I must admit it's taken me an awfully long time to write today's real wedding post, not because it's more complicated or different to other weddings we've shown, but rather, because I've spent so much time swooning over the beautiful photography by Shelley and Ricky of Ten 21 Photography.

If you're a bride who envisages a classically elegant affair, with muted tones and an air of sophistication, then you'd do well to take notes on Stacey's style. In her own words  they "wanted the style to be classic, like old Hollywood". Seriously, Jonny and Stacey's Belfast wedding is perfection.

"We met through Jonny’s sister-in-law whom I was working with at the time, we were set up to meet for drinks in 2005 and have been inseparable ever since." And what about putting a ring on it? "For our 5 year anniversary Jonny took me to Rome, he had already asked my dad’s permission and picked a beautiful ring with my mum. We actually went a week later than planned as we were delayed with the ash cloud so Jonny has to spend an extra nervous week, with the ring hidden in the house hoping that we were eventually going to be allowed to fly. The second evening we were there we got all dressed up and went for a lovely dinner, later we walked round to see Trevi Fountain, which was beautifully lit up. He proposed by the edge of the fountain, on one knee as I cried my eyes out! It was such a special moment." Dreamy.

Jonny and Stacey organised their wedding back home in Belfast, and chose The Merchant, Belfast's hippest hotel for the celebrations. The venue suited Stacey's glamourous approach to style - hey check out those Jimmy Choos... and they have a very sweet story to tell... "When I was younger, my dad used to write little post it notes to himself reminding him of the odd jobs he had to do around the house. He put one up in the kitchen one day and said, “that’s not coming down until I’ve done everything on it!” When he left I wrote “buy Stacey a pair of Jimmy Choos” as the last thing on the list. We had a laugh about it when he seen it and he said he would buy them for my wedding one day. All these years later, dad had to remind me of the story which I had completely forgotten about, and off we went to pick the Choos!  I chose a pair that I knew I would wear long after the wedding day and they will always be so special to me." Awwww, what a sweet Pops...

Now, wait til you see these bridesmaids dresses... They're just gorgeous and so unique. And with good reason - Stacey bought plain peach dresses online and had them altered and customized by Lorraine at Telfair Tailoring in Ballyclare. Given that at the moment the choice of long gowns in the shops is very limited, this is a genius idea, one that I may steal myself...

Dispelling the myth that the search for your wedding dress is a simple task, Stacey actually visited 12 bridal shops, finally finding this beautiful ivory Pepe Botella dress in Willow Moon, Dungannon. Apparently it was the opposite of everything she was originally looking for but the only one that"didn’t feel like playing dress up in". 

Keeping up their end, the lads also look pretty dapper in their three piece suits - all from Red Groom in Carrickfergus. "The staff were fantastic and so helpful. They wanted a classic suit but with a modern cut and I thought they all looked really smart on the day." They definitely do. Great tip there for those of you in search of a good suit. It can be very hard to find a modern wedding suit that doesn't look like it's just a lunch trip out of the office.

So off to the Merchant in the hotel's Rolls Royce...."The new extension of the Merchant was in its final stages when we were looking for a venue, we wanted somewhere with a modern style but also a bit glamorous feel so when we went to view it we knew that it was a perfect fit for us. We definitely made the right choice as we couldn’t fault a single thing on the day from the staff and service to the food, it was impeccable."

Wow!

"For both of us our favourite memory of the day was the ceremony. That’s the whole point of the day and it was such a lovely moment walking down the aisle as husband and wife, with our family and friends all together.  I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house!"

We are big fans of Ten21 Photography here at OneFabDay, and these portraits demonstrate why. Shelley and Ricky capture the wedding party formally but with an easy atmosphere, no stiff poses and uncomfortable smiles. These are truly beautiful mementos to keep for a lifetime...

Jonny’s wedding gift to me was a beautiful pair of drop earrings from Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, my gift to Jonny was a Tag Heuer watch which had to doubled as a 30th birthday present.

We are both big music lovers so music played a big part in our wedding as we wanted it to be really personal to us. Although we had a string quartet, we had them playing modern songs that we really love and that meant something to us.  During the ceremony our reading by my cousin was actually the lyrics to a Johnny Cash song that my late granddad used to play called ‘I Love You Because’. The guests had a drink reception on the roof top terrace and we had all our favourite up-tempo songs playing as they enjoyed views over Belfast in the sunshine. The favours were mix CDs with music from throughout the day. Jonny’s were personalised to the boys and mine were for the girls. In the evening our band had learned to play our first dance especially for us which was Foo Fighters ‘Best of You’.

While the palette was simple -  muted classic colours, it's the attention to detail that makes Stacey and Jonny's celebration such a stylish occasion. Choosing every element with care and consideration, they stayed true to their vision, opting for sleek and simple design, but adding those little details like the diamante on the cake, the silver frames on the family photograph table, the black and white stationery, but with little ribbon tags. Everything blends and works to create a cohesive look for the wedding without looking too "done" or  matchy-matchy. A perfectly designed celebration basically...

So any final words of advice..."Relax and enjoy it, I’m normally quite a laid back person but I found myself getting quite stressed and nervous about the whole thing.  Jonny took a huge amount of interest in the planning, which was lovely but If I could do it all again, knowing that everything was going to go as planned I would RELAX!"

Isn't that just a dream wedding portrait. It's exactly what I would like to hang on my own wall. Perfection as captured by Ten21 Photography.

Huge Congratulations to Jonny and Stacey! And big thanks to Shelley and Ricky of Ten21 Photography for sharing their work with us. Check out more on www.tentwentyone.co.uk and you can see more of Jonny and Stacey's wedding on Facebook

All the Wedding Details

Ceremony & Reception: The Merchant Hotel

Wedding Dress:Pepe Botella @ Willow Moon

Groom and Groomsmen: Red Groom

Bridesmaid Dresses: Lorraine at Telfair Tailoring

Shoes: Jimmy Choo

Make Up: Jennifer Ireland

Hair: Olivia Muldoon

Stationery: Arbee Cards

Flowers: Amanda @ Mood Decoration

Cake: Lesley Heaney Catering

Car: Merchant Hotels Rolls Royce

Second car: Klass Cars

Ceremony Music: Ulster Youth Orchestra String Quartet

Band and DJ: The Front