I, for one, really need a pick-me-up this grey morning, so it was a joy to be able to blog a really lovely Summer wedding today, where the sun shone, the birds chirped and love was in the air. Roisin and Chris chose Larchfield Estate for their wedding in August, and its gorgeous rustic hall […]

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I, for one, really need a pick-me-up this grey morning, so it was a joy to be able to blog a really lovely Summer wedding today, where the sun shone, the birds chirped and love was in the air. Roisin and Chris chose Larchfield Estate for their wedding in August, and its gorgeous rustic hall and beautiful gardens were the perfect setting for Roisin and Chris's nostalgic nuptials - they blended old and new in a shabby chic quirky affair with vintage elements and some very 2012 additions...

Chris and Roisin originally met at the end of the third year of University in Leicester, brought together as so many of us are, through a mutual friend. Chris fell for Roisin’s Irish charms straight away. Apparently he knew she was the one after she offered him an after-pub snack of a pie sandwich "all Northerners love a pie, even more so when it’s in a sandwich and being offered to you by a beautiful Irish girl".

Given it's the groom's big moment, he endures the stress and strain of getting down on one knee, it's appropriate that we let Chris tell the story of his proposal: "I tried my best to do the perfect proposal and took the ring away with us, when we went to Paris for Roisin’s birthday. While we were there though it was a national holiday in France and I never found the correct moment. It lived in my sock drawer while I tried to think of another perfect proposal. Until one miserable winter's evening when we came in from a meal out which neither of us had enjoyed. I thought, I know what will cheer us up, lit the fire, took a knee and asked her. Looking back now I think the Paris idea was naff, and am much happier that I did it in private, in our own house where we could just enjoy the moment."

So it was, that months later on a beautiful day in August that Roisin donned her original vintage gown and amazing veil to walk the aisle of St.Therese of Lisieux church in Belfast...

Tying in with a soft vintage-shabby chic Chris designed all of the wedding stationery, with a pretty blue polka dot theme and handwritten style font. Yes, Chris the groom, so you'll have to recruit him personally for your own weddings!

Roisin's soft vintage style is apparent in every element of this wedding - I love the bridesmaids' dresses! So fun and summery, perfectly pretty.

After the ceremony it was off to Larchfield Estate to bask in the sunshine and wander the grounds, where fun surprises were in store for the guests. It's very clear that Roisin and Chris have a brilliant sense of humour and wanted to make their day just the most fun ever...

I want these shoes - might wrestle Roisin for them!

The perfect bridal portrait?

So how did you pick Larchfield? "We came over to Belfast with 6 appointments in two days scheduled at various venues around Northern Ireland. On the first day none of them inspired us and the one that did was fully booked for the next two years.That evening we were looking at a wedding magazine Roisin had bought in the airport and it had a feature which included one picture of the gardens at Larchfield in it. We hadn’t come across Larchfield searching on the internet or from recommendations from friends and family. So we organised an appointment to view it the next day - we both loved it, it was so different from the other places we had seen and suited us and what we wanted for our day. They offered so much more freedom to do whatever you wanted rather than just hiring a room and picking a menu option.

We hired some great bits from Grace & Saviour including the photo booth for which we found some props for ourselves: the famous faces masks, and the moustaches & lips on sticks.

Knowing that there would be a lot of pictures taken on smartphones we started a hashtag (#rcwedding) for people to use when uploading their pictures to instagram and twitter. We added this info onto the back of the order of service to let our guests know. It worked better than we expected, the modern equivalent of disposable cameras on the tables?

And in the midst of all this chaos, Roisin's bridesmaid remains serene...

Putting a personal touch on the decoration was particularly important to Roisin and Chris, involving lots of little bits and pieces to bring that idea of vintagey shabby chic celebration to life...

The hall at Larchfield Estate is absolutely stunning - what could be more romantic than white-washed walls and exposed beams? And it's perfect for brides who want to put their own stamp on the day. Those lace drapes are just the limit...

We also designed and made the badges and hand wrote the table place names. Chris’s mum made all the bunting for the venue and both his mum & sister made the fabric roses that were glued to the wicker hearts.

Even the littlest guests got their own favours...

Proving not all personal touches have to be very complicated, Roisin and Chris created a spotify playlist (now available in Ireland -yay!) to play inside the venue during the meal, which included various songs that were special to them and particularly all the songs that didn’t make the cut for our first dance song. This is really simple but effective way to make your guests really feel it's your celebration. And if you've a bit of extra time, you could make the playlist into a mixtape (cd, obviously) as a wedding favour. You need a good soundtrack to go along with this hilarity...

So what about favourite moments? "There are too many to count: the Ceilidh was amazing fun, and got almost everyone up dancing straight away. The fact the sun shined! Being waved and honked at by every other car on the way to the reception."

So any last words of wisdom you'd like to share with other brides and grooms planning their day? Enjoy it! (you will hopefully only do this once). Decide what you want your day to be like early on, we knew what we wanted to do before we booked the venue. It should mean that there are less surprises along the way.

Grooms: get involved and you’ll enjoy the day so much more. Brides: stick to your guns if you really want something. Roisin did this on various things that Chris deemed too expensive or unnecessary, and he has since admitted he was wrong and is glad he listened to his wife."

I couldn't agree more - the bride is always right! Heartiest Congratulations to Roisin and Chris and super big thanks for sharing your day with us. And of course, thanks to Lauren Rutherford for sharing her lovely work with us, for more pop over to www.laurenrutherford.co.uk

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