

Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (3)

We were determined to have the wedding outdoors and although they had never done one before the hotel really helped to make it happen (and didn’t even grumble when we changed our mind last minute about where we wanted all the chairs set up!) All we needed then was the weather – which luckily didn’t let us down.

Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (2)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (1)

Did you love wearing your outfits? How was the dress / suit shopping experience?

I loved my dress in the end but initially found it quite difficult to find what I had imagined on the right budget. I found this dress on sale, and ended up chopping a big train off (I think to the horror of the staff in the shop) but for me it was perfect – no regrets at all. The boys found it much easier, after deciding on a colour quickly found one they liked in a local suit shop and got the deposit down straight away

Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (22)

Did you hire a florist? Tell us about any floral amazingness

We hired a florist who is also one of my friends, at Flower Thyme, which I think really helped as she already knew my personality when preparing the bouquets – they turned out exactly as I pictured

As cake lovers here at English Wedding we’d LOVE to know who made your cake, and how delicious it was?

To keep costs down Shaun’s mum made the cake – and completely nailed it. It was plain sponge in semi-naked style with buttercream icing, and absolutely delicious

Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (26)

Tell us about any special personal touches, or creative projects you made yourselves

I made the table plan, and used photo collages for table numbers. We had a photo board with baby photos and all the family on, and a candle burning for those who sadly couldn’t be there to celebrate with us.

The wedding favours included a mini bottle of Jaeger, like those we drank plenty of on ski holidays together, and so everyone could have a shot to get the party started!

Did you personalise your vows or have any wedding readings? What were they?

We got officially married two days before as we couldn’t legally marry outdoors at the venue. We personalised the whole ceremony and vows, to try and keep a much more relaxed feel to the wedding. Luckily we both managed to put in a similar amount of romance and humour. Shaun’s mum wrote a poem, and instead of traditional songs we played the Beatles ‘hold my hand’ and The Proclaimers ‘500 miles’ to keep things lighthearted throughout the ceremony

What was your first dance song? Why did you choose it?

Grow old with me by Tom Odell
We wanted something a bit more upbeat, and loved the meaning behind the lyrics

Favourite wedding suppliers

Venue – https://www.dumbletonhall.co.uk/

Photographer – Jonathan Coates https://jscoates.com/

Dress – Lillian West at Ellia Pearl Bridal Boutique https://elliapearl.com/

Bridesmaids dresses – TFNC at https://www.asos.com/

Suits – Marc Darcy at Thorburns, https://www.thorburnsmenswear.co.uk/

Flowers – Gill and Becs at https://www.flowerthyme.co.uk/

Make up – Grace at http://www.makeupmadeup.co.uk/

Hair – Lucy Lockwood – https://lucylockwoodhair.weebly.com/

Band – Carl Sinclair Duo http://carlsinclair.com/index.php

Beer – https://puritybrewing.com/

Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (4)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (6)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (7)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (8)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (9)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (10)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (11)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (12)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (13)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (14)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (15)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (16)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (17)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (18)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (19)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (20)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (21)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (24)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (25)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (27)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (28)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (29)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (30)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (31)
Rachel & Shaun's elegant and rustic Dumbleton Hall wedding, with JS Coates Photography (32)


Claire Gould

Claire spends her days writing - either in beautiful calligraphy or online. She lives on the edge of the English Lake District only minutes away from the beach, where she loves to escape and unwind. Claire's calligraphy can be found at www.byMoonandTide.com. Claire launched the English Wedding Blog in November 2009 - it's been a top 10 UK wedding blog ever since, with a regional focus we hope you LOVE.

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