Our Wedding: Meet our North East Wedding Suppliers

When I got engaged I started to hear a lot of horror stories about how stressful planning a wedding can be.  It seemed that everyone had a story to tell about horrendous costs and awkward suppliers.

I don't know if it's because I live in the North East where everyone has a reputation of being absolutely lovely, but I had no stress at all planning my wedding and the suppliers that I worked with were some of the kindest most genuine people I've ever met.

If it wasn't for this awesome team of guys and gals my wedding would have fallen apart!  We never felt ripped off and each and every one of them helped make our perfect day happen.

So here's a little run down and shout out to all the wonderful North East wedding suppliers who made our day happen, we wouldn't hesitate in recommending any of them!

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

The Venue - Blagdon Parlour

When we were hunting for a wedding venue we were genuinely shocked at the price and restrictions that some venues impose on you. Some places had a massive price tag just for venue hire and insisted that you book out all of their bedrooms and charge your friends and family a fortune to stay for an entire weekend.

The Parlour at Blagdon really cared about our day from the word go. They truly are an amazing find with a beautiful venue, wonderful staff and fantastic food all at an outstanding price that included everything we wanted with no hidden costs.

They didn't just run around after us all day but looked after each and every one of our guests and treated everyone like they were royalty. I lost count of the amount of times people complimented me on the venue. Blagdon Parlour really are a hidden gem in the North East Wedding World!

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

Bride's Dress - Epernay Bridal, Gosforth

Although I made appointments at several bridal shops in Newcastle, Epernay Bridal in Gosforth made me feel so comfortable from the moment I walked through their doors. They stocked plenty of different style dresses and were all within my budget.

I decided to make a few adjustments to my dress and the whole process was so easy with everything done in store at my convenience. Choosing and buying a wedding dress should be an enjoyable once in a lifetime experience and I am so grateful that I found Epernay Bridal who made everything so easy for me.

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

Makeup - Pins, Petals and Powder

Victoria from Pins, Petals and Powder was recommended to me by a friend and as soon as I met her I realised we were on exactly the same page. I had a makeup trial before the wedding day and Victoria really listened to my requirements and created a look that was so natural yet beautiful. I wanted to look like a better version of myself and certainly didn't want to feel like I was caked in too much makeup and Victoria really understood that.

Victoria was brilliant at finding products that suited my skin type and creating a look that I felt really comfortable with. She was also a really lovely person to chat to which was great on the morning of the wedding!

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

Hair - Tina Elliot 

I am absolutely useless at doing my own hair so was keen to book a hair stylist for my day. Tina Elliot was a brilliant find and we got on so well that having her there on the morning was really relaxing.

Tina really took the time to understand my wedding plans to create a look that would compliment my dress and theme. We agreed on a beautiful soft and romantic look for my laid back country wedding and I was completely blown away by the results. The first time she showed me the style there were tears!  I honestly couldn't believe how beautiful she had made me look.

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

The Photographer - Katie Byram

I could literally sit here all day telling you how amazing Katie Byram is. Finding the perfect photographer was very important to me. I wanted beautiful natural shots that told a story rather than hundreds of shots of people standing in awkward groups being told to smile. Capturing the little details of our wedding, the natural smiles on people's faces and the beautiful countryside of the North East was essential and Katie managed to do it all!

I knew she was good before I booked her, but was still left speechless by how beautiful our photos were!

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

The Videographer - Top Table Films

Getting our wedding filmed is something that I probably wouldn't have considered if it hadn't been for my sisters! I am so glad that we got a film made of our day and Jon at Top Table Films was the perfect choice. He was great fun to have around on the day and is someone who is very passionate about his job. He had us wading about in long grass to create the most beautiful images, he really does have a fantastic eye for setting up shots.

Our wedding film was over an hour long and features so many magical moments that we missed on the day. We got our ceremony, speeches and first dance in full - sandwiched between some lovely music montages that I've been obsessively watching since we've had it. The quality of the film is outstanding and Top Table Films was worth every penny.

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

The Cakes - Pet Lamb Patisserie

I'm not a huge fan of traditional wedding cakes and as Simon and I are both huge cake lovers we wanted to make sure that our wedding cake was something really delicious. We were thrilled when our favourite cake shop in Newcastle, Pet Lamb Patisserie in the Grainger Market agreed to help us out.

We had a small chocolate orange layer cake (Simon's favourite) on the top tier iced in white - the perfect home for our personalised cake toppers, with fifty cupcakes on the lower tiers with beautiful coloured icing to match our bunting. The beauty of having so many cakes was that we got to choose our favourite flavours so could offer our guests, Mint Chocolate Chip, Marshmallow, Lemon or Rose flavoured cupcakes.

It all tasted amazing and we couldn't believe what a bargain the cakes were! So much better than a traditional wedding cake and a fraction of the cost.

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

The Bunting - Emma Bunting

I always knew that I wanted bunting at our wedding so as soon as Simon proposed I was in touch with Emma Bunting to talk about personalised bunting for our wedding. The white beams at our venue were perfect for bunting and looked so beautiful with our balloons and flowers.

Emma has loads of bunting ready made to loan but we decided to create our own bespoke bunting to match our stationery. We sent Emma samples of our invites and she hunted down some fabric that perfectly matched - it looked absolutely stunning on the day.

We also decided to have some bespoke bunting strung along the top table - Mr and Mrs McGuirk in pastel coloured letters on hessian bunting. It was the perfect finishing touch to our table.

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

The Balloons - Glitterburst

It took a little time to convince Simon that having giant balloons at our wedding was a good idea. I had always loved the idea and as soon as I met Courtney from Glitterburst Balloons I knew we had to have them. Courtney's enthusiasm for creating fun balloons is infectious - the lady is bursting with ideas and has real passion for creating beautiful balloons to use as centrepieces, props or decorations.

We had five pastel coloured 3 ft balloons for each bridesmaid with lace and hessian ribbons that looked stunning in photographs and perfect as decorations next to our bunting. We also had an extra special confetti filled balloon for me complete with a pink and white tassel tail.

The balloons were a huge talking point of our day and looked beautiful in photographs!  I'm actually desperately trying to come up with a reason to order some for another event - I loved them so much!

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

The Flowers - Bride and Bloom of Belsay 

I don't know a lot about flowers so Susan from Bride and Bloom of Belsay was a real help during my wedding planning process. We spent a lovely afternoon sitting in my lounge discussing what flowers would best suit my dress and the overall theme of my wedding. Susan was keen to get some ideas from me but when I was a little stumped she was great at offering up plenty of inspiration to help me along.

We chose a gorgeous combination of Sweet Avalanche roses with gyp for the bride and bridesmaids bouquet with similar for the men's button holes and then created a wrist corsage for our Best Woman. Susan was a huge help with our centre pieces and let us use her own collection of teapots for each table and filled them with roses, spray carnations and gyp.

I really relied on Susan to make the venue look beautiful as I didn't have a clue what I was doing and she did a fantastic job! I dread to think how I would have coped without her.

Copyright Katie Byram Photography

Our suppliers were all a dream to work with and made the planning of my wedding so easy. We never felt ripped off or stressed - each and every supplier offered great value for money and a very high standard of expertise. We honestly couldn't have asked for more!

If you have any questions about any of our suppliers or where to source any of the other bits and bobs from our wedding please do get in touch!

That's the end of my Wedding Week!  I hope you've enjoyed it - I want to do it all again!

All photographs in this post were taken by our wedding photographer Katie Byram (http://katiebyram.com/) Please do not use any of these images without her permission.