Elegant florals in lush green and white, a stunning couple and the loveliest of images – we’re starting September in style! Hannah & Danny’s wedding at The Oakwood at Ryther is absolutely glorious. The styling touches are spot on; the happy couple look amazing and the atmosphere is everything. The lovely pair chose wedding photographer Joss Denham to capture their day. They gave him a glowing review – keep scrolling to read it!

Wedding photographer website and review

https://jossdenham.co.uk

Joss is an actual dream. He simply felt like a friend who just happened to be taking pictures. He was so easy to talk to and be around. There was no forced conversation or awkwardness and he made everyone feel super comfortable which was amazing. His communication before and after the wedding has been fab, he edited our photos in record speedy time and we absolutely loved going through them all together. We would recommend Joss a million times over. His skill is amazing plus his social skills are second to none and we feel this is a huge bonus. We can’t thank Joss enough for our dream photos!

We love our photos! We have the perfect mix between formal photographs (family portraits for the parents) and then all of the candid and fun photos too. We love the shots of the venue – including the drone shots! We love the photos of us both getting ready, the shots of us with confetti totally capture how happy we both are and then to top it off we have amazing pictures with the sunset!

North East wedding photographer Joss Denham

Danny and Hannah met at university. “We were already best friends and both in long term relationships throughout university until right at the end when we both found ourselves single. Danny plucked up the courage to say he liked Hannah and the rest is pretty much history – we have been inseparable ever since and have now been together for 9 years and have a son – Luca.”

We had our wedding day at The Oakwood at Ryther. We initially were meant to be getting married in 2020 in Northumberland however our wedding day was postponed and eventually cancelled TWICE due to Covid. We decided to cancel the wedding altogether as the stress was too much and we were just happy that all of our loved ones were safe and well instead. Hannah then won an Instagram competition for a 3 course meal, stay overnight and breakfast hamper at The Oakwood and we simply went to enjoy the free experience. What we didn’t realise is how much in love we would fall with the venue. By the next day we had booked our wedding there and simply couldn’t wait!

 

Colour palette

We went for classic white and green with hints of gold. It looked as gorgeous as expected. We went for big centrepieces which we are glad that we did as the venue is so tall that it didn’t feel too much at all.

Wedding attire

Wedding dress shopping was interesting, ha! I went shopping only 3 months after giving birth so I was very much in the mindset that I didn’t want anything fitted and I simply wanted to be comfortable. I also found that I felt silly in a lot of dresses like a little girl playing dress up and never got THE moment. I simply went for the dress I felt the most ‘me’ in and I wasn’t even convinced I’d picked the right dress until the day itself! I did end up buying an evening dress as I now felt more confident and wanted something more fitted and totally contrasting to my ceremony dress. I am SO glad I chose the two dresses as I felt amazing in both but for different reasons. I also love how varying my photos came out with the two looks.

Danny chose a tuxedo style suit from Next. With Danny wearing a suit everyday for work, he wanted to ensure that he felt more formal than usual and we are both so glad he went with that style as it looked super timeless and chic. We also loved that all the groomsmen were matching in those as they all looked amazing on the day.

Flowers

So my room stylist worked alongside a florist which is how I ended up with my flowers. I strictly asked for green and white with no hints of any other colours and I’m so glad I did! I love eucalyptus and peonies and these were both in there. I asked for a medium sized bouquet as I didn’t want anything huge and overpowering and my bridesmaids had smaller versions of my bouquets and they were absolutely gorgeous

Wedding cake

Danny LOVES cake so he was very excited to test out all the various flavours. We ended up choosing: carrot cake for the top tier, chocolate fudge for the second tier, Victoria sponge for the third tier and lemon drizzle for the bottom and largest tier. We wanted a plain style cake with flowers that matched my bouquet in between each tier. The only unfortunate thing was that on the day, the top tier fell off and landed on the floor – safe to say no one got to try that one!

Catering

So we had tried Dom’s Kitchen previously when we came to The Oakwood for our freebie event. We enjoyed the food SO much, especially because Hannah has various food intolerances and they catered to all of these and still provided an amazing meal – which doesn’t happen very often when at events! We then returned to another event they were catering as we wanted to have another meal cooked by them and this time took our parents – they all loved it. On the day, we had canapes which were: mini fish and chips, mini burgers and cheese and caramelised onion tarts. For the wedding breakfast we then had pate for starter, the most unreal fall apart in your mouth beef for our main, and then sticky toffee pudding for dessert. We then had a choice of either Bao buns or pork and apple sandwiches for the evening. Everyone commented how amazing the food was all day and especially our gluten or dairy free friends said they had never been catered for so well!

Entertainment

Being ex performers ourselves, we knew music was going to be a big part of our day. We had a string quartet for the ceremony and through the canapés. They actually had a jukebox service where they had a QR code for guests to scan where they could request various songs – this went down a treat. For the evening we searched high and low for the perfect band. We had a 7 piece band called Amped which included two singers and a saxophone – I honestly can’t describe just how amazing they were!! They were incredible! The singers were insane and the vibe and the music kept us both on the dance floor all night. The venue actually commented saying they were the best band they’d ever had!

Special touches and little extras

We also booked a magician. Danny loves magic and we had seen Jason perform at a family event previously and he was mind blowing and so entertaining, we knew we had to have him. He kept guests laughing and mystified and was the perfect filler in between the wedding breakfast and evening entertainment. We also had The Instant Photobooth which was able to be put outside and took both images and boomerangs that could be sent to guests phones then and there for them to share on social media. We found people loved this and we loved looking at all of these the day after.

What would be your top tip for a future couple getting married?

You do you! Don’t do anything because other people want you to. This is YOUR day and therefore you get to do everything you want to and ensure it is absolutely your dream day – you hopefully won’t ever be doing this again!

What advice would you give to a future couple to do/not do to make sure their guests have a great time at their wedding?

Make sure to do a guest book – I wouldn’t have imagined how much we loved reading everyone’s comments and advice. We actually had a Instax mini camera placed with our guestbook for our guests to take selfies and stick it in the guestbook alongside their comments and these were hilarious to look at the day after!

Are there any areas or items you would advise future couples not to spend so much money on?

Personally we would spend less/not even bother with a wedding cake. They are super expensive and we didn’t even eat any on the day itself. We personally didn’t do a cutting of the cake as we felt it unnecessary and also everyone had already had pudding at the main meal and so much cake was left over. If you have to have one I’d say go to M&S and get a simple white one from there, whack some flowers on it and have done.

What areas or vendors would you advise future couples to definitely invest in and/or even increase their budget on?

Research your entertainment properly – make sure you’re 100% sold with them as this adds to the day massively! We are so glad we didn’t cut costs with this as it was totally worth every penny spent. Also, your food. We cannot tell you how many people have commented on how amazing the food was and I genuinely believe that people remember how good their food was at certain weddings they go to. Everyone loves a good meal!