Welcome to 2015 lovely people and if you're newly engaged - congratulations and welcome to RMW

January can be a pretty miserable month - but not if you've got a wedding to plan and you're a Rock My Wedding reader!! We have got some SERIOUSLY delicious weddings and features coming up for you this month - I promise that you'll be blown away by some of the ideas and inspiration on show...

We're kicking things off in style with the stunning wedding of Carrie & Mike. The gorgeous pair married at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire and the whole day just exudes effortless, relaxed glamour.

Carrie makes a stunning Bride in Jenny Packham and I love her plaited up-do. The Bridesmaids look stylish in mint green and lilac gowns, the wild flower arrangements and bouquets are beautiful and the boys in tweed look like proper Gentlemen.

Add a cake covered in blooms, elegant champagne saucers, vintage cars and some glittery Manolo Blahniks ...and you've pretty much got the perfect wedding.

Oh, and wait until you see how beautifully it has all been captured by Samuel Docker - an absolutely stunning set of images.

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Carrie The Bride: We wed on the 2nd October 2014 on a beautiful sunny Autumn day. The ceremony was at our local church which was really special to us. We really felt it was such a stunning church with so much character that we purposely chose to have only foliage lining the aisle on every other pew, as we didn't want the flowers to distract from the churches own existing and beautiful details, such as the remarkable stained glass windows and wooden pews, with cute cross stitch kneeling pads.

The Venue

Choosing a reception venue was slightly more challenging. We didn't want anything too pretentious but equally didn't want to go down the barn/village hall vintage theme. We wanted something classic, beautiful, with charm and personality, not a wedding factory. Searching the internet, on various venue finder websites was many an evening's job but nothing was standing out. Then in frustration a random Google search term that I can't even remember I found Kelmarsh Hall & Gardens. Love at first sight, it was the only venue we saw.

Venue organised we then began to plan the details. We didn't do mood boards or work to a theme, we just had ideas in our heads and went with it. Mike knew from the start that he wanted to wear 3 piece tweed which we then complimented with white shirts and Beagle ties (I had to get Bo, the dog, involved somehow).

The Flowers

I knew that I wanted wild flowers, no colour theme in particular other than the natural colours for that time of year. I meet with Juliet, our florist, in her amazing gardens exactly one year prior to our wedding. We walked the borders selecting an array of flowers from dahlias to foxgloves, from sweet peas to cobias all in an amazing rainbow of autumnal colours. The colours of the flowers we selected then formed the brief for all of the wedding stationery which was designed by my extremely talented friend Cat. With the flowers being so beautiful and central to the wedding I suppose they then began to be the theme.

The Dress

I fell in love with Jenny Packham dresses, I am not a fan of traditional wedding dresses and the Jenny Packhams just felt like amazing evening/red carpet gowns and Esme fitted me perfectly. My shoes had to be Manolos and when I saw the pair I knew immediately they were the ones. I knew that I didn't want anything in my hair as it just doesn't suit my height so instead I opted for a slightly unusual hair style instead. I worked with my brilliant trusted hairdresser to create the look.

Make-up wise I went to a Laura Mercier counter and asked one of the girls if they did any freelance work. I would really recommend doing this as the internet has a lot of make-up artists but how can you tell from a website how good their make-up skills really are, also I would recommend using a makeup artist and hairdresser separately as often they have only trained or specialised in one.

The Accessories

As the dress was high neck I didn't want to wear a necklace so instead completed to look with some vintage earrings, vintage bracelets and my Chanel watch. My Mum also handed me down her engagement ring on the day which I attached through one of my bracelets.

The Bridesmaids

For my Bridesmaids I wanted a mix of colours so I went with mint green Valentino dresses for my olive skinned bridesmaids and then lilac for my fairer beauties. I hate typical bridesmaid dresses so opted for just evening gowns. I then completed their looks with floral crowns and bouquets.

The Details

The details was the bit I enjoyed the most as this is where you can add even more sentiment and personality. We were conscious of guests having to drive from the church to Kelmarsh and we both hate it at weddings when you are hanging around waiting for food, so I decided to put together a road trip bag for guests to enjoy whilst they made the journey. Some of our favourite memories are from our road trips of the states so we decided to fill the bags with some of our favourite US snacks. I then put a map in the bags and then a CD of some of our favourite songs to see them through the 40 minute journey.

