Monk Fryston Hall Wedding
Preview Katherine & Oliver
Monk Fryston Hall wedding -A little preview from a dazzling autumn wedding at Monk Fryston Hall. I had photographed Kathy & Chris’s wedding at Monk Fryston the autumn before :-)-Monk Fryston Hall wedding Photography, Leeds wedding Photographer, Yorkshire wedding Photography
Katherine says; I picked my ring out at ROX jewelers in Leeds with Oliver- we had regularly talked about getting engaged and wanting to get married; I had a very specific style in mind and we both agreed it would be better to pick a ring I loved instead of one I only liked! It was a amazing experience we both enjoyed and will cherish forever, we would both recommend other couples in a similar situation doing the same thing. We were both greeted with a glass of champagne and chocolate truffles as the glass doors behind us were locked by the security guard meaning we were the only customers in the store…absolute bliss!
Given that I knew the ring was coming (although I didn’t know when and where!) I told Oliver if he wanted to surprise me he’d have to catch me off guard. He did just that, he asked me to pop downstairs tohelp him carry something inside the house and as I reached the bottom step he was on one knee….with my ring!
We both wanted to be married fairly quickly and were lucky enough to be financially able to do so. We were engaged August 2015 and were married September 2016. Olivers parents were married on the 28th September, my parents were married on the 29ths September, so we decided to follow the trend with 30thSeptember! To get married on a Friday was significantly cheaper at most venues than a weekend and that encouraged us to go for a weekday!
We visited dozens of venues, but fell in love with Monk FrystonHall immediately. We wanted to find a venue that was not too big (more than one wedding per day at some places!) not too small (we both have big families!) and that could cater for accommodation over night. These were the three determining factors when we chose our venue. We both wanted a church wedding but were willing to organise and pay for the transportation of the guests from the church to the venue. However, this wasn’t necessary as there was a beautiful church, St.Wilfrids just over the road. This sealed the deal for us and we organised a meeting with the wedding co-ordinator.
There was no real theme, other than the colour scheme. The colour scheme was lilac, only because I had 7 bridesmaids to cater for and found a dress that everyone was happy with at the bargain price of £49 each in the January sales! The dresses were lilac, and the scheme followed from this.
Everything was very simple, I wore a white gown with no bling, the cake was white with several flowers etc.. Simple tea lights and single hydrangea buds were the extent of the decorations through the hotel, it was such a beautiful venue it didn’t need much styling!
I batted between ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Kim Kardashian’ for months! Did I fulfil my lifelong dream of wearing a wearing a poofy ball gown, or did I go fashion forward and wear a skin tight fishtail gown? I went to several dress shops until I found Precious bridal in Garforth, no pushy sales pitch just a general introduction and then I was let loose in a shop full of gowns…every brides dream! As my mum flicked through a catalogue she pointed out a dress she thought was lovely, so I took a look. I recognised the dress as I had it on my Pinterest but as I responded…I could never find that dress its too beautiful! However, Donna mentioned straight away she had it in stock! I couldn’t try anything else on until I had that dress on. It turns out Donna names each of her dresses she keeps in stock so she can easily remember them, out of curiosity as she zipped up the back of the dress I asked what this dress was named. She replied ‘Katherine’ I hadnt even seen the dress and I knew it was the one. It was my perfect combination of elegance and a little bit of Cinderella and it was perfect!
Oliver bought his wedding shirt the day before the wedding…typical man! He found his suit at Jeff Banks and he looked so handsome! He wore a pale brownish- grey suit with a waistcoat and a lilac tie. The groomsmen all wore the same but has a slightly different pin hole flower arrangement
Me and the bridal party including my parents stayed over at the hotel the day before. Hair and make up came to us in the morning. Oliver stayed at home with his groomsmen and drove his car to the hotel an hour before the ceremony
We had an awful experience with our original photographer who let us down several times before the wedding which is not what anyone wants! In a mass panic I put the feelers out for a photographer who could cater for our wedding at the last minute! I had floods of responses but given the nature of the beast none were available. I received a message from an old friend recommending her photographer, Bethany Clarke. I looked at her photos and was impressed so went to Bethany’swebsite and was even more impressed, I had never seen photos like it and hoped she was available. She replied to my enquiry straight away and informed me she was available! Yey! Me and Oliver met with Bethany to go through final details and felt so confident in Bethany, I cant emphasize how important it is to feel confident in the suppliers you chose for your wedding! Safe to say our wedding photos brought me (and Oliver!) to tears, she’s incredibly talented and I would highly recommend!
