Going Boho on their Big Day – Jade & Rik’s Wedding at Beeston Manor

Rik and I both wanted a really laid back wedding, and
I had visions of being a ‘boho bride’. We
searched long and hard for a suitable wedding venue and found that
Beeston Manor was perfect for what we had in mind. We loved the converted barn
features, the grounds, as well as the team. Instead of a formal three-course
dinner we opted for a barbeque, this created a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere.

The inspiration for
my dress, bridesmaids, flowers and most of the decor came from other boho
weddings I’d seen. I loved the idea of getting married in the woods, so I spent
a lot of time on Pinterest looking at amazing wedding photography which
embraced nature and the outdoors. I
shared my favourites with our photographer Kerry Woods and she said she had
already pinned many of the same ones herself. We were both definitely on the
same wavelength and I loved her idea of venturing into the long grass for our
shots on the day (I had prepared by bringing wellies but most of the guests
didn’t thank us for that bit…!)

I spent almost three years planning our wedding and
during this time I visited loads of wedding fairs – one of my favourites was
the Little White Books event at Bolton Arena, the Great Northern Wedding Show.
It was great for gathering ideas and I loved all the freebies of course!

We created our invitations and place settings
ourselves, as well as making our own wedding favours – gorgeous succulents in
personalised terracotta pots. Our flowers were the work of a family friend and
were simply beautiful with lots of greenery and fresh spring colours. To fit in
with our rustic, relaxed theme we decided
to have a three-tiered naked wedding cake, made by a very talented
friend.

When our big day arrived I was so excited to say our vows in front of our family and friends. However,
I think my favourite part of the day was probably when we were sat down during the barbeque and the speeches – I was certainly
a lot more relaxed at this point.

I think our family and friends
enjoyed the evening band, ‘Madison’, most of all – the dancefloor was full all
night. We couldn’t decide on just one First Dance song so we decided to have a mash up – Madison mixed them
together for us and it worked brilliantly. I am a dancer and own a first
dance/flashmob choreography company for
wedding and hen parties called ‘Cre8ive Party Co’, so our
guests were pressuring us into doing a surprise breakout dance ourselves,
especially my mum.

My advice to anyone planning to
get married is to remember
that you will not please everyone, however hard you
try, so just focus on doing what you and your groom want to do. It’s your big
day, so do it your way, and try not to get stressed out when family members try
to persuade you to do otherwise. It’s about the two of you and nobody else.