‘Boho’ and ‘chic’ are oft-used adjectives when it comes to wedding styling, so it’s refreshing to come across a couple who pulled off this aesthetic with genuine panache. Step forward Hannah and Will, who brought all the joys of Spring to The Normans wedding venue for their May wedding.
Bride Hannah was a vision in her Wtoo by Watters Lenora dress, which was awash with exquisite detailing and delicate floral lace appliqués.
“[The dress] suited the boho vibes, and I loved the geometric lace detail,” explains Hannah. “I had seen it online and didn’t think it would suit me, but it was perfect.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Perhaps even more eye-catching (if at all possible) was Hannah’s floral head dress crafted by Jen from the Cheshire-based Wildflower Hair Company. The vibrant spring colours played on the couple’s colour scheme for the day.
Make-up duties, meanwhile, were delegated to Normans-regular Julia Jeckell.
Bridesmaids were bedecked in velvet infinity dresses procured from a small-scale Ukraine-based Etsy seller.
“We always wanted mix-and-match bridesmaids with different dress colours, fitting and hair styles.” says Hannah. “We loved the velvet to add the glossy vibe, and we are grateful it wasn’t too hot on the day!”
Bride and groom’s boho vibes permeated the venue, with guests greeted by an utterly unique macrame-knotted welcome sign. Wow.
For those of you who had to Google ‘macrame’ (don’t worry, we did): it’s a creative knotting technique, which traditionally uses cotton or hemp rope. Why are we telling you this? Because it wasn’t just the welcome sign that was made of macrame…
“We handmade about 80 macrame pieces - covers for bottles and jars, as well as other decorative items - to offset the rustic/industrial feeling and add some boho charm! Plenty and a night was spent completing macrame in front of the TV!” laughs Hannah.
“We knew The Normans had the rural, rustic vibe we wanted, as well as being chic and stylish,” says Hannah when asked about her styling of the day. “Therefore, we didn’t feel too much pressure to bring in extravagant items as the venue speaks for itself.”
“We like bold, vibrant colours and we knew we wanted our day to reflect this. We love jewel tones so we added in the sunflower to make a more summer vibe",” says Hannah. “Our florist [Emma from The Petal Studio] did a great job in capturing the colour scheme we wanted.”
Now we better turn our attentions to groom Will, who was on hand to welcome guests as they arrived at the venue.
Will was suited and booted in a nice three-piece number from Tweed & Groom.
Based in the Elsecar Heritage Centre, this independent outlet stocks Marc Darcey suits (as modelled by Will) and Liberty London ties, which matched the couple’s colour scheme perfectly.
With the weather not behaving as it should in May, guests took shelter from occasional sprinklings of rain under the pergola and in The Cow Stalls before making their way into the Ceremony Barn…
The combination of The Normans trademark twinkling fairy lights, candles, and The Petal Studio’s vibrant floral displays perched on barrels at the top of the aisle, made for a spectacular setting for the ceremony.
Jules Barron, photographer extraordinaire, captured all the magical moments of the ceremony on camera - the exchanging of vows, the first kiss as a married couple, and the bride and groom’s confetti-strewn exit from the barn.
Happily, the sunshine made an appearance after the ceremony, meaning guests could have a tipple or two before heading into The Grain Shed dining area.
Hannah and Will were particularly proud of their handmade seating plan…
“We had many ideas for the seating plan but settled on our dog - Rupert the Whippet - as the main theme. Being a whippet he has many unique mannerisms and nicknames, which became table names,” explains Hannah.
“Emma from Blush and Blossom printed our seating plan (as well as our invitations), allowing us to personalise everything! She was great!”
Table décor was, again, the handiwork of Petal Studio. Verdant foliage punctuated by sunflowers ran the length of the rustic banqueting tables and along the gantries .
Dinner was served by way of The Hog & Apple’s famous sharing boards.
“It’s a really sociable way to enjoy a meal,” says Hannah. “For starters we chose the Yorkshire sharing board to welcome our far-flung families to our Yorkshire wedding. For mains we had a selection of meat and veg which allowed guests to sample a bit of everything. The seared lamb was our favourite!”
A marvellous array of cupcakes courtesy of York-based Crumbs Cupcakery were served after dinner…
… alongside a stunning three-tier cake by the aptly named Cakerbells.
The weather finally decided to behave once the wedding breakfast was finished, giving photographer Jules an opportunity to steal away the bride and groom for some stunning couple shots.
Soon enough, impressively bearded band Hipster struck up…
… and Hannah and Will shared their first dance as a married couple under a glittering canopy of fairy lights.
“The day was seamless; the staff organised the event perfectly around spring showers. We were never worried or stressed, we were always looked after, and the team went above and beyond to make sure our day was perfect!”