Other personal touches included the favours which were displayed on a bookcase in Kelmarsh. Mike and I love Paris and in particular Angelina's, a stunning tea room which specialises in what's known as the best hot chocolate in Paris, and it truly is. We decided to give guests a taste of this experience by buying small Kilner jars and filling them with Angelina hot chocolate powder which I then decorated using our stationery, bakers twine (my new favourite thing) and personalised tag. My maid of honour and I styled the bookcase the day before the wedding adding vintage tea cups and saucers that I picked up in charity shops.

For the table settings I also gave guests another taste of Paris by placing the name cards through two macaroons which matched the Bridesmaid's colours. Vintage crockery was also used throughout but rather than distracting from the beautiful wild flower centre pieces with mismatch floral patterns I choose to have more subtle white and gold theme. I also wanted cut glass glassware and champagne saucers rather than flutes to add to the glam.

Other little details were items we picked up on our travels. We didn't have a cake topper but we did have a kissing Dutch boy and girl which we got in Amsterdam which we placed on the cake table in front of the cake. We had a picture table which featured pictures of old family weddings which I dressed with other bits and bobs I purchased over time, for example the Paris plates which I got from Anthropology. For the cards I found a floral suitcase from Liberty's which was perfect as it fitted the floral theme. My extremely talented maid of honour did all the signage for me which included the signs for the card and favour table, the stunning sign for outside the church and then the directions signs at the front of the village.

The Food

We decided a menu which was true to us. We both have massive sweet teeth so we opted out of bread and starters and instead starting with the main, our favourite meal, bangers and mash. Followed by dessert which was an afternoon tea cake selection which was served on three tier cake stands.

With the evenings food we kept simple and went with a hog roast served in floral napkins. The cake was then served afterwards using vintage serving platters. I knew I wanted a simple cake with fresh flowers so we went with a rough butter cream icing on a beautiful green cake stand and then Juliet decorated with wild flowers, it was stunning.

The Cars

We had three vintage cars, all of which are my Dad's and all of which I decorated taking inspiration from Will and Kate's Aston Martin at the Royal Wedding. Watching an episode of Dallas (it's amazing what you get inspiration and ideas from) just before the wedding I was inspired to do confetti along the street of our village as Mike and I drove off in the car. This worked really well although I did have to tell Mike to slow down as his Schumacher instincts kicked in.

The Photo Booth

For the ballroom which housed the evening's entertainment we went with a photo booth from The Photo Emporium. Again bringing in something personal to us we went with a USA road trip theme for the photo booth with a Miami tree background. I then used Amazon to get a lot of the basic props such as the wigs, glasses, flags but then used some independent online retailers to add the personal touch with 'C&M 2014' American number plates and an American road sign customised with 'happily ever after ave'.

The Entertainment

Mike always wanted a band and we used Hipster who were really great, they have a review from Prince William so we choose them mostly on this basis, but they also had a good set list. We used giant gold D.A.N.C.E balloons to highlight the dance floor and some metal light in and around the fireplace to create some mood lighting.

The Photographer

The whole day was captured beautifully by our amazing photographer Samuel Docker. We knew what kind of wedding photographer we wanted, someone who could capture the day naturally but differently, be a secondary guest or family member so you are at ease and relax with them, someone who catches the tiniest details that you've worked so hard to do. Samuel did this and more!

Timings was a key balance we wanted to get right. We choose the times for formal photos very carefully as we wanted to be with our guests. When the guests were being seated for dinner was a good time for Mike and I to have some pictures done and again straight after dinner when everyone is heading to the bar as our guests didn't notice we were gone. We also limited the amount of group and family shots and also did this just before dinner so we had plenty of time to enjoy the champagne, canapés and guests.

Advice

The whole day was 2 years in the making, I had multiple spreadsheets, lists, sleepless nights but I have to say it was totally worth every minute of planning and every penny spent. The best advice I can give is to really focus on making your day your own by adding elements of your personality to it. It was all the little touches that made ours special. People say no-one will remember the favours or what you ate but trust me if you make it true to you and do something different they will. Our guests are still talking about our hot chocolate.