I had a simple bouquet of white hydrangea and the bridesmaids had the same arrangement with lilac roses. Sasha Chappell at Fleur Chappelle did my arrangement and other flowers
I had 5 hair candelabras on each table surrounded by white hydrangea arrangements, and large fishbowls with white hydrangea arrangements around the hotel. Sasha did everything; the flowers, the candles and the glassware. I had nothing to buy and most importantly nothing to pack up, take home and sell on when I got home! Sasha was very, very understanding and even though I changed my mind a million times about what I wanted and how I wanted it she always said ‘not a problem’ which made my experience so easy!
We had a single Charbonel et Walker truffle for each guest. It was the actually the cheapest option we could find at £1.20 per box. It came boxed and tied with a ribbon of choice (lilac!) so perfectly!
Pretty Sugar cake company did our cake. I had a bad experience with another supplier; I said I wanted a butter cream finish which has a slightly rustic look and was told it would be butter cream that would coat the cake. When I saw an example of the buttercream (butter and sugar) it looked nothing like the pictures on my Pinterest (every brides life) but was told it was the same it just looked different on the photo! The day I was due to pay the deposit for the cake I went to Monk Fryston wedding fayre and met Nichola and she explained it is NOT buttercream that would be used and could not believe someone suggested using butter and sugar to coat a wedding cake! She explained its royal icing that is used but with a buttercream style finish. I was so annoyed that someone who was a professional in the trade was willing to convince me who doesn’t know anything about bakery that that’s what I wanted! The Pretty Sugar Cake Company did an amazing job and the cake went down an absolute treat!
We went ‘all out’ with our entertainment and hired a 10 piece band. It was the best money we’ve ever spent. The band were out of this world, the quality and variety of the music was spot on and the lead singer interacted with the crowd and with the kids. We also had a photo booth and that was good, but we would not recommend who we hired.
If I could pass any advice on to brides to be it would be don’t sweat the small stuff. I had recurring nightmares about my flowers not being the right shade of white and what would happen if it rained (every brides nightmare!) etc etc But on the day I didn’t even notice flowers, candles, finishing touches etc I just had such a wonderful day! What other suppliers did you use and would you recommend them? Why?
All of our suppliers were great, however some suppliers made my life so much easier.
My florist first of all, Sasha, replied to each of my thousands of emails within hours, and nothing was a problem. To save on money I originally wanted to do the flowers myself so when Sasha quoted me I asked for a breakdown penny by penny for everything, which as a business owner myself knows how stressful, time consuming and redundant this task can be. Not for Sasha, she allowed me to rent the glassware from her, which not only saved me a lot of money, it saved time and effort the day before and after my wedding day. I changed my mind about quantity, colours, arrangements etc and she was so accommodating and reassured me everything would b perfect. She even sent me a text message the night before my wedding wishing me luck for the following day and letting me know everything was ready to go. She really went above and beyond and I will be forever grateful.
Secondly our photographer (arguably one of the most important elements of the day!) Bethany was fantastic, as I explained before we had such an awful experience with our previous photographer and Bethany put our minds at total ease with her enviable ability to balance professionalism with such a friendly and warming approachability. Bethany produced photographs from our wedding day that brought both me and my husband to tears, and we will cherish those memories forever.
I have to say the best part for me for getting ready with my girls in the morning. It was exactly how I wanted it to be; hair and make up, champagne, giddy bridesmaids running in and out of the room! It was my last few hours as a miss and I got to spend it with the people who meant the most to me; the anticipation and excitement of meeting Oliver at the end of the aisle will stay with me forever! The second half of the day I spent by my husbands side as his wife and was such a wonderful transition!
Top tip …..Organisation is your best friend; set up budgets and payment schedules so you’re not overwhelmed financially and schedule catch ups 9/6/3 months and then 4/1 weeks before the big day to double double check everything is still set! If you shop around you can save yourself money in areas you didn’t think you could; always try haggle where you can, if you manage to save £100 here and there you’ll be surprised how quickly it adds up! I would strongly recommend wedding insurance as well! Try to enjoy planning your wedding, it may seem hard at times and you may find yourself wishing the days away, but the build up is the best part and you never get it back! Cherish every day while you’re planning your wedding.

http://www.monkfrystonhallhotel.co.uk

















Monk Fryston Hall wedding photographer

Monk Fryston Hall wedding photographer


