A gorgeous, relaxed Warwickshire Wedding at the Lord Leycester Hospital

February 26, 2015 Real Wedding Features

Today I am thrilled to share this gorgeous, relaxed Warwickshire Wedding at the Lord Leycester Hospital with a palette of apple green, DIY elements, and a focus on family and friends..

Images of the day were captured by Simon Dewey Photography.

Simon Dewey is a creative wedding photographer based in Derby inspired by movies, music and street photography.

He specialises in a more documentary / reportage style, letting people relax and be themselves and capturing natural and candid moments.

He was one of the Guild of Photographers Top 10 photographers of the year 2013.

He says of the couple and their day…

“I was actually referred Kirsty and Mark by another photographer – Adrian Brown.”

“Kirsty & Mark liked my work and we set up a meeting at the Lord Leycester, and got to know each other better on an pre-wed shoot a few weeks before the wedding.”

“By the end of that I was thinking of moving to Warwick myself – such a beautiful town.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a couple as relaxed as Kirsty & Mark – they really had it together throughout the day and it was obvious that their priorities were enjoying time with their family and friends.”

“The Lord Leycester Hospital is a beautiful venue, and everything fell into place really easily.”

“The ceilidh band were perfect for the day – and I’m so glad I stayed until their second set to capture the Wedding Dance at the end. It became one of my favourite moments of last year.”

I now hand over to stunning Bride Kirsty…

Tell us a wee bit about yourselves

“We are Kirsty Lyon-Taylor and Mark Hamling, I’m an A&E nurse, and Mark is an Analyst working for National Grid.”

How did you meet?

“We met in our first year at university and began going out in the second year. 12 years later…”

When did you get engaged?

” We got engaged on Christmas day 2012.”

“I had returned from 4 months working abroad on Christmas Eve.”

“On Christmas Day Mark went down on one knee and asked me to marry him with a beautiful ring he’d designed himself.”

Tell us about your wedding planning journey

“We knew we wanted a simple non hotel based wedding with close friends and family.”

“Our starting point was to have a stress free day that we could both enjoy, good food and a great party.”

“We didn’t want to re-locate part way through so needed somewhere we could do it all.”

“We looked at a few venues online but were fortunate enough to have a fabulous venue on our doorstep in the centre of Warwick.”

“It was half way for both lots of family, had plenty of hotels, and was close by for organising things leading up to the date.”

“As we were marrying locally we tried to keep all our suppliers local which worked really well, and get friends and family to help where needed.”

“Following the venue came the food, and the wine, choosing based on local recommendations and knowing the caterers, wine merchants and venue were happy working together meant on the day we could just let them get on with it.”

“Having a great team of people meant that, on the day, wedding things just seemed to happen around us.”

“As for ‘the dress’ I used a local shop called Polyannas which is owned and run by the lovely Tess, a great range of gowns at very reasonable prices.”

“As she is a fully trained seamstress and not just a wedding dress seller, all the alterations where done in house and the gown could be really easily and quickly altered, tweaked and modified to suit personal taste, without it having to be sent away.”

“I saw examples of some gowns being almost completely re-done to suit personal taste.”

“The table plan, menus, order of service etc were all made at home with card and paper from a hobbycraft.”

“The table centre pieces where made with ribbon and lace wrapped around baked bean tins to put flowers in.”

“A top tip we were given was to keep these low so that guests could see each other across the tables.”

“One thing we were told to remember in advance, is that after your wedding you are left with only 4 key things, the rings, the photos, the memories and each other.”

“Spend your money wisely and concentrate on these.”

“Don’t get too stressed if things aren’t quite as planned (no-one else knows what you planned anyway), throw a great party for your guests and don’t get too hung up on the rest, most of it is just window dressing.”

When did you get married?

“We were married on the 30th August 2014.”

What was the best bit of your day?

“All of it, but mainly having all our friends and family together.”

“The ceilidh was also a great way to get family and friends to mix.”

What advice would you give to other couples getting married?

•Keep it simple and personal, everyone there is there to see you, not the fancy trimmings.

•Don’t get carried away with the spending. Set a budget for things like dresses and stick to it.

•Choose a venue you feel really comfortable in.

•Save money by making things yourself like table plan, menus & order of service. It gives things a personal touch and saves you loads, after all, you have to pay for it all once its over.

•Have an uber organised friend on the day to ensure it runs to plan.