Ever wondered how cool it would be to get married in the city? Well one look at today's real wedding and you will be convinced a city wedding is the way to go!

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Ever wondered how cool it would be to get married in the city? Hanging out with your bestest pals, laughing, dancing, drinking and all that good stuff? Well, if you're dithering between a city ceremony and a country hangout, and need a bit of direction then one look at today's real wedding and you could well be convinced that a city wedding is the way to go. Christabel and Roy's wedding started with a contemporary city chic ceremony at Clifton House and ended with a playfully relaxed and rustic pub reception at Grace Neill's Pub. If all that doesn't sound down right fantastic to you, Christabel and Roy are also a duo of stylish lovebirds, using a monochrome combination to dress to impress - an amazing look trust me! Who better to capture the day than, Tim from This Modern Love...

Stylish short wedding dress bride Christabel and dapper groom Roy

So how did these cool kids get together? Well like many romances they were friends first but they just couldn't fight the love...We first met at a festival about 10 years ago. We were friends for a long time and then after a very drunken St. Patrick's Day we had a snog. It then took us nearly a year to get together properly! We didn't want to ruin the friendship in case things didn't work out so we tried to be 'just friends' but obviously the attraction took over... After that things happened very quickly, within 9 months I fell (unexpectedly!) pregnant with our son after an amazing holiday in Brazil and the rest as they say is history! cream bouquets

Before we go any further, although I know you're probably dying to hear what happened next. We have to pay tribute to Christabel's amazing bridesmaid, Kelly would put the best of us to shame, wait till you hear her dedication. Not only did Kelly keep her bestie, Christabel calm and collected (and giggling all morning!) Kelly, took a tutorial in makeup by Bobbi Brown so that she could do all the makeup on the morning of the wedding! One of Christabel's favourite moments was getting ready with her bestest pal, and what a pal! Hats off to you Kelly, because Christabel looked amazing on the day...

Ok sorry momentary pause on the love story...There wasn't really an official proposal. We just decided after 7 years and 2 children that it was now or never! We knew we wanted to share an amazing day with our closest family and friends and to have our children be a part of something really special. I'm so glad that we did it kids first, then marriage, because seeing their faces and hugging them after saying our vows was just priceless!

While Christabel was getting pampered, Roy and all the guests started the day at the Crown Bar in the city centre where the pair had laid on drinks and bacon butties. The buses then collected everyone from there and took them up to the ceremony at Clifton House.

Wondering what's in those paper lunch boxes? Well with a hint and nod to the final reception venue they were filled with pub snacks, pork scratchings, scampi and bacon fries, the works, plus mini-cans of drink with stripy straws were supplied for people to snack on while they travelled on the bus between venues!

The pair chose Clifton House to have their wedding ceremony because they love history and period features and it's a gorgeous space to share such a special moment... Clifton House is really unique to Belfast and made an unusual wedding venue as it doesn't have a wedding licence so was not only excellent value but no one had ever heard of it!

wedding ceremony Photography by This Modern Love

We wrote our own wedding ceremony and asked our friend Vanessa, a professional actress, to perform it. It was full of humour and anecdotes and really captured who we are and what we mean to each other and our children. We wrote our own vows which represented our feelings and promises and we had 2 readings, one by my sister and an amazing one by Wendy Cope called 'The Vow' read by a friend. Everyone said it was the best ceremony they had ever been to!

Christabel's wedding ring was her mum's, who sadly passed away in 2006. It was her old engagement ring which she had re-styled some years ago. Having her mum's ring feels very special to Christabel as it combines her lovely mum as well as her marriage.

Three cheers for Christabel and Roy! Seriously, funnest (that's a word!) ceremony ever.

Ok so we've had a lot to talk about but we can't go any further without admiring Christabel's seriously cool and unique style, in fact Christabel and Roy are one stylish couple don't you think? For starters Christabel didn't want the big wedding gown, instead she opted for a chic crocheted Topshop dress (which she got on sale for £25!) While I love the short dress, I think it's Christabel's accessories which make the outfit so brilliant, pearl earrings and a faux fur muff from the 1960s (which belonged to her mum), a handmade black patent belt with a bow from Etsy and very cool black patent heels from Lucy Choi!

With a monochrome theme coming from his beautiful bride, Roy followed suit with a twist on the classic tux (we like!) His suit was handmade, midnight blue with a black lapel, with a matching waistcoat, velvet brogues and a dickie bow.

Stylish short wedding dress bride Christabel

We've always been big fans of This Modern Love's work, so it was so nice to hear a bride speak so fondly of her photographer. And I mean she quite literally gushed about Tim and we can see why, these photographs are pretty incredible...Tim is a genius and we (and everyone else) just love our photographs so much. This was the best thing we spent our money on. Tim was brilliant and made two camera shy people feel so relaxed!

Stylish bride Christabel and dapper groom Roy

When it came to the big priorities of the day, number one was that everyone had enough food and drink and their choice of venue played a huge role in the day...We always wanted to have the reception in a traditional pub and where better than the oldest licensed pub in Ireland which just happened to be close to where Roy grew up!

We loved the city chic formality of Clifton House followed by the informal rustic pub for a proper old knees up later on – which it most certainly was! We chose a winter wedding because we love a cosy pub when it's cold outside and you're nestled inside with a drink by the fire, sharing stories and chatting to the locals. We specifically asked for the pub to remain open to the general public during the reception to keep a nice flow of random people in the front bar. My bridesmaid and I ended up in there drinking champagne with some locals and getting their advice on marriage! Classic.

white and metallic cake with love me do cake topper

I wanted to be a relaxed bride, no fuss, no big dress, no stressing over silly things. Able to have a drink and a dance and be my usual self regardless of being a 'bride'. So it was key for us to be ourselves, to have fun and to make sure that everyone else felt relaxed and comfortable enough to completely let their hair down. We didn't want to spend money on things we didn't need and instead we spent our money on things that we thought were worth it!

We managed to combine all the things we love with all the people we love without doing anything we didn't want to do in order to please others. It was full on belly laughs from start to finish; kicking off your heels to dance on tables type of fun, everyone cheering and hugging and fist pumping – just perfect!

So what advice would these tow have? Be true to yourself. Use Pinterest and wedding blogs for ideas and inspiration but don't get obsessed! Don't sweat the small stuff and relax. You don't have to spend a fortune to have a magical day; do some research and keep an open mind, spend money on what's important. I would say having a good wedding photographer is a must, the photographs will last you a lifetime! Lastly, make sure there is plenty of drink!

Huge congratulations to the lovely Christabel and Roy! A big Thank You goes to Tim of This Modern Love for sharing his work with us at One Fab Day, to see more of Tim's work pop over to www.thismodernlove.co.uk.

The Wedding Details: